“Perfect,” I say sweetly, because it is, just like Tristan, just like his proposal, just like last night’s love making. My pelvic muscles contract just thinking about it. It wasn’t perfect, it was damn-hot-sexy-sex, not love making. I pick up my orange juice and take several swigs, trying not to picture what we got up to, clearing my throat and taking a deep breath, I smile sweetly at Tristan, quiet my mind and tuck into breakfast.
“I could get used to this,” I say feeling a tradition in the making, Tristan making breakfast, me cooking our evening meal.
“Me making you breakfast?” he questions, laughing lightly.
“Yeah,” I chuckle. “I think that’s fair, especially if I’m cooking on an evening.”
Tristan seems deep in thought. “I could get someone in to cook and clean for us,” he says.
I can't help smiling.
“What?” he chuckles.
“Nothing,” I laugh.
“Tell me,” he pleads.
“It’s just...I never imagined myself with someone’ – “With money?” he questions, interrupting me.
I nod feeling shy. “I just think it’s going to feel weird you know…having people to do stuff for you,” I say.
“Well I don’t know about you, but cleaning bores me to death, and this is a big place. I’d rather pay someone to do it,” he says. “And if you’re going to be busy in the evenings, maybe we should get someone in to cook for us too – I don’t always have the time myself,” he adds.
I think about it for a second, maybe it’s not a bad idea. I can cook when I’m home early, and when I’m not the chef can do it, at least I’ll know Tristan’s getting a decent meal in him.
I look around the huge expanse and decide a cleaner would probably be a good idea too. Tristan and I could spend all weekend cleaning this place, and we still wouldn’t get to every room.
“Ok, let’s do it,” I say.
“Glad you agree,” he says. “But I was going to do it anyway.” He adds grinning broadly at me. “What do you think about a live-in housekeeper?” he asks.
I shrug, unable to answer as I’m eating, but wouldn’t that be weird, other people living in the house? But there’s something about the way he’s smiling at me.
I quickly swallow. “Do you already have one?” I ask.
“Yes,” he smiles. “In London,” he adds.
“You do?” I squeak in surprise.
“Yes,” he chuckles. Hmm, I’ve never asked him where he spends most of his time.
“Are you there a lot, you know compared to Birmingham and Leeds?”
“Yes, I consider it home…well, I did,” he says his thumb skimming my cheek.
“Male or female?” I ask, frowning at him.
“Female.” Hmm, not sure about that!
“Will you ask her to come here?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think she will?”
“Yes, I think so. Her daughter is in Devon so I think she’ll jump at the opportunity.”
“Oh,” I nod. “How long has she worked for you?”
“Ten years.” He raises one eyebrow as he reads my expression – Crap!
“She’s sixty-three,” he says, smiling broadly.
“Oh,” I say feeling stupid.
“Oh baby,” he chuckles. “Edith is lovely, when she came for the interview, I hired her there and then,” he says, his eyes going all warm with memories.
“Why?” I ask.
“She was by far the best candidate,” he says, but I can tell he’s hiding something.
“Why don’t you just tell me the truth?” I say between mouthfuls.
Tristan sighs then smiles warmly at me. “Alright, ten years ago I had my folks move in with me, they were both getting on and I didn’t want them rotting away in a care home. My London pad has its own studio, so they were happy with that. Edith knew her duties would be mainly taking care of them, keeping the house clean, grocery shopping, cooking meals, you know stuff like that…” he trails off, his cheeks flaming.
“What’s wrong?” I whisper.
He turns and stares down at me with sad eyes. “I miss my folks Coral, sometimes…it’s really hard to think about them,” he says swallowing hard.
“I know baby.” I wrap my arm around his waist, lean my head on his shoulder and wait for him to continue, he rests his head on mine and continues.
“Edith had never worked a day in her life, but she knew how to run a home. Her husband had always done well, and she wanted to be a full time mother to their daughter, so she was a stay at home mom, but her husband had died suddenly of a heart attack, the very same month her daughter had gone off to university. She said to me that she had to re-evaluate her life, and with them both gone she knew she couldn’t stand being in the house, the other job she applied to was cabin crew on a cruise-liner.”
“She was brave,” I say.
“Yes and determined, I immediately liked her and so did my folks, she really was the mothering type, which was exactly the kind of women I trusted to take care of my folks, you hear such horror stories about abuse in homes…” Tristan stops dead and looks down at me.
“It’s ok Tristan, I know what you meant, believe me I’ve thought about it often enough with Gladys, there’s no way I’d let her go into a home.”
Tristan nods once then continues. “Well as you know, I like giving good jobs to good people,” he says.
“Yes Tristan, I know, you’re very sweet like that,” I say.
“Well, she started with me, and after three months she put her house up for sale, it quickly sold, and she has the money invested for when she retires,” he says.
“So, was she there?” I question. “At the funerals? Did she help you Tristan? Help you get through it all?”
“Yes,” he breathes. “Without her I think I would have fallen apart,” he adds, his eyes darkening as he remembers.
“Oh Tristan,” I kiss his cheek and hold him to me. “Then she must come here, she can't stay in London on her own, not after everything she’s done for you,” I say. “And I like her already,” I add, knowing it’s true, she helped Tristan through a painful part of his life.
Tristan pulls back and gazes down at me. “You are so sweet,” he whispers.
“Tristan’ –“You are,” he interrupts.
“So will you ask her?” I say, trying to get off the subject of me.
“You’re keen?” he observes.
“Yes, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” he smiles. “I have a question?”
I swallow hard. “Ok.”
“Next weekend, can we move you in, I mean officially. I’m dying to tell everyone Coral, I don’t think I can contain it much longer. I want the whole world to know that you, beautiful you, have consented to be my wife.”
I frown down at my empty plate.
“You don’t want to?” he says.
“No…it’s not that…” I whisper, frowning at my empty plate.
He places his hand on my cheek and turns my head so I have to look at him. “What is it Coral? What are you hesitant about?”
“I just…the moving in part yes, let’s do that, but announcing we are getting married after such a short amount of time together…I don’t know about that. And I think we should still keep our relationship quiet…at least until…” I stop frowning deeply.
“Until what?” he whispers. Ugh! Susannah, Susannah, Susannah…If she wasn’t a possible psycho, I would have him announce us, our relationship, our engagement to the world, but he can't…because of her – Argh! That is so annoying!
“I just don’t think anyone should know about us yet, not until the take-over has happened.”
“Alright,” he whispers frowning down at the floor. I think I have hurt his feelings.
“Tristan, I want to shout it from the rooftops…tell the whole world about you, about us. I just think with everything going on, it’s best to wait. Besides, I don’t want to give Gladys a heart attack, I’ve never liv
ed with anyone…or had a real bona fide boyfriend. I just think she’ll freak out, I don’t want her thinking I’m rushing into this because she’s moving away. I want her to know – eventually, that I moved in with you and married you because I fell in love with you.”
“Oh baby,” Tristan grasps my face in his hands and kisses me forcefully, I feel giddy by the time he’s finished. “You’re right,” he murmurs against my swollen lips. “We know how we both feel, let’s give others time to adjust.”
I smile up at him. “So, if I’m secretly moving in next weekend, will Edith be with us by then?”
“More than likely,” he answers. I’m excited to meet her. I fast forward to next weekend, to packing boxes and moving them here – I instantly get an image of Bob, looking sad and lonely, eating junk food – No!
“What is it?” Tristan asks.
“I just…” I quickly pull my mobile out of my bag and call Bob, letting him know I don’t want him to say anything to Gladys about my late night visitor. Tristan raises an eyebrow at me as he clears away the plates. Bob assures me he won’t say anything, so I say goodbye and hang up.
“Tell me baby,” Tristan says sitting next to me.
“Tell you what?” I ask.
“Why you looked upset before you called Bob?” He doesn’t miss a thing!
“Bob,” I whisper, remembering the image. “Who will look after him when I’m gone?” I muse.
“Well, we could always ask him if he wants to be here with us?” he casually says.
“You would be ok with that?” I squeak.
“Yes Coral, of course I would. I know you consider him as your adopted granddad, he may not agree though,” he adds.
“Where would he sleep?” I ask.
Tristan shrugs. “We’ll sort it if he says yes,” he softly says.
“Thank you Tristan,” I whisper – He really is a wonderful man. “I guess we’ll be filling up the bedrooms after all,” I murmur.
“What do you mean?” he chuckles.
I smile shyly at him. “Well, when I came here with you on the viewing, I didn’t understand why a single man would want to buy a place with so many bedrooms,” I say.
Tristan frowns down at me. “Kids,” he whispers, reading my mind.
I shrug. “Yeah, I guess I was thinking like that,” I gush.
“Coral, you do know don’t you?”
“Know what?” I ask.
“That I’d be very happy to adopt, that’s if you want a family one day?”
“Are you trying to tell me something?” I whisper with wide eyes.
“No baby, I’m just putting it out there,” he shrugs.
“Oh, ok,” I whisper.
Tristan quickly stands and holds his hand out to me. “We’d better get going,” he says.
“Ok,” I place my hands in his and we head out for Tristan’s surprise...
AS WE HEAD BACK TO THE CAR, Tristan drapes his arm over my shoulder. I reach out and squeeze him tight around his waist. Tristan’s surprise was Go-Karting, I didn’t know there was a place in Brighton you could do that, but it’s actually closer to Worthing, so that’s probably why. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to do it, but once we were inside the massive building and got kitted up, I was bouncing about with excitement, which Tristan found really funny.
There were eight of us (I was the only girl) a small stag doo and Tristan and I, they seemed a nice enough bunch, but there was one that was a little flirty, well, until I showed him my engagement ring, and introduced him to Tristan. It was quiet comical as he looked up at Tristan’s tall stature and wide shoulders, he immediately gave up with the one liners.
The track was awesome. It had a sweeping double apex, a twisting flyover and a most impressive Monaco-style tunnel. At first, we were all given a few goes at getting to know the track. Tristan instantly picked it up and overtook me several times. I gritted my teeth and pushed harder, trying to beat him, then we all raced individually.
Tristan won, and to my complete surprise I came second, I had to wonder if it was because the other guys were hung-over, or if it was because I was actually good at it? Tristan told me in no uncertain terms that I was brilliant and he was very proud.
After the individual races, we all teamed up. Tristan was like a kid at Christmas, of course he had a strategy, and after five laps the scores came up on the board. Tristan was totally overjoyed that we won! His free spirit and laughter was infectious, I don't think I’ve ever had such a good time on a date. I still can't believe we got so close on scores, maybe there’s a racing driver in me after all, I wonder if it should be my new career? Laughing at myself, I shake off the thought.
“Was that fun, or was that fun?” he laughs.
“It was great fun,” I chuckle, squeezing him tight.
“So what would you like to do now?” Tristan asks as we pull out of the car park. “I don't know about you, but I'm starving,” he adds.
I roll my eyes at him. He’s always hungry! As I think that, inspiration hits.
“How about the beach?” I say, feeling last night’s shenanigans and this morning’s racing catching up with me. My muscles are sore and aching, and I feel like I could sleep a good couple of hours. What better way to do it than soaking up some Vitamin-D!
“The beach?” Tristan questions, glancing at me behind his aviators – Damn he looks sexy in those!
“Yeah, I know this great little cove. Hardly anyone ever goes down there, it’s a right little suntrap.” Tristan is silently nodding in approval – Hmm Tristan in nothing but a pair of swimming trunks, I hope their tight fitting!
I shake my head at my wayward thinking. “We could take a picnic,” I say a little high pitched and clear my throat.
Tristan glances across at me and smirks. “A picnic?” he says his voice low and husky.
I grin like a fool. “Yes,” I chuckle. “And I’ll need my bikini, from my studio,” I add, wondering if my place will still be in one piece.
“Do you own one?” he asks.
“Yes,” I giggle. “Why would you ask that?”
“Because you’ve never been abroad,” he simply says.
“Oh,” I say. “Well, it’s pretty ancient…it might not even fit me anymore,” I mus.. Last time I wore it?…I can't remember the last time?
“I’ll buy you a new one,” he says, smiling down at me.
“You will?” I squeak in delight.
“Yes,” he chuckles. “Where should we go to get one?” he adds.
I think about it for a moment, then I remember a few years ago, Gladys, Debs and I took little Lily down to the beach for the day, we actually had a sunny Saturday. I remember Gladys mentioning that she’d got this ready-made picnic hamper from M&S, and I know the one I’m thinking of is open on a Sunday.
“I have an idea,” I say.
“You do?” he teases.
“Yes,” I chuckle. “Head back towards the Marina baby,” I say.
“What’s your idea?” He asks.
“Well, I thought we could pop into M&S and pick up one of those ready-made picnic hampers,” I say. Tristan lets go of my hand and very slowly, starting at my knee, he starts to slide his hand up in the inside of my leg.
“Get you a bikini while we’re at it,” he says, his breathing getting heavier. Whoa!
“Good idea,” I say, swallowing hard as his hand continues to travel up my leg. “Tristan,” I warn.
“Yes,” he answers playfully.
“If you don’t stop doing that I’m going to jump on you and I don’t care who sees.”
“Well, I do,” he says, his voice low.
“Concentrate on the road,” I admonish. “We don’t want to have an accident,” I add.
His hand is still travelling, teasing and tantalizing me, so I reach across and place my hand on his crotch, and to my great surprise, I find he’s hard underneath his jeans.
“I was just picturing you in a bikini,” he says a little breathlessly, explaining the reason
why.
“Oh!” My heart is trying to claw it’s way out of my chest. Tristan laughs and stops just as he reaches my sex – Bastard!
“You’re a tease,” I admonish, pulling my hand from his lap and crossing my arms.
Tristan laughs at my little hissy fit. “You can't just turn me on like that and leave me hanging,” I scold, staring out of the window.
“No?” he questions.
“No,” I pout.
“Shall we make a quick detour home first?” he questions. Yes!
“Yes, before we go shopping,” I say.
“Your wish, my command,” he says and puts his foot down. The car zooms in and out of traffic, and we sit silently, heading east back to Tristan’s mega-pad…
WAKING FROM MY PEACEFUL SNOOZE, I turn onto my back, lean up onto my elbows and put my sunglasses back on. The sea is sparkling like diamonds under the glare of the afternoon sun, and I notice there are loads of boats out today, they look so tiny out there in the distance.
“Hmm…” I feel so content, so relaxed – That’ll be the hour’s worth of sexual antics you got up to before shopping!
I grin like a fool. Is it really possible to feel this happy?
“Hey beautiful.” Tristan’s deep husky voice pulls me from my musing.
I turn and smile sleepily at him…boy he looks good, so sexy! He’s wearing a pair of Oakley wraps; he looks just as sexy in them as he does in his aviators, and he’s sat up on his lounger – Of course we had to buy loungers, we couldn’t just put a couple of towels down on the sand – with his e-reader in his hand.
“Hi,” I croak reaching down for the big bottle of water we bought, and taking several gulps.
Ugh! I still feel stuffed from lunch. Even though the picnic basket we bought had several mini sub rolls, two strawberry tarts – which I didn’t eat, I don't like short-crust pastry – and two goblets of chardonnay, Tristan insisted on buying extras, citing it wouldn’t be enough to keep him going – Man he can put it away!
“Need anything?” he asks.
As I turn and gaze at him through my sunglasses, I see his chest is starting to look a little red, even though he’s browning up nicely.
“You’re burning,” I scold – He has the decency to look a little guiltily at me, especially after our argument in M&S about what sun lotion to buy. I wanted the highest factor Tristan wanted the lowest. I told him it makes no difference to how quickly you brown, and that the higher ones protect your skin, he argued some more until I stamped my feet, and told him I wasn’t going unless we bought the one I wanted.
CORAL - Fallen (A Romance Trilogy, Book 2) Page 40