A Taylor-Made Life (16 page)

He had to get back before lunch so he
could take her somewhere. Big Sur maybe. The thought sent undiluted
testosterone coursing through him. There was only one reason he’d
ever wanted to take a woman there—the secluded little cove off the
highway he’d found and his vow to go back one day with a woman
to….

Shit, Gav. She’s not a
woman.

Then what was she? A girl?
Girls didn’t face death with her stoic bravery. Girls didn’t beat
the crap out of him at his best computer game. He smiled at the
thought of her competitiveness. Girls didn’t take care of sick,
lonely men and stay with them in the hospital. She’d calmly handled
his illness and expertly provided for his needs, never making him
feel awkward or burdensome. Thoughts of Taylor warmed his chest and
face as if he were sitting in the sun. He closed his eyes, allowing
his mind to envision her smile. Her full peach-colored lips, plump
and parted. He imagined brushing soft kisses—

“Hey, buddy. Didn’t know you were
here.”

Fuck.
“Hi, Rick.”

“I have to say, you being in a
hospital across the country scared the mess out of us.”

“Thanks for the concern.” He chuckled
wryly, knowing how concerned Rick really had been.

“We never finished our conversation
from a couple of weeks ago, and—”

“Yeah…uhmm…I’m not ready to talk about
this right now, Rick. I’ve got to get a few things done before…” He
let his words trail off, indicating he was dismissing his
CFO.

“No problem. But now that you’re back
I’ll have my new girl, Amanda, check your schedule with Sara. We’ll
set something up for next week.”

Amanda. He’d run off another
assistant.
Wonder what the harassment charges will cost me this
time?
“Sure. That’s fine.”

Rick tucked his head and plodded out.
He was a stocky man who always walked with his head forward like he
was thinking or like he was going to ram into somebody.

They’d want an answer and soon. And he
knew he’d have to give them one. He couldn’t leave the company in
limbo much longer. But Rick and Charlie—they only understood money,
and the thought of leaving his games, his worlds in their hands
made him cringe.

But there was no one else.

* * * *

I sat an awkward distance from Gavin
in the limo, shifting on the slick leather to get comfortable. My
arms itched to lace around his waist. I wanted to snuggle against
his chest, but he seemed guarded, reserved, even if he did look
like a dream in a baby blue polo and blue jeans. His eyes sparkled
the same color as the sky, but something weighed on his mind.
Something more than the obvious elephant.

He’d arrived too late for us to go
down the coast, so we settled for an afternoon game at AT&T
Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.

“I got tickets on the third base line
instead of my normal box seats. I thought you’d want to be closer
to the action.” His voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

My face heated, and I ducked my head,
pretending to straighten my hat. Why did I feel so self-conscious?
“Thanks.” Maybe if I could get him to open up, things could be like
they’d been before my date with Matt. “How was work?”

He frowned. “Busy.”

I pressed, “That’s a cop-out answer.
What’s going on?”

He groaned, and the lines in his face
deepened. “I’m worried about what’ll happen to my company after I’m
gone.”

Gone? As in dead and gone. My throat
closed, and I squeezed my eyes shut for a minute. A world without
Gavin was not a world I cared to explore this afternoon. I finally
found my voice in the empty seat next to me. “You don’t have anyone
to take it over?”

“My development team is great, but
they aren’t interested in running a company. They are great friends
and understand my vision, but even if the partner contracts allowed
them control, they’d rather have their heads in new worlds, not
marketing analysis. Rick and Charlie have no clue about the synergy
that creates our success, and their greed will eventually destroy
what I’ve worked for. But they, at least, can keep the operation
running and get people paid.” He dropped his head in his hands and
ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s like every part of my
life—waiting for someone to….”

I frowned sympathetically, wanting to
say I understood. Wanting to tell him I was here for him, but the
fact he hadn’t recognized that himself put me in the same category
with the others—isolated from him. Maybe he was as alone as he
thought. My stomach clenched, and tears threatened again. Not able
to stand it any longer, I reached out and squeezed his
arm.

Covering my hand with his, he looked
up and smiled sadly. “I’m sorry I’m not much fun today. Maybe you
should’ve called Matt.”

And just like that, he completely shut
me out.

Gavin wrung his hands.
Goddammit.
Why
that
guy? Of all the people in the
world, did it have to be the star football god? He paced around the
kitchen island.

Zelda set beautifully colored food on
silver platters. He leaned over, took a whiff, and frowned. The
Daisy Plucker
didn’t deserve such good food. He didn’t
deserve such a great girl.

In the last three days, Taylor had
seen Matt three times.
Three.
Hell, she spent more time with
football god
than she did with him. And she was staying
under his roof. The best friend he had was slipping away, and there
was not a damn thing he could do about it.

The baseball game had been a disaster.
Taylor had closed down and had barely spoken to him through the
first six innings. Had her mind been on Matt? Gavin’s gut twisted.
Had he already lost her? When she clasped his arm during the
seventh inning stretch, his pulse raced, but her touch was only to
tell him she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go. His heart hurt,
and so did his head.

“Meester Taylor, you all
right?”

Interrupted from his thoughts, he
glanced up at Zelda. “Huh?” He blinked twice and answered her,
“Yes. I’m fine.”

Maureen shuffled in. “I have to
garnish the chocolate pie and banana pudding.” She waggled her
eyebrows.

Gavin gave her a halfhearted smile.
Zelda frowned. The hot-blooded Spaniard didn’t really like anyone
in her kitchen, and it was a testament to Maureen’s power of
persuasion that the little cook had agreed to let her do dessert in
the first place.

Maureen tilted her head in that way
that told him she knew something he didn’t.

Damn, he hated that. He scowled.
“What?” The question came out harsher than he’d
intended.

“You look like you’ve lost your best
friend—” She smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Or the love of your life.”

He lolled his head back and stared up
at the ceiling. Not again. He knew what she thought. But she was
wrong. It was just…just….
Oh, fuck it.
“If you’ll excuse me,
I’ve got to get dressed.”

She nodded. “You look especially nice
in navy blue.”

Her eyes sparkled with warmth and
acceptance, and his chill melted a little.

“Thanks.” He headed up to his room by
the back stairs so he wouldn’t run into Taylor. He stalked into the
room and yanked open the top drawer of his dresser, staring at the
black satin box.

He picked it up, and his heart rate
doubled like he was bench-pressing a boulder. Wondering how he’d
lost his mind, he opened the little hinged box. The five-carat
yellow stone winked conspiratorially at him. Why he’d bought the
damned thing was a mystery. The tension left his shoulders as the
memory filled his mind.

He’d seen her face as she placed it on
her finger. That was why he’d bought it. And even now he hadn’t
thought through all the implications of giving it to her. He’d only
known she needed to have that ring. It needed to belong to her. So
he bought it…for a
lot
of money. He tossed the box on his
bed and pulled out a navy blue button-down shirt.

The ring was by far the most expensive
present he’d ever purchased for anyone, other than himself. The
thought crossed his mind that it might’ve somehow been for him too,
but he shook it off.

He buttoned his cuffs, then pulled the
ring from its perch and stuck it in his pant pocket.

It was her gift, and he was going to
give it to her tonight. She would have to understand it was merely
a birthday present. Nothing more.

* * * *

Gavin’s heart raced. Taylor in her red
dress sent molten lava through his veins. The slinky material clung
in all the right places, but still slid like silk over her skin
when she walked or sat. She dropped her napkin and bent in front of
him to get it, giving him a full view of her backside. He gulped
and tried to steady his breath.

He conversed quietly with John, while
she and her mother flitted around, making sure everything was
satisfactory. Having women in the house had been a shock to his
domestic situation, but it also made him smile.

John spoke about his meeting with
Rick, who’d set up a presentation with the employees in a week. The
president of John’s company was coming and wanted to meet Gavin.
Taylor’s father gushed with excitement, but Gavin’s focus wandered.
He was a mess. Whenever she was out of his sight, he compulsively
searched the room until he found her. A possessiveness he’d never
experienced gripped him.
Mine.
The word pulsed deep inside
him.

She held him captive, and warmth
smoldered in his chest. His palms itched to slide up the soft
curves of her hips, grip her waist and—

Just friends,
Gav.

The doorbell rang, and his gut
clenched. Her face lit with glee.

Damn it.

Did she have to be so fucking happy
about it? Not even waiting for Zelda, she rushed to open the door.
He growled then glanced back to John, who stared at him with a
faint smile.

Taylor garnered Gavin’s attention with
a loud squeal.

He shook his head.
She
squealed.

“Matt, you made it. Come in.” She
bounced on her toes.

Mr. Blond-Football-God held out a
single daisy, and the Stanford marching band stomped the Cardinal
fight song across Gavin’s chest. The man wore a light blue
button-down oxford he clearly had to buy at the big and tall shop.
Still, it strained at the shoulders and biceps. Gavin snarled.
Taylor hugged the guy, who pulled her tightly against him. The
sight caused tiny bubbles to form in his veins and burst all over
his body, churning his blood with some lusty emotion he wasn’t
willing to identify.

Taylor took
the Daisy Plucker’s
arm and led him into the living area.

Matt stepped toward him with a Colgate
smile and outstretched hand. “Mr. Taylor, it’s great to meet you
again. I’m glad you and Tay have become such good
friends.”

I’ll bet you are, Daisy
Plucker.

He still managed what he thought was a
decent smile under the circumstances, but Taylor’s wide-eyed stare
seemed to indicate otherwise. He spoke slowly between clenched
teeth. “I’m glad you could make it.”

Taylor grabbed the hand he’d refused
to shake and pulled Matt down next to her on the sectional. Gavin
sat on the other side of her then, for added measure, put his arm
across the back of the couch.

He leaned forward, brushing against
Taylor’s back to see the brute. “So Matt, what’s your school
schedule like when there’s no football? I never understood how the
players could concentrate on the importance of their studies with
all the practices and other sports foolishness.”

Matt laughed in a genuine, sincere
tone that made Gavin want to spew. “It’s true. There are so many
trainings and other minutia it takes precision focus for me to
complete all my assignments, but I’m lucky. Schoolwork comes easily
for me. It always has.”

“Of course it does. What did you score
on your SAT?”

“1503.”

He smirked. “Really? I scored 1600,
but I was fourteen.”

“Wow. That’s amazing.”

“Yeah.” He stared deadpan at the
guy.

“That must’ve been pretty lonely to be
so young when everyone else was much older. Maybe that’s why you
can easily befriend younger people now.” Matt laid his hand over
Taylor’s and gazed into her eyes.

Daisy Plucker
needled him. He
opened his mouth for a clever retort that was on the tip of his
tongue when Matt pulled a gift from his pocket. Gavin’s fists
clenched until his arms shook.

“Birthday girl, I’m not sure what the
protocol is for gifts, but here’s one from me.”

She beamed up at him and took the
gift.
She fucking beamed.
The small velvet box sat like a
lump of coal in the palm of her hand. She opened the hinged
container and let out the most disgusting sigh of
appreciation.

Maureen asked, “Oh Taylor, what is
it?”