A Taylor-Made Life (22 page)

I surveyed the well-tailored tux. “It
looks like we interrupted something important.”

“Hardly. My date wasn’t much of a
conversationalist, and the banquet food was overdone.” He cocked
one eyebrow. “The free drinks weren’t bad, though.”

I laughed. “I wish you would’ve
brought me one.”

“Then we’d both be in cuffs. This
shouldn’t take too long.” He drummed his lean fingers on the arm of
the plastic seat, looking a little bored. “There’s nothing they can
really charge you with. Plus, even if they could, it’s out of their
jurisdiction.” The three-alarm gaze locked onto me again. “Your
marriage has caused quite a stir, a moral outcry.” He frowned and
waved his hand around. “
This
—is the result of some
overzealous official trying to garner support from the community.
The police have no legal grounds for holding you.”

“Then why can’t we just go
home?”

He leaned forward in the chair and
propped his elbows on his knees. “Because they intend to hold Gavin
until he can prove you’re legally married, and then try to slap him
with a small fine for public indecency.” Still bent forward in his
seat, he turned his head toward me. “You’ve had an eventful day.
Especially this afternoon from what I saw.”

The indecent look in his eye caused a
shiver to ripple through me and made me wish I’d brought a sweater,
but the chill didn’t keep the heat from my cheeks. He glanced down
at my T-shirt, focusing on my boobs, which were making themselves
known. I felt like he saw right through my clothes. “You saw us on
TV?” A furious flush covered me from head to toe.

“No.” He stood, removed his jacket,
and draped it around my shoulders.

I breathed out a sigh of relief he
hadn’t actually seen us, me.

“I watched the unedited version on the
Internet.” He smirked and gave an innocent shrug when I groaned. “I
had to know what I was defending against.”

“Right.” I peered down at the scuffed
linoleum and wondered if I could crawl up under the chairs and
disappear. I wasn’t sure what was worse—the thought of him seeing
me without my clothes or my hat.

“Shake off that frown. It wasn’t
that
bad. In fact, I thought you guys were pretty
tame.”

I gawked.
OMG.
Did he seriously
just say that? About my sex life?

He chuckled and applied a finger under
my chin to close my jaw. “We’ll get you out of here soon, and you
can get back to…whatever you’d like to do.”

I groaned again.

* * * *

He and Taylor stepped back into the
kitchen after being at the police station for six hours. Gavin
raked his fingers through his hair. Weariness caused his vision to
blur, and he stumbled, almost hitting the wall. Taylor grabbed his
elbow and stared wide-eyed at him.

He held up his palm, trying to stave
off the panic building in her tired face. “I’m fine.” Then he
looked her over. She didn’t look any better than he felt. He
stopped and took her hand. “You okay?”

She nodded but didn’t
smile.

The day had taxed them both. Brad had
gotten them released as soon as they’d been processed, but the
clerks had dragged their heels on filing the paperwork. Then the
massive throng of reporters made it almost impossible to leave the
jammed parking lot.

They took the march of shame to their
bedroom.

Taylor plopped down on the bed,
dejected. She dropped her head in her hands. Sobs wracked her thin
shoulders. “It seems like every time something good happens,
something bad comes to take it away.”

Life was too much, the media, the
police, the disguises. Even for healthy people, it would be
draining. But for people battling cancer, it was impossible. Gavin
sank on the bed and placed his arms around her, pulling her
close.

She sniffled and wiped her face. His
heart broke. She was too sick to deal with this shit, and she was
right—every time happiness reached out to them, something came
along to slap their hand away. And he let it. He was supposed to
protect her. “I’m sorry, Sweetness. I’m so sorry. I should’ve
never….”

Her tear-filled gaze met his. “Honey,
you couldn’t have known about the guy in the boat way out there in
the water. He must’ve been half a mile away.”

“But I knew they were stalking us, or
I should’ve known. It’s just that….”

Her soft tone soothed his guilt. “It’s
just what?”

“That place is special to me. I’ve
always dreamed of taking someone there and….” Shit, he stammered
like a kid. “What we did in that place today was one of those
things I wanted to experience before I die, and I will never
forget.”

She knelt in front of him and cupped
his face. “I have no regrets. This is not about what we did wrong.
This is
their
problem, Gavin, and I’d do it again, in a
heartbeat.”

He pulled her into his lap. “I love
you. I don’t believe for a minute we’re the first couple to make
love on that beach. Maybe we can make smarter decisions, but we
still have to live the life we’ve been given. For us and no one
else.”

“How’d you get to be so smart?” She
smiled at him with a trust and adoration. Humility and gratitude
filled his soul.

The emptiness that had consumed his
life was a memory. Taylor filled the space, and no matter what
happened now, he would never feel alone. He hugged her tight. “When
you face death every day, what’s really important becomes clear.
You know that.”

She stood and pulled him up from the
bed. “Come on. It’s late. Let’s get ready for bed. We have a baby
to make tomorrow. Right?”

Gavin fidgeted in the lobby during
Maureen’s procedure. He tried to wait patiently with Taylor and
John, but he couldn’t. He paced the floor like an expectant father,
which he was, sort of. But more than that. His gaze flicked to
Taylor. This was her lifeline. She had to live.

He cracked his knuckles and turned to
Taylor. “What’s taking so long?”

She looked up from her fashion
magazine and smiled. “Sit down, Techno Boy. You’re wearing a path
in the carpet.”

He tentatively sat in the cushioned
club chair next to her and bounced his knees. Then he pulled on his
pant leg to straighten the crease and dust away invisible lint.
“You don’t think anything’s wrong, do you?”

She rolled her eyes and shook her
head. “Nothing’s wrong.” She slapped a magazine against his chest.
“Here. Read this.”

He clasped the periodical.
Computer
World
…with a picture of James Gannon on the front! That bozo
couldn’t program his way out of a paper bag. In fact, one of his
games was centered around a paper bag.

Gavin flipped to the article about his
competition and began reading.
What the hell?
The guy was
releasing three new games this year. Who did that?

Taylor snickered, and he shot her a
glare. She stared at him with a knowing look that communicated more
than her love. His frown melted into a smile. How did he get so
lucky? She understood him in a way no one ever had, and that
intimacy was worth a king’s fortune.

His nerves calmed as his mind focused
on the article, but every time the door to the back labs opened, he
jumped.

Maureen finally graced the threshold.
Gavin stood nervously.

She smiled at him. “I have to come
back in two weeks to follow up. The doctor has high hopes that at
least one will implant.” She patted his arm. “Then you’ll be an
expectant dad.”

A dad? A child. His child.

John gathered their things as Taylor
and Maureen headed into the hall of the medical building. They
whispered with their heads together. Gavin frowned. Those two in
cahoots was never a good thing.

His phone rang. He followed them out
as he took the call. “This is Gavin.”

“Gavin, it’s Brad.”

His hand tightened around the phone.
“Hey. What’s up?” He asked the question but didn’t need to. Those
bastards must’ve finally filed their lawsuit. Why else would his
attorney be calling?

“I’m sure you can guess. I received
papers from the district court today. Rick and Charlie are trying
to declare you incompetent and requesting control of TM
Enterprises.”

Shit!
He knew it’d be something
like that. “All right. File an Answer as soon as
possible.”

“Gav, under normal circumstances, a
thing like this would never hold water. But with your recent bad
press and health issues….”

“What’re you saying, Brad? They
actually have a shot at this?”

“I don’t think so, but they also filed
a Temporary Restraining Order for the changes you requested to your
living will. Public opinion of you is low right now.”

Fuck.
“Did the judge grant the
TRO?”

“Yes. And, Gavin, they’re demanding
you be evaluated by their psychologist.”

“A psych eval? Will I have to do
it?”

Brad blew out a long sigh. “I’m trying
to keep that from happening, but it’s a possibility. In the
meantime, I suggest you get your own doctor to give you an
evaluation. If you really want to give controlling interest to
Taylor, you need to bring her up to speed on the company and how it
works. That’ll go a long way in dismissing their
claims.”

Goddammit.
Those greedy
assholes weren’t rich enough off his games? “Taylor’s not well and
can’t possibly learn to run the business yet.”

Another long sigh blew through the
phone. He knew Brad well enough to know he was rubbing his temple
on the other end of the line.

“Why are you coddling her like a
child, Gavin? She’s not a shrinking violet. Let her be who she is.
I make my living reading people, and I know Taylor can do this. And
you need her to. If she doesn’t, you both stand to
lose.”

He was in an impossible position. Give
Taylor a crash course in TME even if her body collapsed or risk
losing the company he’d worked so hard for.
Damn.
“Fine. You
get that TRO quashed. ASAP. Taylor is getting TM Enterprises, or
I’ll destroy the thing myself.”

“Calm down, Gordon Gekko. That won’t
be necessary. We’ll make it through this. Get your evaluation done,
and get Taylor up to speed. I’ll do the rest.”

Gavin fell back against the wall,
letting his skull bang against it. Taylor and Maureen stopped and
hurried back to him. Blood thundered through his body, and his head
throbbed like it would burst. Those sons of bitches had no right to
his work, his company. If he hadn’t been so socially insecure, he
would’ve never given them an interest in the first place. His chest
tightened. He should’ve gotten rid of them years ago.

Taylor grabbed his arm, her voice
filled with alarm. “What’s wrong, Gavin?”

He panted, and his hands bunched at
his sides. “Rick and Charlie. That’s what’s wrong.” His vision
blurred, and his knees buckled.
No, not now.
His body caved
then crumpled.

“Take a breath. Calm down.” Taylor
threw herself against him, wedging him between her hip and the
wall, barely keeping his knees from hitting the floor. She yelled,
“Dad!”

The walls spun, and he fell sideways.
Then blackness.

* * * *

I sank to the floor as Gavin passed
out. “Dad, go back to the doctor’s office.”

He headed through the door to get help
as Mom took her jacket off and placed it under Gavin’s head. “This
looks like the same thing that happened last time.”

I met her gaze and nodded. “His
business partners are trying to steal his company…because of
me
.” A wave of panic rushed through me, and my heart
pounded.

It’s not today. Today’s
not the day.

“Taylor Marie. You stop that guilt
this instant. This isn’t your fault or his. Dad will get help. And
we’ll work out the rest later.”

My hands trembled, and I took Mom’s
words and tried to focus. He had to be okay.

A nurse carrying a first aid kit knelt
beside Gavin. “A gurney’s on its way. We’ll wheel him downstairs to
Emergency as soon as it gets here.” She smiled sympathetically.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Taylor. We’ll take care of your
husband.”

I took the breath I’d been holding.
“You know who I am?”

The woman blushed. “I saw you on
TV.”

I shifted uncomfortably and nodded. I
should’ve known. We’d been surrounded by paparazzi wherever we
went, our faces—and other pixeled parts of our bodies—plastered on
every news and entertainment station 24/7 for two weeks.

Two of the hospital’s staff—nurses or
doctors I couldn’t tell—bent over Gavin and checked his vitals. I
grabbed his cell from the floor and was already calling Sara when
they lifted him on the stretcher and wheeled him to the Emergency
Room, straight into an unoccupied bay.

One of the residents rushed into the
room. “Who’s his doctor?”

I lifted my gaze. “Lewis
Monroe.”