“I thought you liked the little thing I do with my hips,” she purred in a deep voice before sucking one of my nipples between her teeth and releasing it. “I can stop doing it if you’d like.”
“I can think of much worse ways to die, kitten.”
“Seriously, what’s on your mind?” She sat up and turned her body to face me, pulling the sheet across her chest. “When you came home”—she paused and momentarily averted her eyes—“Imean, into the apartment, you looked like you were carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
“Then I took one look at you, and I couldn’t think about anything else.” I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her onto my chest.
“Very smooth, Derek, but I know that there’s something bothering you.” She let out a sigh. “It might be the same thing that’s bothering me.”
“Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you”—I planted a kiss on the top of her head—“and I’ll tell you if you’re right.”
“Nuh-uh, Derek.” She chuckled and folded her arms over my chest so she could rest her chin on them to face me. “If I confide in you, you have to promise to confide in me.” She raised an eyebrow.
“I promise.” I nodded.
“And I need another promise.” Her playful expression faded, and her gaze grew intense. “What I tell you can’t leave this bedroom.” She paused, still gazing at me, and I nodded again. “Eleanor told me this in confidence, and I couldn’t bear for her to think that I betrayed her trust.”
“You have my word, kitten.” I smiled at her. “Tell me.”
“Well, I know that you know that town’s founding was connected to the Tulsa Massacre.”
“How did you—” I began.
“Eleanor asked me if you’d told me how the town was founded.”
“Ah.” I nodded. “I was planning to talk to you about it, but I couldn’t find the right moment.”
“I get it.” She hit me with a sardonic smirk. “Is there ever a good time to bring up a horrific mass murder?”
“No.” I smoothed my palm over the soft skin of her back. “There isn’t. Is that what’s bothering you, the connection to Tulsa?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “But it’s not just that. Miller’s Cove is special for a lot of reasons, and not just the people. John William Pike’s berries have the potential to make millions, maybe even billions. It could make my career, but it makes me sick to think about it. The more time I spend here, the more conflicted I am about the reason I came. I know what I have to do, but I’m not sure if I can.”
We lay together in silence, just holding each other, while Jasmine’s words hung in the air like a heavy weight.
“Derek.” She broke the silence. “It’s your turn.”
I let out a deep sigh before I responded.
“Baby, I feel the exact same way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jasmine
The following morning, I sent Cassie an email letting her know that I needed more time to work on my proposal for Miller’s Cove. What I really needed was more time to figure out how to protect Miller’s Cove from Edward Mason.
I conveniently neglected to connect Derek to MasonCorp because the fact that Derek would be a huge obstacle in whatever plan I devised was something I didn’t want to think about. Especially because Derek and I had been getting even closer in the past week. We’d both agreed that we were conflicted about Miller’s Cove, based on its newly shared history, but neither of us confessed what we planned to do about it. In my case, it was because I didn’t have a plan, not exactly, but I couldn’t be sure that Derek was planning to throw away his career for a small Southern town no one had heard of.
It helped that most of our alone time together didn’t involve much talking. After we confided in each other, when we did talk,we purposefully avoided talking about the project, our future, or the rift between our parents, our past. We’d resolved to stay decidedly and blissfully rooted in the present. We’d been spending a lot more time with David and Eleanor, falling into an easy routine while keeping up the ruse of being doting newlyweds. It was a ruse that felt more and more real as time went on.
“So what exactly happens at a Founders’ Day picnic?” Derek climbed into bed behind me while I was sitting up and typing on my laptop. He snaked his arms around my waist and planted a kiss on my neck, making a moan escape my lips.
“Well”—I shut my laptop and handed it to him to place on the nightstand—“it’s like a giant cookout, but everyone gets dressed up. There are games for the kids. The local businesses sponsor booths. There’s a petting zoo.”
“A petting zoo?” Derek whispered in my ear. “Now see, you should have started with that. I’m in.”
“You are so silly.” I giggled and slapped him on the thigh. “And it’s all to commemorate the anniversary of the town’s founding in August 1922 by John William Pike, Donald Hodge, and Joseph Walker.”
