"Mmm," I murmured absently, holding it out of her reach as I read what she had written. Something about the allure of forbidden things.
"Give it back," she ordered me.
I sided a glance at her. "Say please.”
Jasmine narrowed her eyes at me again but her lips carried a hint of a smile. "Never," she replied.
We both grinned at each other then and I gave her back the note.
"What're you working on?" I asked curiously.
"Secret project," she answered, folding the receipt and tucking it inside her purse.
I let out a dramatic sigh. "You used to let me take a look at every one of your drafts remember? I was basically your proofreader."
She shrugged. "You were my husband," was her flippant reply. "It came with the territory."
It didn't hurt. At all. The fact that our marriage was something of the past. Our marriage which had more or less been forced during those circumstances when she had been so painfully in love with someone else. It should never have happened like that. I should have found another way to make her love me instead of trying to possess her.
I circled a finger around the rim of my glass. "You didn't have to leave Milan, you know," I said to her gently. "I would've respected your wishes and stayed away from you. For a while."
She rubbed her arms slowly, looking away from me. "No. I had to. Because of Jasper. His continuous friendship with me wouldn't help with the Skye situation." She sighed deeply, a sadness creeping up on her face. "I miss him, Aaru. I miss my best friend."
I reached out to rub a hand over her shoulder. "I understand."
She gave a bitter laugh. "The guy refuses to stop talking to me. I try my best not to respond but...we were so close...we shared so much together during our time in Ireland." Jasmine bowed her head. "It's just hard letting go."
I frowned at her a little. "Has he told you that Skye and him aren't together? He's with Cole. They drop by sometimes or invite me over instead. We even did a BBQ last weekend. They seem happy."
She shrugged. "Maybe they need more time. Skye was more hurt than Cole so it might take her longer to take Jasper back."
Nodding, I drank some of my tonic water. "You're probably right. We should leave them to it. We've already meddled enough in their relationship."
It was a shame I had to live with for the rest of my life. But I had paid for it greatly. I'd had my heart ripped out of my chest when I had realised Jasmine wasn't coming back to me. I'd brought it all on myself by pushing Jasper towards her thinking there could never be more than sex between them. Boy had I been wrong.
"Yeah," she agreed quietly and bit her lip. "I'd be able to rest easy if Skye and Jasper worked things out and went back to being how they were." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I never should've done what I did. It broke everyone."
My hand moved to cover hers, my thumb rubbing over her warm skin. "It's in the past now. You did whatever you could to try and fix it. The rest is up to them."
She removed her hand from mine and drank some more of her cocktail leaving me to think of all the changes we had gone through over the years and most especially, over the past few months. How, at the end of it all, we'd found our way back to each other. I also pondered on her words and wondered about Jasper, Cole and Skye. How they genuinely seemed happy, all three of them doting on Jacob. The little guy called me 'Aaru' now and actually liked my company.
"You know, sometimes, even if things don't work out the way you hoped, you kind of learn that it's for the best." I smiled a little to myself. "Relationships turn into friendships and vice versa. Change isn't always bad. For some people, it takes going through a lot of pain to realise what they really need in order to be happy."
She was silent and when I glanced at her, I found her watching me. Intently. Her gorgeous dark eyes pinned me to the spot, making me all hot and bothered as usual.
"You sound very mature," she observed huskily, resting her chin on one hand and giving me all her attention.
I shrugged. "I'd say I've matured a lot these past couple of months."
"Hmm." Jasmine looked me over again, in an extremely sexual way this time. My mouth went dry and I swallowed a little. "I would like to test that theory," she finally told me.
My cock hardened just from the hot look she was giving me and if she kept it up, I was afraid I might come in my pants. But she wanted to see maturity. I would show her.
"Wanna take a walk with me?" I purred and she smiled and flicked her eyebrows to indicate that she was interested in way more than a walk.
....
We found a palm tree. It was good enough. I stood behind her as she braced against it, her heat making me yearn for her touch.
"You look so fucking sexy right now," I mentioned in her ear, making her arch her neck to give me access to her throat.
I kissed and licked my way down her throat, making her breathing grow harsh. She instinctively rubbed her ass against my crotch and I slid my hands under that short dress to knead her bottom.
"What you need, Jasmine Khan, is a hot, hard fucking," I told her roughly. "You seem a little too eager to have my dick inside you."
She let out a moan at my words, arching her back this time and
