“You know me well,” she said with a laugh. “Of course, I will make something good. I have to make sure these boys get plenty of nourishment.” She could see he was trying to work up the courage to ask her out again and after her afternoon with Derek she had no desire for that date. She made her excuses and hurried off.
She really liked Chuck. He was a phenomenal coach but she wasn’t attracted to him. It was really too bad because he was such a great guy. She may have to get over herself and go on the date.
“It sounds like you’re going to have a very busy weekend,” she said to Jacob as they drove toward home.
“I know. I can’t wait for the party. Trevor said he was having an ice cream cake,” Jacob said, practically bouncing in his seat.
“Just remember you’re wrestling the next day so if you eat too much junk food you’ll get sick at your meet and throw up all over your opponents.”
“That would be so cool,” he exclaimed. Jasmine shook her head, really not understanding boys sometimes. She realized she had to let some things go.
“Okay, remember I warned you when you’re feeling sick come Saturday morning,” she said with her mom’s knowing grin. Jacob rolled his eyes but remained silent.
They arrived home and she made them both a good dinner and then tossed him a ball in the back yard. She loved when the weather cooperated and she could spend time outdoors with her son. Even though Seattle was a terrific city, sometimes the rain was a bit much.
She needed to save up some funds and take Jacob on a vacation in the winter, to get away from the dark skies. It got to be too much at times and she’d find herself starting to get slightly depressed. That wasn’t fair to Jacob or her.
She tossed the ball with him until they couldn’t see anymore and then finally headed in so he could take a shower and get ready for bed. She was dreading going into the office the next day but she’d do with her head held high.
Chapter Six
Jasmine walked through those doors once again and slowly made her way toward the elevator. She considered taking the stairs, just to delay the inevitable but she didn’t think she’d be able to breathe by the time she hit the twenty-fifth floor.
At least it was Friday. She could make it through one more day. The last couple had been filled with unbelievable sexual tension, for her at least. She didn’t think Derek had thought about their time on his table since he’d pulled up his pants. He barely even looked at her. She was trying to convince herself that was a good thing.
She lectured herself all the way to the top of the building. She could get through one more day. They were down to their last few files and then he’d most likely return to the head office and she could relax.
The bell on the elevator rang, which made her jump. The door’s opened and she walked out like she was on the green mile, walking her final steps to the execution room. She didn’t even bother going into her office. She knew the second she sat down, Derek would buzz her and demand she get to his office.
The strap of her bag slipped down her shoulder and her hands were full of coffee, so she could do nothing about it. She stepped into Derek’s office and sighed. Of course he was there, ahead of her. The man never slept late, or showed up even two minutes past seven in the morning.
She was used to being the first one to work but it was impossible with him around. She couldn’t leave any earlier, since she had to get her son sent off to school. She set the extra coffee cup down in front of him and then took her place in front of the much smaller pile of personnel folders.
“Thanks,” Derek muttered, as he grabbed the cup, without so much as looking up. She had only brought him one, because the other day she’d come in with a large Carmel macchiato and he’d thrown down a fifty and told her to bring him one too, since she was stopping anyway.
He hadn’t bothered to ask her if it would be inconvenient, hadn’t bothered to ask period, he had just assumed she’d do it for him. It hadn’t been a battle worth fighting, so she just picked him up the coffee. It wasn’t like she had to go out of her way. Besides, he was now paying for hers too and the morning boosts weren’t cheap.
She seriously would live off the coffees and nothing else, if she could get away with it. She had done that a couple different days and by the end, she was shaking all over but her house had gotten incredibly clean.
“We have a couple more interviews to do today, with the last of the previous employee’s. I want you to go through the applications that have come in over the week and weed through them. Find the best candidates and schedule them for next week to come in for interviews. We need to get those positions filled as soon as possible,” Derek said, as he finally looked up.
Unfortunately for her, when he looked up, she was busy staring at his body in inappropriate places. His brows rose and she couldn’t stop the deep flush that stained her cheeks. She turned away from him, praying he’d just pretend it hadn’t happened.
She needed to get out of his office, because every time she looked at the table, she pictured herself sitting there with him between her thighs. She nodded her head and then pretended to be engrossed with the file in front of her.
Derek could feel himself tightening the second Jasmine walked into the room. No matter how subtle her scent was, he could pick it out, even if she was in a room surrounded by over scented socialites. He’d grown to crave her scent and wanted to bury his head in her shoulder and just draw the smell of her in. He wanted to bury himself in many other areas of her body as well.
When he looked up to see her eyes on the very body part he wanted to sink into her It took all of his many years of tightly reined in control not to grab her and have a repeat performance like the one earlier in the week. He found himself actually gripping the desk to keep from walking to her.
They called in the last four employees and only kept one of them on. The last interview wasn’t going well. “I appreciate your years of service with the former Freeman Corporation but Titan industries has a different vision of the future and I don’t think we will make a good fit together,” Derek said, calmly and professionally.
“You sorry bastard, you come in here with your corporate take-over and replace most of the people without even blinking. You’ll get what is coming to you,” the man shouted. He was so angry, there was spit flying out of his mouth. He stood up like he was going to come over and deck Derek. Derek stood up to his full height and narrowed his gaze at the man.