OBSESSED WITH TAYLOR JAMES (13 page)

“Not enough.  We have to build trust, Taylor.  What I am
asking of you will be assurance that my trust in you won’t be a problem
anymore.”

She sighed. “You won’t have to worry about me dropping
everything for Dillon. I’m starting to think you may be right about him being
possessive of me.”

“What happened after I left the restaurant yesterday?”

“The story is too long and we have more important stuff
on our agenda at the moment.”

He nodded. “After the meeting, call your assistant and
clear your day.  We will go somewhere private and talk.”

“I can’t ditch work today—I have stacks of cases sitting
on my desk.”

“Any of it life-threatening?”

“None of it is life-threatening but nonetheless requires
my attention.  Mario, I am an associate, so I do not have the same privileges
as you.  My ass has to be in my chair and ready to jump when called upon.”

“That I don’t understand.  Why are you still an
associate?”

“For the same reasons you will never handle a major
case.  I hate to break this to you, but we are the odd checkers on the table. 
Our talents will win the game, but we will never receive the victory for doing
it.  They will pluck your brilliant brain until there is nothing left but
dangling branches of dried brain matter….”

“I get it; you can cease the colorful prose.”

“I was telling my neighbor last night my dream to open my
own firm.  I’m tired of working my ass off and not getting the recognition I
deserve.”

“What is stopping you?  You have the years and the
knowledge.”

“Well for one, capital.  Then finding the hours to do the
research on how to open and run a successful law firm. And last finding a
couple of brave attorneys willing to take the leap of faith with me.”

He shrugged his shoulders.  “I’m willing to invest in
this operation if you make me a full partner.”

“There is a tragedy in the making,” she laughed.  We
can’t agree to date, how are we going to agree to operate a business?”

He placed his hand on her exposed thigh.  Taylor chest
tightened as his fingers kneaded her skin through her nylons. “Sweetheart,
business is business but once we close shop for the day, pleasure will rule for
the rest of the night.”

Intense heat filled her body.  Taylor swallowed as her
body responded to his creeping fingers. “Stop, Mario.  I have to have full
composure going into this meeting.”

He slanted his grin letting his fingers crawl under her
skirt. “Am I flustering you?”

She pushed his hand away tugging the material of her
skirt down. “Yes! Now keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the steering
wheel.”

“We’ll continue this later, also.  Now back to my
proposal.  What I want you to do is tell Dillon I will be joining you on the
cruise.  No more sneaking around, Taylor.  He cannot realize I am on the cruise
with you when the boat leaves the dock and I’m still onboard.  He needs to know
ahead of time.”

She had forgotten about Mario joining her on the cruise. 
When they had the argument in the restaurant, it had not dawned on her they
would be together for seven days and sharing a room.  “Actually I had forgotten
about that.  I will tell him this week.  After what I witnessed over breakfast,
it is best he knows the truth about us.”

I didn’t forget and I plan to enjoy my vacation without
daggers being thrown in my back by Dillon.”

“You are exaggerating now.  He has never been cross with
you.”

“I see I will have to watch both our backs because you
refuse to remove the blindfold from your eyes.”

Taylor turned her head to look out the window and did not
comment.  The Dillon situation was a discussion that would keep looping in
circles and never end.

They arrived at the office building of Gallop
Industries.  Taylor fixed her makeup and got out of the car to wait for Mario. 
“Are you ready to go to battle?”

“Eh, this will be easier than taking candy from a baby,”
he said buttoning his suit jacket.

“Your confidence is scary.”

He adjusted his sunglasses on his face. “When I set my
mind to go after what I want, my ego is scarier.  Watch the master and learn,
Taylor.”

She had no retort for the man with the assertive strut. 
She made the right choice letting him take the lead.

*****

Taylor went directly to her office after returning to
work later in the day.  The settlement meeting with Tucker Plano went longer
than expected but was successful.  Mario secured the original million-dollar
settlement without a fuss from Tucker.  He simply threatened to let a jury
decide the outcome of plaintiff’s fate.

Taylor turned on her computer.  She had to finish
drafting the settlement agreement before going home for the night.  Dillon
knocked on her open door.  “Hey, you got a minute?”

“Um, I’m kind of busy, can it wait?” She asked not
comfortable being alone with him.

“I promise this will only take a second,” he said
entering her office uninvited.

“Okay, you have a second,” she said placing her elbows on
the desk and steepled her hands waiting for him to say what was on his mind.

He closed the door to keep their conversation private. 
“I have to apologize for the way I behaved yesterday, Taylor.  I’m just so
frustrated with Kelly I’m losing my mind.”

“No apologize is necessary.  But, you need to explain why
you were snooping around my house last Saturday night.”

He recoiled.  “I wasn’t snooping.  I needed to talk to
you, and when you didn’t come home, I got worried.”

“What was so important that it couldn’t wait until we met
for breakfast?”

“You invited Kelly.  I wouldn’t be able to talk about the
fight Kelly and I had with her there.”

“Dillon, what was the fight about?”

“Her suspicions of another woman are feeding her mind
again.”

Taylor cleared the paperwork from in front of her and
propped her elbows on the desk.  “Does Kelly think I am the other woman? If so,
you have to set her straight we are not involved romantically.”

“I’ve told her I’m not messing around with another woman
behind her back.  Anyhow, she doesn’t believe me, and she believes the other
woman is you and has always been you.”

“Do you blame her for thinking it is me?  We were
together all the time.  But, now we aren’t spending time together and she
shouldn’t think that about me anymore.”

“Taylor…”

“Dillon, this is beginning to get creepy.  My neighbor is
worried you are stalking me.  I was scared to sleep in my own bed last night.”

“Taylor, I would never hurt you.  Seriously, I only
wanted to talk. Your neighbor with his killer dog would not let me explain
anything.”

“You should have called me if you needed to talk that
bad.  I don’t want you to get hurt if someone catches you around my house when
I’m not at home.  We have a neighborhood watch and anything could have happened
to you.  Don’t do it again.”

He lowered his head. “I understand and it won’t happen
again.  Let’s grab dinner—it is quitting time after all.”

“Tonight is not good for me.  I have a date tonight, and
I want to complete this settlement agreement first,” she said hoping he would
not ask with whom.

“Is it someone I know?”

Her heart skipped a beat.  “Yes, you do know him,” she
answered not looking at him.

“Are you going to keep me in suspense?”

“I’m searching for the right words.”

His brow narrowed as he stared at her.  His voice, thickly
coated with contempt, hissed.  “It’s Mario Infante.  You are always huddled
together in an office or whispering in each other’s ear. He is the reason you
want to turn your back on me.  The man cannot stand I’m close to you! He will
come between us, Taylor.  I will not let that happen!”

Taylor cheeks flushed from the rush of heat.  His eyes
were ablaze and his tone was that of a father scolding a daughter for sneaking
around with the forbidden bad boy.  She remained seated and shot a stanch look
of disdain in his direction.  “First you need to drop that tone with me.  I am
a single woman and not obligated to reveal to you what I do or with whom. 
Second, Mario is the man I am seeing and there is nothing you will or can do
about it.”

He sat quietly with his mouth open.  “How long have you
been dating?”

No longer caring her tone had turned sour, she uttered.
“We have been going out since he began working at Cartwright & Associates
months ago.”

“Oh, so you are not just dating, but exclusive.  That
means you’ve been fucking him behind my back!”

Taylor jumped up from her chair; the muscles in her face
twitched from the anger ripping through her body. “Ho! Hey! You are not MY
father and I don’t need your permission to fuck anyone as you so crudely put
it!”

“Then why are you hiding him from me!”

“We didn’t say anything because we work together and
don’t want every Tom, Dick, or Harry, in our business.  But, Mario made a good
point this morning.  We want to be together, and should not have to pretend
anymore.  So I hope now that you know, you will be an adult about this and be
happy for me and hold no animosity towards Mario.”

He snarled as her words tore through his soul.  “Why
should I be bitter with him?  I have a fantastic woman I’m going to marry
soon.” He got up from the chair taking his glasses off the desk. “I’m going
home.”

She continued standing, aware of the remorse kicking her
in the butt. “Dillon, I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you.  We are family.  I
love you like a brother and want us to stay close and not have this come
between us.”

He kept his back to her.  If he turned around to face
her, he could not be responsible for his actions.  He kept a firm grip on the
doorknob. “I apologize for my behavior also.  You have the right to happiness. 
You’ve been through a number of failed relationships. If you believe that
testosterone-filled bully is the one for you, then go for it.  You know where
my shoulder is when you have to cry from him breaking your heart.”

She blinked, nonplussed and placed a hand on her hip.
“Excuse me? You have a lot of nerve.  I have listened to you bitch about Kelly
on more than one occasion.  I’ve handed you tissues to wipe your snotty nose
when you cried.  But you say that about me?  Go, Dillon.  We should take a
break from each other and focus on our own private lives for a change.”

He answered as if he had read her mind. “I’m not
surprised you’re kicking me to the curb, Taylor.  This is what Mario wanted you
to do all along.  He has won your heart—you are off the market for any man.”

“You’re wrong.  This is not what he wanted.  He wanted
you to know about us so there would be no sneaking or whispering of rumors. I
was the one that didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t think you could
handle it; I was right.”

“It’s cool, Taylor.  When I go home tonight, Kelly will
be waiting on me with a hot meal and comforting arms.  You will be one less
person on my mind when I go to sleep tonight.”

“Why are you being hateful?  I am not hurting you with
words or trying to hurt you at all.  I’m being honest and upfront.”

“Honesty is the best policy.  I’ve received your message,
Taylor.”  He dug through his pockets to remove a set of silver-plated keys. 
Fumbling them in his hand, he tossed them on her desk. “Here are your keys. 
You probably want to give them to Mario.”

Taylor looked at the keys dangling on the side of her
desk.  She sensed the pain in Dillon’s eyes as she started to choke up. 
“Dillon, I want to know how it feels to go home to someone that loves me.  I
have never been close to having that type of relationship.  Who knows, Mario
may not be the man I marry down the line, but he is the man I want in my life
right now.  I need to make this relationship work.”

He snatched open the door to leave. “Yeah, well good luck
with that, Taylor.  Because that glowing happiness you’re feeling when he is
around; won’t be there every damn night,” he said leaving her office.

Taylor waited ten minutes to make sure Dillon had left
the floor.  Turning off her computer, she left her office and walked down the
hall, making a sharp right past the copy room.  The majority of the offices
were dark.  Not many attorneys burned the midnight oil anymore and went home
during normal hours. 

She came to a stop in front of Mario’s office. Tapping on
the door first, she entered.  “Hey.”

Mario took his feet off the desk and walked over to her,
closing the office door.  Taking her in his arms, he kissed her without saying
a word.  Taylor heart pounded against the walls of her chest.  His lips were
soft, warm and tender.  His roaming tongue filled her mouth as she parted her
lips to give him access.

Her arms crossed over his broad shoulders to caress the
back of his head as the kiss intensified and deepened.  Their soft muddled
moans broke through the quietness of the office.

Mario broke the kiss. “Now that is how we are supposed to
greet each other.”

Taylor did not release him from the embrace.  He belonged
in her arms and she wanted to savor the moment for as long as possible. “I wish
we could greet this way every day, but prying eyes are always lurking around
corners.”

He pulled away from her. “Why don’t we just tell everyone
we are a couple?”

“Baby, we’ve been over this.  Anderson doesn’t appreciate
attorneys engaging in personal relationships.  He believes it will cause strife
in the workplace if the romance fails.”

Mario walked over to his desk. “When we open our firm, we
can do as we please.”

Taylor wrinkled her nose. “I want that so bad.”

“It will happen eventually; we have to be patient.  I saw
Dillon pass my office a while ago; did you talk to him.”

“I did.  I told him about us.  Mario, he swears he
doesn’t have an attraction for me, but is only looking out for me.  I believe
him.  He even gave me back the keys to my house.”