I Just Can't Stop Loving You (6 page)

He stared at her with those amazing green eyes. The lashes swept his tanned cheeks, making her panties dampen. Tricia gulped. He was pretty fine for a white guy. “How many females on this campus have you fed that line to this week?” Tricia asked as she watched the tiny humor lines emerge around his eyes and mouth.
No, no, no must not look at the mouth. Oh, shit
. She looked. Her stupid, treacherous heart did a full gallop as she gazed over at the rest of him. Tall, blond, gorgeous, and single. There should be a law against one person packing so much deliciousness.

“I can honestly say that you’re the first one I’ve told this to today.”

He sat down in the seat next to her and she got a whiff of his cologne.
Wicked
. He smelt like sin. Her favorite scent. “Why aren’t you studying? Don’t you have exams?”

“I’ll study later after our date?”

“What date?” Tricia asked loudly.

A couple of the other students shushed her. She supposed they had the right since they were in a library. Every time she went off with him somewhere, she ended up fighting off his advances or getting into trouble. Her grades were slipping and she feared she wouldn’t be able to graduate on time if she didn’t get her act together. Last semester, the dean personally threatened to put both of them on academic probation if they didn’t straighten up.

“An evening drive along the coast, followed up by dinner and perhaps a little dancing.”

Ooh, so tempting
. “Sorry, I need to study.”

Damien ran his middle finger up her arm, tickling the dark hair. “Awe, come on, Brown Sugar. Where is your sense of adventure?”

Tricia moved his finger away. “Don’t call me that. You’re just horny and looking for a little play.”

Damien smirked, but did not deny the accusation. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. I can rock your world if you just let me.”

He could also get her expelled, pregnant, and in trouble with her mother. “No, not a bad thing, but definitely not what I’ll be doing this evening. Have you even picked up your Economics book? I heard the test is going to be a killer.”

Damien sighed. “The economy of the world is already a mess. What can that book teach me?”

“Well, you need it to graduate, and aren’t you a business major?”

Damien put his finger to his lip. “Shush, don’t tell anyone. Anyway, I plan to go to work at my dad’s publishing company when I graduate, so I don’t really have to study.”

Tricia frowned. It wasn’t like Damien couldn’t get good grades if he tried. He just didn’t try. “I’m sure your father expects you to do some work when you start working for him, and it would be nice to at least earn your diploma. It would look so nice hanging on the wall of your plush New York office.”

“True, but what does any of this have to do with our date tonight? I’ve found this great steak and lobster restaurant I’ve just been dying to try. And you need to eat.”

Well, she had missed lunch cramming for another test and there weren’t any other guys beating a path to her door offering her steak and lobster. “Dinner, but no dancing,” she said. “I have a test at seven in the morning.”

“Okay, no dancing,” Damien agreed.

“Steak, but no sex,” Tricia added.

Damien smirked at her.

Her stomach clenched. He had the sexiest smirks. “I’m serious.”

“Yeah, I know you plan to stay a virgin until you’re married.” He paused. “I’ve made reservations for eight.”

Tricia looked at her watch. It was nearly six. That only gave her an hour or so to find something to wear and to dress. She closed the book. “I need to shower and change.” She stood up.

Damien grabbed her hand. “Do you need someone to wash your back?”

Tricia slapped at his hand. “No, but you can carry my books and walk me back to my dorm room.”

Damien rose, gathering her books while she slung her book bag over her shoulder.

“Are you sure Shaundra Morrison is your mother?” he asked as they walked out the library.

“Pretty sure,” Tricia told him with a smile. “She’s taught me a thing or two about men.”

****

Damien helped Tricia out of the front seat of his sports car and closed the door.

“I love the beach,” Tricia squealed.

Damien smirked. “I know that.”

Summer had finally ended and it was cold in New York, but there were still a lot of people on the beach. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the sandy shore. “What made you decide to come here?” Tricia asked as they watched the tide come in.

“It’s peaceful,” Damien said. “I’ve always liked the water, since I was a child.”

True, and he had a darn good body to show for all the swimming he did for the college swim team. She sighed. If only he put that much effort in his studying.

“Would you like to go for a swim?”

“Are you kidding? It’s November and the water is too cold.”

“My father has a heated pool at his townhouse in Manhattan.”

“We’re at the beach and it will be late by the time we make it to Manhattan.”

“So?”

She didn’t know why she bothered. She was just going to end up there anyway. “Maybe,” she said.

Damien squeezed her hand affectionately. “Have you heard from your mother?”

“Not in the last week or so. The last thing she told me was that she’d hired a nanny for the babies.”

“Can you imagine her having a baby at her age?”

Tricia shook her head. “No, but she loves Ichiro. Sometimes that takes precedence over common sense.”

“Isn’t it dangerous at her age?”

Tricia sighed. She really didn’t want to discuss her mother. This was a beautiful night and a bright white moon gleamed on the water. And she was holding hands with a sexy, cute blond. “Yes, but she has a good doctor and Aomori looking after her.”

“No, they’re not,” Damien replied. “They’re in Paris.” He chuckled. “They just got their asses arrested a couple of nights ago and their manager had to bail them out of jail.”

“No! What happened this time?”

Aomori was infamous for being arrested and being involved in scandals.

“Apparently, they were in some strip joint in France and gambling when the place got raided. I think they were in a fight too.”

Tricia smirked. She’d bet her bottom dollar Satoshi started the fight.

“Didn’t you used to date one of them?”

They’d gone out a couple of times, but she didn’t consider it dating. And all the while she suspected that he had the hots for her mother. “Yes, Satoshi.”

“The one who plays the piano?”

“Yes, that’s him.”

“Did you sleep with him?”

Damien pulled her closer to him when she didn’t answer. “Well?”

“No.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want to take sloppy seconds to some old pop star.”

Tricia used her free hand to pop him. “Satoshi is not old. He’s just twenty-six. And I didn’t know him well enough to sleep with him.” She paused. “And who says I am going to sleep with you? Just because your ass is fine and I’m letting you hold my hand doesn’t mean I’ll be spreading for you tonight.”

Damien stopped, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. His tongue darted into her mouth and the world revolved on its axis.

“Please,” he pleaded against her lips.

Tricia crossed her ankles to fight off the pull of temptation. It was getting harder and harder to resist. “Just a swim,” she answered.

Damien smiled wickedly at her. “Okay.”

****

“Are you crazy?” Harper screamed at Shaundra through the speaker of her car phone while she drove through the farmhouse gates. The guards waved her in.

“No, I’m not.”

“You know you’re not supposed to be driving.”

“I just took a short ride. Where are you?”

“I’m on my way to see you. I’m bringing your new contract.”

Shaundra smirked. Harper could have emailed or faxed it to her. She drove past the farmhouse door and continued on to the parking lot behind the house. The nurse had left earlier, meaning she was alone for a while. Shaundra drove into her parking spot, grabbed her purse, and eased out the car while Harper continued to talk to her. A pain shot through her body. “Oh!”

“What’s wrong?”

Shaundra leaned against the car for support. “Nothing, just a pain.”

“What? What kind of pain?

“I think it might be a Braxton Hicks contraction.”

“You think? Is this the first one?” he asked hysterically.

“No, I’ve had a few since the other day.”

“And you’re still out driving?” Harper shouted.

Shaundra took the phone from her ear and let him rant. Sometimes men could be such nags. Another pain hit. This one nearly took her breath away. “Damn,” she shouted.

“Shaundra, are you okay?”

“Yes,” she gasped as she doubled over again. “Just another pain.”

“Don’t lie to me. You don’t sound all right.”

Shaundra bit her lip to keep from screaming and she didn’t think she could straighten up.

“Where are you? Are you still driving?”

“No. I just parked the car in the lot behind the farmhouse.”

“Damn,” Harper said. “We’re still about a mile away.”

The pain passed, allowing her to stand. “I’m okay. I’m going to go inside.”

“Don’t hang up,” Harper told her. “Talk to me.”

Shaundra took one step forward and another pain hit, knocking her to her knees. Water gushed out of her like piss. “Awe.” She groaned. “I think my water just broke.”

“What? You aren’t due for another two weeks.”

“Well, tell that to these two big-headed babies.” She screamed as another pain ran through her body like a lightning strike. “God damn it.”

“Step on it,” she heard Harper tell his driver.

She’d had babies before, but she’d never felt anything like this. Something had to be wrong. “I don’t feel too good,” she told Harper.

The world spun around her. Shaundra saw darkness, felt the earth move again, and then everything moved in slow motion.
Another earthquake
. “Harper!”

Her thoughts muddled and then clarity hit. She looked around. Had she imagined the earth shaking a few seconds ago? Her head throbbed and everything went dark again.
Water
and lots of it. She screamed. “Run.” The image passed. What was happening to her and why did she keep spacing out? Another pain. Shaundra screamed again. “Ichiro, where the fuck are you?” She fainted.

Harper jumped out of the back of the car and hurried over to Shaundra. She lay on the ground right next to her car. “Damn,” he said, kneeling next to her. He reached for her hand, checking for a pulse. He found one…a weak one. “Damn.”

His driver got out of the car. “Is she alive?”

“Yes,” Harper said, lifting Shaundra into his arms. She weighed a ton. “Get a blanket out of the trunk and lay it on the back seat.” He wasn’t worried about messing up the seat. He wanted to make Shaundra as comfortable as possible.

The chauffer ran around to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and got a blanket.

Harper had thought about alerting the guards to go to Shaundra before he got there, but he didn’t trust them around her. He walked to the car and gently laid her on the back seat. He then went back, got her purse and her cell phone, and placed them near her. The driver got back behind the wheel and Harper climbed into the front seat. “Let’s get her to the hospital.”

“Which one?”

“Osaka General.”

The driver turned the car around and drove toward the gate. Harper looked into the back seat. Shaundra was still unconscious, but her eyes moved rapidly under the lids like she was having a bad dream. And she moved fitfully in her sleep.

The driver stopped the car at the guard shack and Harper rolled down the window as one of the guards approached. “Mrs. Yoshida is in labor and I’m taking her to the hospital.”

The guard looked into the back seat and then nodded.

“Don’t let anyone except Aomori, Masaaki, Mr. Niigata or Cristal Gentry past this gate. If the nurse returns, tell her I’ve taken Mrs. Yoshida to Osaka General.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Kehoe,” the guard replied.

Harper rolled the window back up. “Step on it,” he told the driver.

Shaundra cried out in pain.

Harper looked back at her. She clutched her stomach as it moved beneath her hand. He wasn’t an expert, but it appeared that the babies wanted out and they wanted out now.

The driver sped through the streets. Lucky for them there wasn’t much traffic in this part of Osaka.

“Ichiro,” Shaundra screamed. “Where are you?”

Harper frowned.
Yes, where are you? Stupid idiot. How could you leave her like this
?