The Danforths: Wesley, Ian & Imogene: Scandal Between the Sheets / The Boss Man's Fortune / Challenged by the Sheikh. Brenda Jackson
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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.”
Wesley grinned. “That’s good since it means no long lines.” He turned off the car’s ignition and turned to her. “Come on, let’s have fun.”
Four hours later an exhausted Jasmine felt tired and drained as they made it back to Wesley’s car. She had never realized that having fun could sap a person of all their energy.
“Are you sure it will be all right for my car to stay at the coffeehouse all night? I’d hate to return in the morning to find it’s been towed away,” she was barely able to get out the words she felt so worn out. All she could do was slip into the car when he opened the door. Moments later when she heard the sound of the ignition, she decided to relax with her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. There was no way she could drive home tonight and appreciated Wesley for offering to take her directly home.
“I’m positive since the coffeehouse stays open all night. I’ll call Ian when I get home to let him know it’s there.”
“Thanks, and thanks for tonight. I had so much fun and the roller-coaster ride was wonderful. I really needed to scream.”
He raised a brow as he lowered the volume on the CD player. “You needed to scream?”
A smile touched her lips. “Yes. My stepmother got on my last nerve earlier today and I’ve been wanting to scream ever since.”
Suddenly Wesley’s body ached at the thought of another method he could have used to make her scream. He had been too aware of Jasmine tonight. And he was even more aware of her now. Even the sound of her breathing as she sat next to him with her eyes close and her head thrown back, was a total turn-on. His hands tightened on the steering wheel when he remembered how she’d all but jumped into his lap during the ride through the haunted house. She had felt so good in his arms.
“You got a busy day tomorrow?” he asked.
When he came to a traffic light, he watched as she slowly moved her head and opened her eyes to look at him. “I don’t have to go into the office but I have a number of personal chores and errands to do. So I’d appreciate it if you let the shadow thing rest for a day.”
He chuckled as he moved his gaze back to the road when the traffic light changed. The thought of not seeing her tomorrow bothered him more than it should have. “I’ll think about it. Besides, you’ll need me to take you to the coffeehouse tomorrow to get your car.”
“No, thanks. I can manage. I’ll just ask Ronnie to take me.”
His gaze flickered back to her for a quick moment. “Ronnie?”
“Yes, Veronica Strongman, a co-worker and good friend.”
Wesley released a deep breath, one he wasn’t aware that he’d been holding. At first he had assumed Ronnie was a male and he didn’t want to acknowledge the quick stab of jealousy at the thought she was involved with someone. But did she have a man in her life? It was something he’d wondered about since meeting her. Now was as good a time as any to find out.
“What about your boyfriend? Can’t he take you to pick it up?”
She chuckled like the question had amused her. “That’s not a possibility since I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t believe in dating.”
She’d said the words with such a firm conviction that Wesley immediately believed her. “Why don’t you believe in dating?” he asked more than mildly curious.
“Mainly to keep peace in my family since it seems my stepsisters have a tendency to want anything I have, and they have proven in the past that a boyfriend is no different.”
He was glad the car had come to a complete stop for a train so he could look over at her. “One of your sisters took your boyfriend?”
Even as tired as she was, Jasmine couldn’t help but grin at the look of shock on Wesley’s face. “Yes, they’ve done so a couple of times, although now as I look back, they were doing me favors. Especially with one man I had planned to marry by the name of Paul Sanders. But still, it was just the principle of the thing.”
Wesley shook his head. Evidently, in addition to there not being any love lost between Jasmine and her stepsisters, there wasn’t any loyalty, either. “But why would they do something like that?”
“Because neither of them feel I’m deserving of anything, especially a little love and happiness.” She wondered why she was even sharing this information with Wesley. She was obviously more tired than she had thought to be talking so freely about an issue that had caused her such pain two years ago. The only other person who knew about the strained relationship between her stepmother and stepsisters was Ronnie.
“Why didn’t you tell your stepmother so she—”
Jasmine cut off his question with outright laughter. “She’s the one who orchestrated the entire thing. My fiancé was an attorney and we had set a date to marry. It had really bothered my stepmother from the first that Paul had shown interest in me and not her darling daughters. One day I left to go out of town and she arranged for me to