Page 44 of Tempted

“Okay. I’ll see you at dinner.”

When she closed the door behind him, Victor felt he could breathe again. His cock strained against his pants, fighting to bust free.That was it. He had to do something, about this situation. It briefly crossed his mind to start dating again but that would just be a waste of time. All he would do is compare any woman he met to Jasmine.

Victor had waited a couple days to stew afterwards before confronting Adam. The conversation had started on shaky ground, but eventually for the first time in years he had a heart to heart with his son about his feelings. The teenager even seemed receptive to some of what was said. Adam had perked up considerably when Victor told him he could spend some time with his friends. Overall, the talk had gone better than he’d hoped. Things weren’t perfect but at least they had a starting point for rebuilding their relationship.

That had been a couple days ago and he had a bigger problem to deal with: his budding feelings for Jasmine. Now he stood outside of the game room debating on whether he should enter it just because she was in there. This was his damn house and he wasn’t going to let these inconvenient feelings dictate his movements. Clenching his fists at his side, he took a deep breath and entered the room. He was surprised to see all three of his children sitting on the floor playing a board game.

Sitting between Jasmine’s legs was a little girl, who could be none other than Star.This wasn’t the first time she’d brought her child to the house but this was the first time he’d been home to meet Jasmine’s daughter. The likeness was uncanny, but he could have sworn that Jasmine had told him her daughter was six. The kid didn’t look a day over four or five, but maybe she was tiny for her age.

He stood in the doorway watching how everyone interacted with each other. All the children seemed happy. Even Adam had a smile on his face. Jasmine was magic. He owed her so much.

“You cheated!” Tyler suddenly shouted at his sister. “You peeked at the card before you plucked it. You can’t do that. I say she loses a turn.”

“Nuh uh. I did not look,” Chelsea yelled back with equal fervor. “Jasmine, tell him I didn’t cheat.”

Jasmine shook her head. “Let’s use our inside voices. And Chelsea, you weren’t very slick about looking at the cards.”

Adam chuckled. “Yeah, Chelsea, not very smooth.”

The little girl folded her arms across her chest with a pout. “Well it’s not fair! Every time I get near my home base, someone sends me back to the beginning. I don’t want to play this game anymore.”

Victor would have intercepted to tell his daughter she was being a brat, but Jasminehandled the situation nicely.

Raising an eyebrow she shot Chelsea a stern glance. “Chelsea, what have I told you about being a good sport?”

“But it’s no fair!” she whined.

“Did anyone complain when you won at Chutes and Ladder?”

“No but¯”

“No one likes a sore loser. If you can’t play fair, I suggest you get a game you can play by yourself and you can choose your own rules.”

“Yeah, you big fat cheater!” Tyler taunted.

“Tyler, I don’t need your commentary.”

Chelsea continued to pout before releasing a small sigh. “I’ll play fair,” he said meekly.

Jasmine smiled. “Good girl.”

And as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred they went back to their game. It amazed him how she was firm and loving at the same time.

Victor musthave made a movement because every single pair of eyes flew in his direction. Smiling, he walked further into the room. “That looks pretty fun.”

Chelsea jumped to her feet. “We have extra pieces. Do you want to play with us, Daddy? Please say you will.”

Looking into his daughter’s big eyes, he knew there was no refusing her. He ruffled her hair. “Sure honey, as long as no one minds this old man joining in.”

Chelsea giggled. “You’re not that old, Daddy. Grandma is much older.”

“Uh, don’t let her hear you say that,” he groaned.

“You can sit next to me, Dad.” Tyler scooted closer to Adam to make room for him on the floor.

“Adam? Jasmine?”

Adam shrugged nonchalantly. And Jasmine nodded silently. Her daughter’s face was now buried against her mother’s chest. Maybe she was shy of strangers.

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