A Taylor-Made Life (20 page)

She let out a tiny gasp that shook his
soul. Wanting to live was a powerful thing. Everything within a
person screamed for and clung to life. Multiple emotions played
over her face, so raw and uncensored it felt invasive to watch.
Fear, joy, hope…and
hurt
.

She stood from his lap and stared at
him. “How long have you known about this?”

His stomach lurched, and a sick
feeling hit him. “Since the night I went to the hospital in
Dallas.”

“And you were just gonna let me die
without a word?”

The disbelief and pain in her voice
sliced through him like a serrated Ginsu knife. He dropped his head
in his hands. “It’s more complicated than that.”

A knock interrupted them.
Breakfast.

Taylor opened the door and let the
waiter wheel in the tray while he slipped on a robe from the
bathroom. The man loitered at the door. Gavin reached for his
wallet and handed the guy a twenty.

“Uhh…Thanks. Mr. Taylor, I think you
should know there’s lots of people, reporters, downstairs in the
lobby, waiting.”

He threw his head back. He’d forgotten
that tidbit of joy. “Thanks.”

Taylor shot him a wounded gaze as he
showed the young man out.
Shit
. It was turning into a hell
of a morning.

* * * *

I stared out the window of the jet,
leaning away from Gavin who sulked next to me, rubbing his sore
knuckles.

Jeez, did all men pout? I’d seen my
dad do it when he and Mom had a fight. Somehow Gavin’s reaction
comforted me and made me feel more married than anything that had
happened to me so far.

My phone vibrated with a new message.
I pulled it out and scrolled through. Crap. Ten texts from people I
hadn’t heard from in forever. They’d apparently seen the media
coverage. I focused on the newest one. It was from Matt.

Saw U got married. B
happy, kitten. M.

My cheeks heated, and I cut my gaze to
Gavin, who was pretending to read a magazine and grinding his
teeth. God, I loved him. Our first night and our first fight as
husband and wife all in the span of twelve hours.

I faced the window. Getting out of the
hotel had been a nightmare. A mob of reporters camped out in the
lobby to get a shot at us. My face was plastered on all the news
and entertainment networks. I frowned. Apparently, people had
issues with legal marriages of consent when the parties had a
significant age difference. Unless of course it was Hugh Hefner.
That old geezer could marry a woman of any age, and the moral
majority was cool with it. Maybe if I’d posed for nudie pictures
they’d be okay with me, too.

We dodged the paparazzi in the lobby
but got caught by a camera crew out the back entrance. The reporter
made some comment about my “young tail” being worth the scandal,
and Gavin decked the guy.

I let a wide grin spread over my face
as I looked out over the Sierras far below. He’d protected me. Or
at least, he tried to. The guy hadn’t fallen, but he dropped his
camera, and that seemed to be a worse punishment based on his
reaction. Gavin wasn’t exactly a tough guy, but his attempt at
defense made me feel protected and loved.

Eighteen was going to be a helluva
year if the first two days were any indication. My mind and body
were jumbled with so many thoughts and emotions I could barely get
a handle.

I loved Gavin, but I was angry at him,
too. He reached over and clasped my hand. I turned to face
him.

“I know you’re hurt. But please
understand my perspective. Taylor, I hardly knew you or your
family. I didn’t want a child to leave behind. It didn’t seem
fair.” He squeezed my fingers. “But now that I know you....” He
threw his head back like he always did when his emotions
overwhelmed him. “I could never let you die if there was a way to
save you. Please forgive me.”

His classic denim polo made his eyes
shine as blue as the sky. How could I resist him, the all-powerful
creator of
CROG
? He was gorgeous. And he was my husband. A
flutter tickled her stomach.

I gave him a tightlipped smile and
leaned toward him. “I forgive you.”

The lines in his face smoothed in
relief, and he smiled wanly. “We need to talk with your mom, and
I’ll schedule the best fertility doctors in the area as soon as we
get home. I know this’ll work, Taylor.”

I touched his smoothly shaven cheek.
Never in a million years had I believed I could’ve been this happy.
The time we had together was what I focused on. It was what I
allowed myself to believe in. “I can’t let myself hope for that
yet. But I’ll let you hope for me. And right now, I want to
concentrate on the most important thing in my life—you.”

He kissed me. It was different from
our other kisses. This time our mouths moved in harmony, still with
desire, but with a familiarity and a bond that was deeper somehow.
A lover’s kiss as if we’d been made for each other.

Pulling from him and licking my lips,
I caught the shiver of desire reflected in his eyes.

I spoke in my most seductive voice and
tried to keep the heat from engulfing my cheeks. “I have a question
for you, Mr. Taylor.” Holding his gaze, I trailed a finger down his
chest, hoping he couldn’t tell how nervous I was. “Can you tell me
what the Mile High Club is?”

He gulped. The thrill of acting sexy,
being sexy, shot heat across my body, and Gavin’s response
intensified the flame.

Unbuckling his seatbelt, he whispered
in my ear, “I can show you better than I can tell you. Meet me in
the back of the plane in two minutes.”

* * * *

Mom sat at Gavin’s kitchen table,
staring at us. Dad stood behind her. They clasped hands at her
shoulder, holding on to each other for support like they always
did.

She asked, “Gavin, are you sure you’re
ready to do this? You were adamantly against it a few weeks
ago.”

He nodded. “Things have changed. I’ve
changed. Thanks to you all. You’ve given me what I didn’t have—a
family that loves me. And I trust you with the life of my child.”
His eyes sparkled with tears, but I knew he wouldn’t cry. “I
treated you so badly that night. But I’m grateful you didn’t push
me away. I’m sure you wanted to.”

Mom had become like a mother to Gavin,
too. She loved him almost as much as I did. Tears welled in her
eyes…of course. “Sweetheart, you were sick. I couldn’t leave you
anymore than I could leave Taylor.” She patted his hand. “So what
do we do now?”

She’d known of a way to save me, but
had been holding off, waiting for Gavin to work through his issues.
That must’ve been killing her. No one on this earth wanted me to
live more than she did. “Mom, the doctors have to prepare your
body, right?”

She smiled and reached across the
table to cup Gavin’s chin. “I’ve been taking my vitamins and
injections, because I had faith that my sweet guy would come
around.”

For the first time since I’d known
him, Gavin actually blushed and dropped his gaze. He grinned and
shook his head like he couldn’t believe she could embarrass him.
“I’ve scheduled two specialists for Monday. Taylor’s eggs and my
sperm will be delivered by then so we can have sex in a
dish.”

My own cheeks heated, but my smile was
so big I was pretty sure they could see it from the Bay
Bridge.

My wedding had been everything I’d
always dreamt it would be, and so was my husband. I couldn’t get
over everything Gavin had pulled off in twenty-four hours, and it
was still hard to believe he loved me as much as I loved him. I
hadn’t thought I could get any happier.

But now I had hope for a baby with
Gavin and a future….

The limo pulled out of Gavin’s garage.
I ducked my head even though I knew the reporters’ flashing cameras
couldn’t see my face through the heavily tinted glass.

“I have a meeting with Rick and
Charlie. Then we can drive down the coast to Big Sur. There’s this
little spot I want to take you to.”

The hunger in his eyes excited me.
Being with him woke something in me that seemed to grow the longer
we were together. Just to be near him pulled me with a need so
strong it made me physically ache in places. Were all newlywed
couples like this? Or did we have something no one else had? I
believed we did.

In the three weeks since we’d been
married, our schedules had been crammed full of doctor’s
appointments, media damage control, and work.

Mom had been prepped and was ready to
go tomorrow for the implantation. Gavin and I joked about our
sex-in-a-dish, but I was amazed by medical science. The doctors had
fertilized a dozen of my eggs with Gavin’s little swimmers and
would implant three into Mom, the three that passed the PGD, the
pre-implantation genetic diagnosis test, with the highest numbers.
They could actually already tell these three were a stem cell match
for me before the baby was even put into the womb. Crazy. The
likelihood all three would imbed within the uterus was slim, but
hope for one was all we needed. I could handle that. Enough hope
for one little embryo. One little baby. One little unique life
within the infinite possibilities of Gavin’s DNA combination and
mine. What he or she would be like?

The limo pulled up to Gavin’s
building. Navigating a throng of reporters snapping pictures
outside, Gavin ushered me to his office and shut the
door.

“Wizards of CROG
, those guys
are piranhas.” He placed me behind his desk. “Sit here. I’ll be
back. This meeting won’t take long. I’ll make sure of
it.”

Jeez, he was bossy today, but I could
feel the tension humming inside him like a swarm of
bees.

He stepped through a door on the
opposite side of his office. I rummaged around till I found a pen
and paper in the overflowing stacks. Files spilled over the desk.
And he accused me of being a clutter bug?

The huge office had a big screen TV,
wet bar, sofa and an executive desk big enough to hold an F-150.
I’d been to Dad’s office a few times, but it was nothing like
this.

“Goddammit, Gavin. You brought her
here?”

I jumped. A man’s harsh voice roared
from the other side of the door, and a torrent of angry responses
spilled in. I stood and tiptoed over to the conference
room.

“Quit being an ass, Charlie. I’m not
selling to you, and I’m not naming you in my will.”

“Jesus Christ, Gavin. Don’t tell me
you’re naming your little teenybopper wife. This is a billion
dollar business. You can’t hand controlling shares over to her.
Isn’t she dying, too? What are you thinking, man?”

Something heavy flew across the floor.
A chair maybe? Something slammed down, and Gavin’s voice strained
and pulsed with rage. “Don’t you
ever
refer to her like that
again.”

Another voice cried out, “Gavin, let
go. You’re choking him.”

My eyes widened and I pressed my ear
to the wall. I’d never heard Gavin so angry. Even in Vegas. Another
thud sounded. Gavin spoke again, his tone tight. “You need to
remember to be respectful to your future boss, Charlie, or pray I
don’t die.”

The skin at the back of my neck
tightened and prickled.

“Fuck, Gavin. You can’t be serious.
Rick and I made this company what it is. And you’re destroying it.
You’re throwing all our hard work to the dogs for some piece of
ass.”

“You
made this company?
Bullshit! You rode on my coattails, you witless wonders.
Both of
you
. And I won’t warn you again about how to address my
wife.”

I’d never heard Gavin insult anyone
like that. That by itself was enough to explain what he was dealing
with. “Charlie, you think I don’t know about your little side
projects and how you’ve tried to undermine my development team?
Rick, you think I’m not aware of your creative accounting to line
your own pockets? I know all of it. And there is no way in hell I’m
giving you guys the company that I’ve spent my life building. No.
Fucking. Way.”

I couldn’t make out the rest of their
muffled angry responses. The exterior door slammed shut and
vibrated my head. I jumped back and tried to figure out what the
fart happened and what I’d actually heard.

OMG! He was giving me the company…a
whole company. And they were
pissed
.

The door from the conference room
flung open. I squealed. Gavin stormed in and glared at me with a
fury that made me shrink against the wall. He stalked over and
yanked me to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my
head in his chest. His heart pounded like a jackhammer against my
ear, and he grasped my upper arms and shook me. “Promise me you
will
never
let them get my company.
Promise me
now
.”

I nodded. “I promise. It will never
belong to them.”

He pulled me back against him and
crushed my head against his chest.

“Gavin, are you all right?” a feminine
voice asked.

He broke our embrace, turning toward
the hallway, and breathed out, his heartbeat slowing a little. “Hi,
Sara. This is my wife, Taylor.”