Southern Admirer (Southern Loving Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

two weeks left and
I plan on spending every waking minute with my daughter.” He winked at her.
    “Shay is our daughter,” she corrected. “What do
you want? Do we need to discuss visitation? I do not want any child support
from you.” She leaned against the wall and folded her arm against her chest. “I
don’t need you.”
    “Says the woman who was crying in her room only a
minute ago,” he laughed. Shane walked across the room and stood in front of
her. “Grow up and stop thinking about yourself, you didn’t get pregnant on your
own, but you concocted this scheme to keep your pregnancy from me and people
who love you.”
    “It’s my body,” she spat.
    “Shay is my child and I put that baby in your
belly,” he yelled, pinning her against the wall.
    “Yeah,” she laughed hysterically. “You did put
that baby in my stomach, but you also called out Sarah’s name while doing it.”
    “I did not.” He backed away from Jasmine. His face
became red with embarrassment.
    “Yes you did.” She turned around to go back to her
room. “Shay is our child that we created together,” Jasmine said, before going
back into her room and closed the door.
    Shane watched the door close. Was Jasmine going to
allow a slip of the tongue keep a rift between them? They didn’t even love each
other, they had no future together except for Shay. He sat there on the sofa as
embarrassment started to sink in. He didn’t realize the mistake of calling her
Sarah until now. Shane knew he could blame it on the alcohol or just a simple
brain slip. Running his hand down his face, he stared at the ceiling.
    Getting up from the sofa, he went to Jasmine’s
bedroom. She laid in bed pretending to be asleep, he crept to the bassinet and
took a peek at his baby girl, who was perfectly swaddled in a blanket. Sighing,
Shane turned and looked at Jasmine, she was a beauty sprawled across the bed.
“I know you’re not a sleep.” When
she opened her mouth to say something, he put his finger to her lips. “Just
listen, I will not deny that I still have an emotional bond to the woman I
loved since Jr. High. It was a big oops that her name was mentioned during the
throws of our lovemaking. I’m sorry.”
    “I know you’re suffering from the loss of Sarah,”
she whispered.
    “Sarah is always on my mind and will always be,”
he said softly.
    “Okay,” Jasmine leaned forward and kissed his
forehead. “We will have to be the best of friends for eighteen-years,” she
said, and turned her back to him. Jasmine knew that her crush that she’d hidden
from Shane for so long would be just that; a silly crush that she had on the
man since the day Benjamin brought him to their house to introduce his new
partner on the force.

 
    Chapter Two
     
    Shane needed advice and the only person besides
Benjamin he could talk to was his cousin, Austin McBride. Walking outside, he
sat on the patio and enjoyed the chirping of red robins in a nearby tree, there
wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
    “Hey cousin,” Shane said when his cousin timbered
voice came over the phone.
    “Ranger McBride, what’s up?”
    “Do you remember Jasmine St. Clair?”
    “Jasmine St. Clair……Your partner’s baby sister,
the cute sassy chick?”
    “Yeah. Her.” Shane rolled his eyes. A few years
ago Austin tried to tell him that little Jasmine had a crush on him. He turned
around and peered into the sliding glass door at the girls were Jazz was
sitting there breastfeeding Shay. “Well…. Nine months ago I kind of slept with
her and we had a baby together.”
    Silence.
    “What the hell?” Austin laughed. “A baby?”
    “Yes,” Shane grumbled, when the laughter subsided.
“I have a daughter, Shay Melody McBride.” His voice was full of pride.
    “Oh, shit man,” Austin said, getting serious.
“Send me a picture of my baby cousin.”
    “I think we can safely say that you’re Uncle
Austin,” Shane laughed. “I need you to keep this under wraps, she hasn’t told
anyone