Tappin' On Thirty (20 page)

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Authors: Candice Dow

BOOK: Tappin' On Thirty
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36
TAYLOR
I
'd finally figured out what people meant by someone taking their breath away. I sat in my car holding mine. Devin Patterson had kidnapped it. As I even imagined how I wanted to be a great stepmom to his beautiful little girl, I knew I'd lost my mind. This man has baggage. He's bitter. That's too much for me to handle. I looked at the clock. 11:22
P.M.
Would it be inconsiderate to call Scooter now?
Instead, I called Courtney. “Girl, why do I love ‘I Love My People'?”
She cracked up. “I told you he was fine.”
“Fine is a damn understatement. I don't remember him looking like that.”
She laughed. “Whatever. You better start paying better attention to your surroundings.”
“How about it?”
“I would do him.”
“Would I?”
“Are you?”
“Nah, he has too many things going on. He's back and forth to New York. He's in love with his girlfriend before his wife. He's mad at his wife. You know the fine ones all have issues.”
“I can't say you're lying.”
I chuckled. “Plus, I got a man.”
“Taylor, don't play with me. When he moves out, then you'll have a man. For now, don't tell me that bullshit.”
“You'll be the first person I call when he moves out.”
 
When I got to work the next day, I floated on a cloud. I wasn't sure who I was thinking about. I was just happy. Katherine came into my office. She smirked. “Hey, boo.”
She waited for me to tell her that Devin was an asshole as were most of my dates. I frowned. She covered her face. “Oh no. What did he do? Did he say something stupid?”
I said. “Girl.”
“C'mon Taylor. What happened?”
“We had a ball.”
“You're lying.”
“No, actually we had a great time.”
My work phone rang. “Taylor Jabowski.”
“I missed you last night.”
I put him on hold and told Katherine I'd give her the details later. I picked up. “I missed you, too.”
“How was dinner?”
My eyes shifted back and forth. “Uh, it was good.”
“I hoped to hear from you when you got in.”
“I'm sorry. It got late. We actually went to the Wizards game. Courtney's job gave her tickets.”
Taylor, what the hell are you thinking? That was definitely a fumble. I shrugged my shoulders. He chuckled. “I'm jealous.”
“Don't be. Of course it was no fun without you.”
He laughed. “You're a trip. I can't wait to see you.”
“You just left me two days ago.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ah, nothing.”
He laughed. “I'm off on Friday. I may drive down there post-call on Thursday.”
“Is that too much?”
He chuckled. “Baby, I feel like I live in Iraq. Ain't nothing too much. Talking to you is like peace in the Middle East.”
I laughed. “Scooter, you're crazy.”
“I'm dead serious. Your voice keeps me focused.”
I sighed. Why did I feel guilty? He was living in hell for me and I was out footloose and fancy free with some stranger with issues.
“It'll be worth it in the end,” I told him.
“I know. It's just getting there.”
After listening to Devin's sob story last night, I offered him a bit of advice. “It may seem hard now, but nothing is worse than marrying the wrong person.”
“Why do you think I'm going through with this? This definitely ain't the easy route.” He chuckled. “I've tried to stop plenty of my boys from making the same mistake that I was about to make.”
“Aren't you glad I caught you before you fell?”
He chuckled. “Damn straight.”
Katherine showed up at my door with a beautiful bouquet of yellow roses. I smiled and mouthed, “For me?”
She nodded. I blushed. For some reason, I knew they weren't from Scooter. She walked over to my desk; I gestured for her to take the card out. She smirked. I put my index finger over my mouth. She giggled and slapped my hand down. She mouthed, “I'm not stupid.”
Devin jumped off of the little card before any of the other words. Scooter called my name. I turned my attention away from my admirer. “Yeah, baby.”
“I'm getting paged. I gotta go. I'll talk to you later.”
Devin's message said:
Thanks for a wonderful night on the town. Your man is very lucky. I hope he knows it
.
Katherine snatched the card. She put her hand on her hip. “Taylor, I am disappointed in you. You told his fine ass that you have a man. Have you lost your mind?”
“No. I do have a man.”
“Taylor Jabowski. You have officially fell off.”
I nodded. How was she using my lingo on me? I laughed. “Katherine, you're a mess.”
I sent Devin an e-mail telling him I enjoyed myself as well and thanking him for the wonderful flowers. He responded very briefly. He was obviously not trying to push the envelope with someone who claimed someone else.
I decided to sit the flowers on the receptionist's desk. I didn't need a constant reminder of Devin staring me in my face.
37
DEVIN
I
waited to hear from Taylor for two months after she sent that bullshit thank you message. As I sat in her building, I contemplated going up to her office. I tapped my pen on the conference table. Her pretty smile kept popping up on the projector. Why wasn't the old lady in this meeting?
We were finished meeting by twelve, so I asked one of the union guys if he knew Taylor Jabowski. He kidded. “Of course. Everyone knows Taylor.”
“She's a friend of mine. Could you show me where she sits?”
“Sure.” He looked at his watch. “I hope she isn't out to lunch.”
We walked into her office spaces. He pointed. “Her office is right there.”
“Thank you so much.”
I nervously stood in her doorway. I'd never been flat-out rejected that way. I sent my signature flowers, and still she disappeared. She cackled on the phone.
Her office chair faced the opposite direction. I wondered who brought her so much joy on the other end. I cleared my throat. She took a few seconds before turning her chair around. Finally, she hung up the phone and looked at me.
I felt the vibration on the floor from her heart dropping. Her eyes widened before she smiled. After she found her breath, she pointed to a chair. “C'min Devin. This is a surprise.”
“I can tell.”
“You could have called, you know.”
“My gut reaction told me to just pop up.”
She chuckled. “If I were mean, you could have gotten your feelings hurt.”
“If I thought you were mean, I wouldn't be here.” I smirked. “Nah, let me correct that. You are mean.”
“No one has ever called me mean.”
“I take you out, send you flowers, and I never hear from you.”
“Whatever. If you want to talk, you know my numbers.”
“Guilty as charged. So, how's your man? Is everything cool?”
She blushed. “Wonderful.”
Damn. I hoped she'd tell me he was a jerk and she stole him back for no reason. Instead, she looked undisputedly happy. “That's all right.”
“So, what's up with you and your love life?”
“Quantity and no quality.”
Her eyes looked compassionate. “I can't imagine.”
“I never imagined it either.”
We laughed. “I know the feeling, though.”
“So, you want to do something for lunch?”
She winced. “I'll be busy until around two and I have something to do at six.” She looked at the time. “So maybe we can go for coffee or something.”
“That's cool. I'll meet you outside at 2:30.”
“I'll be standing outside of the building.”
 
Like clockwork, she walked outside of her building when I pulled up. She hopped in and asked. “Where we going?”
“I scheduled a massage.”
“A what?”
“I know you like massages.”
She smirked. “Yeah, I do but . . .”
“It'll be fun. We can have our Dr. Phil sessions while we get our massages.”
She raised her eyebrows. “So, we're going together.”
“We won't see each other's goods.” I chuckled. “I promise I'll close my eyes.”
“You promise.”
When we got out of the car, Taylor and I stood face to face. She couldn't pay me to believe that she wasn't feeling what I felt. She smiled. “Devin, you're funny.”
“What did I do?”
“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head.
When we got into the salon, I whispered to her, “I always get tense before I get a massage.”
She chuckled. “Why is that?”
“I'm always afraid that I'll get aroused.”
She curled her lips like she didn't want to visualize it. “Spare me.”
I would spare her all right. I just hoped that opportunity arose. We were taken into a small transition room. Wine and brownies were there. I picked up a brownie and put it up to her mouth. She bit into it and I wiped the crumbs from her lip. She smiled. I wanted to kiss her, but didn't want to scare her off like the last time.
When the therapist came out, she told us we could change in the same room or separate rooms. We agreed on separate rooms, but to have the massages done in the same room. She looked like that was strange. I gave her the we're-not-fucking-yet eyebrow raise. She chuckled. “That will be fine.”
When I entered the room, Taylor was lying on her stomach under a white sheet. My fear of being aroused crept up on me. I quickly lay on the table across from her. She lifted her head from the head rest. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I'm good.”
When the massage therapists came in, they discussed different aromatherapy scents. Taylor requested Clairvoyance. She said, “Is that okay with you, Devin?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I need some of that.”
“Me too.”
As the sounds of nature began to play, we both settled. Water washing up on the beach forced me to imagine Taylor in a bikini, us sharing a private island in paradise. As I inhaled the aroma, I prayed that her vision was as clairvoyant as mine.
A relaxing fifty minutes with one woman massaging every inch of my body and one beside me who had been one of a few to massage my mind made me feel like a king. I didn't want it to end. When they told us it was done, I popped my head up. Taylor continued to lay with her eyes closed. One of the therapists said, “You guys can relax as long as you like.”
“Hey, Taylor.”
“Yes, Devin.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“It was exactly what I needed.”
I swung my legs off the table and wrapped a towel around myself. I stood by her table. “I'm glad.”
Without opening her eyes, she said, “Are you in a rush?”
“No. I'm just going to change and let you relax here alone.”
“I thought we were going to talk about your issues.”
I hopped back on the table. “Okay.”
“So, tell me about your quantity.”
I scowled. “Not worth discussing.”
“How's your baby?”
“She's good. Remember we toasted to forgiveness. My ex-wife and I are actually working on being better friends.”
“That's good.”
“Nothing else too much.”
I wanted to know more about her, but it was obvious she wasn't sharing. “Okay, let's get out of here. Maybe we can grab coffee before your six o'clock appointment.”
When we got dressed and out of the spa, she looked so peaceful. I wanted to resist, but I didn't. I hugged her in the parking lot. She kissed my cheek. “Devin, you're a sweetheart.”
“You seem more reserved than you did the first time we hung out.”
I opened the car door. I kissed her lips. She smirked. “Devin, I have to stay away from you.”
“Why?”
She sat in the car. I stooped down to hear her explanation. She sighed. “Because of this.”
“You feel it. Don't you?”
She hung her head. “My boyfriend left a woman he planned to marry for me. I can't risk what we have. You and I have too much chemistry. I think it's best to stay away from you.”
I stood up and closed the door. Disappointment loomed over me as I walked to the driver's side. When I sat inside, I respected her stance. “Taylor, your man is so lucky.”

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