Trust In Me (Triplets book 2)

Chapter 1

Shay listened to the two teenage girls bicker about what to put in the milkshake that Shay was helping them make. They were boisterous and not open to listening to suggestions as their voices rose to be heard over each other.

Shayne Richards was used to bickering siblings since she had two brothers, Sullivan and Sawyer, who were her triplets. The three of them had done and still did more than their fair share of bickering when they were together. If it weren't for her soon-to-be sister-in-law, Ophelia, they would have killed each other by now.

Shay waited patiently as she popped another strawberry in her mouth and watched the two girls work it out. It was better entertainment than the rom-com they planned to watch that starred her brother Sawyer. Yuck! She'd have to spend an evening watching him kiss a girl. Hopefully, that was all that they did. Shay gave a slight shudder at the thought.

It looked as if Boston, her roommate's daughter, was winning the argument. Shay felt as if she was about to pull the winning card of 'it's my house' when the doorbell rang, and there were sudden yelps of excitement as this time, Boston did pull the winning card and raced toward the door. Her friend, Annabell, took the chance to start shoving what she wanted in the milkshake into the blender, and Shay couldn't hide an amused expression while silently congratulating the girl on a well-played move.

"Corey, your date is here!" Boston called toward the back of the apartment as she admitted the man.

Shay looked over at the man to greet him and was astounded to see Elevator Man. That wasn't his real name, but he worked at the same firm she did, and they rode the elevator every day together. It was the one bright spot in Shay's otherwise dull existence. She didn't know his real name or what he did at Wright Financial. All she knew was that he worked on the top floor, which meant that he was fairly high up in the organization's hierarchy, he smelled good, and he was extremely attractive. His brown hair was trimmed short, and his green eyes were shrewd as he took stock of his surroundings.

He was usually in one of his business suits with a newspaper and square reading glasses, but tonight he was in a tux with no glasses, and he looked divine.  Shay's eyes met his, and there was no recognition of her reflected in them; he didn't even smile a polite hello.

Shay did her best to not even think about his presence, but it was proving hard to do.

"Corey should be ready soon," Boston said about her mother. She always referred to the mother by her first name, and if anyone thought the supermodel Corrina Volker, aka Corey, was Boston's sister, Corey never did anything to dispel the idea.

Shay had grown up in a famous family with very famous parents. Her mother, Reyna Richards, and her father, Carson Richards, were Hollywood elite, so anything the rich and famous might do never surprised Shay. Although her mother never treated her as anything but a daughter.

However, Boston and Corey's strange relationship had worked out well for Shay. She had moved to New York to take a break from her family and be one of the crowds of normal everyday people who made a living and managed to support themselves. The only problem was that she had underestimated how hard it would be to live paycheck to paycheck, so when Corey offered her a free place to live in exchange for watching her daughter while she traveled, Shay jumped at the chance. Boston was a good kid, even if she did have a smart mouth on her.

Shay's eyes snuck to appreciate Elevator Man one more time as Boston realized what Annabell was up to and screamed before charging her. Annabell, in her haste, pushed the blend button without putting the lid on the blender, and there was ice cream, milk, and strawberries everywhere, including the front of Shay's t-shirt.

The girls screamed while Shay quickly reached for the plug and gave it a yank, ending the chaos.

"Annabell!" Boston yelled before they both fell over laughing, then they looked over at Shay who had taken the worst of it and laughed even harder.

Shay sighed as she looked down at her shirt and pulled it away from her body. She couldn't help but let her eyes dart over to Elevator Man, only to note that, to his credit, he was keeping a straight face. When a blob of ice cream fell from the ceiling and hit Shay on the head, the girls fell to the ground clutching their sides.

At that moment, Corey came floating down the hall looking beautiful in a siren red silk dress and four-inch stilettos. Her beautiful raven hair was pulled up, revealing her long neck, and Shay held back another sigh at her appearance.

Back in the day, when she was living off her parents, she could have given Corey a run for her money with Elevator Man, but not now. She hadn't had a decent haircut or bought any new clothes in a year and a half.

Corey stopped when she saw the disaster in her kitchen and raised an eyebrow.

"My fault," Shay said as the girls grew suddenly serious at her look. "I wasn't supervising as well as I should have been."

Corey turned her back on the three girls and looked at Elevator Man. "I'm ready when you are."

Elevator Man nodded and took Corey's wrap from her, helping her place it around her shoulders.

Shay couldn't help but think about how long it had been since a man had helped her with her coat. Not that she had ever been very comfortable at dating, but she still had hope that the right man was out there for her. She had hoped, in her daydreams, that it would be Elevator Man, but watching him as he left the apartment with Corey, she knew that would never be the case.

With a sigh, she turned toward the two young girls, who were looking at her wide-eyed.

"Well, that's it for the ice cream, but if we can get this cleaned up in a hurry, I think we can manage a few cookies." Shay watched as the girls grabbed the necessary items to clean the kitchen.

"I'm going to go change, don't forget the ceiling!" Shay called over her shoulder and smiled when she heard their muffled laughing again.

Corey was getting a night on the town, but somehow Shay felt she was getting the better end of the bargain, even if she did have to suffer through one of her brother's movies. The only thing that might make it better was if Elevator Man was joining her.

Shay looked at her reflection in the mirror in the bathroom and grimaced. It was doubtful that she would ever catch a man like that with her current appearance. She closed her eyes on her reflection and drew in a deep breath as she remembered that she would have to see Elevator Man on Monday morning, and she didn't doubt that he would picture her with ice cream in her hair.

Her mother, Reyna, would tell her to make the best of it because at least he would remember her. Her father would hug her and tell her she was beautiful no matter what. Sawyer would have laughed and made up some ridiculous nickname, and Sullivan would have shrugged and told her to get over it.  She missed her family. Perhaps she would see if any of them were in New York this week and try and meet up with them.

Realizing that the girls were still unsupervised, she quickly cleaned up and joined them, suffered through Sawyer's movie, and waited for Corey to return.

She never did.

*****Remember that I post a single chapter every night between 8 PM and 10 PM EST every night. If for some reason I will be unable to post I will post that there will be no chapter. Please like and comment. Happy reading!