Yadiel stood on the chair Ashton had just vacated. “Is it the pretty lady who likes superheroes? Can I come too?”
Ashton caught him before he jumped off. “Of course, mijo. From now on, where I go, you go.”
Yadiel cheered.
“We’ll all go,” Ashton added, hoping Jasmine would recognize the magnitude of the gesture. He was willingly revealing his family to the world.
And also maybe using them as a shield so she couldn’t chew him out. She wouldn’t do that in front of a kid and three old people, right?
“¡Caramba!” Abuelita Bibi straightened and looked down at her purple sweat suit. “I can’t go to a party dressed like this!And Yadiel needs to look nice. We have to go back to the apartment to change.”
Ashton took charge then, sending them out the door and promising to meet them in an hour.
When the door shut behind them and quiet returned, he had a moment of clarity.
This was the last time it would be just him. After this, he’d have Yadiel with him full time, and sometimes his grandparents too.
He looked around at the empty, messy room, and felt like the luckiest guy in the world to have a kid who wanted to be around him.
And like the biggest idiot for letting his own misconceptions and fears ruin something good with the sweetest woman he’d ever met.
He grabbed his clothes and headed for the shower. Hopefully it wasn’t too late to fix things.
Chapter 38
Ava and Michelle were waiting outside the venue when Jasmine rolled up in an SUV. When the driver began to unload all her suitcases, her cousins immediately gave her the eye.
They at least had the decency to wait for the car to drive away before starting in on her.
Michelle spoke first. “All right, spill it. What’s up with the bags?”
Ava checked her watch. “And we don’t have time for you to give us the runaround so just tell us a straight answer the first time, ’kay?”
Jasmine blinked, feeling mildly taken aback. She was used to this level of directness from Michelle, but not Ava. They wanted an answer? Fine. She was owning her choices. Raising her chin, she said, “I’m going back to Los Angeles and rejoiningThe Glamour Squad.” Okay, so that wasn’t a done deal yet, but she was about 87 percent sure they’d take her back.
Ava’s eyes widened but Michelle’s narrowed.
“Shut. Up.” Michelle’s tone was flat with disbelief and a tinge of anger. “You’re moving back to LA? Just like that?” Herdark eyes flicked to the small mountain of suitcases. “Today? What, are you gonna leave directly from the party?”
That was exactly what Jasmine was planning to do, but she didn’t want to say so. Luckily, Ava jumped in.
“What about your Leading Lady Plan?” Ava sounded personally hurt by Jasmine’s decision to give up.
“I ripped it up.” Jasmine gave a nonchalant shrug. “Clearly wasn’t working out that well for me.”
Michelle rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. You loved working onCarmen. And you hate LA. You’re just too much of an actress to admit it. You’re going to trash all the progress you’ve made because things didn’t work out with a man? Really?”
“It’s not just that it didn’t work out.” Jasmine’s voice held a defensive edge, but she was too tired to soften it. “I can’t keep being intimate with Ashton on-screen while pretending I’m not in love with him. And when shit got hard, he disappeared. Everything related to this show is tied up in him, and the bottom line is, he didn’t trust me. I can’t keep working with someone like that.”
“Ah.” Michelle nodded sagely. “Point four on the Jasmine Scale.”
Ava’s voice was gentle. “Sweetie, is it so unreasonable that he didn’t tell you he had a son? It sounds like he was used to keeping that secret under wraps. And you...”
“Are a paparazzi magnet,” Michelle finished bluntly. “Now get inside, we have flower arrangements to prep.”
Between the three of them, they dragged Jasmine’s suitcases into the venue and set to work.
“How many magenta flowers again?” Michelle asked.
