Jasmine Read online

  He pulled to a stop in front of the restaurant and hurried around the wagon to help Jasmine down. “Have you eaten here before?” There weren’t many places to eat a meal outside of a person’s own home there, so he was happy to have the money to take her somewhere nice.

  She nodded. “Mama and I ate here when we came out for Daisy’s wedding, and I’ve eaten here several times since I came to live here.”

  He looked at her in surprise. “I thought Daisy was a mail order bride. Why did you come for her wedding?” Who had heard of anyone traveling with a mail order bride?

  Jasmine shook her head. “Mama was in a panic that Daisy was going to get out here and her fiancé was going to hurt her or something. I guess? I don’t know. I just know I was told that Daisy had agreed to be a mail order bride and I was expected to come out here and watch her marry.” Jasmine knew it was strange, but she didn’t care. She’d been an obedient daughter. For a change.

  “That’s really odd.” Lee wasn’t certain how he’d have felt about his bride showing up with her mother and sister in tow if he’d been Eli.

  “Mama is…overprotective to say the least. She loves us so much that she’s worried something terrible will happen to us. We love her for it.”

  They took the table in the corner they were shown to and looked at their menus. There wasn’t a lot to choose from, so she settled on roast beef. When she’d made her decision she set the menu down and looked over at him. It was nice to be allowed to just look at him and not be considered rude. She’d wanted to stare at him in church for months.

  After he put his menu down, he took her hand in his. “Are you really willing to marry me if your aunt says it’s okay?” He couldn’t believe he’d found a woman who was not only beautiful but willing to take on his two rambunctious sons. Was it really possible?

  Jasmine nodded happily. “I can think of nothing I’d like more!”

  Lee smiled. “I can’t believe you’re willing to take my boys on.”

  “They remind me so much of myself when I was younger. Really, I think we’ll get along just fine.” Besides with as much as the boys liked her, they were bound to be good for her, right? She couldn’t imagine anything less from those sweethearts.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re willing. That’s all I can say.” He brought one of her hands to his lips. He was glad she was willing in other ways as well, but until she understood what he was talking about, he wasn’t going to say anything about it. His eyes dropped to her lips and he thought about how much he enjoyed having them pressed to his.

  “I’m just glad you think that I’m good enough to help raise them.” She looked down at her hand where it rested on the table. “I like the idea of being their mother and your wife.”

  He smiled at her. “I like the idea of you being my wife as well.” He brought her hand to his lips to kiss it softly, thinking about how nice it would be when he could kiss her in other places.

  “There’s nothing in your past that will keep my aunt from letting us marry is there?” She wanted to know now before she got too excited about marrying him.

  He looked at her in surprise. Her constant subject changes were disconcerting. “How would she know about my past?” he asked. The waitress came then, and they gave their orders before she wandered off.

  Jasmine looked at him. “She’s going to investigate you, of course.” Didn’t everyone have an aunt who investigated potential spouses? She certainly thought it was normal, but maybe that was just her family.

  He’d just taken a sip of his water when she said those words, and he choked a bit as the water went down wrong. “Investigate me?”

  “Sure. She does that to all our suitors.” Jasmine shrugged as if it was a perfectly normal thing because to her it was.

  Lee shook his head, surprised she could act like it was the most normal thing in the world to have an aunt who investigated potential grooms. “Does that bother you?”

  Jasmine shrugged. “Not really. She loves us, so she wants to make sure we don’t end up married to men who will beat us or run around with other women while we’re home with the children.”

  He stared at her in amazement. At times she seemed so innocent, and at others, she seemed to know everything that had ever happened in the world. “No, she won’t find anything in my past.” Unless she found out that his first wife had hated him, herself, and their boys. Of course, that wasn’t something he’d done wrong, was it? He refused to think about that while he was with her. He’d spent enough hours worrying that he’d been a horrible husband that he didn’t need to do it again now.

  “Oh good! Well, it shouldn’t take her terribly long to determine that. She probably started as soon as we got home from church today.” She smiled. “Have you lived in Montana your whole life?” Aunt Harriett would find it so much easier to investigate him if he had.

  Lee was once again baffled at her subject change, but went along with it. He wasn’t certain what else he should do. “I’ve been here since I was ten. My parents moved here when I was a boy.”

  Aunt Harriett wouldn’t care about anything that had happened before he was ten. “And the boys’ mother? What was her name?”

  He took another sip of water before he talked about Gloria. He didn’t want to be negative about his ex-wife, but he’d have to choose his words carefully to avoid that. “Gloria Sturgeon. She was from this area as well. We were childhood sweethearts. I asked her to marry me right before we graduated, and she said ‘yes.’ We waited for two years before we got married, though.”

  Jasmine shook her head. “Two years? I can’t imagine waiting that long before we get to be alone together and touch each other.” She wanted to touch him right then. She wondered if he’d let her. Maybe she should ask.

  He shook his head in surprise at her words again, but went on. “I thought it was too long as well, but she felt like we should wait.” He took a bite of his steak. After he finished chewing, he continued. “We had the boys within a year of getting married. I’m not sure if she was ready to be a mother yet.”

  She shrugged. “You shouldn’t marry if you’re not ready to be a mother. Why would anyone do that?” What was wrong with his wife? She couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to hurry and marry Lee or not wanting to have children.

  Lee smiled as he took another bite. Her thoughts were so in line with his, that he didn’t know how to express it. “I don’t know. I think that’s a big part of the reason she wanted to wait two years to get married as well. She wanted to wait a while before the children came.”

  “Did you love her?” Jasmine asked, knowing it wasn’t a tactful question, but she’d never been tactful.

  He considered the question for a moment. Had he loved Gloria? He thought he had…once. “I don’t know. I thought I did.”

  She nodded as she took another bite of her food. “Sometimes it’s hard to know for sure, I think.” She knew though. She looked at Lee, and she knew she was going to spend the rest of her life with him and give him more babies. The first time she’d seen him, she’d known he was the only man for her. The church had been crowded, and she hadn’t even had a chance to meet him that day, but she’d seen him with his boys, and she’d known.

  “I love my boys. I don’t regret marrying her, if that’s what you’re asking. Without her, I never would have had two boys whom I love with all my heart.” He wished he’d waited a little longer to have them. Until he’d known the woman he’d married better, but it wasn’t something he could change.

  She thought about his words as she ate silently. “Are you going to kiss me again tonight?” she asked.

  Lee’s heart jumped into his throat at her words, and he looked down at her lips, which were shiny from her food. “I’d like to if you don’t mind.” He couldn’t wait to kiss her again.

  Jasmine smiled happily. “Oh, I’d like that too. I really like kissing.” Was she supposed to tell him that? Did it matter? She had never been one to do what she was supposed to do…

&nb
sp; He choked again, wondering if she had any clue that she wasn’t supposed to just blurt out things like that. “You do, do you?”

  “Oh yes. It feels good. Makes me feel all tingly.” She sipped her water. “I like the kisses with tongue better than just lips, of course, but I’ll take either one. I’m not too terribly picky.”

  Lee stared at her for a moment, wondering if she would always talk this way, just announcing whatever she was feeling. “Where does it make you tingle?” he asked, wondering how far she’d take the conversation.

  “Everywhere! From the top of my head to the tips of my toes.” She leaned forward and looked around to see if anyone was listening. “It even made me tingle between my legs.”

  He grinned, unable to control it that time. “I like knowing that,” he whispered. “It’s not proper for you to tell me, though.”

  Jasmine sighed and leaned back in her chair. “It’s something you need to know, and besides, if you haven’t figured it out yet, you should know now. I’m rarely proper.” She shook her head sadly. “It’s one of my worst faults.”

  He laughed softly catching her hand in his. “It’s one of my favorite things about you.” His eyes traveled over her. “That and your red hair. I love your hair.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “In my dreams I’m always a tall statuesque blond with blue eyes. Would you pretend I’m blond?” Of her sisters, she wanted to be like Daisy, but she wanted to look like Rose.

  The confusion on his face was obvious. “No, because I like your red hair. It makes me happy.” He could imagine what it would be like when it was down, trailing across his bare skin.

  “I guess I’ll keep it red just for you then.”

  “You were thinking of changing it?” He’d heard women had ways of changing their hair color, but he didn’t know anyone who had actually done it.

  “It was just a thought.” Jasmine finished eating and set her fork down, leaning back in her chair. “Are you going to talk to my aunt and mother about marrying me tonight?” She knew she was pressing the issue, but she wanted to marry him before her mother went back home to Seattle.

  He nodded. “I’d like to. Do you think your aunt will have an answer yet?” He wasn’t certain of what the investigation into his background would be like. He felt strange sitting there eating dinner while someone was prying into the details of his life. He had nothing to hide, though.

  She shrugged. “Knowing my aunt, she’s had Eli on his horse all day taking messages to everyone Daisy and Eli can think of to make sure you’re not a killer or something.”

  Lee grinned at the picture of Eli running so many errands for her aunt. “Well, I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” He hoped she was right. An answer before he went home that night would be wonderful.

  He paid their bill and they left the restaurant. It was already getting dark out and that pleased Jasmine. “Can we stop on the way home and just kiss for a while?” she asked. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on him again. She’d never wanted to touch another human being in her life the way she wanted to touch Lee.

  Lee wasn’t even surprised by the question. He was becoming immune to being shocked by her. “I’d like that.”

  “Oh good!” She frowned. “We probably shouldn’t stop too close to Eli’s ranch, though, because I don’t want my family to see us. My mother would have a fit.” She giggled. “Mama yelled at Eli for kissing Daisy when we first got here. He didn’t even know who Mama was yet, but he knew Daisy was his bride.”

  He laughed as he helped her onto the wagon seat and walked around to climb up beside her. She immediately moved as close to him as she could, her breast brushing against his arm as he drove. “Are you cold? I have a blanket in the back that I keep for the boys.” He looked down at her as he offered, worried she was chilly in the April evening air.

  “Oh, no. I just like touching you.”

  He smiled as he navigated the other horses on the way out of town. “I like it when you touch me.”

  “You do? Really?” Jasmine was excited by the prospect. She wanted to ask him, but should she? She bit her lip. She’d been honest enough about her feelings. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, right? “Could I unbutton your shirt while we kiss then? I want to feel your skin.”

  “Jasmine! You really shouldn’t say things like that.” How had the girl stayed a virgin this long? He was certain her first kiss had been that day, but the way she acted, he had no clue how that had happened. He was glad she’d saved all her passion for him, though.

  She sighed. “I guess that’s a ‘no.’”

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and dropped a kiss atop her head now that they were out of town. “I’d like that a lot. The problem is, I’m afraid things may get out of hand.”

  “What do you mean?” What could get out of hand? She could touch him while they kissed, and then he would take her home to her sister’s house. Right?

  What was the best way to explain it to her? He certainly wasn’t going to be the one to explain the marriage bed to his future wife. That should be left to her mother. Or better yet, her sister. “When a couple kisses and touches each other’s bare flesh, it becomes hard for them to stop and not do things that are meant only to be done within marriage.” There. That hadn’t been so difficult.

  “Like what?” Jasmine had heard so many times that there were things she didn’t’ need to know until it was time for her to marry. Well, it was time for her to marry and someone needed to tell her. Lee sounded like the smart choice to her.

  Lee shook his head. “You need to ask your mother or your aunt. Or your sister. Ask Daisy.” He was happy to be the person to do certain things to her, but she could find out about them from someone else.

  “I’m asking you. If you’re going to be my husband, then you’re the one I’ll be doing these things with, right?” Her wide innocent eyes looked up at him hoping he’d agree to tell her.

  He refused to budge. “I’m not explaining it. Ask a married female.”

  She sighed. “Fine. But can I touch you like that tonight?” She thought he was just being difficult, but she wasn’t going to complain as long as he let her touch him like she wanted.

  “I don’t know if it’s a good idea,” he told her. Judging by the way the conversation was making him feel, he knew it wasn’t a good idea. His pants were already getting uncomfortably tight. He didn’t tell her that, though, because she wouldn’t know what it meant. After their marriage he might.

  “Please?”

  His future bride was begging to be allowed to touch his bare chest, and he was telling her ‘no?’ He deserved a medal. Made of gold with the world’s largest diamond right smack in the middle of it. “Jasmine, I’m not sure if I could stop it at that.”

  Jasmine shrugged. “I don’t care. I’m going to be married to you as soon as I can anyway.” She turned to him, trying to understand. “What would it matter?”

  He groaned softly. “It matters a lot. Maybe we shouldn’t kiss tonight, and I should just take you home.” He knew she didn’t understand, but she would soon.

  She sighed. “No, I won’t touch you. I promise.” She looked down at her hands folded in her lap and wished she understood why he was being so…grumpy about it.

  It was all he could do not to laugh at himself. She was so different than Gloria had been. Gloria had allowed one quick kiss at the end of an evening together, but there could be no tongue involved in the kiss. She preferred a kiss on the cheek. Even after they married, he was barely allowed to touch her unless the lights were off and they were under the covers, and even then she expected him to be quick about it and get business taken care of as quickly as possible. He knew with this one, if he shut the lights off, she’d get angry.

  He stopped about a mile from Eli’s house and pulled off to the side of the road. He turned to her on the seat and pulled her to him, his mouth joining with hers. The first kiss was shallow, just a meeting of mouths, and she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, pulli
ng him down for a more passionate kiss. Her tongue was the aggressor this time, moving into his mouth and stroking against the top of his mouth.

  He let out a groan and pulled her more firmly against him, wondering what she would do next to surprise him. He didn’t wonder when, because he knew the answer to that was very soon.

  She stroked his chest through the flannel of his shirt, desperately wanting to remove it. Jasmine didn’t know why, but she wanted to see his skin in the moonlight. She wanted to touch his bare chest and see if there was hair on it or if it was smooth. She’d promised not to unbutton his shirt, so she settled for moving her hand between the buttons and stroking his bare chest anyway. There was a light coating of hair there, and she sighed with contentment. “You feel nice,” she whispered against his lips.

  He turned more fully toward her on the seat, pulling her hips flush with his and her breasts up against the hard wall of his chest. His hand moved, almost of its own volition, to cup her breast in his hand. When she moaned against his lips, he sighed. “I shouldn’t be touching you this way.”

  She felt a throbbing between her legs that she wanted to stop, but she didn’t know how. She wanted to press it against something. All at once, she moved on the seat until she was atop his lap, straddling him, pressing her most secret place against him. There. That felt good. She wound her fingers through his hair, continuing the kiss as she rocked against him, wanting something, but not knowing what.

  “You feel so good,” she whispered in the darkness.

  Lee groaned as he felt her rocking her hips against his hardness. He’d only ever been with one woman, and he’d had no idea a woman could be this interested in sexual contact. Jasmine was a temptress, and he had to get her naked and under him as quickly as he could. He sent up a quick prayer that her aunt had asked all the questions she needed to ask to make a decision.

  Finally, he pushed her away, taking great gulps of air into his lungs. “Jasmine, I don’t think we should kiss again until after we marry,” he told her. He hated putting a stop to it, because he wanted to lay her down in the back of the wagon bed, but he knew they’d both regret it later. Well, he would anyway.