Free Down and Dirty by Imari Jade Page B

behind her and appeared a bit restless. Damien sat beside her texting Tricia. His long distance phone bill must be astronomical, she thought.  “How is she?”
    “She’s sad that she’s not here to witness her younger brothers’ christening,” Damien told her. “But she sends her love and wants me to send pictures of them.”
    “You can’t send them until after the photo shoot,” Harper reminded him. KiNii Publishing and Harper’s New York publishing company had the rights to the first public photos of the twins, followed by a full magazine spread featured in Flowing Magazine , the fashion publication that had done such a beautiful job on Shaundra and the other New York writers when they’d first come to Japan two years ago.
    “Awe, she is going to be so disappointed,” Damien said, putting his phone into his pocket.
    “She’ll get over it,” Harper said to his son.
    “It is business, son,” Goro Niigata said to Damien. “Shaundra and Ichiro will make a fortune and so will our three publications.”
    Cristal agreed with her boss. The Yoshida babies were big news on both sides of the Red Sea. The only person allowed to photograph them at the christening was someone Mr. Niigata trusted not to sell the pictures to the media. Now, the Yoshida family in Kagawa might be disappointed, but Mr. Niigata had sent out advance notice that no photo taking would be allowed. Cristal grimaced. He acted like the twins were his, and she wondered what Shaundra thought about all this. She was sure Ichiro didn’t care and would do whatever Mr. Niigata told him to. To Ichiro and the other members of Aomori, Mr. Niigata was a god.
    “Ooh, there’s a ferry,” Izanagi said excitedly. “Are we going on it?”
    “Yes,” Cristal told him. Izanagi had been very animated since he boarded the van. He’d rewarded her with a pleasant smile when he saw her earlier.
    Hiroyuki had been polite and nodded, but the sullen, sleep-deprived Kioshi just mumbled good morning and frowned at her. Maybe he realized she’d been serious when she told him he’d better be up and ready or she’d pull him out the bed. Cristal smirked. He thought that he being naked would hinder her. It did not. She’d seen naked males before. She stopped smiling and groaned. But she had never seen one so young and untouched as Kioshi. He hadn’t even tried to hide all that hairless pale flesh when she entered his bedroom earlier. For an eighteen-year-old, Kioshi had quite the manly body with muscles in all the right places. He also had a narrow waist and nicely shaped legs. He just stepped from his bed and walked to the bathroom, giving her a delightful view of his eighteen-year-old butt. The sight had made her day. Cristal frowned. Did this make her a cougar since she was nearly nine years older than him? She would have to ask Shaundra later when she saw her. If anyone knew, Shaundra did.
    “Have any of you guys ever been to Shikoku before?” Harper asked the trio.
    “No,” all three answered.
    She guessed he didn’t know Mr. Niigata had been keeping the boys in hiding since they arrived from America. They were allowed to go out separately, but never as a trio, except when being accompanied by their manager to the recording studio or to KiNii.
    “It’s a great place,” Goro told them. I’ll have the driver take you sightseeing before we return to Osaka, but you can’t leave the van.”
    Two of them seemed excited by the announcement. The gloom and doom one behind her didn’t say a word. She hoped he wouldn’t sulk the entire trip. Spoiled as he was, she was sure Mr. Niigata would have a fit if Kioshi didn’t act friendly with the people they were going to meet.
    The driver entered the parking lot and drove onto the ferry.
    Izanagi leaned forward. “I love the water, Miss Cristal. Do you suppose the hotel has a pool?”
    “Yes, it does,” Cristal answered him. “There’s a private one right outside your rooms, and it’s heated so you won’t