Helen shook Jasmine’s hand. The older woman had a friendly and welcoming smile. Jasmine liked her immediately. “Someone has to deal with all these boys.”
“We’re men, Helen,” Noah teased and Helen rolled her eyes.
“That is undetermined.”
Matt had Jasmine hold the balls while he threw one at a time towards the red circle. The first one missed but the second one hit the bullseye and the sheriff landed in the water with a yelp. Helen clapped her hands gleefully. “Oh, quit crying, sheriff. It’s hot enough to fry an egg. Alana is just looking out for ya’.”
“Tell my wife she is in big trouble,” Noah complained but Jasmine knew him well enough now to know he wasn’t really angry with Alana. He shook his head and jumped back on the seat. “Matt, you are up next and paybacks are coming.
I am willing to spend my paycheck right here.”
Matt laughed and saluted his boss.
Jasmine felt awkward seeing Drake with someone else. She had doubts about their date tomorrow night. She was going to call him later and cancel it. She did not need another Grant in her life. She didn’t look at Drake but she felt him staring at her. She didn’t want him to know how much it hurt to see another woman all over him. “I’d better get back, Matt. My lunch is over.”
She waved to Helen and ignored Drake completely. She started walking away. When she got a few feet away she felt a tap to her shoulder. She turned to see Drake, who looked at her with a hesitant smile. Confusion swept across his features. “We still on for tomorrow night?”
Jasmine took a peek behind him and saw the blond woman glaring at them jealously. Jasmine knew how she felt. Matt was busy joking with Noah and Helen and didn’t notice her and Drake talking.
“It looks to me like you’re already busy elsewhere.” She tried not to sound like a shrew but it was hard. She had thought Drake was different, that she had finally met a nice man. It hurt to know he was just like every other man.
“Nancy is just a friend. We stopped seeing each other long ago,” Drake said. He grabbed Jasmine’s hand but she pulled it away from him. His lips thinned with irritation.
“She is giving me dirty looks and I saw you two kissing. She has been hanging all over you and you seem just fine with it. I don’t play those kinds of games, Drake.” She kept her voice low. She would love to yell, it would make her feel better but she held it in.
“What games?”
Jasmine sighed. “You like to play the field and be with different women each night. I know the type and I am just not cut out for that. Go back to your girlfriend, Drake. She looks like she is ready to explode and come over here.”
Drake looked behind him and shrugged carelessly. “She is overly affectionate, that’s all.”
“Drake. I thought we had a lunch date,” Nancy yelled out loud. People turned to look and even Matt and Noah stopped talking and stared. Drake looked angry. “One minute, Nancy.”
He turned to Jasmine. “She is just a friend, Jasmine. It’s you I’m interested in.”
“Really? That’s hard to believe when you have a date with her. Just go and forget about our date,” Jasmine snapped and walked away. She blinked back a few tears and knew she could not let her aunt see her upset. She used the time it took to get to the store to tell herself it was better she found out about Drake now.
* * * *
Drake watched Jasmine walk away angrily. She looked so hurt by seeing him with Nancy. He had no interest in Nancy but she always greeted him by hugging and kissing him lightly on the lips. He never thought about it and he had not been expecting to see Jasmine here. Damn Matt for bringing Jasmine over at the wrong time. He had been looking forward to seeing her again.
He walked back over to Nancy. Why was Nancy acting like a possessive girlfriend all of a sudden? She knew they were just friends. It wasn’t a date. She asked him if he would sit and eat with her because her friend canceled on her and she hated eating alone.
“Why are you yelling that we have a date?” he asked her angrily.
Nancy folded her arms across her chest and huffed. “You said you would have lunch with me, then you run off to talk to some hood rat. What could you see in that tattooed hoodlum is beyond me.”
Matt heard Nancy’s speech and his eyes darkened with anger. He stepped away from Noah and closer to them. “Hold up there, Miss Snottypants. That hood rat is my best friend and I don’t appreciate anyone tearing her down like that. She is a genuine and kind woman.” He folded his arms across his chest and showed off his own tattoos. Nancy saw the mean look on Matt’s face and took a step back. Matt could intimidate anyone.
“Drake, are you going to let him talk to me like that?” She pouted, grabbing on to his arm with her nails digging into his skin.
Noah stepped up next to Matt, dripping with water and looking mad. “Matt is right. We don’t judge people by their looks around here.” He looked at her revealing attire and her cheeks got red when he looked disgusted.
“Let’s get out of here, Drake,” she said coldly, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “You are so above these men.”
She grabbed his hand but he pulled away from her angrily. “No, Nancy, I am not. Noah and Matt are not only my co-workers but my friends. Jasmine is someone I like very much and you just ruined things for me. I was being kind when you said Lora stood you up and you wanted company. It was not a date.”
“You can’t honestly tell me you prefer to let people see you with that freak show over me.” She snapped her hands going on her hips.