by Lisa Childs
“And Dominic would never forgive me.” She sighed. “Not that he will even if I don’t sell the story. But I can’t...”
“Why not?” Michelle asked. “Being a reporter is all you’ve ever wanted – to be like your aunt.”
“Aunt Mattie was a great reporter because she didn’t let herself get involved,” Taylor said. “I got involved. I lost my objectivity.”
“How involved are you?” Michelle asked even though she knew – because she knew her friend so well.
Taylor glared at her and cursed. “Damn you...”
“That involved?” Michelle asked. “You fell for him?”
Taylor cursed her again. “You orchestrated this whole thing – playing matchmaker like you did for Elaine and Bryce.”
“It worked out for them,” Michelle reminded her. Elaine had never been so happy.
Taylor nodded. “Yes. For them. But Bryce forgave Elaine. Dominic will never forgive me for deceiving him. And he’ll never accept or respect me because of what I’ve chosen to do with my life. He would have preferred that I really am an escort.”
“Then he’s an idiot,” Michelle said. “You aren’t creating the drama and making up any of the stories you’ll write about. You’ll report them accurately and sensitively – just like you did in this article.” She tapped the laptop screen with Taylor’s file on it. “This is great except you could have gone a little harder on Roderick and Courtney...”
“Their wedding was cancelled,” Taylor said.
“They had no choice. The groom was in the hospital yet on what should have been the wedding day,” Michelle reminded her.
Taylor shook her head. “The bride doesn’t want him for a groom anymore. She wants Dominic.”
“He won’t take her back.”
Taylor wasn’t as convinced. She suspected Dominic could forgive Courtney’s betrayal while he would never forgive hers.
“If you’re not going to be a reporter, what will you do?” Michelle asked her.
Taylor shrugged. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t be one...” She just wouldn’t get involved again. “I don’t want to do this again, though,” she said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone like I hurt Dominic. He didn’t deserve any of that.”
“You didn’t write about him in this article at all,” Michelle said. “If you don’t want to sell it, I can sell it for you.”
“No!” Taylor protested. “I don’t want to write about people anymore. Maybe I’ll just write about fashion -”
“You hate fashion.”
“Or sports...”
“Taylor, you need to sell this or let me sell it,” Michelle insisted. “You won’t let me or your aunt help you with your bills. What this story could fetch would get you completely out of debt.”
Taylor shook her head. “It’s not worth it...”
Dominic had been right about that. It wasn’t worth it. No matter how much money she got; it would never be worth hurting him.
“So what are you going to do then?” Michelle asked.
“Now there are two openings at that gentlemen’s club,” Taylor said. “Maybe I’ll go audition again.”
“You still can’t dance.”
No. She couldn’t dance. And now there were other things she couldn’t do. Sleep. Eat. Go for two seconds without thinking about Dominic, without missing him...
Seeing the concern and the guilt on Michelle’s beautiful face, Taylor forced a smile. “Don’t worry. You know me. I’m tough. I’ll be fine.” She would figure out a way to take care of herself and Aunt Mattie; it just wouldn’t be at the expense of anyone’s privacy.
Or her heart...
***
Taylor stared at her laptop screen. It had gone dark some time ago while she’d been researching what to write about next. Gardening? Cooking? Art?
She would love to write about art. Actually, she’d love to write about artists – one in particular. One whom she loved. Was she just going to let Courtney have him?
No. She had never backed down from a fight. She’d taken that bitchy almost-bride once. She could take her again. But she couldn’t take Dominic’s heart unless he was willing to trust her with it.
And after her betrayal, she doubted he ever would. She sighed wistfully at what she’d lost. But she was familiar with loss; she could survive it.
The door rattled as someone knocked on it. Preoccupied with her thoughts, she hadn’t heard anyone climb the steps to the garage. It was probably Michelle; she was slight and wouldn’t have made any sound coming up the outside stairwell.
“You don’t need to keep checking on me,” she said through the door. “I’ll be fine...” Eventually.
But there was another knock. Of course Michelle was persistent. She wouldn’t give up without a fight either.
Taylor opened the door and gasped in surprise at the identity of her visitor. Dominic stood before her. “I – I thought you were gone...”
A couple of days ago the wedding party and the paparazzi had cleared out of St. Bart’s Inn and parking lot.
“I couldn’t leave until I gave you this,” he said, his handsome face unreadable. He stared down at her. But his green gaze wasn’t as cold as it had been in Detective Butler’s office.
“What’s this?” she asked as he held out a small piece of paper. Then she realized it was a check folded over, and she added, “What the hell is this? Payment for services rendered?”
Was he going to keep insulting her? No. He wasn’t going to forgive her. He hated her.
Tears stung her eyes but she blinked them back, refusing to cry in front of him. She’d already cried too much over him. And he didn’t deserve her tears. He obviously wasn’t the man she’d thought he was.
She wasn’t the woman Dominic had thought she was – for those few moments he’d first learned she was a reporter. She wasn’t a user – like Courtney. She was hard working and proud. And smart and sexy...
And strong.
He stepped back and said, “Don’t slap me again. The check isn’t from me.”
She unfolded the paper and stared down at it before lifting her gaze to his again. “What is this?”
“Payment for your story,” he told her. “Michelle sold it for you.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I told her not to do that.”
“And I told her to do it,” he said. Once Michelle had played him the recording she’d taken of their conversation he’d known it was the right thing to do.
“Why?” she asked. “You hate having the media hound you. You hate reporters.”
He hated more not having the media around – at least one particular reporter. “The story wasn’t about me.”
“I wouldn’t do that to you,” she said. “I’m sorry other reporters bother you.”
“You bother me the most,” he said.
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t truthful with you from the beginning,” she said.
And he could tell that she meant it – that she felt as horrible about everything as he did. “Michelle took the blame for that. The whole plan was her idea.”
Taylor shrugged. “Sure, but I chose to go along with it.”
He laughed. “We both know Michelle. You have no choice when she comes up with a plan but to go along with it.”
“Is that why you let me stay at the hotel with you?” she asked. “Or was it because Roderick and Courtney saw me before you could make me leave?”
“I let you stay,” he said, “because I knew then that I would be a fool to let you go.” He stepped closer to her. “Just like I would be a fool if I let you go now.”
She threw her arms around his neck. But unlike he had with Courtney, he didn’t disengage from her embrace. He pulled her closer, and finally that hole he’d felt in his chest began to fill again as warmth rushed in.
“You can forgive me?” she hopefully asked.
“Can you forgive me?” he asked. He’d been such an ass at the police department.
“For what?” she asked.
“I’m the one who deceived you.”
“And I overreacted,” he said. “I should have been relieved you weren’t really an escort.”
“Instead it seemed like you would have preferred that I was,” she said with a smile.
As a twin, he’d always had to share – first a womb, then a room and his toys and clothes – not to mention his parents’ attention which had already been limited at best. He tightened his arms around her, and for the first time in his life, he felt possessive. “No. I don’t want to share you with anyone else.”
“I don’t want to share you either,” she said. “What’s going on with Courtney?”
“She’s gone.”
Her eyes narrowed with suspicion, and she studied his face, as if looking for more slap marks or scratches. “I’m surprised she gave up so easily.”
Courtney hadn’t gone quietly, but he’d made it clear that he had no interest in getting back together with her. He was not about to betray his brother. “I reminded her she had a fiancé,” Dominic said.
Taylor laughed.
“Unfortunately for her, she remembered too late,” he added. “So then she turned her attention to Roderick’s agent. If she can’t have him, at least she can have a percentage of him.”
“Roderick called off the wedding?” Taylor asked.
Dominic nodded. “His near death experience has changed him. His life flashed before his eyes, and he didn’t like what he saw.” Or so he claimed. Roderick had apologized – profusely - for how he’d always treated Dominic. Either he’d become a better actor after being poisoned, or he’d actually been sincere. Despite what Michelle believed, Dominic preferred to think his twin was sincerely sorry.
Taylor shuddered. “He’s probably not going to like what he sees when that article you and Michelle sold gets published.”
Dominic chuckled. “He’s the one who’s always said there is no such thing as bad press. He’ll appreciate the notoriety. He hadn’t changed that much. He’s already fallen for a nurse at the hospital.”
“Of course he has,” she said with a skeptical snort.
“I can’t say that he hasn’t really fallen for her, though,” Dominic said. “Because I barely knew you at all, and I’ve really fallen for you.”
Taylor gasped and her blue eyes widened in shock. “You have? Really?”
He nodded. “I have no doubts. What about you?” On the recording Michelle had played him, she’d never really admitted to how she felt about him. She’d just cursed her friend for her failed matchmaking attempt. Except it hadn’t failed – if she felt about him as he felt about her.
She stared up at him, and tears glistened in her beautiful eyes. “Not a one...”
But what did that mean? “No doubts that I’m an ass and you’ll never give me another chance or -”
She pressed her fingers over his lips and said, “No doubts that I love you – that I fell for you right away. The story never mattered as much as you did – not from the moment I met you.”
He lowered his head and pressed his mouth to hers. The kiss, for them, was tender and full of love. But then, as always for them, passion ignited. He kissed her hungrily. It had only been a couple of days since he’d seen her, since he’d been with her, but it felt as though it had been years.
He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed in a corner of the studio apartment. Seeing the small space where she lived – for which she insisted on paying rent – when she could have stayed in the mansion with Michelle – proved her integrity even more to Dominic than the recording had.
She didn’t want to exploit people – like some of the paparazzi he had known. She just wanted to take care of herself and the aunt who’d taken care of her. As he laid her on the bed, he followed her down and skimmed his fingertips along her cheek. Staring into her eyes, he told her, “I love you so much...”
Taylor believed him and returned that love – with words and actions. She tore at his clothes, undressing him quickly, as quickly as he undressed her. She wanted nothing between them anymore.
No secrets. No lies. And definitely no clothes...
But she couldn’t rush Dominic. No matter how much she touched him, kissed him or stroked him, he took his time. He made love to her thoroughly. He caressed and kissed every inch of her skin. He drove her out of her mind with desire and love.
His tongue stroked over the pulse that leaped in her throat for him. Then he kissed his way over her collarbone to the curve of her breasts. His tongue flicked over each nipple, teasing them while she squirmed on the bed beneath him. He touched her too, caressing her arms and her sides and her thighs before moving his hand between her legs. He moved his fingers over her core before sliding them inside her.
She arched off the bed as she came – a little. But it wasn’t enough to ease the tension he’d built inside her. It wasn’t enough to fill the hole she’d felt when she’d thought she’d lost him forever.
She stroked her hand over his cock, pumping him until his flesh pulsated with passion. A bead of cum spilled out of the head of his cock and over her fingers. She brought her hand to her mouth and licked it.
And he groaned. Then a foil packet ripped, and he sheathed himself in latex before sheathing himself in her. He thrust inside – over and over – going deeper and deeper.
But that hole inside her didn’t fill completely until he said it again, “I love you! Taylor, I love you!”
And she felt complete. Then she felt madness as she came, the orgasm shuddering through her. She’d never felt anything as powerful or as long.
She screamed his name over and over again – so loudly and desperately – that she was surprised Michelle didn’t come to check on them. Or call Detective Butler to do it.
Dominic yelled, too, as his body tensed and he came. They collapsed in each other’s arms – a tangle of slick limbs and flesh and pounding hearts and panting breaths.
“I love you,” she said. “But I do have one regret...”
“Shh,” he told her as he kissed her shoulder. “We already talked about this. It doesn’t matter anymore that you weren’t completely honest with me.”
She sighed. “I do regret that, too. But I regret even more that Michelle will get to say I told you so...”
He groaned. “Oh, the matchmaking...”
She nodded. “And this whole FANTASY ENTERTAINMENT thing...”
“But that’s not real,” he said – a little anxiously. “You weren’t really an escort.”
“No.”
“And Michelle isn’t really a madam.”
“No. But Detective Butler doesn’t know that.”
“He doesn’t know who she is, though,” Dominic said, almost as if he was trying to reassure himself.
“Not yet.” But Taylor was afraid that he would figure it out – if Michelle kept playing the make-believe madam.
Dominic kissed her again. “Michelle is smart.”
Taylor smiled. “You’re right. She figured out you and I would be perfect for each other.” And that Elaine and Bryce would fall in love as well.
That left only Shawna – who had not returned from the cruise they’d all taken after graduation. She was abroad yet. And safely out of Michelle’s reach.
No. There was no reason for Michelle to play the madam again. And one very big, muscular, no-nonsense reason for her not to: Detective Butler.
Taylor settled contently against Dominic, her head on his chest and her hand over his heart. She had no reason to worry. She had everything she wanted. The man she hadn’t even realized existed. Her career launched. And very good friends...
Life was perfect.
Epilogue
June 11
Morning
Life is perfect. For my friends. For me it feels as though something is missing. Maybe it’s because I haven’t heard from Detective Butler for a few weeks. Or maybe it’s because I have this strange feeling...
It’s like someone is watching me but I can’t see them. Mayb
e it’s paparazzi following up on the Rowe family after Taylor’s expose. But why wouldn’t they come out and ask me questions? Why would they just watch me?
Is it Detective Butler? Has he begun to suspect that I am the madam of FANTASY ENTERTAINMENT and he has me under surveillance? But if it was him, wouldn’t I feel like I always do around him? Wouldn’t my skin tingle and my heart race...?
I don’t feel that way now. I feel scared. Like something bad is about to happen, and even I won’t be able to stop it...
