Free CORAL (A Romance Trilogy, Book 1) by Clair Delaney Page B

coming over?” I
whisper, hearing the tremble in my own voice.
    Rob turns and looks at me,
concern written all over his face. “You want to go, just say the word,” he says
in-between mouthfuls. “We can get a pizza on the way home,” he adds.
    I try to act nonchalant, but my
head is buzzing with alcohol and irritation.
    “No, no. It’s ok...I just...” I
close my eyes to assess how I’m really feeling – all my fears kick in, and I
know leaving is exactly what I want to do. In-fact, I would quite happily run
full pelt out of this restaurant, leaving Rob behind. But deep down inside, I
know I can't keep running from situations in life that I find threatening, this
is what George and I have been working on for a while now. I sigh inwardly,
trying to block out all negative emotions and begin rolling up my first fajita.
    Just as I’m about to take my
first bite, I look up and see a man’s body standing right in front of the table
where I’m eating, and I know instinctively it’s Tristan’s. He has the same suit
trousers on, the ones that make his legs look long and lean.
    I swallow hard, and drop my
fajita onto the plate.
    As my eyes drift up, I see he has
discarded his suit jacket, red tie, and waistcoat from earlier today. The
crisp, light blue shirt he’s wearing looks clean on, and he’s rolled the
sleeves up to his elbows. As I search higher, I hear my breath catch in my
throat. Tristan has the top three buttons of his shirt undone, revealing a
little of his toned chest, and as far as I can see there’s not a single chest
hair – My biggest trigger!
    My eyes wonder up, finally
resting at his deep, hypnotic, chocolate eyes. He smiles warmly at me, his eyes
crinkling at the corners; little dimples appear in his cheeks. I hadn’t noticed
those before, they’re cute. And for the first time I see he’s probably older
than me, forties maybe?
    “Good evening Coral.” He holds
out his hand to me. I don’t smile back at him, I don’t want to give him the
wrong impression, but I take his hand and shake it, feeling that same surge of
electricity as I felt earlier today; if anything it feels stronger.
    I clear my throat, relocate my
heart to my chest and exhale. I hadn’t realised I’d been holding my breath.
    “Tristan,” I say more breathlessly
than I want to.
    He lets go of my hand and looks
from me to Rob, but my brain just isn’t firing right. Rob quickly stands,
extending his hand to Tristan.
    “Rob Delgado,” he says, Tristan
takes his hand and shakes it.
    He must realise Rob is gay, yet
it’s making no difference to him, which pleases me immensely. There are so many
straight guys out there that think they are less of a man if they are
associated with gay guys, or back away because they think it’s a disease they
might catch or something, morons! Yet, Tristan seems really relaxed about it,
he seems really nice – Stop Coral!
    “Tristan Freeman, I know you by
reputation of course.” He says.
    “Well that’s good to know.” Rob
replies, simply glowing from head to toe. Sitting back down he glances once at
me, his look says it all - Yeah I know he’s pretty damn fine!
    “Coral, would you and Rob like to
join us?” Tristan asks politely.
    What the hell is with this guy,
he’s all alpha male virility, walks like he has total confidence, should be a
control freak, yet he seems like...like...sweet. Is that at all possible?
    “Yes’ – “Thank you,” I blurt
stopping Rob. “But’ – “You’re going to say no to me again, aren’t you?” He
smiles widely at me, his dimples deepening.
    I feel something deep within me
flutter madly – Damn it, stop smiling like that! I blink twice trying to get my
brain to work again.
    “I’m sorry, it’s just Rob is my
best friend,” I explain, my voice a high pitched octave, I clear my throat and
continue. “We haven’t seen each other in a while and’ – “Don’t worry,” he
smiles. “I understand. You want to relax and have a fun