I Just Can't Stop Loving You (14 page)

Shaundra manned up, damning her hormones, emotions, and heart for trying to make her forgive him. “They’re releasing us at ten.”

“Okay,” he said. “See you then.” He followed his siblings to the door.

The door opened and Satoshi entered carrying a bouquet of snow white flowers.

“Am I too late?” he asked.

“No, you’re right on time,” Shaundra told him.

Ichiro looked at Satoshi and then her and then followed his family out of the door.

“Where are they going?” Satoshi asked, putting the flowers into a vase on the dresser.

“They’re going back to work,” Shaundra told him.

Satoshi came over and kissed her, not on the forehead, but on the lips.

“What’s that for?” Shaundra asked.

“Because you look like you needed it.” He straightened up and pulled a chair next to the bed. “I know you’ve just been tempted. Ichiro did look quite yummy in black with all those new muscles bulging out underneath that suit jacket.”

“So you’re just making me swap one temptation for another?”

He didn’t answer, just smirked at her.

Shaundra wasn’t a fool. She knew exactly how Satoshi felt about her and apparently from the look he gave, Ichiro knew too. And he did look tempting seated next to her dressed in a dark brown leather jacket, caramel-colored turtleneck shirt, and tight dark brown trousers.

“How did it go?”

“It went very well. We named the babies Raiden Takumijo and Ryoto Satoshi.”

“Good Japanese names,” Satoshi said. “Thank you for giving him my name as a middle name.”

“Well, I wanted it to be his first name, but I thought it would be hard when you and Cristal finally have a son and wanted to name him Satoshi. And it will be even odder when they are idols and performing with you guys on stage.”

Satoshi smiled at her. “I see you did think this out thoroughly.”

Shaundra nodded, drawing her attention away from the deep chocolate brown eyes. “I know you will make an excellent godfather to him and see to him right should anything happen to me and Ichiro.”

“I’ll do my best,” Satoshi said. “For both him and little Takumijo.”

“He’s not so little,” Shaundra said. “He’s got one powerful suck and has my breasts sore.”

Satoshi peered over at her. “You’re breastfeeding him? I thought you decided not to.”

“The little monster started screaming for food earlier and the milk started seeping from the nipple and I had no other choice.” It was amazing how comfortable she felt discussing such things with him.

“Were Ichiro and the others here when that happened?”

Shaundra nodded. “Then little Satoshi wanted to eat too, so I had to give him the other nipple.”

“Damn,” Satoshi said. “I would have loved to see that.”

“Daichi took pictures for the christening book,” she told him.

“Remind me to get him to make me a copy,” Satoshi said.

“Stop teasing,” Shaundra told him.

“I’m not teasing,” Satoshi replied. “I bet it was a breathtaking sight…you nursing two hungry Japanese babies on your brown nipples.”

Something tightened in Shaundra’s gut. Would her life be much different if she had chosen him instead of Ichiro? “Well, I don’t know about all that, but those two boys are going to eat me out of house and home.”

“Their father is a chef,” Satoshi reminded her.

Shaundra rolled her eyes at him.

He chuckled. “Still not forgiving him?”

She shook her head. “No.”

Satoshi sat back in the chair. “For all it’s worth, I believe Ich.”

She gazed over at him. “Why?”

“Because Ichiro has never lied to me before. It’s one of his best assets. And I can usually read his emotions when I look into his eyes. He said Eri kissed him, nothing else happened.”

Shaundra pouted. Satoshi had just kissed her. She could not be angry at Ichiro if the thing between him and Eri had just been a kiss. “I wish I could believe that,” she said. “I keep seeing the two of them together in my head, with their porcelain bodies pressed together and Ichiro is thrusting inside of her.”

“Don’t say thrusting,” Satoshi warned, moving around uncomfortably.

Shaundra gazed over and smirked. He had crossed his legs. “Sorry,” she said. “Sometimes I forget.”

“Well, yes, it will go away eventually.”

She smirked at him again, knowing he now had a raging erection.

“So when are they releasing you?”

“Tomorrow at ten. Ichiro is coming for us.”

“Then I’ll come too,” he said. “To help with the babies.”

“You mean to help keep my hands from around Ichiro’s throat.”

Satoshi nodded. “Everything is ready at home.”

“I can’t wait to get out of here and sleep in my own bed.”

“You mean with Ich.”

Shaundra shook her head. “He can sleep in Cristal’s old room.” She paused. “Speaking of Cristal, why aren’t you over at her new apartment getting busy with her?”

“Because I’d rather be here getting busy with you.”

Shaundra rolled her eyes at him. “You couldn’t handle me.”

“Don’t say can’t. I’m not a crybaby like Ichiro,” he boasted.

“Why do you keep changing the subject whenever I mention Cristal?”

“Like you, I still haven’t forgiven her for standing me up for Yi-jun.”

“Oh,” Shaundra said. “To be fair…”

“Yeah, I know, and I regret it, but I can’t change the fact that it happened.”

“Well, you can take some comfort in the fact that he left her for a starlet.”

“She’s been going out with my brother,” Satoshi said.

“What?”

“They’ve gone out once since we returned.”

“How did you find out?”

Satoshi sighed. “He couldn’t wait to call me and throw it into my face.”

“Are they actually dating?”

“I don’t know,” Satoshi said. “They only met once, but apparently she left a big impression on him.”

“Forgive me for saying this, but that’s pretty rotten of your brother. Doesn’t he know that the two of you are…?”

“What are we?” he asked. “We’re not dating or lovers.”

Shaundra moved around on the bed. “Well, that’s your fault. It’s like you’re hesitant about moving your relationship to the next level.”

“I have my reasons,” Satoshi said in his own defense.

The door opened and a dietician brought in her food.

Satoshi rose. “I better go so you can eat.”

The dietician put the food on a tray and left.

Shaundra groaned. “The food is so horrible. I can’t wait to get home. I’m dying for fries.”

“I hope you’re talking about the unsalted kind,” Satoshi said.

“Yeah, yeah, and a no-salt Coke and steak.”

“Okay, I get the message. I’ll have the Coke and the steak waiting for you.” He leaned over and kissed her again. This time, on the forehead.

Shoot. Satoshi is a good kisser
.

He waved goodbye to her and left her to her bland meal.

****

“Would you like to go dancing?” Yori asked Amaya.

Amaya looked up. “What?”

“Dancing? We haven’t done that in a long time.”

She nodded. “I’d like that. Just the two of us?”

Yori nodded. “Not even the bodyguards. Just me and my best girl.”

“I need to shower and change first,” she said, scooting out of the kitchen chair.

“And wear something sexy. I want to make every man in the club jealous.”

Amaya smiled at him and hurried out of the kitchen to get dressed.

Yori sat back down in his chair, content that he could make his wife happy with such a small gesture. They hadn’t been anywhere since her suicide attempt a couple of months ago. He still felt responsible for that. Had he not been paying so much attention to Shaundra, he would have seen that Amaya was depressed. He sighed. He loved his wife because they had known each other all their lives. But he still wanted Shaundra more than he would ever admit to anyone. It shamed him that it didn’t matter that she was married to Ichiro, or was now the mother of newborn twins. He just wanted her, if even for just one night to finally get her out of his system.

Yori rose from his seat and walked upstairs to the guest bedroom to use the shower and dress. He hadn’t been able to use the one in their bedroom since the night he found Amaya lying unconscious in the bath tub from a drug overdose. He didn’t think he’d ever forget the image. And it scared him to think she might try again sometime in the future when she couldn’t deal with reality. He shuddered. Or worse, she might try to harm their future child.

Yori entered the room, opened the closet, and selected a suit before entering the bathroom. Ichiro and Shaundra had named their twins today. He wanted to stop in to see Shaundra, but figured it was smart to wait until she returned to the farmhouse. He didn’t need to run into Satoshi like he had the last time he visited her. He knew Satoshi was dying to find out why he’d shown up, but was too polite to ask.

Yori dressed after he finished his shower and walked into the den. Amaya waited for him looking quite pretty in a red dress he’d never seen before. “Is that a new dress?”

“Yes,” she answered. “Do you like it?”

He nodded. “You look beautiful. Is it one of your new designs?”

“Yes. It’s part of my new winter line.”

Despite all her issues, Amaya was doing quite well as a designer.

“Would you like to come with me to Europe until the tour ends?” This way, he could keep an eye on her and probably stay out of trouble.

“Thanks, but I can’t. We’re still working on the spring line and preparing for a fashion show.” She patted his cheek. “Maybe some other time.”

Yori sighed. He’d tried. “Okay. We better get going. I’m in the mood for some smooth dancing with you.” He donned his dark glasses. Hopefully, the fans wouldn’t bother them.

****

Damien waved his Humanities test at Tricia.

Tricia gazed at the grade. “One hundred percent.” She blushed. Her future had just been set in stone.

“How about a little pre-marital smooch?”

Tricia gave him a friendly peck on the cheek.

Damien scowled at her. “I’ve gotten hotter kisses from my grandmother.”

“We’re in the middle of a hall in school, surrounded by hundreds of other students.”

“So?” Damien said. “We’re also adults.”

Tricia grabbed his hand and dragged him down the hall and outside.

“How did you do on your tests?” he asked.

“Awful,” she said, sitting down on one of the university’s benches. “I barely passed.” She huddled beneath her coat. “My mother is going to go ballistic. My grades have never been this horrible before.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have kept you out so late that night.” He sat down next to her.

“It’s not your fault. I didn’t have to go if I didn’t want to.” She leaned against him. “How did you do on your other tests?”

“Probably worse than you,” Damien said. “My dad will not only kill me, but he’ll probably get Masaaki to ground me.”

Tricia chuckled. Her mother had told her about Masaaki. “Can you imagine him doing that to grown men?”

“Nope,” Damien said.

“How come you made a hundred on your Humanities test and not on the other tests?”

“All the university is going to do is give me a piece of paper when I graduate. You’re going to love me and be the mother of my kids just because I passed this one subject.”

“You’re such a romantic,” Tricia told him. “And very delusional. I’m going to travel the world and win a Noble Peace Prize in Journalism for one of my articles while you’re at home with the kids.”

“I like kids,” Damien said.

“You need to graduate from this very expensive Master’s program first,” a deep male voice said.

Tricia looked up. “Oh, oh.”

“What are you doing here?” Damien asked his father, who glared down on them like a huge blond wrestler.

“I got summoned here by the Dean,” Harper told him.

“How are you doing, Mr. Kehoe?” Tricia asked politely. If they summoned Harper all the way from Japan, the Dean must be awfully upset. This meant her mother had been contacted too.

“I’m fine, Tricia.”

“How’s Mother?”

“She and the babies are fine.”

“Babies?”

“You mean you don’t know? She had the twins over a week ago.”

“What? And she never called? How are they? What do they look like?”

Harper pulled out his phone. “Here, see for yourself.”

Tricia looked down at the pictures and squealed. “They’re so adorable and they look just like Ichiro.”