A Taylor-Made Life (19 page)

Last night as we lay in the dark, some
force had overwhelmed me. I hadn’t had time to think it through,
and I’d let go of my fear. But tonight, knowing exactly what was
going to happen—well, maybe not exactly, but having a pretty good
idea—my knees knocked.

Smoothing the barely-there nightie, I
stared for a moment at my ticking Seiko. I’d been in the bathroom
for almost an hour. Gavin had already knocked on the door once.
Gulping down the jitters, I grasped the doorknob. I’d made him wait
long enough. It was time to lose my virginity.

Light from the bathroom spilled into
the room dimly lit with dozens of flameless candles. The cooler air
of the open space whispered over my bare legs. My skin prickled. I
flipped off the bathroom switch and stood in the threshold,
allowing my eyes to adjust. The soft glow flickered over the
walls.

Gavin lay on the bed, propped up
against the headboard, his arms behind his head. My breath hitched.
He was undressed except for his boxers. My gaze slid the length of
him, taking inventory.
Oh God!
There was a bulge between his
legs, and even in the darkened room, it appeared to be rising like
a beast from one of his computer games.

A wave of chills rolled up from my
toes at the same time a flush of heat swept down from my head. The
two contradicting responses met low in my belly and exploded. How
was that possible? My body was as confused as my mind. I pressed a
hand against my chest to keep my heart from jumping through my
ribcage and bolting for the door.

* * * *

Gavin’s blood raced. Mainly to his
lower regions. Taylor stood like perfection in a white baby-doll
nightie that covered her smooth skin but refused to conceal it. The
frothy material clung to the curves of her hips but teased with
shadows in the right places. He couldn’t blink. Hell, he could
barely breathe. Never had he felt so enraptured and in awe of a
woman.

Gossamer ruffles floated as she walked
toward him. She stopped in front of the bed. He didn’t try to
steady the breath that whooshed from his lungs. It wouldn’t have
done any good.

Standing to his feet to meet her, he
marveled at the delicate smoothness of her skin flushed in what he
hoped was desire under all her apprehension.

“So beautiful.” He slipped his arm
loosely around her waist. Her body shook with tremors. Concern
flooded him.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,
Sweetness.” He squeezed her tight.

Falling stiffly into his arms, she
said, “I know, but it’s so new and different. Exciting.” She gulped
loudly. “But kinda scary.”

“Scary!”
He pushed her
shoulders away. “Are you calling me scary? Huh?” He gave her his
best
Evil Dr. Pork Chop
glare.

She smiled, and a little snicker
escaped.

“I’ll show you scary.” He swept her up
from the floor, tossed her on the bed, and pounced next to her.
“Not so tough now are you, cheetdeath20?”

“Hey!” She squealed and tried to free
herself from his grasp, but he held her down and tickled her
mercilessly.

She wiggled and squirmed between her
uncontrollable laughter but suddenly stopped with a sharp intake of
breath. Gavin pulled back to look at her. Her face paled, and she
struggled to jerk her hands free in genuine panic.

Immediately releasing her wrists, he
searched her face. “What is it?”

Tears welled in her eyes, and her
hands scrambled above her head. Her hat had fallen off, leaving her
head bare. He halted her frenzy to retrieve it.

Compassion filled him. He feathered
soft kisses all along the top of her rounded head and lightly
trailed his nose down the side of her face, then whispered the
words against her ear, “You’re beautiful, and you don’t have to
hide from me. Every part of you is safe. I love you,
Taylor.”

She stilled and quieted, but her chest
continued to heave. He brushed the salted tears from her cheeks and
covered her mouth with his, slanting his parted lips and kissing
her deeply. So deeply, she stole his breath.

He pulled from her lips, hovering
above her. Her angel eyes opened. The look of love in them slayed
him, and tears welled in his own eyes. And for once he let them
fall. “You know you’re not the only one who’s at risk
here.”

His heart was no longer his own, and
he would give her anything. Be anything for her pleasure. He
whispered, the huskiness surprising him, “Are you still
scared?”

She slowly shook her head, trust
filling her gray eyes. “Only of losing you.”

“Me, too.” He lowered his head to her
lips again. They were the sweetest things he’d ever
tasted.

Gavin lay on his side, head propped
up, studying his sleeping bride. A wide grin spread over his face
as the evening’s events flipped through his mind.
Wizards of
CROG
, she was bottled sunshine, and he was merely the receiver
of her light and life. What he had done to deserve her he would
spend eternity calculating. She embodied every silent, subtle
longing he had, and his life was changed. For the first time since
he was a child, happiness and contentment settled over
him.

The future loomed, but only
now
mattered. No one was promised tomorrow. Gavin had as much life in
this moment as the guy next door. The only difference between that
guy and him was Gavin knew there were no guarantees for
tomorrow.

His hand stroked her fuzzy head. Her
eyes fluttered open.

“Morning, Sweetness.”

She smiled and stretched. “Morning.
Sleep well?”

He nodded and kissed her. “Very.
You?”

Her gaze flitted over his shoulder to
the clock. “I guess so. I must’ve been tired. But I need a shower.”
She blushed furiously and bit her lip, not meeting his gaze. “Wanna
come?”

Fire ricocheted through him. He loved
how the purity of her desire overcame her fear and how she was
working through her shyness. Her ability to open up and allow him
access to every part of her made him ashamed of his own hesitation.
“Race you.”

The phone next to the bed rang. He
groaned as he watched her run to the bathroom. “I’ll be there in a
minute.”

A muffled giggle came from inside the
bath and he smiled, mesmerized. Was she really his? He closed his
eyes—

The phone rang again, snapping him out
of his lust-induced haze. He snatched up the receiver.
“What?”

“Gavin?” Rick’s voice
questioned.

“Hey, what’s up?” Why had Rick tracked
him down? He’d sent the jet back to the Bay Area.

“Buddy, we’re in some serious shit
here. What the fuck are you doing out there in Vegas? You’re all
over the news, man.”

“What’re you talking
about?”

“Shit, Gavin! Don’t you even know what
you’ve done, marrying that kid?”

The hackles on the back of his neck
stood. “Taylor’s my wife, and she’s not a
kid
.”

Rick blew out a frustrated sigh.
“Yeah. She’s all grown-up as of yesterday. Jesus, did you stop to
think how this would look? Have you seen the news or the Internet?
My phone’s been ringing all fucking morning with
concerned
citizens claiming our game sites are nothing more than a haven for
child predators. And this cancer mentoring program is all over my
ass.”

What the hell?
“What do you
mean,
child predators
?”

“The news, the Internet, concerned
mothers’ groups are claiming you met this girl—”

He growled. “Her name is Taylor, and
she’s my wife.”

“Whatever. They’re alleging you
seduced her online. They’ve hacked into the game room archives and
found you’ve been talking to this girl for months.”

“What?”
Shit!
He banged his
head back against the headboard. “I didn’t know that was
her.”

“Look, I’m trying to do damage control
here, but your recklessness is putting the company in serious
jeopardy. Can you just lay low and don’t go throwing any more
multi-million dollar extravaganzas with a minor?”

He rubbed his forehead hard enough to
make himself wince. “Fine. I’m on my way home. Send the
jet.”

“It’s already waiting for
you.”

Slamming down the receiver, he
supposed he should’ve thanked Rick, but knowing the man had only
done it for his own benefit negated the gratitude. He slipped into
his boxers and paced to the window, throwing back the heavy drapes.
The sun spilled into the expanse of the suite, and the Vegas Strip
bustled with life. He rounded and flipped on the TV to cable
news.

A bleach-blond said, “…the Silicon
Valley whiz was recently diagnosed with cancer….” His picture from
the latest board report covered the screen.
Crap.

His former housekeeper spoke to the
camera. “Mr. Taylor was a very private man. He never allowed us to
linger in the house.”

The newscast continued with various
experts on child predators, painting in the profile. He threw his
head back and stared at the ceiling, his blood boiling.

A repeating loop of him dancing
provocatively with Taylor played. He should’ve known better than to
invite strangers to their celebration.

“The young woman in question is
believed to be Taylor Smith of Dallas, Texas. Miss Smith, now Mrs.
Taylor, turned eighteen two days ago. Authorities are already
investigating the barely-legal relationship.”

An infuriated woman spewed venomous
words. “I’m a mother and am outraged that this kind of trafficking
can happen in my country. Where was this poor girl’s
family?”

Gavin flipped off the TV and fell back
on the sofa.

“Gavin?”

He looked up. Wrapped in a fluffy
robe, Taylor floated out of the bathroom in a cloud of steamy
bliss. Her bald head still glistened. A wave of lust gripped him.
The last thing he wanted to do was burst her bubble, but this
wasn’t something he could hide.

“I waited for you, but then got scared
all the hot water would run out, so I went ahead and
finished.”

The tightness in his chest lightened
with the sight of her. “I’m sorry, Sweetness. Something’s come up.
I was on the phone with Rick.”

“Are you okay? Did you order
breakfast?”

He shook his head. She stepped to the
phone and placed an order for eggs, toast and coffee, then plopped
next to him on the couch. “So what’s up? You look pretty
bummed.”

He stroked her jaw with his thumb. “We
have to leave to go home. I wish we had more time.”

She scooted onto his lap and ran her
fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes and allowed his body
to relax.

“It’s okay. We’re together, and that’s
all that matters. I wish we had more time, too, but not just here.
I’ve been thinking about that couple from last night. The ones
married for twenty-five years. That’s a long time.” She traced his
eyebrows with her index finger, and a wistful look came over her
face. “I wonder what our children would’ve looked like.”

His heart caught in his throat. “You
want children?”

“I know I’m being greedy. We’ll take
what we have.”

His eyes narrowed. “Your mom never
told you about the baby?”

Her face crinkled. “Huh? That doesn’t
even make sense, Gavin.”

Maureen had kept her promise. That
shouldn’t surprise him knowing the woman, but it did. A revelation
swept over him. He loved Taylor, and she loved him. He’d do
anything for her.
Anything
. And within his power was the
possibility of saving her life. “Taylor, I want to have a baby with
you. And I know how we can.”

She smiled as she placed the crocheted
hat on her head. “Knowing how to make a baby isn’t gaming code,
Techno Boy. But I don’t think that’s possible for us.”

“Oh, yeah? Wanna bet? Before I went in
for my clinical trial, they told me the treatments would end my
ability to father children. So I elected to freeze my
sperm.”

She blushed at his candidness, but he
could see the wheels of her mind spun in thought.

“And I know you harvested your eggs
before chemo, right?”

The revelation played across her face,
and her jaw dropped open. “And Mom would—”

“Be a surrogate. I know.”

Her eyes lit with the possibility,
only to have her frown in defeat as she took the idea to its
logical conclusion. “But what’s the point of that? Neither one of
us would live long enough to see him turn a year old.”

“That’s not necessarily true.” He
squeezed her tight against his chest, holding her, protecting her.
Could he really help her live? The thought filled him with so much
hope and joy, his vision blurred.

She pulled back to look at him with
that inquiring face he’d come to love. The arched eyebrows and eyes
of wonder. All for him.
Phantoms of CROG
, love didn’t begin
to describe what he felt for this woman.

“I’m a bone marrow match for you, and
any child we have together would likely be a match.”