Lovely Trigger (36 page)

“At the wedding, you made me think you were still together,” he accused, but there was no heat in it.
 
Even without seeing his face, I knew he felt nothing but relief at the revelation.
 

“I know.
 
I’m sorry.
 
I was using that to keep you at a distance.”
 

He barked out a laugh as his hands pushed my skirt up, yanking my panties down.
 
“How did that work out for you?”
 

I didn’t answer right away, because he was pushing his cock into me from behind.
 
I braced myself on my hands and knees as he worked himself in hard, my eyes trying to roll up into my head with the pure sinking pleasure of it.
 

“Not well,” I finally admitted on a gasp, when he’d buried himself to the hilt.
 

His only response was to slowly glide out of me, then thrust back in hard.
 

I whimpered, arching my back.
 

“This right here,” he growled, pulling slowly back out.
 
“This is what I love.”
 
One of his hands palmed my breasts and he started to move in earnest, jerking in an out in a rough rhythm.
 
“This is what I crave, what I need.
 
This, sweetheart, is what I prefer.”

He gripped my hips, lifting them so all of the weight was off my knee, and began to work me hard.
 

I lowered myself to my elbows, reached a hand down and felt for him.
 
His scrotum was slapping into me with every hard thrust, and I palmed him, cupping, scoring my nails on him lightly.
 
I felt them tighten up when he started to come, and lowered the arm still bearing weight, going facedown into the bed so I could cup him with one hand, and rub my clit with the other.
 

He was still thrusting, deep in the throes, when I caught up to him, eyes rolling back in my head.

In more ways than one, I was done for.
   

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Lana and I had hit it off during James and Bianca’s wedding weekend, but as she lived in Maui, I didn’t get to see too much of her, though we’d met for lunch twice when she’d been to town on business.
 
The last time, she’d revealed that she was over four months pregnant, though she was barely showing.
 
I chalked that up to supermodel genes.
 

I was so happy for her and excited to hear that Bianca was throwing her an impromptu baby shower the next time she came to Vegas for business.
 

I was surprised to learn from Bianca it was happening that very weekend, as Lana had decided to stop traveling from her island home for the rest of the pregnancy, since it was wearing on her.

Another surprise was that it was co-ed.
 
Of all of the men in the world I’d ever met, Akira seemed the least likely to me to enjoy a baby shower.
 
But what did I know?
 

Tristan was invited as well and wanted to carpool to it, but I shut that down right away.
 
I didn’t know what exactly was going on with us, and it would be awkward enough if it all fell apart to our circle of friends.
 
There was no reason to go out of our way to advertise it now, I reasoned.
 
We were still taking things one day at a time.

That didn’t mean I didn’t go out of my way to look good for the party.
 

I wore a smooth and fluid lavender matte jersey wrap dress.
 
Not only did it hug every inch of my torso just so, it had a plunging neckline, and with a few swift tugs of the tie at my hip, the entire front would open.
 

Spectacular access, is how Tristan would describe this dress.
 
It was just the sort of dress that would drive him out of his mind.
 
I couldn’t wait for him to see it.
 

I knew it was dysfunctional, but I needed constant proof that he couldn’t control his need either.
 

Somehow, a runaway train was less Troublesome to me than a charging one.
 

In some respects, I’d rather if
neither
of us were driving this thing.

I didn’t see him right when I got to Bianca’s house, instead did a round of hellos to what was quickly evolving into my favorite crowd of people.
 

Bianca and Lana met and embraced me at the door, crowding me until I felt like I was being cornered by a team of Swedish bikini models.
 
They were both so tall, and that was before their heels.
 
I’d have loved to be able to sport some ridiculous platforms so I didn’t feel quite so short, but flats were my fate, so I worked them as best I could, but I did stand up straighter around these two.
 

I rubbed Lana’s tiny baby bump, congratulating her, feeling only the slightest twinge of pain.
 
I’d had a lot of time to deal with the fact that this could never be me.
 

“Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
 

She was positively glowing.
 
“A boy.
 
Get a load of Akira.
 
You could guess it was a boy just by the way he’s strutting around and pounding at his chest.”

I glanced around, saw him across the room, chatting with James.
 
He did look particularly smug.
   

Bianca pinned a pink diaper pin to the neckline of my dress.
 
“Now, you aren’t allowed to say B-A-B-Y, but if you do, whoever calls you on it gets to have your pin.
 
At the end, whoever has the most pins gets a prize.

I fingered the pin and nodded, thinking
Oh Lord, baby showers
.
 
We’d all likely be forced to eat baby food by the end.
   

I greeted Estella with a big hug and Frankie with a long one, then moved to shake Akira’s hand, and nod with a smile at James.
 
He gave me a very warm smile in return.
 
I still found myself amazed at the change in him over the last year.
 
He’d always been a great guy, as far as I was concerned, but he was just so much
happier
now.
 
It was heartwarming.
 

As I had the thought, Bianca returned to his side, and he snatched her to him, like he’d just been lying in wait for the chance.
 

I went to mingle with the partygoers that I didn’t know quite so well, but was friendly with.
 

Camden, Lana’s brother, was in a corner chatting with Bianca’s stylist, Jackie.
 
It struck me what an odd pair they made as I greeted them with handshakes and hugs.
 

I smiled extra wide as I ran into Stephan, coming out of a hallway that led somewhere at the back of the house.
 
He was Bianca’s best friend and just one of the nicest human beings I’d ever met.
 
He had literally taken a bullet for Bianca.
 
That right there told you all you needed to know about Stephan.
 
He was nearly as obsessed with her as James was.
   

We shared a long hug.
 
“How are you?” I asked him.
 
I hadn’t seen him for nearly three weeks, which was unusual for us.
 

“Great.
 
But you need to come visit more.”
 

He and his husband, Javier owned and operated a swanky bar in the casino.
 
I usually made a point of coming and hanging out at least a few times a week.
     

“I’ll come have a drink tomorrow or the next day.
 
It’s just been a crazy couple of weeks.”

Javier approached us, dragging me into a deep hug without a word.
 
He kissed my cheek, murmuring, “Miss you, girlie,” and pulled back to smile at me.
 

I smiled back.
 

I adored Stephan, and I got along great with him.
 
Everyone did.
 
But Javier and I were something of kindred spirits.
 
He was quiet and very sweet, but he had a wicked sense of humor that he didn’t reveal to many.
 
Our personalities just complemented each other, I thought.
 

Our quiet conversation was interrupted by two loud squeals that erupted behind me.
 

I turned and grinned as Marnie and Judith rushed me.
 
They were a funny pair, but two women less likely to be close friends with the reserved Bianca I’d never met.
 
Still, every party she threw, these two were invited and showed up.
 

“Is Lana happy you’re here, tempting her brother?” I asked them.
 

Marnie rolled her eyes.
 
“We’ve been warned off, and pregnant Lana scares me.”

I made a face.
 
“You poor things.
 
What are you going to do for three whole hours with no one to hit on?”
 

“I’ve been wanting a piece of that magician,” Judith said, sounding forlorn.

My expression tried to stiffen, but I smoothed it out with great willpower.
 

“He is
not
interested,” Marnie added, making me feel instantly better.
 
“Not at the wedding and not now.
 
He’s fucking hot though.”
 

“He must have a girlfriend or something,” Judith continued.
 
“But I’m telling you, if he was up for it, whew, we would have some fun.”

Stephan patted my shoulder.
 
I wasn’t sure what he knew about Tristan and me, but I figured it was as much as Bianca did, which was that we had a painful past together.
 

I’d made a full circle around the room, introducing myself to those I hadn’t met before.
 
It wasn’t a huge gathering, but it was substantial.
 

Bianca approached me.
 
“We’ve turned the living room into a onesie painting studio.”

That made me smile.
 
“If
you
paint one, it will be worth at least five figures.”
 

She laughed.
 
“Well, that’s only because of you.”
 

I shook my head.
 
She would always underestimate her own talent.
 
It was such a gift that she just did it, was compelled to do it, but I’d never overpriced her work.
 
I’d given it exactly the value I would any work of that quality.
   

She glanced behind me suddenly, chewing her lip.
 
“Um, Tristan is in there already.
 
Just giving you fair warning.
 
I know it can be…touchy between you two.”
 

I nodded, feeling guilty.
 
We were close.
 
I should clue her in at least a little bit about the strange changes that had been taking place between Tristan and I, and I was determined to do so at a more appropriate time.
 
I knew for a fact that Bianca didn’t care for the role of hostess, so I didn’t want to take up any of her time today.
 

“Can I help you with anything?”

She rolled her eyes, glancing back, looking for James, I presumed.
 
I was sure he’d be along shortly.
 
“No.
 
There’s nothing to do.
 
James, who always has a team of people on hand, hired an
extra
team today to make sure I wasn’t stressed out.”

I laughed.
 
“And that probably stresses you out,” I guessed.
 

“Exactly.
 
He even turned the backyard into a full on daycare for anyone that brought kids, with five lifeguards on deck.
 
Who else does that?
 
But what can you do?
 
I knew he was a lunatic when I married him.”
 
There was a fond twinkle in her eye as she said it.
 

We shared a good chuckle, and then I moved into the living room turned onesie painting studio.

Tristan was the only one in room.
 
His back was to me, and he was painting away on a onesie.
 
As I approached, I saw that he was painting a deck of cards, and it was actually good.
 
“That’s impressive,” I told him quietly.
 
“I didn’t know you could paint.”
 

He set down his brush, then held up his hands and wiggled his fingers as he turned to me.
 
“Magic hands, remember?”

He zeroed in on the dress right when he saw me, his eyes glazing over a bit.
 

That just tickled me.
 

He shoved his hands in his pockets, just staring for a long time.
 

“Hey,” I said with a smile.

He cocked his head to the side, running his tongue over his teeth, eyes glued to the careless knot tied at my hip.
 
“Um, is that, hmm?”
 

Wow, he was speechless.
 
My entire body flushed in pleasure.
 
“Is that what?” I prompted.

He waved at the fastening of the dress.
 
“Is that little tie there all that is holding that thing closed?”
 

I watched his face and nodded slowly.
 
He cursed, turned on his heel, and walked away.
 

I couldn’t stop smiling as I set to work on painting one of the many stretched out white onesies mounted on an easel.
 

I felt it when he came back, felt his eyes on me.
 
He spoke very quietly behind me.
 
“I know where a guestroom with a lock is.”