I Just Can't Stop Loving You (23 page)

She knew it. “Okay, what happened?”

Satoshi sighed. He sounded like a wounded puppy. “Cristal is spending the day with my brother.”

“I don’t understand,” Shaundra said. “What is your brother doing in Amsterdam?”

“Cristal invited him here. I think they’re dating.”

Shaundra sighed. “You know, maybe I’m the last one who should speak on this issue, but why isn’t she dating you? You didn’t do something foolish again like set the two of them up before you left for Europe?”

“No, I didn’t,” Satoshi said in his own defense. “He and I were never close. Tae met her when I took her home to meet my parents and apparently he liked what he saw. I had no idea the two of them would get together, especially since Cristal didn’t seem to like him.”

“You mean he just brazenly took up with her even though he knew that you and Cristal are in love?”

“Yes, to the first part, and I don’t know to the second,” Satoshi said.

Shaundra sighed again. “I think you still brought all of this on yourself, but since we’re friends, I guess I have to sympathize with you.”

Satoshi chuckled. “You always find a way to make me smile. Well, enough about me. How are the princes of J-Pop?”

“They’re napping at the moment. They’ve had their liquid lunch and will probably wake up for their dessert in about an hour.”

“Are you getting any rest?” Satoshi asked.

“Some,” Shaundra replied. “They’re starting to sleep longer.”

“Maybe it has something to do with your milk. One taste and you’re relaxed.” He paused. “Do you think you can air deliver me some? I’ve been feeling a bit tense lately.”

Shaundra chuckled even though she knew he was serious. “If I thought it had magical properties, I’d be drinking it myself. So what are you guys doing to celebrate the traditional American holiday?”

“We’re all going out to eat dinner with Mr. Niigata. Ichiro wanted to cook for us, but we don’t have a kitchen at the hotel. But he did promise to make us a scrumptious meal for Christmas. How about you?”

“I’ll probably grab something later,” she lied. It wasn’t good to stress him out any more than he was. “Try to enjoy your meal with your friends tonight and don’t worry about your brother and Cristal. I’m sure there is some reasonable explanation for seeing Tae.”

“Like what?” Satoshi asked.

“Maybe she’s horny. We women do have our needs.”

Satoshi cleared his throat. “Noted. Take care of Shaundra’s horny needs when I return to Osaka.”

“Imbecile,” Shaundra teased.

“We have needs too, Shaundra.”

“Well, some of us are just better at handling loneliness than others,” she replied. “Maybe you need to share that delightful body of yours with Cristal.”

“I won’t take sloppy seconds to my brother.”

Shaundra chuckled. “Just because he’s in the neighborhood doesn’t mean she’s going to open the door and let him in. Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you? Cristal might just be looking for companionship.”

“I understand,” Satoshi said.

No, he didn’t. She could hear it in his voice.

“And I wouldn’t have a problem with them dating except he’s my brother, and some things you just don’t do.”

She was well aware of the evils of dating friends. “No, it isn’t right, but you try to have a nice Thanksgiving anyway,” she told him.

“I’ll try,” he said. “I’ll call you soon.”

“Bye,” Shaundra told him. They ended the call and she walked to the nursery to check on the twins. Ryoto was awake and cooing his bed. Shaundra lifted him out. “Someone is stinky.” She cleaned the baby up and disposed of the soiled diaper.

Raiden continued to sleep, allowing her time to nurse Ryoto. She sat down in the rocker, pulled out a breast, and offered it to her son. Ryoto latched on to it with his mouth and then rested a small hand on top of it, marking his territory. Shaundra smiled and leaned back to let him enjoy his meal. Harper and Damien wouldn’t be arriving for a couple of hours, which gave her time to take a shower and fix herself up.

She felt herself getting stronger and stronger every day now and she had lost most of the baby weight. She still the need to tighten up her body a little and hoped the martial arts lessons Dae-Hyun had been teaching her would soon start paying off. It didn’t hurt having a sinfully gorgeous teacher giving her the lesson. And he could cook too. The house still smelled good. Dae- Hyun promised her apple, sweet potato, and pecan pie, and she was holding him to that promise. Her minded drifted back to her conversation with Satoshi. What was up with Cristal? Maybe she should give her friend a call to find out where her head was at. Shaundra didn’t think of it as interfering or being nosey, especially since everyone had been all up in her business since she arrived in Japan.

Ryoto went back to sleep and Shaundra put him in his crib. Then she dashed into her room for a quick shower before Raiden’s stomach clock went off. An hour later, she joined Dae- Hyun downstairs in the kitchen. The turkey was out of the oven and he was busy with the side dishes. He looked especially delicious in his black pants, turtle neck, and red apron. He was eye candy du jour, single and had a great ass. “It smells so good up in here,” Shaundra told him. “Do you need any help?”

“Not with the food, but you can finish setting the table.”

He’d already put the brown and gold holiday tablecloth on the table, so the rest was easy. He’d taken out the good china and the glasses from the cabinet so she didn’t have to strain herself searching for them.

“How are the boys?”

“I just got Ryoto back to sleep. He woke up with a stinky diaper and a smile.” Dae-Hyun chuckled.

She liked the sound of it. Quite manly, and it did funny things to the pit of her stomach.

“I’m surprised Raiden didn’t get up at the same time.”

“That’s because Ryoto was being a good boy and not making any noise. I think he wanted Mama all to himself.”

“You think a five week old baby already has a sense to be conniving?”

Shaundra shook her head. “Yes. He knows it’s more milk for him and more personal attention.”

“He’s already caught up to Raiden in size. I’m even having trouble telling them apart now.”

“Raiden has more hair,” Shaundra replied. “And he turns red in the face when he cries.”

“What is going to happen when Ryoto’s hair grows and he turns red in the face when he cries? How are you going to tell them apart?”

Shaundra shrugged. “I’m hoping they learn their names so when I call them, the right one will answer. But I have a feeling they will be playing tricks on me when they get older.” She chuckled. “It’s spooky that they look so much alike even for identical twins.”

“How are you coming with your Japanese?”

“I’ve been practicing writing the characters. I’m getting better every day,” she bragged.

“Good,” he said. “You’re also progressing with your Korean. Before we know it, you’ll be speaking like a native.”

Shaundra frowned. She didn’t want to get too comfortable in Japan just yet. “I still have a southern accent, which I’ll probably never lose.”

“Don’t,” Dae-Hyun said. “I like it.”

The doorbell rang before she could comment. “That’s probably Harper,” Shaundra said. She walked out of the kitchen to answer the door.

Harper pushed a bouquet of fresh daisies at her.

“Thank you,” Shaundra said, accepting the flowers. He kissed her on the lips and then hugged her. “You look great,” he told her. “And you’re wearing pants. Sexy.” He stepped inside the house, leading Damien with him. “You know the boy.”

Shaundra peeped over at Damien. “You’re hardly a boy anymore. Look at you.” She gathered Damien into her arms and hugged him. “Welcome to Japan.”

“Arigatou gozaimasu,” he said to her in fluent Japanese.

“Do itashi mashite,” she told him. “You’re welcome.”

Damien smiled at her and she saw a young Harper in him. Dangerous, especially with her cougar still on the edge from her conversation with Dae-Hyun. A woman could only take so much. “I like him, Harper. I can certainly see what Tricia sees in him.” She showed them where to hang their coats and winter gear. Harper looked dashing in a tan turtleneck sweater and pants, while his son sported a royal blue pullover sweater and navy pants that brought out the green in his eyes.

“Don’t tell him that,” Harper said. “It will go straight to his head.”

“Speaking of my loving daughter, how is she really doing in school?”

Damien stopped smiling.

“Um hum,” Shaundra said, leading them through the house to the kitchen.  “I figured as much. I just talked to her the other day and we talked about everything under the sun, but she never mentioned her grades. I figure they were less than usual.”

“Don’t blame her,” Damien said. “I kept her out pretty late on a date the night before our tests.”

“I won’t even bother asking where you took her since you’re both adults. But you both need to graduate and get good paying jobs so your father and I can retire. We’re getting old.”

“Speak for yourself,” Harper said, opening the kitchen door.

Dae-Hyun was just pulling an apple pie out of the oven when they entered.

“You must be in your glory,” Harper told Shaundra as he got a good glimpse of Dae- Hyun in his apron.

Shaundra nodded. “I’m walking on sunshine.”

The three men shared pleasantries while she put her flowers into a vase. A few minutes later, the baby monitor turned on, alerting them to the fact that both Yoshida brothers were awake.

“I’ll get them,” Dae-Hyun said.

“No, you cook,” Shaundra said. “I’ll see to them.”

“Do you need any help?” Harper asked.

“Do you know anything about babies?” Shaundra asked him.

“I think I can manage to change a diaper.”

Damien laughed sarcastically. “Make sure you take a picture of that, Ms. Shaundra, so I can send it to my brother. We’ll both get a big chuckle out of our playboy father getting domestic.”

Harper scowled at him. “You’re not too old to spank.”

“He’s taller than you are,” Shaundra reminded him. “Talk to Dae-Hyun and learn something about cooking,” Shaundra said to Damien. “Tricia will love you even more if you can prepare a decent meal for her.”

“I’m not wearing an apron,” Damien mumbled.

Dae-Hyun chuckled. “Women like a man in an apron.”

Shaundra nodded, pushing Harper toward the kitchen door. “It’s sexy.”

****

She wouldn’t say it was the best Thanksgiving she’d ever had, but at least she was eating at a nice restaurant, and she wasn’t alone like poor Shaundra. Cristal raised her glass of red wine and toasted Tae. They had spent a delightful morning together touring Amsterdam, and the evening was winding down. All the while, she wished she’d done all those things with Satoshi, but he hadn’t asked, or wasn’t even talking to her since Tae had arrived.

“Would you care for dessert?” Tae asked once he got her attention.

“Sure, why not?” Cristal said. “It’s not like I’m watching calories.”

“You have a beautiful body,” he said. “I’m sure my brother has mentioned it to you by now.”

“No, he hasn’t.” Cristal replied. She knew what he wanted her to say, but she wasn’t going to do it. “Why does everything have to be competitive between you two?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Tae said, looking over the dessert cart.

Okay, play stupid
. For weeks now, she’d been trying to find out what made Tae tick. Given the choice of the two brothers, Satoshi won hands down. He was a little slow on the courting part, but at least she didn’t have to worry about him using her for some kind of revenge stunt. She couldn’t wait for the holiday to be over, because she hadn’t made Satoshi jealous as she planned. All she had done was saddle herself with a pompous ass. Cristal selected cheesecake from the cart. Tae would be on a plane tomorrow heading back to Osaka and she would resume her life pining for Satoshi’s affection.

****

“What do you guys feel like doing?” Takumijo asked after they returned home from eating Thanksgiving dinner at some restaurant Mr. Niigata had chosen. “I’m bored.”

They sat around the hotel lobby taking up space and getting strange looks from the hotel guests and the employees.

Yori shrugged. “I’m game for anything you guys want to do.”

“Let’s go to De Wallen,” Satoshi suggested.

“Why?” Yori asked.

De Wallen the notorious red light district in Amsterdam.

Satoshi sat down on the arm of the chair next to Takumijo. “Because I’m ready for some excitement and De Wallen is supposed to be the best place to go for it.”

“What’s De Wallen?” Ichiro asked, pronouncing it with a thick Japanese emphasis.

Satoshi shook his head. He could not get used to Ichiro’s new look. He wanted his old Ichiro back.

Takumijo’s cell phone beeped loudly, indicating a text. Satoshi looked down to be nosey.
Terrie? Who the hell is Terrie
? Probably the one Takumijo met before leaving Osaka the last time. He looked up to find Yori staring at him. Satoshi mouthed the name Terrie to him as Takumijo typed a message back on the tiny keyboard. “De Wallen is a red light district,” he finally said to Ichiro.