She walked in the room and gasped. The guys had unpacked everything and it looked so good. They’d even put proper books together. She only found a few were out of place. She walked back into the living room, where they were sitting and gave Derek a huge hug, which surprised him.
“Thank you so much for putting all the books up, I know it must’ve been a bit of a pain, since I have so many of them,” she gushed at him.
“You’re welcome. I wanted you to start feeling at home. I know this house is a little intimidating,” he said with a shrug.
“It was very sweet of you,” she said with a smile.
“Hey we helped to, where’s our hugs,” Ryan said with a wicked grin. She went over and hugged both him and Drew. Derek glared at his cousins, as they held on a little bit too long to be appropriate. He knew his cousins would never actually try and take his woman but he also knew the men liked to raise his blood pressure and they were doing a fine job.
“I can’t wait to go shopping at all the used book stores and fill those shelves up,” she said eagerly.
“I bet you have them filled up within a week and then will have us over here building you more shelves,” Drew said. Jasmine had always been an avid reader in school. She never went anywhere without at least one book in her bag, for just in case she ended up stuck somewhere. If she had a book, she had a constant form of entertainment.
“I can’t wait to get one of those super cushiony couches so I can go in there and fall asleep with a good book,” she said a bit dreamily.
“Oh Cuz, it looks like you’re getting replaced by a good couch and some book hero,” Ryan teased him.
“You’re both about to be booted out without dinner,” Derek threatened them. They knew he was all talk and they didn’t look the least bit concerned.
The timer on the oven went off and the men immediately headed for the dining room. Luckily Derek had a huge table already and there was plenty of room for all of them. She had the men carry the dishes to the table and then watched in amazement, as everything she made disappeared in no time at all.
“This is good, Mom,” Jacob said. The men quickly agreed with him, in between bites. She felt pretty great, because the kitchen was a dream to cook in and her company had enjoyed her meal.
“Seriously you should open a restaurant,” Drew told her.
“I would never want to do that, because then it would be work and no longer a joy and right now I love to cook, especially when it’s for people who like it,” she answered him.
“Well I can come over every night, so you have an audience,” Ryan offered.
“Anytime you want,” she said, meaning it. She really did care about both of Derek’s cousins and was so glad to have them in her life again. It was like everything had come full circle. Maybe it was time to let the past go and focus on the here and now. Derek was an amazing father and he was being good to her.
She had to be careful with her heart though, because he’d already told her they would only be together long enough for their son to grow up. If she got too attached, it would destroy her when she was kicked from her home and her life.
“When’s the wedding?” Drew said, after they finished off their dessert. Jasmine looked at Derek, because they’d never discussed a time frame.
“I wanted to get settled into the house first so I think in about a month. That would give you enough time right, Jasmine?” Derek asked, putting all the pressure on her.
“That’s plenty of time,” she answered him, feeling a bit of her panic come back.
“Well then it’s settled. We will get married four weeks from today. A Saturday is always a good one to do it on right?” he asked her once again.
“That would be fine but honestly it doesn’t need to be anything fancy. We can just go to the justice of the peace or something. Jacob could still wear a tuxedo there,” she pleaded. She didn’t need to keep adding more memories that would hurt all the more when things were completely over.
“You can’t get married like that. This is your wedding. You’ll want pictures and cake and of course your guests all want food,” Drew said, which surprised her. He was the known playboy and he was talking about a wedding. It didn’t seem to fit.
“Don’t worry, we’re having a real wedding,” Derek said and then almost glared at her; like he was offended she’d even mentioned doing it any other way.
“I was just trying to make things simpler,” she said guiltily.
“We better head out, I’m leaving for a business trip tomorrow,” Drew said, as he stood up. “Thank you for the amazing meal Jasmine, I can’t wait to get back for some more,” he told her and then bent down to kiss her goodbye.
“Yes, thank you so much, everything was great. It was awesome to meet you young man and we will be back to teach you some more bad habits,” Ryan added and gave Jacob a hug.
Derek walked them to the door and then the house suddenly seemed so much emptier without them in it. They had a way of bringing life wherever they were. She figured some things never changed.
They were all tired and took Jacob to his room. They both took turns reading him his story and then left the room. Jasmine had been so tired the night before she’d fallen asleep with Jacob while she read him a story. She realized she had no idea where she was supposed to sleep.
She stepped out into the hallway and was unsure which direction to go. “Problems?” Derek asked, not making things easier on her.
“I just don’t know which room I’m sleeping in. I’ve been so busy, I haven’t even had time to explore where everything has been placed,” she said.
“I thought you knew where the master bedroom was,” he said as he continued to stare at her. She looked at him like a deer in a headlight. She wasn’t ready to fall back into bed with him but they’d been getting along and she didn’t want the truce to end. She didn’t know what to do.
Derek grabbed her by the arms and kissed her mindlessly, as he molded their bodies together. He had her breathing heavily and her mind a complete blank. She could so easily cave into her own needs and his as well.
He let her go just as suddenly as he had grabbed her and glared down at her. “I have never had to force a woman to be with me and I’m not forcing you. You take the master room and I will take one of the guest rooms, for now. You’ll beg me to join you soon, though,” he said with an arrogance that had her teeth grinding together.
“I wouldn’t hold your breath,” she stormed and then walked away from him and shut the door in his face. Derek thought about going after her for about a minute, before he realized that would just end up with them in bed again, with nothing solved.
He could bide his time for a little while longer but if she didn’t come to him soon then he’d implode. He strode to the far end of the hall and walked into the only other room with a bed in it. He jumped in the shower and froze his erection away, before climbing into her small bed. He laid there for hours, picturing her in his huge four poster, king sized bed, which made him hard and miserable again. It didn’t help at all with her scent seeming to be soaked into the bed and surrounding him. He groaned as he tossed and turned.
They had to come to an understanding before too long, or he wasn’t going to make it. His body just couldn’t take the pain.
Jasmine slept unbelievably well. She felt a tiny bit of guilt over taking Derek’s bed but what a bed it was. It was huge and comfortable and the sheets and covers were soft and silky. She had laid down, thinking she’d be awake for hours but the next thing she knew it was morning. She stretched out her arms and realized she had no aches anywhere. She was thinking she should’ve bought a bed like this years ago.
She took a long shower in the master bathroom and was delighted when four different heads all applied varying amounts of pressure over her body. She stayed in there for about an hour and the hot water never ran out. She couldn’t wait to try out the deep tub with the jets.
Jasmine came down the stairs to find Jacob and Derek sitting at the table, eating some cereal. Jacob was his usual talkative self, sputtering about his new room and how he couldn’t wait to have his friends over. She smiled to see her son so happy and excited.
Derek looked up at her and she almost gasped out loud at how rumpled he looked. He had dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn’t slept at all and his clothing was even wrinkled. She didn’t know what to say, considering she’d slept better than she ever had in his comfortable bed, while he looked like he had tossed and turned the entire night.
“Good morning,” she finally said, almost singing the words, she felt so good. Derek said nothing; it was more of a grumble. She had to fight the laughter. He was even gorgeous grumpy, rumpled and snarling.
She cleaned up their breakfast mess, enjoying the high tech appliances in the kitchen. She wanted to get more groceries so she could do a bunch of baking. She couldn’t wait to smell the sweetness of pumpkin bread scenting the house.
“We should leave soon, I want to go to the furniture store, so we can fill up this place,” Derek finally said. He was on his second cup of coffee and seemed to be looking a little bit more alert.
“That sounds like fun,” Jasmine said. She really wasn’t all that interested in furniture shopping. She’d rather get groceries or books but she didn’t think it was a good time to mention that, not in his current mood.
“I’m going to go change, it looks like you’re ready so give me about a half hour and we’ll take off,” he said, as he practically stomped out of the kitchen.
Derek came down the stairs, still with dark circles but looking as gorgeous as ever in what he considered as his casual clothes. He was wearing dark slacks and a white button down shirt. He looked unbelievably good and it took everything in her not to run her hands up his body.
Jasmine and Jacob followed him out to the SUV and soon they were off towards town. He pulled the car off the road and parked near a huge furniture store. The building had to be at least three stories high. She got out and started to follow them towards the doors, when she spotted a second hand book store a few doors down. It was huge and calling her name.
“Can I meet you guys in the furniture store?” she asked. He raised his brows in question. “There’s a book store over there I want to check out. I should only be a few minutes,” she almost pleaded.
“You don’t need to buy used books. I can buy you whatever you want, new,” he said, perplexed that she’d want to buy second hand books.
“Oh no, there are treasures in there, Derek. You can find autographed copies and discontinued books. You can find original covers and ancient copies. It’s a total treasure hunt in a used book store,” she explained to him, with genuine excitement pouring out of her.
“If you really want too…” he said, like he couldn’t imagine the excitement.
“Perfect. Go ahead and pick out whatever you want for the house. Just leave the library for last please. Oh and please don’t get anything that is black, or any brown fabric and I really don’t like leather because makes you sweaty when you sit on it. Other than that I don’t care how we furnish,” she said in one breath. She really wanted to get to that store. Derek nodded to her and she turned and rushed through the book store’s doors.