OBSESSED WITH TAYLOR JAMES (9 page)

Mrs. James caught them in the act. “Aw how sweet.  Love
is such a wonderful thing and my daughter’s finally found it.”

Taylor jumped away from Mario. “Mom, it was kissing don’t
get carried away,” she said embarrassed.

Mrs. Taylor eyed Mario grinning and watching him wipe
smudged lipstick from his mouth. “Un-huh, if that was just a kiss.  I would
hate to see what a real one would be like.  I think y’all just increased the
temperature in here twenty degrees,” she laughed.  “Anyhow, you’re grown and
can do what you want.”

Annoyed Taylor hurried her mother along. “Okay, Mom.  Did
you stop to say goodbye?”

“Yeah, we are leaving here. Vernon and Clara are having
an after party at their house and invited us.  You and Mario should join us. 
Sabrina and Ed are going; almost everyone here is going….what do you say?”

Taylor hemmed and hawed. “Mom, it is getting late.  I
don’t know what Mario’s plans are for the morning, and I’m riding with him.”

“I don’t have any plans in the morning,” he said excited.

Taylor scooted upright in the chair and put on her shoes.
“All right, I’m just a passenger and following you around tonight.”

                                                                                                                                                         
Chapter 7
  
 

Dillon slouched behind the wheel of his car.  He’d parked
five houses away from Taylor’s home and drove Kelly’s car to avoid recognition
by anyone in the neighborhood familiar with his vehicle.

Taylor’s house was dark, and no movement in or around the
property set off the motions lights attached to the garage.  He checked his
watch.  It was past midnight, he knew she could not be at a baby shower at this
hour.

The BMW parked in the driveway earlier was gone and not
parked across the street in the neighbor’s driveway who she claimed the car
belonged to.  Where was she at this hour and who was she with was on his mind. 
He and Taylor never kept secrets before, and her actions around the office of
late, were strange.

He had seen her leaving the office with Mario Infante on
a number of occasions.   They always seemed to be together talking or touching
one another in more than friendly manner.  Was she doing work-related things
with him as she claimed? Or had she taking it a step further and was sleeping
with Mario Infante. 

Dillon tightened his hand around the steering wheel,
whitening his knuckles.  The first day he laid eyes on Mario Infante he knew
the man would be a major pain in his ass as far as Taylor was concerned.  The
two hit it off too fast, and now Taylor was lying to him about their status. 
Her relationship with him was more than she was leading him to believe and
tonight he was going to confront her.

He got out of the car closing the door gently.  The
street was quiet, with the majority of the neighboring houses dark.  Barking
dogs echoed on the quiet street.  Dillon hustled his pace as he made his way to
her yard before the barking alerted someone.

The motion lights over her garage came on bathing him in
bright lights.  He bent to his knees, doing a duck-walk along the side of the
garage and slipped around to the backyard.  Peeking inside a window, he saw the
kitchen was dark except for the bluish glow from the microwave and coffee maker
clocks.

He checked the back door and found it locked.  Fumbling
in his pocket, he pulled out a small key ring containing the keys to her
house.  He started to insert the key inside the lock when a jingling and an
intimidating growl from a large dog, bearing killer fangs, cornered him against
the door.

“Hey! What are you doing sneaking around Taylor’s house?”
A strong male voice asked holding a flashlight on Dillon.

Dillon braced against the door fearful the dog would
mangle him to pieces if he made a sudden move. “Call off the dog! I’m a friend
of Taylor’s, and I’m checking on her.”

“You are checking on her in the middle of the night! Why
didn’t you use the front door and ring the bell?”

“Look, I’m worried about her.  I haven’t seen or heard
from her since this morning.  I have keys to her house.” He showed the keys
hoping the man would hold onto the leash tight.

The man pulled the leash causing the dog to sit next to
him but did not lower the flashlight from Dillon’s face. “We have a
neighborhood watch to keep an eye on each other.  You don’t belong here.”

“You’ve had to see me around. I’m here all the time. 
Taylor and I work together.”

The man looked closer at Dillon. “Right, I have seen you
around before.  You were perched on her steps this morning.  Well, Taylor left
with a man early today and hasn’t been home since.  Why don’t you try to call
her instead of sneaking up on her?”

Having his suspicions confirmed, Dillon scratched his
head. “Have you ever seen this man before today?  Does he visit her often?”

“Look, buddy, I’m not telling you anything.  I don’t know
you and I don’t like the fact you are lurking around her house in the middle of
the night.  Why don’t you go before I change my mind and call the police,” he
said nudging on the dog’s leash causing the Doberman to growl and stand tall on
all fours legs.

“Alright, alright, I’m leaving—call off the damn dog!”
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he moved away from the growling dog. 
He stepped cautiously across to the driveway.  Interior lights from neighboring
houses came on as the dog barked caused other dogs to bark simultaneously.

He walked at a fast pace to his car.  Trembling, he
started the car observing the man keeping an eye on him. He questioned where
he’d come from or how he’d spotted him so quickly.

Peeling from the curb, he sped down the street giving the
man a steely glare before disappearing around the block out of his view. 
Dillon slowed the vehicle to a stop.  He couldn’t go home without knowing where
Taylor was.  Yanking the glove compartment door open, he rambled through it. 
Slamming it shut, he cursed. “Damn it! I’m not in my car!”

Dillon arrived home twenty minutes later.  Entering his
house, he went to the den he used as an office.  Sitting behind the desk, he
opened the drawer searching for a copy of the office’s pocket directory listing
the addresses of the attorneys.  Although he didn’t get a description of the
man Taylor left with, he had a hunch she was with Mario.  A trip to Mr.
Infante’s residence would verify if the two were sneaking around behind his
back.

He banged his hand on the desk not able to locate the
directory. Irritated he got up from the desk pushing the chair over.  Kelly
entered the den holding a large wooden rolling pin in her hand.

“Dillon! You scared me half to death.  I thought you were
a burglar.  What are you doing?”

“Nothing, Kelly.  Go back to bed.”

She walked over to where he was standing and rubbed his
shoulders. “Sweetheart, you are scaring me.  You have been sitting on pins and
needles for months.  Please talk to me.”

Dillon maneuvered away from her touch.  Her hands on his
shoulders were poisonous.  The only woman he wanted to touch him was with
another man, doing God only knows what.   “I have a lot on my mind,” he said
walking out of the den and into the kitchen to get a drink of water.

Kelly sat at the kitchen table. “I know this is a
stressful time for you.  You have that big case going on, and I’m bugging you
with stuff about the wedding.  I can’t wait for our vacation to relax and get
away from it all; even if it is only for seven days.”

He didn’t answer and tossed the warm tap water from the
glass in the sink when it didn’t hit the spot.  He took a beer from the
fridge.  Popping the tab, he took a long swig of the cold beer leaning against
the sink looking at the woman he was betrothed to.

Kelly wasn’t an unattractive woman.   In fact, she was
quite attractive with hair the color of chestnuts that hung to her waist and
warm amber colored-eyes.  She was a little on the thick side but not
overweight.  Other men would do a double-take at her when they were out
together.

There wasn’t anything wrong with Kelly physically.  She
was the perfect mate.  She cooked exquisite meals and kept an immaculate home. 
If someone needed help, she was always first to offer her services.  She’d won
teacher of the year more than once, and her third-grade students loved her to
death.  He wished he loved her to death.  He probably would if he weren’t in
love with Taylor James.

Dillon finished the beer tossing the empty can in the
recycle bin.  “Kelly, maybe we should postpone the wedding until my case is
over.”

Her eyes clouded over, and her voice weakened. “Dillon,
are you serious?  The planning is almost complete.  If we postpone it, we will
lose thousands of dollars.”

“I know but with the promotion and the new case load, I’m
swamped with work.  Anything can come up, and I might not be able to be away
for two weeks on a honeymoon.”

Tears ran down Kelly’s cheeks streaking her face. “Mr.
Cartwright guaranteed you the time off for the wedding.  Why do you want to
stop it now, Dillon?  Don’t lie and say it is your job.  Is there someone
else?”

He took another beer from the fridge. “Don’t be silly. 
Where would I have time to see another woman?  I barely have time for you.”

“Where were you tonight?  It is almost one o’clock in the
morning, and I don’t know where you’ve been and with whom.”

“I was at work.  I told you where I was going.”

She pulled her silk robe together and nodded. “I called
your office and no one answered.  I called Taylor to see if she knew where you
were.”

His brow narrowed causing the blue of his eyes to darken.
“You called Taylor to check up on me!”

“Not to check on you, but to see if she knew where you
were.  You don’t talk to me anymore, Dillon.  Taylor knows what is going in
your life more than I do.  She is the only one I can get answers from
concerning you.”

He raised his voice to match hers. “She is my best friend
so normally I tell her stuff.  What is the big deal about that?”

“The big deal is I’m going to be your wife! Why don’t you
let me know what is going on with you. Ever since I lost the baby, you seem to
hate me.  Do you think that was my fault, and I did it on purpose?”

“Don’t bring that to this argument,” he said crushing the
can with his hands.

“Why don’t you ever want to talk about my miscarriage? 
That hurt me, Dillon; it still hurts.  You seemed relieved when it happened.”

Avoiding her gaze, he said, “I’m going to bed.”

Her hand caught the edge of his arm preventing him from
walking away. “No, you’re not.  I want this settled tonight.  I have given you
nothing but love and devotion.  You, on the other hand, have given me nothing
but coldness.  I want to know what the other woman is doing for you that I’m
not.  Give me a chance to make it right, Dillon.  My God, I love you, and I
want us to be together forever.  Please, just tell me what I am doing wrong.”

He gently patted the soft hand clutching his arm.
Lowering his voice, he did not look at her as he spoke.  Holding back his
emotions, he shook his head dreading what he was about to say.  “You deserve to
be loved by a perfect man, Kelly.  I’m not him.  I think I’m holding you back
from true happiness.”

“Dillon, please don’t say it.  I won’t allow myself to
hear you say you want to leave me.  We have been together since college.  There
is no walking away after all we’ve been through,” she cried.

He scrubbed his hands down his face and sat at the
kitchen table across from her.  He hated when she cried.  The problem he had
most with her was her dependency on him.  Taylor was an independent woman who
didn’t need a man to define her; that is how he wanted Kelly to be.  He didn’t
want her hanging over him every minute of the day or calling him with problems
she could handle if she put her mind to it. “I’m going to bed.  We’ll deal with
this tomorrow.”

“When, tomorrow?  Are you going to discuss it with Taylor
over breakfast to get her advice and then discuss it with me?”

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. “How did
you know about breakfast with Taylor in the morning?”

“I talked with her remember. She invited me to come
along, but now I know you don’t want me anywhere near you so I won’t go.”

“That’s not true.  If she extended the invitation, you
should come.  Taylor is your friend too.”

Kelly nodded.  “Yes, she is a good friend.  It’s too bad
you want to call off the wedding.  Mary Linda had to withdraw from the wedding.
I was going to ask Taylor to be a bridesmaid since she is like family.”

“Those are your words, Kelly.  I just asked you to think
about postponing it for a year.”

“You want me to put the wedding off for another whole
year! What will our parents have to say about that?  They have invested a lot
of money, Dillon!”

“We can pay them back,” he exploded.  He got up from the
table wishing he could get away from her.

Kelly’s brain snapped.  Her facial expression changed to
reflect her anger.  She shouted, banging her fists on the table. “No, we can’t!
I don’t know what is going on in your brain, but we are getting married in
eight months, and you will be happy on that day come hell or high water.”  She
got up from the table to stand in front of him. Her lips curled in a ferocious
snarl and her eyes blazed, darkening the amber to a hot flaming color. “Whoever
this bitch is you are fucking around with, end it tomorrow!”

Stunned, he rocked backwards on the heels of his shoes. 
Kelly never used foul language or took a forceful stance.  He was seeing a side
of her he didn’t know existed.  Tumbling down from his high horse he mumbled,
“There is no other woman.”

“Then get over yourself and start acting like we are a
happy couple devoted to each other and deeply in love.”

“I won’t pretend to be something I’m not, Kelly.  You
have no control over my emotions.”

Putting her hands in the pockets of her robe, she leaned
forward aligning her head next to his ear. “I have more control than you think.
Don’t push me, Dillon, or I will be forced to reveal the secret you have been
hiding from everyone.”

Her hot breath seared his ear.  He kept his head straight
and stiff.  With his breathing uneven, he said, “You’re crazy; I have no
secrets.”

Kelly’s garbled laugh was devious and hateful. “I may be
a touch crazy. But I know things, Dillon; don’t push me too far or I how I
really fell down those stairs might come out.”

He threw up his hands in defeat and unwilling to argue
with her.  It was obvious an evil influx had taken over causing her to lose
sight with reality. Walking away from her would be in his best interest. “That
was an honest accident and you know it, but screw it! Forget I said a damn
thing about postponing your precious wedding.  Just keep making your fucking
plans and maybe I’ll show up.  My sanity isn’t important to anyone anyhow,” he
said storming out of the kitchen.