LOVE QUAKES: BOXED SET (BOOKS 1-4) (16 page)

We can hear Eddie and Ashley speaking and breathing with excitement at the entryway to the stairwell.

“How many bags do you have here, Ashley?” he joshes her

“Enough for two weeks’ worth of vacation,” she giggles. That’s her flirty giggle. The tone of her voice indicates that she has a spark going already. I know that sound so well.

Tristan whispers in my ear, “What I wouldn’t give to see Eddie’s face right now.”

“Do you think he sounds interested in Ashley, Tristan?” I quiz him, as we listen for further clues of their interactions.

“From the depth of his core!”

We hear Eddie’s belly laugh and Ashley’s breathy sighs as they make their way up the stairs to the condo with her luggage. By the time they reach the door of the apartment, each of them has a telling glow on their faces. Ashley looks stunning, as usual, with a turquoise cami and white skinny jeans and sandals. Her upswept blond hair has released several tendrils down the side of her face. She’s flushed from the climb up three flights of stairs as well as the force of Eddie’s personality on hers.

Eddie looks like he’s lit from within. Tristan can hardly suppress his chuckle. Instead of laughing, he turns to me and rolls his eyes. We exchange a knowing look. What is it with these Grant men, anyway?

“Welcome back, Ashley,” I gush as she sets her bags down in the living room. We hug for a few minutes. Ashley’s eyes finally show her shock at noticing Tristan’s arms around me. In addition, now she knows at least some of what I’ve been doing while she’s been away with her parents. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I’m not sure exactly what I want to tell her about where we’re headed.

As soon as Ashley drags all of her goodies into the bedroom, the four of us celebrate my job and her return home with the champagne that Tristan brought over.

Eddie’s eager to know more about the vision before him. “So, Ashley, you just returned from the Bahamas? Why not Hawaii since it’s so much closer to the west coast?”

“My mother vacationed there as a child but it’s great and all about the beaches. I’m in love with Calypso music and metal drums. I danced nearly every night. Sometimes, with Erik, when no one else was moving…”

“Erik’s your brother?” Tristan interrupts with a tad of irritation in his voice and I know why.

“My twin. My parents took the whole family, as a graduation gift to both of us,” she nods.

“I’d like to see some of those dance moves,” Eddie oozes while licking his lips.

Everyone chuckles at him. “Maybe, I’ll show Joanna that, and the Limbo. However, that’s not all we did. We also went on a submarine adventure that took us down to a shipwreck from two hundred years ago. You wouldn’t believe how huge and gorgeous the tropical fish were there,” At that point, Ashley pulls out her Galaxy 5 Samsung Smartphone and shows us photos.

“Here’s some awesome shots of an historic sugar plantation house,” she explains and passes the phone around the group. Her pictures show a lovely 19th century Victorian mansion filled with period pieces and mahogany furniture.

“This home has some amazing pieces of art,” I add as I scroll through more of the photos. I’m just a bit envious about her house tour, since the 19th century is my favorite historical period. Maybe one day…

“Would you like to see that sort of plantation, sometime?” Tristan whispers in my ear since he’s sitting with his arm around me on the couch. He’s already noticed my wistful mood. I nod my head yes and he kisses it.

“There were some dumb things my mother insisted that we all had to do, like take a pirate boat cruise to some beaches that were used by dudes like Blackbeard, back in the day.”

“But, your fav was what?” Eddie asks while hanging on her every word.

“There was a dinner show. I’m not sure the pictures really capture the color very well, but they had a fire-eater with the most amazing body, ahhh, I mean moves. Then the Limbo Queen showed us how low we could go under the stick. Other women at the show dressed up as if they were at Carnival in New Orleans. We were dancing to this incredible Calypso Band called Black Snake. We had a great BBQ followed by Reggae music. It was the best vacation, ever.”

We spend the rest of the evening talking about my job and Tristan’s recovery. Around midnight, Ashley announces that she’s exhausted. I take that as a cue to move Eddie and Tristan toward the door of our apartment. I can feel the sexual tension hanging in the air like a storm that’s about to burst. As a way of easing the tension, I make a suggestion.

“I’ve been invited to go to the hippest place near the beach, tomorrow. It’s Luigi’s Place and it’s nearby. They have great pizza and good drinks as well as music downstairs. Would you all like to come with me?”

Eddie and Ashley immediately agree. Tristan asks a question that I knew would follow, “Who invited you to this place?”

“My friends from work, Janelle and her boyfriend, Edwin.”

Tristan’s dazzling smile lets me know he’s relieved to hear it and we all agree to meet at our apartment around 6pm. 

Ashley walks Eddie down to the entry door as Tristan hangs back a bit with me. Before Tristan leaves our place however, he pulls me toward himself and gives me a passionate kiss. He has me panting for more, so I return the kiss and then pull him close carefully. He relaxes into my embrace as though it’s manna from heaven. I hold his face between my hands and look into his adorable aqua eyes.

"Thanks for coming over and surprising me with the champagne, Tristan."
"I had a great time tonight, Joanna, and I’m looking forward to Luigi’s Place tomorrow. I won't be dancing just yet but my ribs are getting so much better. I'm even able to sleep lying down on my back now."
"Sounds promising," I gush and give him what I hope is a seductive smile.
"Sleep well, baby, and dream of me," he asserts and pets my rear. There’s a lot of promise in that action.
"Pretend that you're holding me, in your dreams," I urge him.
"That'll help keep the monsters away. Goodnight, angel," he says before leaving with Eddie.

That night, I fall into my bed exhausted and alone. I feel so thrilled to know that Tristan and I have started to move on from his transgression. Given his insecurity and strong bond with Kristen, as well as the fact that we’re still getting to know one another, I’ve decided to give him one more chance. My instincts tell me that his slip with the escort will never happen again.

The next day, Ashley unpacks and gives me some camisoles that she bought for me as a gift. They look great with my complexion and I decide to wear the blue one this evening. Then we eagerly talk about Eddie and Tristan.

“Well, Joanna, there’s no doubt. Tristan Grant has it bad for you. He can’t take his eyes off you.”

“It’s mutual, Ashley. I think he’s so hot, smart, and generous. I can’t wait to try him on for size.”

“You’ve known each other for about a month and you haven’t been able to get it on, yet?” She’s incredulous as she asks the question.

“Yeah. We had some amazing make out sessions but he’s injured. I need some advice from you, though,” I admit.

“Oookay,” she agrees somewhat cautiously.

"I need to learn more about how to do certain things. Can you teach me?" I blush as I ask Ashley for some sexual tips. This is a first between us and it’s awkward.
"It's not that I'm such a pro at romance, anyway, but I know you've never really even dated. So here goes..." Ashley gives me some ideas about using my hands, mouth and body to please both Tristan and myself. Thank goodness for my best friend.
"It looks as if you and Eddie had quite a connection," I say after the lesson.
"We'll find out more tonight, Joanna. He's definitely appealing and hot." I can tell that Ashley’s smitten but, given her track record with losers, she's being a bit cautious.

That evening, at Luigi’s Place, Janelle and Edwin find a table for all six of us and we order different pizzas. Janelle gives me a thumb up and arches her eyebrows when she sees Tristan but she only has eyes for Edwin.

The blond and good-looking female server spends more time than necessary looking into Tristan's eyes while he orders drinks and pizzas for all of us. I knew the service was friendly here but this is just ridiculous. Tristan doesn’t show any interest in her overt flirting. He turns to me with a smile and hug when the orders are complete.
After the pizzas and two glasses of wine, I start nibbling on Tristan's earlobe. It's making him flush with excitement. His hand finds my thigh first. Next, he's pulling me gently into his side with his arm and kisses on my cheek and head.
Ashley and Eddie have gone downstairs to dance. I'm sure she's working her magic on his libido as well. Janelle and Edwin are downstairs drinking and listening to the DJ. Ashley has convinced him to play Calypso remixes.

I decide to tell Tristan the news about my trip to the psychology convention, since we’ve been having very little contact this week. “Oh, I need to tell you something. We’ll be going to NYC for a conference next week. It’s the best and most important gathering in the field of psychotherapy.”

As I suspected, Tristan responds with irritation, almost immediately.

“Really? Who will go to this conference with you?” is his cautious response. Oops. Perhaps I shouldn’t have introduced the idea so suddenly. Tristan’s in control mode now. I’ll need to ease him into the idea a bit.

“I’m going with people from work. It’ll be exciting to visit the exhibits on various topics in the field, to find out about the latest services, and meet the movers and shakers in the therapy world. We can learn a lot about all the latest self-help trends, too.”

“Which people from work will be attending the conference?” he asks and persists with the interrogation.

“Well…” I pause and look at my hands, “it’ll be my boss, Ryan Tran and Janelle.” I admit with some discomfort. It’s irritating that he makes me feel so guilty about this work-related conference.

“So, Ryan wants to take you and Janelle to NYC for a good time?” he asks with sarcasm. “What about this other dude, Edwin?”

“Tristan, it’s an amazing opportunity to network. As it turns out, though, Edwin can’t attend the conference since he went recently,” I explain. Our conversation grows tense once I share more information with him.

“Uh-huh,” Tristan utters, as his jaw grows tight. Tristan’s going all paranoid and jealous on me. Should I try to ease his mind?

“Tristan, Ryan Tran seems harmless. He’s a middle aged, paunchy, a good coach and supervisor. He’s never shown any inappropriate interest in me; just what’s expected between an analyst and their boss.”

“I may have to accompany you to NYC,” he remarks in a dead serious tone.

“That’s ridiculous, Tristan. You shouldn’t even be flying, in your condition.”

“Look, it’s really problematic for me. I want you to find a way to convince Ashley to come with you to the conference.”

“One, she’s just returned from the Bahamas, Tristan. Two, Ryan expects both Janelle and me to make the trip. Three, what we gain from this conference will help us and TTP to become much more cutting edge,” I argue with what I hope is a convincing case.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Joanna. I just know how middle-aged men behave when they cut loose at such conferences. There’re all sorts of parties at night, sexual hookups, and a ridiculous amount of drinking that occurs.”

“Tristan. I’ve already agreed to attend the conference. It’s part of our training at TTP. I need to update myself with all the trends in therapy, analysis and tech. I’m going to NYC and that’s it.” I tell him firmly.

His face softens a bit. Being assertive with Tristan seems to help.

“Then, you need to talk to Ashley tonight and let me know that she’s going to be your roommate and protector throughout the conference,” he commands.

“What if Ashley can’t come to NYC? Isn’t Janelle good enough to keep me company?”

“You don’t know much about Janelle. At least you’ve lived with Ashley for four years.”

“Tristan, Ashley needs to get her own career together. In addition, she’s just starting to get into a relationship with Eddie. Get real. I’m going to NYC no matter what," I slur and give him what I hope is a determined look. His jaw gets very tight.
"Joanna, you’re getting a bit drunk and not thinking clearly. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

“Fine,” I agree in move that surprises him. His mood shifts to upbeat, in an instant.

“You're coming to my place, tonight, baby," Tristan commands.

Maybe that’s just what my jealous boyfriend needs. I can try to give him some reassurance there. Therefore, I nod my head yes. I'm lost in his spell. His ribs should be strong enough to take a little pressure now. Besides, I want to practice some of the techniques that Ashley suggested earlier today.
Before we head to his place, I run downstairs and find Ashley doing her latest Caribbean dance moves. Eddie looks transfixed as she moves her hips to the music. He can’t even keep up with her action. I let them know that Tristan and I are heading to his place and give Ashley a hug for good luck. I also signal Janelle and Edwin that I’m leaving. She gives me the OK sign and smiles. Edwin’s all over her with hugs and kisses.