* * * *
“So you really like Lopez?” Matt asked her seriously. She had convinced him to feed the ducks with her on her lunch break. She needed to get out of the store and enjoy the sun for a bit. The park was the only quiet place left in town. The noise of the carnival set up went on all day long. People were everywhere. She hadn’t seen Drake in three days and she was beginning to miss him but they had a date soon. She was doing her best not to jump in too quickly. She had done that with Grant.
“Yes.” She wasn’t going to lie. Matt had become a good friend to her, always listening to her concerns. He was a wise man and she valued his opinion. She told him all about her childhood and her problems with Grant. “But I’m also scared, Matt. What if I am only fooling myself by seeing the good in him? I don’t need another Grant in my life. I spent three years being everything I thought he wanted and he still cheated on me. I doubt Fiona was the first. I could never prove it so I convinced myself I was being insecure.”
“That is on his shoulders, sweetheart. He sounds like a shallow man who will always blame others for his fault. I work with Lopez and he is a good man. I know he plays around a lot but he never enters a relationship and makes false promises,” Matt assured her. “Get to know him and keep an open mind.”
Jasmine threw the last of the bread to the ducks. “I guess it’s my own insecurities I need to get rid of. I need to quit thinking of the past. I just never had anyone who had my back before. It’s kind of lonely and scary. At least when you were in war you had your company and you trusted them like brothers. They had your back.”
He looked at her with amusement. “You’re comparing war with dating?”
“It’s kind of the same thing. Men against women. Lies against honesty. One wins and one ends up with all the scars,” she insisted. It seemed logical to her way of thinking.
Matt hugged her. His big arms felt good around her. “I can be your brother, watch your back and all that good stuff.”
Jasmine looked up at him. He had a white jagged scar on his cheek. It stood out against his tan skin. His green eyes were very attractive. “You’re just an old softie, aren’t you?”
He laughed and ruffled her hair. “Don’t let my secret out. I like when people look scared of me. Makes my job so much easier.”
Jasmine shook her head with amusement and they headed back to town. Thoughts of Drake cheered her up. Soon she would see him again. Her stomach did a little dance.
Chapter 9
Jasmine walked around the stands by herself, looking at some handmade jewelry. She had decided to walk around and shop instead of eating lunch. She had a big breakfast and needed to exercise. Walking counted, she assured herself. Kate was watching the store. She admitted she didn’t like the crowds much and preferred to eat in. It had been a busy week for them. Jasmine thought about Drake a lot and resisted the urge to call him even though he gave her his personal number. She hadn’t seen him and she assumed he was busy with work. She didn’t want to appear as if she was checking up on him.
Even Matt and Tony hadn’t been around much. Matt had told her Tony had trouble dealing with crowds and loud noises so the sheriff always had him patrol the outskirts of town where teens liked to party and cause mischief. He was becoming more comfortable with her when he came by the store with Matt. He was just the quiet type, Matt assured her.
Jasmine bought a turquoise necklace for herself and a pair of earrings for her aunt. She paid for the jewelry and started walking again. She spotted Drake in his uniform standing by a table and selling tickets. She was about to go over and say hello when a blond woman went right up to him and gave him a hug. She had on a short black miniskirt and a tight yellow blouse that was cut much too low for a town fair. Drake looked happy to see her and hugged her right back. She placed a kiss on his lips and he didn’t push her away. It hurt. Jasmine knew logically she had no hold on him. They had one date and one tomorrow night. He never made a commitment to her but it still hurt. Was he just like Grant? Men. Why did she bother trying to believe that there was a nice, decent man out in the world? She turned to walk back to the store and bumped right into Matt.
“Whoa there. Where’s the fire?” he joked, preventing her from toppling over.
Jasmine tried to smile and not show her upset. “Oh, sorry, Matt. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“It’s okay.” He was dressed in his uniform. “What’s wrong? You look sad.”
“Nothing,” she lied. “I was just headed back to the store. It’s hotter than I thought.”
“I was just going to work the dunking booth for an hour. The station has a dunking booth to raise funds for extra things that aren’t in the budget,” he explained. “We all have to take turns being dunked.”
Jasmine didn’t want to look Drake with that woman draped around him. She looked at Matt. “That’s nice.”
“Walk with me for a minute. Noah is in there and I promised Alana I would dunk him at least once for her.”
Jasmine smiled and had no choice but to walk with him. “Where is Alana?”
“She was here but the heat was too much for her,” Matt explained. “She headed back to the restaurant.”
They reached the booth where Drake was laughing at something the woman was saying. As they got closer Jasmine’s heart sank. The blonde was glamorous. Her medium-length hair was perfect and she didn’t even sweat her makeup off. She was dressed for a night on the town. Jasmine felt shabby in her denim shorts and plain pink tank top. Her hair was pulled back in a braid.
Drake looked surprised to see her and then uncomfortable with the woman leaning against him. “Hello, Jasmine, Matt.”
Jasmine stayed silent, barely acknowledging him with a small nod of her head. The woman had her arm looped with Drake’s and he seemed fine with it. She looked at Jasmine’s piercing and turned her nose up. Jasmine was used to it but it still made her mad. Matt gave Drake a confused look and then at the woman clinging to him.
“We came to dunk the sheriff for Alana,” Matt said out loud so Noah could hear him. He put his arm around Jasmine and she was grateful. She felt like crying and she knew Matt could feel her body shaking.
“Not you too.” Noah groaned out loud from his seat in the see-through tank that was filled with water. His hair was wet and he wore a pair of swimming trunks but no shirt. “She already sent Alicia. That girl is a maniac.”
A middle-aged woman with brown hair laughed. She handed Matt a few tennis balls and he paid her. “Thanks, Helen. This is Jasmine. Jasmine, this is the lady that runs the station with an iron fist. Helen is our warden.”