Byron-4 (4 page)

“Yeah, I pretty much ache everywhere. My head feels like I have someone in there directing a polka; my ears feel like if I could get something in there to scratch really hard, I’d feel better. My throat doesn’t hurt so much as if feels dry and scratchy. I can’t have the flu. I have a date tonight.”

“Hummm, maybe you should cancel. I’m sure if he took one look at you, he’d understand. Oh! The charity thing with Jamie—I forgot about that. Honey, you’ll be lucky if you make it through the day, much less this gala thing.”

“Can’t you give me something? I can’t do this to him. He said that when one of his brothers fails to bring a date, their mother makes them spend untold amounts of money and sucking up to get back in her good graces. Besides, he’s letting me rent a room from him for practically nothing.”

“From what I’ve heard, the Grants can afford it. All right, I’ll give you some antibiotic and something for the fever, but no drinking. And try to rest as much as you can today. And promise me that you’ll come to see me on Monday if you aren’t any better.”

Taylor left and filled her prescription on the way to work. By the time the bus dropped her off in front of the building, she was ready to take a long nap. Dragging herself inside, she was greeted by a very cold room and no power. This couldn’t be happening. She called the power company.

She called the Freedoms and told them that the power was off due to unpaid billing. She explained that they would need to pay the three oldest bills and a deposit before the power company would even consider coming out on Monday to turn things back on. They would also need to make arrangements to pay the other four bills that they were behind on.

Before she hung up with them, they had told her to take the day off without pay, of course, and that she was now in charge of keeping the power on. She was already in charge of the phone and gas, and the only reason those utilities stayed on. She called the answering service and gave them the Freedoms numbers, and went home. She was nearly giddy with relief when she got to her bed and crawled under the covers. The last thing she did before closing her eyes was set the alarm.

At two o’clock, she rolled out of bed and fell to the floor. Her leg was throbbing and was so sore she could barely stand up. Making it to the bathroom, she turned on the shower as hot as it would go and stepped in. She still couldn’t touch the bite mark, and not just the bite but her entire thigh now. It was swollen and sore and the seepage was getting worst. She didn’t tell Angel about it, fear and embarrassment making her keep her mouth shut. But Taylor was hoping that whatever was wrong with her had nothing to do with that and everything to do with the stress she was under. Angel had taken out the stitches from her arm while she was there as well.

After ten minutes of standing under the hot water, her leg and her body felt considerably better, the stiffness was nearly gone, and her head no longer hurt.

Scrubbing every part of her body, shaving her long legs, and putting a deep conditioner on her hair, she actually felt human again. Humming a Christmas tune, she started to brush out her hair.

At most, her hair was curly, at its worst, it was a mop. She had threatened to cut it off several times over the past five years, but Jamie had told her that he liked it and if she cut it, he would be disappointed. She tried pointing out that he had cut his hair and he said it was because, as a teacher, he needed to set a good example. She had snorted at him.

By four, she was nearly dressed except for the actual dress itself. She had had it dry cleaned and pressed and she didn’t want to wrinkle it. Pulling on her terry robe, she went to the kitchen to eat a little something. She still had no appetite and only ended up eating an apple. At five, she went up to pull on the dress and wait for Jamie.

She was coming back down when she heard his voice over the answering machine.

Limping to the kitchen, she answered. While she had been upstairs putting the finishing touches on her hair and makeup, she started feeling bad again.

“Hey, the roads are really bad here and I’ve asked my brother and his wife to pick you up. He had a really nice SUV with four wheel drive. You’ll like them; it’s Devin and his wife Ronnie. Ronnie is about to pop out a kid in a few more weeks and is really weepy, so if she starts to cry, just hand her a tissue and let her go.”

“Jamie, why don’t I just take a cab? I don’t...I don’t like strangers, and this will make it...” The doorbell rang as she was trying to get out of riding with his brother.

“That’ll be them. I knew you wouldn’t want to ride with them, so I asked them to call when they were in the driveway. I promise, I’ll be right here when you arrive. They know that you’re shy. It’ll be fine. I’ll see you in about an hour.” He hung up before she could say anything else and she walked to the door. He was so going to pay for this when she saw him. Opening the door, she nearly slammed it shut again before she realized that it wasn’t Byron, but another brother of Jamie’s.

Christ, had their mother made a pact with someone to have the most gorgeous men ever born?

“Ms. Bennett? I’m Devin Grant, Jamie’s brother. I’m sorry about this, but Jamie insisted that given much more notice than this, you’d drive yourself rather than want us to pick you up. My wife is in the car. I didn’t want her to fall. Shall we?” He held her arm for her as they walked to the car. She hadn’t realized that the weather had turned so bad and wondered if this was a good idea anyway. Devin opened the back door of his car for her and she slipped in. A very pregnant woman was on the seat next to her.

“I can’t ride in the front because of the airbags. Not to mention my husband thinks that I won’t fit up there anymore. I’m Ronnie Grant, you must be Taylor. This is going to be so much fun. I can’t tell you how excited we’ve all been to meet you. And to think, he’s had you hidden away for five years without letting us know about you.”

“Jamie and I aren’t a couple. We’re just good friends and we’re helping each other out. There is nothing going on between us,” Taylor told the woman. She didn’t want anyone getting the wrong impression about their relationship. She was uncomfortable enough about the social differences with them without his family thinking she was some sort of gold digger.

“Oh, I believe you. But just a heads up, don’t tell his mother that you’re living with him. She’s really sweet, but very old fashioned, and she would probably snatch him bald if she knew.”

Jamie had told her basically the same thing. His mother was wonderful and didn’t want to think of her sons as having sex, he thought. He had told her that his mother, while very wonderful, was just plain scary when she was mad.

“Okay, but I’m not having sex with him. He’s my friend and nothing more. The thought of having sex with him is just creepy.” The laughter from the front seat reminded her that Devin was up there and listening to every word they said in the back.

“I bet a lot of women think that. Hell, the thought of Jamie being old enough to even think of having sex is still hard for me to believe. To me, he will always be the baby of the family and never a grown man.”

The drive passed pleasantly enough. Ronnie was funny and had a wicked sense of humor, and she could cut her husband quick with her sharp tongue. Taylor felt herself relax by degrees and hoped that the rest of his family was just as nice.

The large, open area was decorated like a Santa workshop. Ronnie had told her that the trees had been decorated by florist around the area were being auctioned off too.

Taylor couldn’t imagine having one of the lavishly decorated trees in a house.

The first tree that greeted them was covered in small wooden toys—dolls, trains, cars and little drum sets. The twinkling lights, bright and shiny, bounced off the tinsel and made the tree seem alive. The red balls along with the red ribbons gave the tree the added color. The tree next to it had gingerbread men and women dressed in icing and ribbons. Taylor could almost smell the ginger and spices emanating from the tree, the cookies warmed by the lights on the tree and the room.

Each tree that they passed had a placard that told where it had come from and what company had decorated it. Some of the signs gave a list of the ornaments and the gifts, if any, accompanied the tree when sold. No wonder this auction made so much money.

Someone had worked very hard on setting this all up. Taylor had said as much to Ronnie as they were being seated. Jamie grabbed her from behind before she could answer.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said as she tumbled back into the chair. Pain radiated from her leg, and a whimper escaped before she could stop it. Taylor tried to hide it with a small laugh, and may have fooled everyone at the table but the woman sitting next to her.

“You all right? You look a little pale.” Ronnie had introduced her as Caitlynne Grant, Spencer’s new wife and the new mother-to-be.

Taylor knew that she was a homicide detective, O’Malley, as everyone had called her, and that Spencer’s little girl, Meggie, was deaf. Spencer was a professor at the university and had just been named head of his department.

“I’m fine. Just a little overwhelmed. It’s a lot to take in.” Taylor didn’t like the way O’Malley looked at her, but Byron chose that moment to sit down too—right next to her.

“Hello, Taylor. How are things today? Better?” She knew what he meant and decided to ignore his pointed question. For some reason she couldn’t figure, he made her feel...wet.

“I’m fine, Mr. Grant. How are things with you? Break into anyone’s house lately?

Or is it just bedrooms you steal into?” And that was another thing; he brought out the snarkiness in her faster than anyone she knew.

Instead of being mad at her, he threw back his head and laughed. Her entire body tensed with need. And if she hadn’t had a chill right then, she was sure she would have done something really embarrassing and asked him to laugh again just for the feeling he invoked in her body.

Dinner was served almost immediately. She had asked for the chicken dinner when Jamie had ordered for her and she found that she couldn’t eat. Her throat was beginning to ache again and her head was starting to pound. She was sure that Jamie was getting tired of helping her put her shawl on and off again every ten minutes, but she just couldn’t help it. As soon as the plates were cleared, the band started, and Taylor was ready to drop.

“Would you care to dance, Ms Bennett?” She was so startled by the request that all she could do was stare at Byron for several seconds before she realized he was talking to her.

“No! I mean, no. I...I’m with Jamie. Besides, I don’t dance all that well. Thank you though.” Her body felt on fire and not just from the man sitting next to her. Taylor wanted to strip off all her clothes and go out and dive into the nearest snow bank.

“Go ahead, Ta. Byr is a very good dancer. You know you love to dance.” She turned to glare at Jamie, but he was playing with little Meggie and the little boys of Nick’s and Morgan’s, and didn’t notice her dismay.

Byron stood and put out his hand. She could either cause a scene and refuse it, or she could just accept it and dance a small dance with him. To be honest, she did love to dance and would have loved to get out on the floor, but she wasn’t sure that she could stand up for that long.

Standing, she staggered slightly. The room spun around quickly, but righted once, she put her hand in his. Taylor almost missed grabbing the back of her chair because she wasn’t sure which one to pick as three swam in and out of focus for a second or two.

Before she knew it, she was on the dance floor with Byron’s arms around her waist holding her up.

~CHAPTER 4~

“I don’t feel so well,” Taylor whimpered as she leaned against him. Byron had to agree that she didn’t look so well either. He put his arms around her and pulled her tight against him so that he could whisper in her ear.

“Are you pregnant, Taylor?” Her body stiffened at his question and she stamped hard onto his foot. When she didn’t apologize, he knew for sure that she did it on purpose. He continued with his queries. “I’ll take that as a no. What’s wrong? You’re a green as that tree over there and about as sweaty as a man baling hay in deep July.”

“You are such a charmer aren’t you, dick head? I bet women just fall at your feet when you compare them to trees and sweaty men. It’s a small wonder that you’re not married.” He smiled. There wasn’t anything wrong with her wit. His concern shifted when she swayed in his arms and fell against him.

“Taylor!” And in the next instance, she went limp in his arms.

Looking at his table where his family was, he nodded to O’Malley and headed to the bathrooms. He wanted to get her out of the room and somewhere he could lay her down. He laid his cheek against her forehead and was amazed at the heat he felt there.

Christ, she was burning up.

Cait, right on his heels, followed him into the ladies room and moved two chairs together to lay Taylor across. Thankfully, there was no one in the room and he knelt down beside her.

“I’ll get Damon. Wet a few cloths and put them over her forehead. Damn it, I knew there was something wrong the moment she sat down. I’ll be right back.” Suddenly, he was alone with her.

He wanted to cuddle her in his arms and hold her and was amazed at the notion.

He was neither a cuddlier nor did she strike him as one. He smiled when he thought about how she would tear a strip off his hide in a heartbeat if he were to even suggest such a thing. Byron’s mother and Damon rushed in a minute or two later.

“What’s wrong? Christ, she’s burning up. Byron, go get my bag from the coat area and I’ll examine her.”

“No. I’m not leaving her. I’ll have Jamie get it, but I’m staying.” He didn’t look at his mother’s face, but he felt her gaze. Byron didn’t know himself why he needed to stay with her.

Taylor’s eyes suddenly popped open. Byron let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. She looked right at him and whimpered.

“Taylor, you have a high grade fever. Can you tell me what else is wrong? Have you been throwing up, chilled? Have you eaten anything today?” Damon asked her as he checked her pulse. He shook his head at Byron when he started to ask. That couldn’t be good.