“If it tastes as good as it smells, I can understand why your coach says that,” Derek agreed. Jasmine felt a little bit of pride role through her. She enjoyed cooking for her son, heck she enjoyed cooking for anyone who appreciated it.
“Hurry up, Mom, or we’re going to be late,” Jacob called to her an hour later. She was getting the soup put into the insulated bag. She had several things to drag out to the car and was feeling flustered, since she’d overslept and was officially running late.
“Let me grab those for you,” Derek said, making her jump. She wasn’t used to having someone there to help her.
“Thank you,” she muttered, relinquishing a few of the bags.
“We can take my car,” Derek commanded.
“Yeah,” Jacob said and then gasped as he saw the shiny black car sitting at the curb. “Is that your car?” he asked in awe.
“Yep,” Derek answered smugly. Jasmine just rolled her eyes at the rapture the two boys were sharing as they both admired the far too expensive Porsche.
“My friends are going to think I’m so cool,” Jacob said, as he was bouncing in place at just the thought of riding in the fancy sports car.
“Want to take the top down?” Derek asked.
“Yeah,” Jacob shouted and then giggled as Derek pressed a button and the top started slowly moving back. Jasmine wasn’t thrilled to climb into the small vehicle. She much preferred her sturdy mini-van.
Jacob climbed in the back seat and buckled up. It was a good thing he was still small because he barely fit back there. No way could an adult squeeze in the back. She reluctantly climbed into the passenger side and when Derek soon sat down in the driver’s seat, she was grateful the top was down. The little car was making her feel claustrophobic and Derek was way too close for her already frayed nerves to handle.
Derek threw the car into gear and then gunned down the street, picking up speed quickly. “We aren’t in that big of a hurry,” she gasped in fear, as she held on tightly to the dashboard.
“Oh, Mom,” Jacob groaned. “Go faster,” he egged Derek on. Derek gave him a huge smile in the rearview mirror and then jumped on the freeway gunning the engine. They shot past cars like they were standing still. Jacob was full of laughter, as his hair blew back in the wind and they flew down the freeway.
Jasmine would never admit it to either of the guys but she was getting a thrill out of the ride herself, after her initial fear fell away. He was a skilled driver and whipped around the lanes of traffic smoothly, making it seem like they were flying.
They reached their exit and had to slow down. “We have to do this again,” Jacob shouted from the back seat. Jasmine silently agreed.
“We’ll go on a long ride after the wrestling meet and then go have dinner,” Derek promised him. Jasmine didn’t appreciate how he was just assuming they didn’t already have plans. She would’ve said something but didn’t want to fight in front of her son.
They pulled up to the school and Jacob grabbed ahold of Derek’s hand. “Come on, Dad, I want you to meet my coach,” he said excitedly.
“Let me help your mom carry the food in and then I can meet him,” he answered with never-ending patience. She was impressed how well he was doing with her hyper nine year old son. A lot of parent’s couldn’t handle their children, after having years to adjust and he seemed to be falling right into parenthood. She’d see how he acted in a week, or even a month. That would be the true test.
They walked into the gym, like a million other families. Jacob had his small hand clasped in Derek’s and she walked on his other side. To the rest of the world they would seem like the perfect, suburban family. She knew the truth though. She knew the confrontation was coming and she was trying to prepare herself for it.
Derek barely had time to set the food down at the concession area, before Jacob dragged him off. He was so proud to show his father off to his coach and all his friends. She watched as he proudly crossed the room and ran to Chuck.
Chuck looked up at them with surprise and then she watched as his brow wrinkled, before he quickly managed to paste a smile on his face and shake Derek’s hand. She knew he had to be wondering what was going on between them, as she’d never mentioned Jacob’s father before.
Jacob must’ve insisted Derek sit with him in the players section, not willing to let his dad leave his side, because she saw Derek, businessman tycoon, kneel down and sit on the Matts. She would've caught flies if they were around - her mouth was so wide open. She quickly shut it and got the food all ready for the boys.
“Who is that complete hunk of man meat with your son?” one of the very single mothers said, as she edged up. “Please tell me he’s your long lost brother and single,” the woman continued. Jasmine felt instant jealousy, as she stared at the gorgeous woman, who unlike her, was dressed in a skin tight outfit, with her hair and make-up done to perfection.
She didn’t know how to describe Derek. They weren’t a couple and hadn’t been for ten years. He was the father of her child and he’d made love to her so hotly she was surprised her sheets hadn’t gone up in flames but she didn’t have any rights to him.
“He’s Jacob’s father,” she simply said. She didn’t know what else to add to that.
“Yummy, you haven’t mentioned Jacob’s father before. Does he live out of town?” the woman asked, with too much interest.
“We just lost touch for some years but I don’t think he’s going to want to be away from Jacob anymore,” she said.
“I see,” the woman said and then snaked over to her son, who just happened to be close to Derek. Jasmine watched as the woman had the nerve to actually pretend to trip and fall into Derek. She couldn’t believe he fell for that, as he held his arms out to catch her. Then to top it off, she sat inappropriately close to him.
Jasmine could feel her anger escalating as the two of them sat and chatted like long lost friends. She wondered what the heck they found so amusing, as they laughed together. She told herself it was none of her business if he flirted with some trampy soccer mom. Hell, he could marry her and be one big happy family for all she cared, as long as the man left her and Jacob alone.
She knew she sounded like a jealous ex-spouse, even in her own head but he wasn’t even trying to hide his flirting with another woman when she was standing in the same room. It was worse, considering he had ravished her body only a few short hours ago. The man was a cad and she was better off without him.
“So, that’s Jacob’s father, huh?” Chuck, said as he came up to the table. Jasmine was hurt and angry and needed to feel good about herself, so she poured it on a little too thickly, with poor Chuck.
“Yeah, he’s been gone a long time and wants to reconnect with Jacob,” she said. She didn’t want everyone there to know all her business and that Derek had only found out he was a father that day.
“Jacob seems pretty happy about it,” he said, as they both glanced over at Jacob. Derek was looking directly at her and he didn’t seem to be laughing anymore. Maybe it bothered him a bit to have to sit and watch her flirt, she thought a bit cattily.
“Yeah, Jacob is really excited about it,” she said and then found herself giggling, as she touched his arm. What was wrong with her? She was now acting like the vixen mother, who had her hands all over Derek. She needed to get a grip on herself.
Chuck’s eyes widened at her touch and he moved a bit closer. He really was a good looking guy. He was about the same height and weight as Derek, though not quite as muscled. She knew a lot of the moms had crushes on him and had been flirting with him, in hopes of a date but he had seemed fixated on her for a while. She had simply not been interested.
“What are you doing later tonight?” he asked and she could see the wheels turning in his head. He was asking her out again, encouraged by her flirting. Damn, she really hadn’t thought about that. Before she could answer him, not knowing what she was going to say, Derek appeared and cut the conversation short.
“Sorry Chuck we are going to be in the city tonight,” Derek said, as he wrapped an arm around her, letting Chuck and every other man in the room know she wasn’t available. She didn’t get what he was doing, as they weren’t a couple and he’d been practically drooling in the other woman’s lap, not two seconds ago.
“Oh, I was just thinking about having a pizza party for the boys to celebrate the end of their season,” he said, quickly covering up. She was impressed with him; he must’ve planned a back-up in case she turned him down again. She really felt badly. She shouldn’t have let her temper get away from her and used him to appease her own feelings.
“We should think about that next weekend, I can order trophies for the boys, if you give me a list of their names,” Derek said smoothly.
“That would be very generous of you,” Chuck said with sincerity, if not a bit of jealousy.
“It would be my pleasure. I've missed out on far too much of my son’s life and I plan on making up for that now by not spending another minute without him,” Derek said, making it very clear that he wasn’t going anywhere.
“That’s great, well I better get back over there and coach the boys,” he said, as he rushed off. He knew that Jasmine was off limits and was making his quick escape. She wanted to say something to Derek about his high handed behavior but wouldn’t give the nosy parents the satisfaction of a public fight.
Derek leaned down and kissed her intimately, before letting her go. He was marking his territory for everyone there to see. She knew it was a Tarzan thing to do but she was still slightly light on her feet as he made his way back over to Jacob. She finally realized she was staring and turned away, only to notice almost every pair of eyes in the building on her. She felt her cheeks grow warm as the blush took over her features.
She really had to quit forgetting there was a world of people around her every time the man touched her. She busied herself with the food, only stopping when it was Jacob’s turn to wrestle. She was no longer the loudest fan in the audience, she thought, as she heard Derek encouraging Jacob throughout his match.
After Jacob won, he ran over to his dad, who lifted him up, spinning him around in a huge hug. Her heart tugged as he raced to her next and let her kiss him on the cheek and congratulate him. She loved him so deeply that there was nothing she wouldn’t do to make his life better, even if it meant putting up with her insufferable ex.
The meet ended and all the boys rushed to her table to scoop up the food. She was pleased with all the oohs and aahs as the boys gulped down the food like it was their last meal. It didn’t take long for every scrap to be consumed.
She always stayed to help with the clean-up and it took them about an hour before they were able to leave. Most of the parents had gone home already but she noticed Ms. Flirty mom was still hanging around, along with a few other single ladies.
They all walked out the door together, some of the women being far to flirtatious, in her opinion, with a man who was claiming to be taken. She figured they guessed if there wasn’t a ring on her hand, he was still fair game. Heck, she thought, some of them wouldn’t have cared if she did have a ring on. She was seeing a whole new side to the single parents.
