Burning Desire (Completed)

chapter 42

20 minutes later
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They were both seated in the kitchen, facing each other and not saying a word.Raymond sat still, his eyes on Jasmine the whole time. He tried searching her blue eyes to know what she thinking, but her expression was hard to read.

He'd thought that Jasmine would be very happy and rush into his arms for saving her, but her reaction was a complete shock to him.

Jasmine wiped her face with her palm, finally recovering from her shock. "Can I ..." She sighed weakly. "Can I have a cup of coffee please," she said dryly and swallowed, finally looking at him with tired eyes. Her throat felt dry and icky.

"Sure," he said as he got up and walked to the cabinet. He opened it and brought out a cup. Grabbing the coffee maker, he poured coffee into the cup. "How do you like your coffee?" He asked.

"Just black please," she said in a weak tone.

"Hmm." A small smile formed on his face.
Just the way he liked his.

"Here you go." He walked back to her and placed the cup before her.

"Thanks." She gave him a weak smile and held the cup with both palms.
He nodded, picked up the coffee maker and refilled his cup.
She blew on it and sipped her coffee silently.

Holding his cup in his hand, he sat down, placing an arm on the kitchen island. He took a sip of his coffee and placed the cup on the island. He raked his hair, getting tired of the awkward silence.
"Look Jasmine," he said softly, " I'm sorry if what I..."

"Thank you," she said in a soft tone.

"Huh!" He was surprised and wasn't expecting that from her.

She took another sip and placed her cup on the island. Folding her arms, she looked at him. "You were right." She sighed heavily.
"I could have gotten sick from the cold but you helped me. As much as I feel so embarrassed and uncomfortable sitting with you right now, i still want you to know I appreciate what you did for me," she said to him.

He sighed, genuinely relieved the awkwardness was over. "It's nothing, really." He assured her with a warm smile.

She shook her head slowly. "Please don't say that." She waded him off with her hand. "I did alot of thinking and realized that if you hadn't found me, who knows, I could have been raped, kidnapped or murdered."
She shuddered at the thought, exhaling deeply.

"Hey." He shifted closer to her and took her hands into his. "Don't let your mind go there okay. You're safe now, that's all that matters." He spoke to her softly.

"Yeah, you're right." She nodded with a light chuckle. "Thank you."

"It's alright." He smiled at her.

Holding her warm hands brought back feelings he'd felt when he cuddled her last night. Images of her in his arms flashed back to him. He shook away the thought and let go of her hands as he grabbed his cup and took a long sip.
"So," he said, placing the cup on the island. "What happened to you?"

she looked away from him, took her cup and sipped her coffee.

"If you don't wanna talk about it, it's cool," he told her.

She placed the cup on the island and licked her upper lips slowly, fumbling with the hem of her sweater

He sat there, watching her closely.

She cleared her throat lightly and looked at him. He literally saved her life so she had to give him some explanation.
" I ..umm..I had some issues," she told him.