going to school? And how are they going to keep up with their classes? And what if my sister
gets pregnant?” That thought brought her to an abrupt halt. “Oh God, what if that’s why they got
married? What if this creep got her pregnant?”
Austin’s brow furrowed. “I read her diary, remember? I think she would have written
about something like that in there. From what I did read, your sister seems like she’s a very
responsible person, so I doubt she got herself pregnant.” He reached across the table to cover
Taylor’s hand with his. “Tiffany didn’t marry Andrew Wallace because she had to, she married
him because she wanted to, Taylor. You know, true love does exist in the world.”
Taylor gazed down at his hand, so big and strong, and yet so gentle as it covered hers,
and she couldn’t help but remember how those hands of his had felt on her body the night before.
And for some absurd reason, that talk of true love sounded almost possible when he said it.
Which was just foolish! Annoyed with herself for letting him get to her, she snatched her hand
out from under his.
“My sister is too young and immature to know what true love is!” Taylor snapped.
“Which is why I’m going down to Mexico to talk some sense into her!”
Austin’s mouth tightened, but whether he was perturbed because she’d snatched her hand
away from his, or because she was determined to go after her sister, Taylor didn’t know.
“You don’t even know where your sister is,” he pointed out. “How the heck do you
expect to find her?”
Taylor shrugged. “I know she’s in San Luis something or other. It shouldn’t be that hard
to find her in some dinky, little Mexican town like that.”
“San Luis Rio Colorado,” Austin told her. “And it isn’t some dinky, little Mexican town.
It’s a city. There’s no way you’ll be able to find her.”
She was silent as she considered his words. He was right. She didn’t know the first thing
about finding her sister. Heck, she didn’t even speak Spanish! But he could find her. “You could
find her for me,” she pointed out.
His eyes narrowed. “No.”
“Why not?” she demanded. “I’ll pay you.”
“It’s not about the money. It’s because you’re being foolish,” he said. “Your sister is an
adult who got married of her own free will, and I’m not going down to Mexico to drag her back
just because you can’t stand the fact that she’s finally decided to live her own life and stopped
asking you for permission every time she wants to do something.”
Taylor felt a little stab of hurt at his words. She didn’t know what she had expected
really, but after they had spent the night together, she just naturally assumed he might care
enough to help her. Apparently, the sex hadn’t been as good for him as it had for her, she thought
bitterly.
“Fine!” she snapped. “I’ll go myself then!”
Without waiting for a reply, she picked up her napkin and tossed it on the table. Pushing
back her chair, she got to her feet and stormed out of the restaurant. Damn Austin Malone, she
thought. She didn’t need him or his help; she could find her sister all on her own!
“Taylor, wait!” Austin called from behind her.
But she ignored him to continue across the lobby. A moment later, she felt a hand on her
arm. Eyes flashing, she spun around to glare up at Austin, all ready to argue with him, but his
next words surprised her.
“All right, I’ll go to Mexico with you and help you look for your sister,” he said. “But
after that, you’re on your own. I’m not going to help you drag her back to LA against her will.
Understood?”
Taylor nodded, mutely, relieved Austin had agreed to go with her, but a little hurt as well.
She’d been on her own for so long that she should be used to it, but after last night, she had this
ridiculous idea that he might be someone she could actually depend on.
Though he and Taylor wouldn’t need passports to get into Mexico, they would need them
to get back out. So they had to make a long detour back to LA before heading down to San Luis
Rio Colorado. While it would have been easier to drive down to Mexico directly from Vegas,
Austin was actually glad they had to go back to LA for a couple of reasons. One, he was hoping
Taylor would come to her senses and change her mind about going after her sister. And two, he
was hoping Tiffany and her husband would already be back from their honeymoon so they
wouldn’t have to go chasing after the girl. He was out of luck on both fronts however, so after
dropping Taylor’s car off at her apartment and picking up her passport, they made a quick stop at
his place before heading down to Mexico.
Austin gave Taylor a sidelong glance as he drove. She hadn’t said a word since they’d
left LA, but simply sat with her arms folded and stared out the side window. He didn’t even
know why he had agreed to go with her. Maybe because he knew that if he didn’t, she would
probably end up getting herself into trouble down there. She just seemed to have a knack for that.
There was more to it than that, though. She was more than just a client now. And it wasn’t just
the fact that they’d slept together, either. He’d been feeling something developing between them
since Taylor had first walked into his office, and even though he was against the idea of going
down to Mexico to chase after her sister, he was even more uncomfortable with the idea of
letting her go alone. He felt protective of her, he realized.
Austin’s gaze went to Taylor again, and he wondered if he should make another attempt
to try and talk her out of going after her sister, but then quickly decided against it. Taylor wasn’t
just determined, she was obsessive about protecting her sister. But after the conversation they’d
had last night, he supposed he could understand where that came from. Besides, if he did try to
talk Taylor out of it again, they would only end up getting in an argument, and he didn’t really
feel like fighting with her all the way to Mexico. Then again, an argument like that might be
interesting if it led to him giving her another spanking.
As he drove, Austin let the fantasy play in his head. He cut out all the boring parts and
skipped right to the part where he pulled his SUV over to the side of the road right in the middle
of their argument. He would walk around and haul a very surprised Taylor out to the front of the
Jeep and bend her over the hood for a good, sound spanking. She would protest, of course,
saying that anyone could come by and see, but Austin would only chuckle and ignore her
complaints, saying that there was no one around for miles.
Then he would promptly spank her.
As the fantasy continued to play out in his head, Austin could imagine making Taylor as
hot and eager from the spanking as she’d been the night before. He would hold her firmly in
place with one hand while bringing the other down over and over on her upturned bottom. But
the spanks wouldn’t be all that hard, and soon her yelps of protest would quickly become moans
of pleasure. That thought immediately got him hard and he had to shift in his seat to get more
comfortable.
Austin wondered if he should turn on the radio or stick in a CD to distract himself, but he
deci
ded against it. Daydreaming about spanking the beautiful woman sitting beside him was
much more enjoyable.
Letting his thoughts flow freely, Austin pictured himself reaching around Taylor’s
slender waist to undo the buttons of her jeans. And while she might not have been compliant and
willing when he first pulled her out of the Jeep a moment ago, now she would be eager, even
helping him to push down her jeans.
Abruptly remembering how incredible Taylor had looked in those skimpy bikini panties
in the hotel room the night before, Austin had to stifle a groan as he pictured himself caressing
her panty-covered bottom.
In his mind, he gave Taylor’s ass a gentle squeeze and she let out a soft moan of pleasure.
Taking that as an invitation, Austin would give her cheeks another squeeze before continuing the
spanking. He’d move from one cheek to the other, the smacks firm but not overly hard, and
Taylor would push her ass up higher in the air, eager for more.
And Austin would give her more, but not before slowly lowering her tiny, black panties
to mid-thigh. Her bottom bare, Taylor would give him a sexy look over her shoulder, her blue
eyes regarding him from beneath a fringe of dark lashes. It was the same look she’d given him
after last night’s spanking, and in his fantasy, Austin forgot all about continuing the spanking as
he imagined unbuttoning his jeans to free his hard cock and plunge slowly into her.
“Can’t you go any faster?”
Austin was so caught up in his thoughts that for a moment he didn’t even realize Taylor
had spoken.
He glanced at her. “What?” he said, his voice coming out a little unsteady.
“I asked why you’re going so slow It’ll take forever to get to the Mexican border at this
speed,” she said, impatience clear in her tone.
Austin glanced down at the speedometer to see that while he’d been fantasizing, he had
slowed down to below fifty miles an hour. “I was just enjoying the scenery,” he said.
Taylor frowned as she looked around at the open expanse of desert surrounding them.
“What scenery?” she said. “There’s nothing to see.”
The corner of Austin’s mouth edged up as he picked up speed. “I don’t know about that,”
he said. “You just have to use your imagination.”
Chapter Six
The sun was just setting by the time they arrived in San Luis Rio Colorado. Though it had
actually taken less than an hour to reach the Mexican border, they were held up by the long line
of cars crossing into the country. That had only served to make Taylor more impatient and as
she’d ranted at him, Austin had been tempted to pull over to the side of the road and drag her
over his knee right there. He had resisted the urge though, but just barely.
Once in the city, Austin pulled into the parking lot of the first reputable hotel they came
across. As big as San Luis was, it could take days to find Taylor’s sister, so it made sense to
check into a hotel.
“What are you doing?” Taylor demanded when Austin told the desk clerk they would like
to check into the hotel instead of asking the man if he’d seen the two college kids.
“Getting us some rooms,” Austin said. When she frowned, he added, “It’s going to take
awhile to track down your sister and her husband, so we’re going to need a place to stay.”
Apparently that must have satisfied her because she made no other comment until the
desk clerk had handed them two room keys.
“Aren’t you going to show Tiffany’s picture to him?” she asked as the man behind the
counter moved off to answer the telephone, which had begun ringing.
Austin shook his head. “This place is way too pricey for two college kids on a budget to
afford,” he said. “We’ll ask around at the less expensive hotels.”
“Dives, you mean,” Taylor muttered as they walked back outside.
The city of San Luis Rio Colorado had a lot of hotels in the price range they were looking
for however, so Austin wasn’t surprised when he and Taylor came up with nothing at the first
dozen they went to.
“This is getting us nowhere,” Taylor said as they made their way down the sidewalk.
“We don’t even know for sure that they came to San Luis.”
Austin gave her a sidelong glance. “The woman at the wedding chapel back in Vegas
seemed pretty sure that’s where your sister and her husband were going,” he said. “But San Luis
is a big city, so like I said before, it could take a long time to find them. That’s if they haven’t
already headed back to LA. All we can do is keep checking out the places where they might be
staying.” He paused. “Look, I could use something to eat, and I’m sure you could, too. Why
don’t we take a break, find a restaurant, and then we’ll check out hotels for the rest of the night?”
He thought Taylor would protest, but to his surprise, she nodded in agreement.
Remembering they’d passed a fairly decent looking cantina a couple of blocks back, Austin led
her back in the direction they had come.
The place was dimly lit inside, but since it was already dark out, their eyes adjusted to
their new surroundings quickly enough. Spotting a table in the back corner, Austin automatically
placed his hand on Taylor’s back to urge her in that direction when she stopped in her tracks.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “That’s her! That’s my sister!”
Austin followed Taylor’s gaze to the dark-haired girl sitting at one of the tables in the
center of the room. Though there was no way for him to tell if it was Tiffany or not since she was
sitting with her back to them, he definitely recognized the blond-haired man with her as Andrew
Wallace.
Without another word, Taylor squared her shoulders and marched directly over to their
table. Austin let out a groan as he followed. This was going to be ugly, he could tell already.
The couple was so immersed in each other that neither of them even noticed him and
Taylor until they were standing right beside the table. Even then, it took a moment for Tiffany to
tear her gaze away from her husband. When she finally did look up, her eyes went wide with
surprise.
“Taylor!” she gasped, jumping to her feet. “What are you doing here?”
Taylor folded her arms to glare down at her sister. “Praying that I was wrong about you
making the biggest mistake of your life,” she said. “Though it looks like you already did. My
God, Tiffany, what were you thinking, running off to get married without even telling me?!”
Tiffany, who was practically a carbon copy of her sister in looks to begin with, folded her
arms, mirroring Taylor’s pose exactly. “Why would I tell you when I knew this is exactly how
you would react?”
“And how did you expect me to react, Tiffany?” Taylor shouted back.
Everyone in the cantina had stopped what they were doing to stare at the two women.
Poor Andrew looked like he was torn between jumping to his wife’s defense and crawling under
the table. Austin was tempted to join him under there himself. Taylor was making a complete
fool of herself, and she wasn’t letting up.
“You’re a nineteen-year-old college freshman,” Taylor continued. “You’re supposed to
be focusing on your education, not running off to marry the first frat boy who asked you out!”
/> Hurt flashed across the younger girl’s face for just a moment before it was quickly
replaced by anger again. “Andrew isn’t some frat boy I met at a party!” she said. “For your
information, he’s a pre-med student and we’re both carrying a four-point-o average. Not that it’s
any of your business. I married him because we’re in love, and nothing you say will ever change
that!”
Taylor’s eyes narrowed. “In love? What the heck do you know about love? You’re just a
kid for heaven’s sake!”
Tiffany gave her sister a disdainful look. “I’m not a kid! I’m a year older than you were
when you made the very adult decision to raise me all on your own. So I think that makes me old
enough to run my own life. And when it comes to love, I know a hell of a lot more than you do,”
she sneered. “Tell me, sis, when was the last time you even went out with a guy?”
Austin wondered if he should step in and point out that the cantina was not the right place
to be having this conversation, but from the look on the women’s faces, he knew that neither one
of them would listen to what he had to say.
Taylor flushed at the other girl’s question. “We’re not talking about me!” she snapped.
“We’re talking about you and the mess you’re making of your life. Can’t you see how this is
going to play out, Tiff? He’s going to use you and make you dependent on him, and then when
he gets you pregnant, he’s going to leave you. Where will you be then?” She gave her sister’s
husband a scathing look, before turning her attention back to the girl. “I’ll tell you where you’ll
be. You’ll drop out of college and go to work at some minimum-wage job which won’t even
cover the cost of the day-care your son or daughter will need.”
Austin saw Tiffany flinch at her sister’s harsh words. This was getting even uglier than
he’d thought it would. It was time for him to put a stop to it.
“I think that’s enough, Taylor,” he said firmly.
“This is none of your business!” she snapped, barely glancing at him before turning her
attention back to her sister. “Tiffany needs to hear this. It’s obvious she’s been living in a fairytale
Paige Tyler - Austin Malone, Private Eye.doc Page 7
