And that’s when he stupidly ran off at the mouth before thinking. “I’m glad to know all of my experience came in handy. My mother had a very long stay at this hospital before she died here.”
Jasmine sucked in a deep breath as she saw Royce slip through the coffee shop door. Her stomach churned, forcing her to leave her café au lait untouched. She had no idea how to act after their last encounter.
No idea how to return to business as usual.
The week he had been out of town since Auntie’s fall should have helped give her some perspective. Frankly, it hadn’t. Because her thoughts of Royce had turned very personal and she had no idea how to combat that. Except to only talk about business.
She could do that, right?
But his smile as he sat down wasn’t business as usual. It sped her heart up a little...okay, more than a little. This wasn’t right.
She glared at the green ring sparkling in the sunlight for a moment.
“Everything okay?” Royce asked as he sat down with his coffee.
“Sure,” Jasmine said, consciously forcing herself to relax. “I appreciate you coming.”
Reaching down, she pulled several small poster boards from her bag. “I’ve put together some visuals for you to see what the decorator is suggesting.”
“I’m amazed you’re only letting me view pictures, rather than insisting I attend an actual meeting with her.”
Jasmine froze for a moment. Was he complaining because she’d excluded him? “Well, with you out of town, then her going out of town, I just thought this might be easier.”
To her shock, his hand lightly covered one of hers. “It’s okay, Jasmine. I’m just teasing you.”
“Teasing me?” She almost swallowed her tongue, because teasing had never been on Royce’s agenda.
“Yes,” he said, drawing the word out. “After all, you’ve stuck to your stipulation that I attend every planning meeting pretty hard. I can’t believe you’re letting me slide on this one...”
Feeling like she’d stepped into an alternate reality, one that tempted her with the idea that Royce might actually be human after all, she grinned. “Well, everyone should get time off for good behavior.”
His laugh rang out, startling her. The sound was oh, so sexy. Over his shoulder, she saw several patrons glance their way, most grinning in response to his amusement. Only one didn’t seem amused, a rather dour, expensively dressed man at a choice table by the window overlooking the river.
Jasmine would rather focus on the man opening up right in front of her.
She pointed out the various options depicted in the photographs. The dark purple-and-black color scheme was her favorite, with highlights of white and bright red. The elaborate table schemes included taper candles and crystals to mimic the chandeliers. Lots of rich fabric and sparkling highlights.
Event planning was her passion, so she could have gone on forever, but noticed the minute Royce’s gaze started to glaze over. “Okay,” she conceded, “I think I’ve tortured you enough.”
“Honestly, give me the details of a ship’s engine any day as opposed to decorating details. I only agreed to meet in the coffee shop so I’d have this to keep me awake.” He lifted his coffee a few inches off the table. But it was the sheepish grin that got to her.
She’d never imagined seeing that expression on this driven businessman’s face. Unfortunately, she liked it. Too much.
“So how are Ms. King and Rosie?”
“Oh, she’d just want you to call her Auntie.”
He nodded, his expression remaining open in a way she wasn’t quite used to or comfortable with.
“Physical therapy is going well, although she hates it.”
Royce shrugged. “Who wouldn’t? It’s torture.”
“Even more so for her, because she thinks it’s a burden to everyone that we’re juggling her appointments with our jobs and Rosie’s care. As if that matters to any of us girls.”
“My mother was like that,” Royce said, staring down into his cup. “She didn’t ever want to tell me when she had a doctor’s appointment or treatment—she felt it took me away from more important things.”
When he looked up, his eyes were serious in the same way she’d seen at the hospital. “But she got over it after the one time she took a cab to the hospital for a chemo treatment. After that, she knew in no uncertain terms I would be there for every appointment, no matter what I had going on.”
That had to have been a huge concession for such a driven man.
This led her to say what had been on her mind for over a week. “I really do appreciate all you did for us, for me, at the hospital. Especially knowing that there had to be a lot of bad memories associated with that place.”
“It was nothing—”
“Don’t.”
When he finally looked at her, she reached out and cupped his hand where it lay on the table. “It wasn’t nothing. No man in that frame of mind should have to hold a teething six-month-old for that long—it was a tremendous help to us. I won’t let you dismiss that.”
He glanced down at her hand over his. It wasn’t until several moments later—moments of anticipation that caused Jasmine to shake inside—that he spoke.
“My mother, no matter how sick she was, always had a kind word for everyone she came across at that hospital. She would help in any way she could, sometimes even pushing herself past what she was capable of to help her fellow patients.”
“And you were there to help her?”
“As much as possible.” Still he wouldn’t look up at her.
She couldn’t resist pushing a little farther. “But I don’t understand. You say she took care of you, you took care of her, but also that she abandoned you. What happened?”
“It wasn’t because she didn’t want me...” His husky voice trailed off. Beneath her palm, she felt his hand curl into a fist. Then she noticed the shadow across their table.
Glancing up, she found the stern man from the far table standing over them. He didn’t look her way or acknowledge her. His gaze was trained tightly on Royce as he said in a gruff voice, “Getting involved with your employees never leads to anything good.”
Then he turned and walked away.
* * *
“That was my father. Guess he didn’t want to stick around and be introduced.”
The bitterness in his own voice made Royce cringe.
Jasmine glanced over her shoulder to watch the man disappear out the door. “I’m confused,” she murmured.
Join the club.
“He looked familiar,” she said with a faraway tone in her voice.
Though he never talked about him, just this once Royce was happy to provide the basics. “He should. His name is John Nave.”
He could see the light of recognition dawning in her sexy blue eyes. “That’s right. The John Nave, from one of the oldest families in Savannah, and one of the richest.”
“But I don’t understand...” Jasmine said, her brow wrinkling in confusion. “He’s your father?”
“My mother was his housekeeper.” Royce hated saying it that way, because it sounded like