CORAL (A Romance Trilogy, Book 1) (36 page)

“If you ever feel like you want
to try someone else, just ask me Coral, I’ll pay for the best, whatever helps
you.” He says almost tripping over his own words.

“I...don’t...err...thanks
Tristan, but George is who I want.” I say surprised at his openness. “You’re
not freaking out.” I add.

“Freaking out? Why would I be...?”
I see the penny drop. “You think because of that I wouldn’t want to see you?”
He asks a little high pitched.

“I...well, yeah.” I admit
shrugging my shoulders.

“That’s crazy!” He says shaking
his head.

“Well I am seeing a shrink.” I
answer dryly, hoping he’ll see the funny side. His head whips round, his face
serious, then he sees my wide grin and automatically smiles back at me. I start
laughing nervously, Tristan chuckles a couple of times then starts eating
again.

Feeling thankful that he hasn’t
asked me anything about it, my appetite comes back, so I finish off the
chocolate pancake, and help myself to a Blueberry one.

“So can I ask you about that?” He
asks, his voice cautious –
Damn it!

“Sure.” I swallow hard.

“How long have you been seeing
him?” He asks his expression serious.

“Two years.” I answer.

“How many times a week?” I catch
him glance across at me, then quickly look away.

“Ok, Tristan,” I stop eating.
“Right now, my head is screaming at me that you’re asking these questions
because you’re assessing if I’m right for the job. Is that the case?” I ask
sternly.

“No,” he scolds. “This is
personal Coral. I’ve told you, your job is safe. This is just you and me, man
and woman getting to know one another,” he adds running his hand through his
hair. I think he’s frustrated.

“Oh, ok.” I placate and take a
bite of pancake, it’s really nice, but my appetites gone again. I put my
cutlery down, pick up my cappuccino and curl my legs up onto the sofa.

“That’s it?” He says. I frown
back at him. “That’s all you’re going to eat?” he adds. I nod once and take a
drink. His mouth sets into a hard line. “Two pancakes? That’s not very much
considering you haven’t eaten for a couple of days.”

I shrug. “I’m full.”

“Somehow I doubt that.” He
mutters to himself.

“I’m sorry Tristan, I won’t ask
about my job again. If you say I keep it, then I guess I’m just going to have
to take your word for it. It’s just so hard to explain what it’s like being me,
being inside my head. I always think the worst.” I sigh and take a drink. “What
was your question?” I ask.

He glances across at me again.
“How many times a week do you see your therapist?”

“Well, normally once…on a
Tuesday.” I add smirking at him, he quickly works it out.

“Ah…so the other day…?” he says.

“Yes, I was due to see George.” Tristan
nods and finishes his pancake. “Why did you come to Lily’s party?” I add.

A smile flits across his face. “I
was desperate to see you again.” That throws me, I wasn’t expecting him to say
that. I light up inside like a star on a Christmas tree.

“So Joyce invited you?” I
whisper.

“No, I called her to say I closed
the deal for the house and that I’d be down on Saturday – I invited her out for
lunch.” He adds.

“But you knew Joyce was going to
the party?” I clarify.

“Of course I did.” A slow, sexy
smile starts to play across his lips.

“So you said that to get Joyce to
invite you?”

“Yes, so I could see you again.”

“Hmm…” I’m not really sure how I
feel about that, using Joyce that way.

“I’m sorry. I guess that sounds
really bad doesn’t it?” He says echoing my thoughts.

I scowl at him. “Um...yeah, it
kind of sucks actually, using Joyce like that.”

“It won’t sound so bad when you
hear the rest though,” he admits.

“The rest?” I question, picking
at the cardboard around my cup.

“Yes, I thought it went so
smoothly when I called Joyce and she said she couldn’t make lunch as she had
the party, but then she invited me, it had worked perfectly. I was very happy,
because it meant I was going to see you again. Joyce asked me to meet her at
her house, so I did only when I arrived, she marched me inside, sat me down and
told me she knew what I was playing at and then she started grilling me about
you.”

“About me?” I squeak. Tristan
turns and sits face to face with me, tucking one foot under his butt. “Yep,
that’s why we were later than everyone else.” He drains the last of his drink.

“Well, what did Joyce say?” I
question.

“Basically she said that she
feels just as responsible for you as Gladys does, and that you haven’t had it
easy, and if I hurt you she’ll break my legs, or some bones or something.”
Tristan smiles as though he’s remembering something really funny. My mouth pops
open in shock. I can’t believe Joyce said that.

Tristan leans forward and takes
hold of my hand; instinctively I know he’s not finished. “She said that if John
were alive, he would have been the one saying that to me, but now he’s gone,
she feels it’s her responsibility. Then she basically asks me why I’m
interested in you. I tell her the truth, which is what I told you, she’s
shocked of course, but then I see her start to come around, she knows I’m not
just some guy that’s well, only interested in one thing. It’s way, way more
than that. We talked for a long time, and by the end of it, I think she’s ok
with it you know, if you do decide to see me, she’s happy. Said you’d been on
your own way too long…” Tristan stops and frowns deeply. “And I know just how
that feels,” he mumbles almost to himself.

“It sucks.” I mutter.

Tristan smiles his sad smile.
“Yeah it does,” he says.

We sit gazing at one another
again. I try to look away but his eyes seem to have some sort of persuasive
power over me. Tristan breaks away first, I flick my eyes down to my coffee
cup, I can’t believe Joyce did that. I take a sip of coffee then stifle a yawn.

“Sorry.” I mumble.

“You look tired.” I scowl at him.
I’m not ready to sleep, I have some questions. “Come on,” Tristan gestures for
me to move towards him. “You should sleep,” he tells me.

I shake my head at him. “I’m not
done,” I tell him.

He cocks his head to the side.
“Oh?”

“So what did I do and say?” I
ask.

“When?” Tristan smirks.
He
knows what I’m talking about.

“Don’t be obtuse Tristan,” I
threaten, his grin widens. “Tristan!” I scold.

“Ok!” He chuckles. “At about 1am
this morning, you sat bolt upright and started typing, and you were talking,
but I couldn’t make out what you were saying. Then about an hour later you…” He
drifts off, shaking his head.

“I what?” I whisper with wide
eyes.

“You whispered my name.” He says
staring down at his hands.

“I did?” I squeak, scowling at
myself in frustration.

“Yes.” His frown mirrors mine.

“There’s more?” I question. Tristan
nods solemnly.
Oh crap!
“Give it to me,” I say closing my eyes.

“You whispered...” The tone of
his voice makes me look at him, he has his eyes closed.

“Tell me.” I plead.

He swallows hard. “You said that
you missed me, that you wanted me to stay and...” he breaks off again and opens
his eyes. When they reach my shocked gaze, he clenches his jaw once then looks
away.

“And?” I push.

“That’s it,” he croaks – I don't
believe him, but I decide to leave it at that, because I'm not sure if I want
to know anymore and I have other questions.

“So you got the house?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“Happy?”

“Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Waiting for you to move in,” he
says, grinning widely at me. My heart hammers against my chest, making me catch
my breath.

“So have you picked up the keys?”
I ask.
Breathe Coral.

“Yep.”

“Wow!”

Tristan laughs at my expression.
“You really liked that house, didn’t you?”

“Tristan, look around you. I live
in this, which is great, but it’s not a million pound house.”

“I think this is nice.” He tells
me, his eyes all warm and soulful again.

“Oh let me guess, because I’m
here, right?”

“Yeah...” He croaks in that sexy
voice of his.

“Cheesy.” I laugh throwing a cushion
at him, his reflexes are fast.

“Hey!” He throws up his arm to
protect his face. The cushion bounces off it and falls onto the floor, we both
chuckle.

“So you need stuff to put in it
right, the house?” I question shyly.

“That I do.” He says.

“I was going to call you about
that.” I say looking anywhere but at him.

“You were?” He answers in
amazement. I look back at him and silently nod. Then hold my head wincing. “We
need to make our way over to the hospital at some point today.” He tells me
firmly.

“No.” I bark. “I hate hospitals,”
I add grumpily.

“That makes two of us,” he
states. “But we still need to have you checked out,” he argues.

“I’ll see my doctor Monday.” I
say, the pain making me wince again.

“You’re local G.P?” he asks. “Is
he good?”

I shrug. “I have no idea. I’m
hardly ever sick so I’ve rarely been. He might not even be there anymore.” I
muse.

“We’ll see my private Doctor.” He
says.

“You already have a Doctor here?”
I ask in shock.

“Yes.” Tristan looks confused as
to why I would find this shocking.

“You sure do move fast don’t
you?” I tease.

“You should see me in my car,” he
says, his eyes dancing with excitement.
Yeah, I bet it’s loads of fun.
I
have to laugh at his animated expression, but it makes my head pound, so I hold
my head in my hands again. “Ok enough talk.” Standing to his feet, he walks the
couple of steps over to the patio door, pulls the curtain across, and walks
back over to me.

Taking my cup off me, he places
it on the coffee table and sits next to me. Then taking me by complete
surprise, he gently pulls on my upper arms so that I end up lying down,
adjacent to the length of his body. I have my head on his chest, my arm across
his torso, and somehow he managed to wrap his arm around me. His fingers start
making smooth soft circles across my shoulder –
Oh wow…this feels… amazing.

“Sleep now Coral,” he softly
says.

“Hmm…” It’s so lovely and
relaxing that I start to drift off. Tristan suddenly moves his leg, trapping
mine underneath his. I do not like that. I try not to panic, because right now,
everything else about this moment feels wonderful; and he’s not to know that
would freak me out.

I take a calming breath.
“Tristan,” I say trembling slightly.

He stills and looks down at me.
“What’s wrong?” I look up at him and meet his eyes, they are watching me
carefully.

“Let go of my leg,” I tell him. He
instantly releases me. I put my head back on his chest. I can hear his heart is
pounding. “Are you ok?” I ask. “Your heart’s beating so fast?” I add.

“Yeah,” he sighs, then puts his
other arm around me and squeezes me tight for a moment. “Just trying to figure
out what happened to you – who hurt you,” he adds. I sigh inwardly. “I know
someone did,” he croaks, then goes back to rhythmically stroking me.

I say nothing. I’m not ready to
share that yet, so I close my eyes and try to drift off.

The peaceful feeling from the
dream engulfs me, I revel in it. In fact I can't quite believe this is actually
happening. Then I question would this have happened if I hadn’t had the
accident with Lily? Would I be lying here peacefully in his arms, not feeling
any kind of negative feelings at all? The answer is no – I don’t think I would
be. Gladys has always said things happen for a reason, that you might not see
it’s purpose at the time, but it all has meaning.

“Tristan,” I mumble sleepily.

“Hmm…”

“Did you sleep on the floor last
night?”

“Hmm…”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes.” He answers with that sexy,
husky voice of his.

“Don’t do that again.” I scold.

“Ok.” He chuckles, it vibrates
through me and I find myself smiling too.

“Why didn’t you just take the
bed?” I ask.

“Because you were incapacitated,
and I wanted to watch you, make sure you didn’t show any weird signs during the
night. Plus, the bathroom is downstairs, it was just easier that way.”

“Bathroom?” I squeak in panic, he
instantly picks up on it.

He chuckles at me. “Relax, you
were out cold, I didn’t have to take you.”