Paige Tyler - Austin Malone, Private Eye.doc

by Austin Malone, Private Eye (lit)

  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