Taylor shook her head. Dillon is stressed and unhappy with the way his life is going. Once his problems are fixed, he will be back to his normal self. You and Mario will see I was right about him.”
She picked up a magazine flipping through it. Sabrina lowered the hood of the dryer over Taylor’s head. “I’m going to pray you’re right about that.”
*****
Mario turned off the car, looking at Taylor, he chuckled. “You are actually sweating bullets. It will be all right.”
Taylor lowered the visor to fix her makeup. “You don’t know what you are getting yourself into. You think Dillon is weird, wait until you meet my Uncle Vernon. The man is beyond strange. You will have to overlook a lot of what he says.”
“I’ll be fine. If he gets too hot for me to handle, I throw a few phrases at him to leave him wondering if I’m all wrapped.”
She looked at him grasping his hand. “It was nice knowing you.”
He laughed and opened the door. “Stop it. We’ll have a lot of fun. I’m a fun guy.”
The music playing inside the party center met them as they entered the foyer decorated in pastels of blue, yellow, pink, and soft greens. Her cousin Selma didn’t know the sex of her first baby and the neutral colors defined that.
Mario carried the large gift-wrapped box to the table holding the gifts. Taking her hand, he asked. “Shall we proceed?”
“Yup—right to the bar,” she said smiling.
Sabrina danced up to them. “Hey, Sis…hi Mario. What took you guys so long?”
Taylor said, “I had to change clothes and wrap the gift. But, we’re here now.”
Sabrina ran her hand down the lacy fabric of Taylor’s party dress. The off-shoulder, cream lace dress, gave a see-through appearance only it had a nude lining underneath. It stopped mid-thigh showing off Taylor’s fabulous features. She wore her signature sky-high heels that were cream-colored to match her dress, and toeless to show off her pearl-colored toenails. “I like that dress. Don’t you like the way the dress hugs her booty, Mario?”
Mario’s face reddened. He had noticed but didn’t comment. “Since you said it first, yes, I do; I do very much.”
Sabrina stepped back looking at him. “You’re looking mighty hot too. Not too many men can carry off those colors if you know what I mean,” she winked.
He had changed into a lavender dress shirt, black slacks, and a black tie. The gold Rolex watch and gold and a diamond stud earring completed the jewelry he wore. He didn’t wear an earring at work, but for casual events outside of work, he proudly sported his pierced ear he’d gotten as a teenager.
Sabrina nudged Taylor’s arm. “There are a lot of single women here that will be anxious to get next to him. You better keep him close.”
Taylor responded, “The only person I’m worried about is Uncle Vernon. Is he here?”
“Girl, you know he is here. I’m surprised you didn’t hear his mouth from the parking lot.”
Mario interrupted them. “Taylor, do you want a drink?”
She sighed. “Yes and make it a double.”
Sabrina laughed. “It will be a double shot of Hawaiian Punch. There is no liquor.”
Taylor frowned. “Damn, I will have to get through this night sober?”
Sabrina pulled them close to her. “You know how I roll.” She pulled a small bottle of Jack Daniels from her handbag. “Get a cup and I’ll share. And if we run out, I have more in the car.”
A man walked up and put his arm around Sabrina. She held her head back to let him kiss her. He then kissed Taylor on her cheek. Sabrina introduced the two men to each other. “Mario, this is my husband Edward. Edward, Mario, is Taylor’s new beau.”
They shook hands with Edward saying, “Ah, so you are her next victim.”
Mario raised his eyebrow. “Victim….am I missing…”
“I’m kidding, man. Taylor doesn’t keep ‘em around long. When we actually meet one of her boyfriends, we never see ‘em again, except for that white boy who has been around forever.”
“Edward, not now,” Taylor pleaded.
He asked. “So what do you do, Mario?”
“I’m an attorney. I work with Taylor.”
“Wow. That gotta be weird working with her all day and keeping it clean.” Edward leaned in close to Mario. “I heard Taylor is really a freak…you better watch her.”
Taylor put her hands on her hips. “Hello, I’m standing right here and can hear you, Edward!”
Edward hugged her. “I’m playing, Sis. I know you are strictly professional on the job. No hall closet activity for you,” he said winking his eye.
She turned to Mario. “You see why I hesitated to bring you?”
“Its fine, Taylor,” he said slipping an assuring arm around her waist giving her a squeeze.
Then it happened. Uncle Vernon spotted them. “Hey, what do we have here? Taylor James is that you?”
“Hello, Uncle Vernon,” she answered dryly.
He picked her up and swung her around. Taylor had to hold the hem of her dress down to keep from flashing her underwear. “Uncle Vernon, put me down, please.”
“You used to like it when I picked you up and swung you around.”
“I was eight, Uncle Vernon. I’m a little too old for that now.”
He laughed loudly. “Give the girl a law degree and she thinks she’s grown.” He stopped laughing when he saw Mario. “Hold the horses! Who is this dude?”
Taylor stuttered. “Um, Uncle Vernon, this is Mario Infante. He is a friend of mine.”
“Well, well, well. Just how friendly are you with my niece, Mr. Infante? What kind of name is that? Are you Asian or Mexican?”
Mario extended his hand. “Actually, I’m Puerto Rican, sir. And I’m very friendly with your niece.”
“Huh, she did always like your kind. But you must do very well. Nice clothes, expensive jewelry…you ain’t the head of some drug cartel are you?”
“Uncle Vernon!” Taylor and Sabrina said in unison. Edward shook his head laughing.
“Unfortunately, I have to earn my money the honest way; I’m an attorney,” Mario answered.
“Oh hell that ain’t honest. Y’all thieves with the law behind you. You ain’t a tax lawyer are you?”
“Why? Are you behind on your taxes? I have friends at that the IRS that might be interested in talking to you. “Vernon is your name, right?”
Vernon looked around the room. “Well, gotta go; the wife is calling me. Y’all have fun,” he said walking away.
“Wait, don’t go—Uncle Vernon, I have a few more questions,” Mario called after him laughing.
Taylor turned to him with a grin on her face. “How did you do that? We have been trying to make him speechless for years.”
“I have a gift, for getting rid of annoying people.”
Taylor’s parents entered the party center and joined the foursome. Ernst James kissed his daughters on the cheeks and shook Edward’s hand. “Hello, my beautiful girls.”
“Hi, Dad,” Taylor said hugging her father. “Hi, Mom,” she said hugging her next.
Mrs. James hugged her daughter in return. “Hi, honey. Where is Dillon? He usually accompanies you to family events.”
Sabrina took Edward’s hand bopping to the old school beat of George Clinton’s Atomic Dog. “Come on, baby. I want to get my groove on.”
Taylor grabbed for her sister’s arm, but she was fast in getting away. She put on a smile turning to her mother. “Mom, you know Dillon is busy. But, I want you both to meet Mario Infante. He is very special to me,” she said unconsciously parting her lips.
Mario refused the traditional handshake and hugged the attractive woman. “Es un placer en conocerte, Mrs. James.”
“Oh my,” she said gladly going into his arms. “Tengo el placer de conocerte también,” she recited in Spanish.
He released her. “You speak Spanish?”
“My daughter isn’t the only one in the family fascinated with the
Hispanic culture. I’m glad you could make it to the party, Mario.”
“Thank you for having me. Taylor is also special to me,” he said making strong eye contact with Taylor.
Ernst nudged Mario away from the women. “Come with me, Mario. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the men in the family while the women do the baby stuff.”
He laughed. “Okay, but, I’d better stay away from Uncle Vernon. He thinks I’m the IRS.”
“So you had the pleasure of meeting my brother?” Ernst asked.
“Yes, I did. He is an interesting person.”
“That he is, and I’m sorry I wasn’t here to warn you about him,” Ernst said walking away with Mario in tow.
Taylor’s mouth opened to protest her father taking Mario away without her. She faced her mother. “Mom…I think I should go with Mario, just in case...”
“He will be fine, Taylor. Let’s find Selma and get this party started.”
Taylor eyed her mother who was fond of having a drink or two and loved to party. “You know this a dry party, right?”
“It’s dry for them; I’ve got mine in my purse.”
Taylor hunched her shoulders. “Why does everyone have something but me? You all could have clued me in.”
“The rule is when Selma’s mother throws a party, stash a bottle in your purse. The woman doesn’t condone drinking and won’t provide it for the James’ crew. We bring our own and have our own party.”
Taylor nodded. “I forgot about that.”
The deejay started the song by Vic – The Wobble. Mrs. James grabbed Taylor’s hand dancing in place. “Come on, baby. Come Wobble with your momma.”
Taylor rolled her eyes. “This is going to be a long night.”
*****
After the games were over, and the gifts opened the baby shower neared its end. Mario made his way back to Taylor. He found her sitting alone at a table. Her shoes were off, and she was holding her head in her hands. He sat across from her startling her. “You look tired. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes I am. My feet hurt from dancing and my head is telling me I had one glass of Jack Daniels too many,” she giggled. “I haven’t seen much of you tonight; did you have fun with the guys?”
“Yeah, it was cool hanging out with them. Taylor, I like your family; they are great.”
She lifted her hand to caress his face. “I’m glad they made you comfortable around them despite my crazy uncle. When will I meet your family?”
“My parents are alive and I have a brothers and sisters and an extended family still living Puerto Rico I want you to meet. We will need a few trips to meet all of my family.”
“I love traveling. I can’t wait to meet everyone.”
He put her feet in his lap and massaged one toe at a time. “I will start planning an itinerary.”
“That feels good,” she said pulling a tender curl of hair. “Mario, I don’t know if you would be interested or can swing the time off work, but that cruise I’m taking in August…well I’m the only person occupying my room…”
He continued to massage her feet slowly. His gaze captured hers as he finished her sentence. “Are you asking me to join you?”
She licked her lips. “I would not want anyone else but you to join me.”
He scooted his chair closer to her. Leaning in, he kissed her. “I will make the time to join you.” His mouth captured hers again lingering in a deep sensual kiss.
Mrs. James caught them in the act. “Aw how sweet. Love is such a wonderful thing and my daughter’s finally found it.”
Taylor jumped away from Mario. “Mom, it was kissing don’t get carried away,” she said embarrassed.
Mrs. Taylor eyed Mario grinning and watching him wipe smudged lipstick from his mouth. “Un-huh, if that was just a kiss. I would hate to see what a real one would be like. I think y’all just increased the temperature in here twenty degrees,” she laughed. “Anyhow, you’re grown and can do what you want.”
Annoyed Taylor hurried her mother along. “Okay, Mom. Did you stop to say goodbye?”
“Yeah, we are leaving here. Vernon and Clara are having an after party at their house and invited us. You and Mario should join us. Sabrina and Ed are going; almost everyone here is going….what do you say?”
Taylor hemmed and hawed. “Mom, it is getting late. I don’t know what Mario’s plans are for the morning, and I’m riding with him.”
“I don’t have any plans in the morning,” he said excited.
Taylor scooted upright in the chair and put on her shoes. “All right, I’m just a passenger and following you around tonight.”
Chapter 7
Dillon slouched behind the wheel of his car. He’d parked five houses away from Taylor’s home and drove Kelly’s car to avoid recognition by anyone in the neighborhood familiar with his vehicle.
Taylor’s house was dark, and no movement in or around the property set off the motions lights attached to the garage. He checked his watch. It was past midnight, he knew she could not be at a baby shower at this hour.
The BMW parked in the driveway earlier was gone and not parked across the street in the neighbor’s driveway who she claimed the car belonged to. Where was she at this hour and who was she with was on his mind. He and Taylor never kept secrets before, and her actions around the office of late, were strange.
He had seen her leaving the office with Mario Infante on a number of occasions. They always seemed to be together talking or touching one another in more than friendly manner. Was she doing work-related things with him as she claimed? Or had she taking it a step further and was sleeping with Mario Infante.
Dillon tightened his hand around the steering wheel, whitening his knuckles. The first day he laid eyes on Mario Infante he knew the man would be a major pain in his ass as far as Taylor was concerned. The two hit it off too fast, and now Taylor was lying to him about their status. Her relationship with him was more than she was leading him to believe and tonight he was going to confront her.
He got out of the car closing the door gently. The street was quiet, with the majority of the neighboring houses dark. Barking dogs echoed on the quiet street. Dillon hustled his pace as he made his way to her yard before the barking alerted someone.
The motion lights over her garage came on bathing him in bright lights. He bent to his knees, doing a duck-walk along the side of the garage and slipped around to the backyard. Peeking inside a window, he saw the kitchen was dark except for the bluish glow from the microwave and coffee maker clocks.
He checked the back door and found it locked. Fumbling in his pocket, he pulled out a small key ring containing the keys to her house. He started to insert the key inside the lock when a jingling and an intimidating growl from a large dog, bearing killer fangs, cornered him against the door.
“Hey! What are you doing sneaking around Taylor’s house?” A strong male voice asked holding a flashlight on Dillon.
Dillon braced against the door fearful the dog would mangle him to pieces if he made a sudden move. “Call off the dog! I’m a friend of Taylor’s, and I’m checking on her.”
“You are checking on her in the middle of the night! Why didn’t you use the front door and ring the bell?”
“Look, I’m worried about her. I haven’t seen or heard from her since this morning. I have keys to her house.” He showed the keys hoping the man would hold onto the leash tight.
The man pulled the leash causing the dog to sit next to him but did not lower the flashlight from Dillon’s face. “We have a neighborhood watch to keep an eye on each other. You don’t belong here.”
“You’ve had to see me around. I’m here all the time. Taylor and I work together.”
The man looked closer at Dillon. “Right, I have seen you around before. You were perched on her steps this morning. Well, Taylor left with a man early today and hasn’t been home since. Why don’t you try to call her instead of sneaking up on her?”
Having his suspicions confirmed, Dillon sc
ratched his head. “Have you ever seen this man before today? Does he visit her often?”
“Look, buddy, I’m not telling you anything. I don’t know you and I don’t like the fact you are lurking around her house in the middle of the night. Why don’t you go before I change my mind and call the police,” he said nudging on the dog’s leash causing the Doberman to growl and stand tall on all fours legs.
“Alright, alright, I’m leaving—call off the damn dog!” Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he moved away from the growling dog. He stepped cautiously across to the driveway. Interior lights from neighboring houses came on as the dog barked caused other dogs to bark simultaneously.
He walked at a fast pace to his car. Trembling, he started the car observing the man keeping an eye on him. He questioned where he’d come from or how he’d spotted him so quickly.
Peeling from the curb, he sped down the street giving the man a steely glare before disappearing around the block out of his view. Dillon slowed the vehicle to a stop. He couldn’t go home without knowing where Taylor was. Yanking the glove compartment door open, he rambled through it. Slamming it shut, he cursed. “Damn it! I’m not in my car!”
Dillon arrived home twenty minutes later. Entering his house, he went to the den he used as an office. Sitting behind the desk, he opened the drawer searching for a copy of the office’s pocket directory listing the addresses of the attorneys. Although he didn’t get a description of the man Taylor left with, he had a hunch she was with Mario. A trip to Mr. Infante’s residence would verify if the two were sneaking around behind his back.
He banged his hand on the desk not able to locate the directory. Irritated he got up from the desk pushing the chair over. Kelly entered the den holding a large wooden rolling pin in her hand.
“Dillon! You scared me half to death. I thought you were a burglar. What are you doing?”
“Nothing, Kelly. Go back to bed.”
She walked over to where he was standing and rubbed his shoulders. “Sweetheart, you are scaring me. You have been sitting on pins and needles for months. Please talk to me.”
OBSESSED WITH TAYLOR JAMES Page 8
