The reception was moved to the grand patio for the cocktail hour. The patio overlooked a Mediterranean-style of pools and courtyards. The pianist played soft piano music as some of the guest picked their partners and started dancing.

Jasmine sat back at the ballroom, looking towards the patio as she watched couples dancing and smiling.
She took a sip of her drink and glanced around, searching for Raymond.

"Jasmine."

She knit her brows in a frown as she recognized the voice. Andrew sat down, facing her with a smile on his face.

"Hey," he said softly and reached to touch her face.

She pulled away slightly and hissed."Don't."

He was surprised by her reaction but he slowly brought down his hand and placed it on the table, not taking his eyes off her.
"Jasmine what's wrong. Why are you treating me like I'm a total stranger?"
He sounded hurt.

She glared at him with dark blue eyes.
"You're asking me what's wrong?
So you have no fucking idea what you did?" She asked coldly.

He exhaled deeply and wiped a palm on his face.  "Look Jasmine, I understand you're angry with me for ignoring you all these while. I'm really sorry for not calling you or replying to your messages. You see, i've been really working on this case and it really messed up everything." He explained, hoping that her resentment towards him might cool off.

Jasmine let out a hysterical laugh. It was funny how genuinely sorry he looked and how pathetic he thought she was stupid to believe a word he said.

"Do you really take me for a fool Andrew?" Her tone was harsh.

"No no. I would never Jasmine. You know that." He tired to assure her, his eyes pleading for her to believe him and trust him.

"Really? So let me get this straight. You were too busy to call me but you were able to make out time to come to Gainesville and have a romantic date with your friend, right?" She shot at him.

He arched his brows. "What're you saying?"

"I saw you Andrew. I saw you with that brunette at Sergio's restaurant on Monday. I watched you kiss her Andrew. Don't you fucking try and deny it,"  she said bitterly, trying hard to hold back the tears from spilling out.

Deep down she was still hurting. She'd thought she had gotten over the pain but she was wrong.

A wave of shock and guilt washed over Andrew's face as his lips parted slightly.
She'd known all along, that was why she had been ignoring him when he tried to reach her.

"Jasmine, look I can explain. It wasn't what it looked like please..." He tried to say but she cut him off rudely.

"I don't give a fuck about your explanation. Whatever we had is over Andrew. I've moved on," she said with a serious look on her face.

He was filled with an agony of regret.
"Jasmine, please." His voice was small and whispery, his green eyes begging her as he took her hand into his.
"Please we can talk about this, I beg you."

She was almost tempted to give in to his pleas. She was touched, seeing him in this hopeless state but she shook her head against it. He'd hurt her and lied to her face.

She pulled her hand away from him.
"Please go." She turned away from him.

"Jasmine please." He begged as he got on one knee and reached for her hand. "I'm sorry, please let me explain."

"What are you doing?" She felt embarrassed as she could see the eyes of everyone in the room on them.

"Get up Andrew," She said through gritted teeth, shifting away from him.

"Jasmine please don't shut me away. Just give me a chance to explain myself." His voice cracked.

"Are you trying to make a scene, get up Andrew or I swear, I'll scream that you're harrasing me. Get up now." She warned him.

The look on her face told him she wasn't bluffing and he let out a defeated sigh. He got up slowly and looked at her with pain in his eyes.
"I'm sorry." His voice was low.

She said nothing and looked away from his face. It filled her with vengeful satisfaction to see him hurting.

Seeing she wouldn't say another word to him, he let out a deep sigh and walked away.

Exhaling deeply, she placed a palm over her head.
This was for the best.They had no relationship from the beginning but it still hurt because she had a special place for him in her heart. But not anymore.

"Jasmine." Raymond's voice distracted her from her thoughts.

"Hey." She gave him a smile.

"Sorry I took too long." He apologized as he sat down. "I had to make an urgent business call."

"Its okay." She smiled, gazing at him as he picked up his champagne glass and gulped down the drink.

But what was her relationship with Raymond?
Why would he kiss her last night?
Would she end up like the women she sees chasing after him? She'd thought weakly.

"Is everything alright?" Raymond asked, noticing the frown on her face.

Jasmine smiled and got up. "Let's dance," she said, giving out her hand to him.

"What?"

"Please don't tell me you can't dance Raymond."

He laughed, the sound so warm that she felt it like a stroke of velvet down her spine. "Of course, I can dance."

"Good, now take my hand."

His smile lingered on his lips, causing the hairs to prickle on the nape of her neck. "Alright." He took her hand as he got up and led her to the grand patio.

He placed a hand on her waist, pulling her close to him as he held her hand and with her hand on his shoulder, they danced to the soft paino song of "perfect" by Ed Sheeran.

It had been a long time since Raymond had danced with a woman. His first and last dance was with his beloved Ella.
Raymond felt dancing was intimate and should be shared with someone he loved.

But did he love Jasmine?
He didn't care. Dancing with her in his arms at that moment was indeed "perfect".
He stared into her blue eyes, her impeccable face, so flawless, She was a beautiful sight to behold. He was drawn to her and he knew it. No matter how hard his mind tried to ignore it, his heart always reminded him of how special she'd made him feel.

"Jasmine," he said softly as he stopped moving. With utter gentleness, he traced his thumb across the winged shape of her collar bones.

Her breath quickened beneath the touch of his fingers, gooseflesh rose on her arms and her cheeks heated up.
"Yes?"

"About last night." His fingertips reached the base of her throat,which rippled from her hard swallow. "I'm not sorry I kissed you," he murmured.

"Oh." She blinked, feeling a pang of excitement as his thumb traced her button lip slowly.

"Yes, and i wanna kiss you right now."

"Raymond..."she took two careful breaths.

He wrapped his arms around her. She circled his neck. For a moment they stood, staring into each other's eyes, lips a breath apart while her system shivered with anticipation.

Their lips brushed, retreated, brushed again. Raymond moaned and crushed his lips to hers on a hot spurt of hunger.
He hadn't let himself want. Even when she'd stirred those dormant needs to life, he'd been careful not to want. Until now. Nothing mattered except the demands of his aching heart.

He kissed her with a softness fueled with passion, want and longing. He wanted her to feel the strength of him, the press of his hard body against her. He wanted the ripe flavor of her and the heat.

She set off aches in him that throbbed like pulse beats. The quiet sounds of need hummed in her throat and burned his blood. Her skin was like hot satin and the feel of it under his hands set off desires, demands that belonged to the dark.

Her hammering heart sent a rush of pleasure-heated blood through her veins. Everytime she thought he would end the kiss, he searched her more deeply. She let out moans of pleasure as he deepened the kiss. He teased her with his tongue and teeth, driving her insane.

Breaking the contact between their lips, breathless, he managed a whisper. "Jasmine."
His eyes were dark, filled with pleasure and trust.

Panting raggedly, she smiled at him.

"Jasmine," he said again with a smile and lowered his forehead to hers.
She shut her eyes, leaning into his touch. They held onto each other, not saying a word as they absorbed the moment.

The fireworks started, lighting up the night sky with colourful lights and the crowd cheered, letting out shouts of approval.

This moment would be cherished and won't be forgotten so easily.
She knew it.
He knew it.

And they kissed again (｡♡‿♡｡).
I enjoyed writing this chapter.

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