Stranded in Paradise (The Blake Boys Book 13) (3 page)

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Jared juggled the bags as he opened the door to his loft. He stepped inside and turned to punch in his alarm code only to find it was already disarmed. He could have sworn he set it when he left for work. Barring a surprise visit from Sydney, his dad, or one of his siblings, it should have been set. That could only mean an intruder must have deactivated it somehow.

The sound of clanking came from the kitchen. It sounded like his copper Williams Sonoma pans were being moved around. He listened harder and identified a soft jazz tune playing softly on the sound system. Whoever was in his place was having a good time, but that was about to come to an abrupt end. He set the bags on the floor and picked up the vase on the foyer table. It wasn’t how he’d planned to end the evening, but he was ready for action. As he eased toward the kitchen, a shadowy figure turned the corner and scared the daylights out of him. They both screamed.

Wait a minute…he recognized that scream. He turned on the desk lamp to find his ex-wife Taylor wearing his apron and holding a large wooden spoon.

“Taylor!” Jared almost yelled. “How the hell did you get in here?”

“That’s not the greeting I was hoping for, but I suppose it could have been worse.” She raised an eyebrow and pointed at the vase in his hand.

“I was improvising. I keep my nunchucks and brass knuckles in the nightstand.”

Taylor grinned. “You look handsome as ever.” She glanced around. “I like what you’ve done with the place. You’re finally utilizing the space the way it was intended.” She locked her beautiful eyes back on him. “Don’t I get a hug?”

“Of course.” He put the vase down. The second he turned back around, she lunged into his arms and gave him a firm squeeze. He froze, taken aback by the uncharacteristic show of affection from her. But after a minute, he could tell she wasn’t going to let go until he reciprocated, so he did against his better judgment.

“That’s more like it.” Taylor leaned back and stroked his face.

He closed his eyes to the feel of her soft fingers on his skin. She had the true hands of a surgeon. Part of him wanted to kiss her and run his hands through her hair, but he thought better of it and broke the embrace. “How did you get in here?”

“I still have my key. I knew you hadn’t changed the locks. You were always afraid of someone leaving tool marks on your precious metal door. I do believe it took you seven months to find that door. You just had to have it.”

“Well this particular door was very hard to find. And you’re right. I don’t like people who aren’t aware of the value of something messing with my things.”

“Or maybe you didn’t change the locks for sentimental reasons.”

He stepped away and headed for the kitchen to see what she’d been up to in there with his cookware. “Anyway. What are you doing here?”

“I’ll tell you all about it over dinner. Bruschetta on toasted baguettes for the appetizer and lobster capellini with a cream sauce for the main course.”

He groaned. He loved her cooking. He could save the scolding for breaking into his place until after dinner. “What? No fancy dessert?”

“Depends on what you had in mind.” She grinned.

So much for the duck. Jared put up his groceries and helped Taylor put the finishing touches on the meal she’d prepared. They hadn’t seen each other in almost two years, but it seemed like only yesterday they were cooking dinner together after a long day at work. Jared’s eyes traveled slowly over his well-dressed ex, who was wearing a pretty lavender top, a pair of designer jeans, and black boots with a three-inch heel. The familiar smell of the rose oil she wore wiggled up his nose, bringing back fond memories of leisurely Saturdays antiquing and catching one of those art house movies she loved. For a moment it felt like nothing had changed.

Time had a way of stopping when Taylor was around.

CHAPTER TWO

For someone who once described chatter as disorganized verbal noise, Taylor sure was doing a lot of it. Dinner was good. She hadn’t lost a step with her culinary skills. She’d paired the meal with a Chardonnay she’d found in his wine fridge that he’d been saving for a special occasion. It didn’t surprise him that she’d didn’t stop and consider if he might be saving it for something or someone else. As usual, she just dove right in and took charge. He was sure she thought her dropping by was cause for some celebration when he really only wanted to make a few calls and get some sleep.

She’d always loved throwing dinner parties and would occasionally invite her supercilious colleagues over. They would pretend to catch up on each other’s lives, but they were really trying to find out who was doing the best since they left medical school. Then they would move on to pretentious topics that would leave Jared rubbing his temples and looking for aspirin by the end of the evening.

He hadn’t realized how heavily he’d relied on her cooking skills until their relationship ended. But with assistance from the women in his life, he’d learned a few simple meals that wouldn’t leave him starving those nights he didn’t want to dine out. Jared sipped on the wine, wondering when she’d actually get to the reason why she broke in and fixed him dinner. As she droned on, he glanced at the clock. It was time to get her to tell him the reason for the visit.

“By the way, I am waiting for a thank you,” she said.

“Thank you for what?”

“All my fine dining must have prepared you well for hob knobbing with your in-laws. The Blakes are billionaires. They must have formal meals all the time.”

He laughed. “Not unless you count barbecue or a good steak. The Blakes may be loaded, but they are down-to-earth people that eat simple meals. Someone tried to serve Foie gras at a party and the kids used it to make handprint molds.”

She gasped and almost choked on her wine. “Where was the nanny?”

“They don’t have nannies. But their Uncle Tyler was in charge of them that night. I believe he initiated the impromptu art class.”

“Oh.”

“The Blakes rise to the occasion when necessary, but they don’t believe ostentatious formalities are necessary for family. That’s one of the things I love about them.”

“Well they’ve certainly bolstered your career. I thought you were a housing development and mini-mall kind of architect. Now you’re working on commercial properties for Blake Enterprises and you won the Iconic Architecture Award last year. And I see you’re dabbling in interior design again. What sparked the leap to big business? I was always encouraging you to dream big, but you didn’t seem interested.”

“Divorce has a way of inspiring you to take a new direction in life.” Jared reached over and caressed her hand. Taylor immediately covered his hand with hers. She was wearing the diamond tennis bracelet he’d bought her their last Christmas together.

“Do you remember this bracelet? You got this for me…” She looked up and smiled at him.

“I know. Our last holiday together. I saw it and knew you would love it.” He fingered the trinket. It was his last ditch effort to repair his marriage with a sentimental gesture before it officially went to pot. “What’s on your mind? Why did you come back to town?”

“Dad’s getting an award for forty years of excellence in the medical community.” She shoved a forkful of the food into her mouth.

“Of course. How is your father? Still hates my guts?” Doctor Eric Hastings, his ex-father-in-law, was the original overachiever and he doted on his little girl. Jared wasn’t fazed by the abrasive attitude the man sported. He got it that her father thought no one was good enough for his daughter, because the Reeds were just as protective of Morgan. What perplexed him was that Taylor often accused his family of coddling his baby sister when she’d received the exact same treatment from her father.

“No, he’s pretty much gotten over that. He comes to Chicago often to visit, but he’s really checking up on my surgical technique.” She rolled her eyes.

“How’s your mom?”

“She’s great. She asks about you.”

Jared smiled and intentionally paused. Taylor thought nothing of it and went back to eating her food. She hadn’t changed. She’d just unloaded for an hour and hadn’t asked about his family. His cell phone rang. He looked at the display. It was his cousin Charisma, probably calling about the job. Taylor glanced over at the screen and winced. Jared let the call go to voicemail.

“Wow. Charisma calling, that can’t be good. What does that train wreck want?”

“Hey. Lay off,” he said in a clipped tone and pulled his hand away.

“Sorry. I thought your family hated her. Wasn’t she always trying to do something crazy to your precious little sister?”

He dabbed his mouth with his napkin and placed it on the table. “Morgan and Charisma have turned a new page in their relationship. Charisma got a very scary wakeup call about her behavior and she’s working on her issues. Morgan asked us, as a family, to give her the benefit of the doubt and be accepting of the changes she’s trying to make in her life. And thanks for asking about my family.”

“I didn’t mean…” Taylor’s eyes widened. “That was very mature of Morgan. Let me start over. How’s the family?”

“Everyone is fine,” he said. “Dad and Sydney are enjoying their retirement. Charles is out of the military and has moved back to the States with his family. He’s got a job lined up and will probably be living in D.C. Robert and Alicia have empty-nest syndrome now that Avery is in college in Texas. Morgan and her family are in Texas permanently now.”

“Glad to hear everyone is well. I saw on the news that Morgan and Seth had a girl. That makes four kids, right?”

“Yes.” He scrolled through the photo gallery on his phone until he found a picture of Morgan’s kids and handed her the phone. “That’s Jake, Connor, Colby, and the newest addition is Mackenzie.”

“They are so adorable. Heartbreakers, the lot of them.” She sighed. “Who would have thought Morgan would marry anyone, let alone Seth Blake?”

“I always had faith my sister would find happiness when she was ready for it. I admire her for that. She wasn’t obsessed with biological clocks and having her career just right. She fell in love and things fell into place.”

“Colby and Connor are identical twins, right?”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“If they were fraternal it would be a trait in your family that was passed down.”

Now her random small talk was beginning to get on his nerves, no matter how nice it was to see her. He picked up their plates and headed for the kitchen.

“Hey! I wasn’t finished.” She pouted and followed him into the kitchen. “You’re in a foul mood.”

He turned around to face her. “Taylor, what are you doing here? I know your dad is getting yet another award to validate his ego that he’s the best doctor on the planet and I’m sure you’re catching up with friends and family. I want to know, right now, why you broke into my house and cooked me dinner.”

“OK.” She paced in the small space for a bit before finally blurting out, “How would you feel about having a baby with me?”

Jared’s heart stopped. He couldn’t have heard what he thought he did. Maybe it was a joke. But the look on Taylor’s face was no laughing matter. All evening she’d been flirty and playful, and he knew those looks. Right now she looked vulnerable and uncertain.

He leaned against the counter. “I’m sorry. I think I had too much Chardonnay because I thought you just said you wanted to have a baby with me.”

“That’s exactly what I said.” She clinched the linen napkin she had in her hand.

“Then
you’ve
had too much wine.” He tapped her nose and started cleaning the kitchen.

“I know it sounds insane.”

“Insane?” He whipped his head around. “I’m seriously considering taking you to the hospital for a MRI right now.”

“Listen.” She smoothed her hands on her jeans. “When we divorced, I started dating again. I met a few great guys who were the total package, but I don’t know, something felt off. Then I realized none of them were you. You were the love of my life, and I didn’t fight to save our marriage like I should have, but our differences were tearing us apart. I stunk at marriage, but I do think I’d make a great mom. I know we put off having children for the sake our careers and I regret that. But we can still have a baby, and knowing it was part of you would make it even more special to me.”

He set the saucepan down. “Taylor, you put off having children, but you were too chicken to tell me.”

“If I would have gotten pregnant before we separated, you would’ve loved our child without question and made a custody arrangement work.”

“Of course I would have.”

“There’s no difference.”

“Like you said, you’re a beautiful woman who I’m sure found a suitable candidate in one of your perfect-catch dates. Why not ask one of them?”

“Because they didn’t have your sensitivity and your warmth. I didn’t know how much I missed that until we weren’t together anymore. You kept me grounded.” Taylor’s lip trembled and tears streamed down her cheeks. “I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t so important to me. Just don’t say no right now. Give it a chance for everything to sink in, and we’ll talk again. I had a lot of vacation time saved up so I’ll be in town for the next month.”

Jared wiped the tears from her face, took her in his arms, and tucked her head under his chin. He rocked her gently there in the middle of the kitchen floor until she stopped crying. He always hated to see her cry. There were so many reasons why he should give her a stern no and escort her out the door. This scenario had disaster written all over it. But there was always something about her when the tough front she presented to the world vanished. She was vulnerable and she needed him to give her something no one else could. He owed it to her to at least give it some thought.

“OK. I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you. We can—”

“We can go over details if it gets that far.” He caressed her back for a while, and she stopped trembling. He was angry with himself. Even after all this time, he still loved her.

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