Brenda Jackson - The Danforths - Wesley, Ian & Imogene

Without waiting for an invitation he knew he’d never get, he took the chair across from her. “What are you doing here, Jasmine?”

She smiled at him. Again. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m sitting here minding my own business, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a danish. Is that a crime?”

Wesley shrugged. “Not if you were really minding your own business. But it’s my understanding that you’ve been asking questions.”

She sighed. Evidently the waitress had talked. There would be no tip for her tonight. “Asking questions is part of my job.”

“Then consider yourself officially off work.”

Jasmine’s gaze narrowed. “I’m never off work.”

Wesley replaced the frown with a slow smile, but it was a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Then I guess I’ll have to change that.”

He stood and pulled several bills out of the pocket of his jeans and tossed them on the table. “Come on.”

She blinked. “Excuse me?”

He leaned forward, bracing his hands on the table. “I said come on. It’s time you stop working and have fun and I know just the place to take you.”

To the gallows to chop off her head no doubt, Jasmine thought as she eyed him warily. She was curious and intrigued, but not stupid. And although she had no intentions of going anywhere with him, she asked anyway. “Where?”

“To the country fair that’s in town.”

Jasmine leaned back in her chair. The fair came to town every year and she couldn’t recall the last time she had gone. Suddenly her mouth watered at the thought of a candied apple, cotton candy and popcorn, not to mention the rides. She wondered what she had to lose if she decided to indulge in a little fun. It then occurred to her that she could possibly lose out on getting the scoop on Abraham Danforth if he showed up here tonight. But then she doubted Wesley would let her follow through with any plan she’d made concerning Abraham tonight anyway. Besides, after the short conversation she’d had with her stepmother earlier, she needed to do something that would make her scream, and a roller-coaster ride just might do the trick.

However, there was another stumbling block. If she went with Wesley to the fair, some people might construe it as a date.

She crossed her arms over her chest knowing he had an ulterior motive for asking her to the fair. Was something going down tonight that she needed to know about? “Why?”

He lifted a brow. “Why what?”

“Why do you want to take me to the fair?”

He smiled. “I just told you. I think you work too much. You need to have fun, live a little, let your hair down and play,” he said, reaching out and pulling on one of her braids.

He may as well have been pulling on the nipples of her breasts from the sensation that suddenly zipped to their sensitive tips. It had sent a jolt right through her. Unfortunately, her body’s reaction only proved she had a lot of nervous energy to work off so maybe going to the fair was not a bad idea.

“And there’s no reason for you not to go, unless…”

She lifted a brow. “Unless what?”

“Unless you don’t think you can handle me.”

Jasmine frowned. Truthfully, she doubted she could handle him, but she would never let him know that. She had learned the hard way to never let anyone know her weaknesses. “You’re nothing to handle, Wesley,” she lied, meeting his gaze.

His smile widened and he leaned closer and whispered, “Prove it.”

She blinked wondering how such a thing could be proven. Evidently he was used to women seducing him. To him this was all a game, a game that he knew the rules to and was well versed at playing.

Jasmine sighed, not able to think straight with such a gorgeous set of hazel eyes staring at her. She wondered if she would regret her decision in the morning.

“All right,” she said standing. “Just for tonight, we’ll call a truce and have some fun. But tomorrow it’s back to work as usual.”

Wesley chuckled and decided not to tell her that once she began playing with him, work would never be the same again.

Moments later they were walking out of the coffeehouse. “We’ll go in my car and I’ll bring you back here afterward to get yours,” Wesley said, as they stepped into the parking lot.

Jasmine nodded as he led her toward his car. Tonight he was driving the Corvette again.

He unlocked the passenger car door for her and she slipped into the smooth leather seat. She immediately tugged her skirt down when she noted his gaze drifted to her exposed thighs and legs.

“Thanks and you can close the door now,” she said, when he continued to stand there.

“All right,” he said, meeting her gaze once more before closing the door. He rounded the hood and opened the driver’s door to get in. “So how long have you lived in Savannah?”

She glanced over at him. “For eight years, ever since college. I came here to attend Savannah State and my father decided to accept a position at the hospital to be near me.”

Wesley nodded. “Dr. James Carmody, head of orthopedics?” When he’d first found out her name, he had wondered if she was related to the doctor. Carmody wasn’t a common name in these parts.

She raised a brow. “Yes, you know him?”

“We’ve met,” Wesley said, backing up the car and heading toward the expressway. “We’ve run into each other at several social functions.” He glanced over at her. “I’ve also met your mother and your sisters before but I never knew the doctor had a third daughter.”

Jasmine turned and met his gaze when she again remembered the conversation she’d had with her stepmother earlier. “You met my stepmother and stepsisters . Biologically, I’m my father’s only child and although he’s never legally adopted my stepsisters, they find it very convenient to use my father’s last name.”

Wesley nodded and remembered the woman in the locket was not the woman he’d met who’d tried throwing her two daughters at him. Evidently there was no love lost between Jasmine, her stepmother and stepsisters, Wesley thought, as he kept his gaze on the road. He decided to file that information away just in case he needed to use it later.

“So where are you from originally?” he decided to ask her.

“I was born in Louisiana and lived there until my mother died when I was nine. The memories of my mother’s death were too much for my father, so he transferred to a hospital in L.A. It was there that he met my stepmother and they married when I turned sixteen.”

Jasmine didn’t ask him about his background since she’d heard the story already. Although he hadn’t had a family to call his own in the past, he definitely had one now with the Danforths. They claimed him as part of their family and according to Ronnie, the Danforths were very protective of him…just as much as he was of them.

The conversation between them came to an end. In a way she preferred the silence and took a moment to appreciate the night. There were stars in the sky and a full moon overhead and since they were close to the Atlantic coast, she could smell the ocean, and with the window down she could pick up the scent of the wildflowers in bloom. Spring was her most favorite time of the year.

It was a beautiful night, and a part of her was grateful to Wesley for taking her away…even if he had an ulterior motive in doing so. She smiled. Tonight he intended to pick her brain instead of letting her pick someone else’s.

“The fair doesn’t look crowded,” Wesley said, breaking into Jasmine’s thoughts when they had reached the fair grounds.

As he pulled into a parking space she immediately picked up the scent of hot dogs, cooked onions and popcorn. “Probably because tomorrow is a school day. They must get most of their business on the weekends.”