Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 68691 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68691 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
“Well no,” I frowned. “But they should have known because, we were, ah… how do you say it?” I blushed.
“You were making love every day,” finished Annelise, smiling mischievously. “Twice a day. Trust me, Mr. Peuh and I have seven children, Cambodians believe a big family is a prosperous one.”
And I gasped again. Annelise was so small, so thin, not to mention young, and she was the mother of seven children? Again, the Cambodian woman was full of surprises, and I looked at her with renewed respect.
“Well, what would you do in my case then?” I asked. “I was so harsh with them when they came by last time, telling them to scram, how I never wanted to see them again. What should I do? Beg for their forgiveness? Crawl on my hands and knees?”
And here Annelise laughed.
“I don’t think you need to be so dramatic,” she said mirthfully. “I was outside waiting when they came out, remember? And the men, when they came out … those aren’t men who hate you, Miss Tina, those are men who love you. They looked terrible, sad and upset, but you can’t beat down a good man who has his heart set on something.”
And I perked up, feeling hope blossom in my chest.
“Do you think so? Do you really think so?” I asked tentatively. “After seeing me scream at them, do you think I still have a chance?”
“I know so,” replied Annelise firmly. “And I have one other piece of advice. Mr. Peuh and I, after we fight, after we struggle over something, we always get into the bed and make love. It works like magic, the anger dissipates, and oh! He feels so good in me. How else do you think we have seven children?” she said mischievously.
I blushed then, my core growing warm as I rubbed my stomach gently, a little kick fluttering against my palm.
“Well, we’ll see,” I said, blushing. “They haven’t seen my new body yet.”
“Why not try it?” asked Annelise, “Go to them, you have nothing to lose.”
And I sat back, thinking. I wasn’t totally sure about what Annelise was saying. I understood her point, that change takes time and any shock to the system takes a while to settle in. But I still wasn’t sure I was in the wrong, that I’d been too harsh. After all, Kristian, Karl and Kato had left me during a trying time, and aren’t partners supposed to stick together through thick and thin?
I shook my head miserably, the confusion overwhelming. I missed the men, I craved Kristian, Karl and Kato desperately, thought about them all the time. But my path was unclear, the future uncertain. And what did I have now? Nothing, I thought unhappily. I had nothing.
TINA
I knocked on their hotel room door tentatively. I’d gotten Kristian, Karl and Kato’s room number through my friend at the front desk, bringing him dragon fruit as a half gift, half bribe. I knew he appreciated the red, fleshy tropical berry, it was a delicacy here in Cambodia.
“Please?” I begged. “Please, please?”
And Tot had agreed, telling me it was Room 505.
“You better not do anything bad!” he admonished. “This dragon fruit’s not worth it!”
And I nodded, smiling over my shoulder in a rush to get to the elevator. “I won’t!” I called backwards. “I won’t,” I promised.
But the minute Karl opened the door, my promises evaporated because the man looked so good, so gorgeous that I could hardly focus. All I wanted was to do something bad to this man, with this man, something so dirty, so filthy that I was already feeling weak in the knees, my balance unsteady.
But fortunately, my pregnancy was the perfect excuse.
“Watch it,” he growled, grabbing me, one big hand on my arm and the other on my ass to support my weight. “Come in,” he said.
And I sighed, leaning against him heavily.
“Thanks,” I said softly as I sat on the bed. There were two huge beds in the room, plus a giant sofa, a giant TV, and an office area. Clearly, the men hadn’t held back, mercenaries command high prices for their work.
“Here,” rumbled Kato, handing me a glass of water. “Drink it, you’ll feel better.”
And I took the glass gratefully, letting the cool liquid run down my throat, moistening my lips before I began to speak.
“Karl, Kato, Kristian,” I said slowly, not quite knowing where to begin. “I wanted to say …”
But before I could say anything, the men were kneeling in front of me, their eyes serious.
“Before you can say anything,” began Karl.
“We wanted to apologize,” finished Kato quickly. “You were right. We took off like three fools, three cowards, leaving you in the middle of a mess and that was the wrong thing to do.”
I was stunned, looking at them with shock. I’d expected to be the one crawling on my knees, I didn’t think the men would jump the gun and tell me that they were sorry. But I was in for more.