Tailored for Trouble: A Romantic Comedy (Happy Pants) (30 page)

“I can’t figure you out, Taylor.” He leaned back and folded his arms. “You say you loved me, but the moment I let you in, you were gone faster than a bolt of lightning.”

Her jaw dropped. “I did not run—okay, I did. But I ran, as fast as I fucking could, to save your deal and to save you.”

He looked at her, apparently perplexed. “Save me from what?”

“From the load of crap you’d decided to commandeer from my laptop, crap that was there because I’d been too busy falling in love with you to remember to erase it.”

“But why, Taylor? Why do that in the first place?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess…I liked you, and when I found out I was nothing more than a bet, it hurt.”

He reached out and cupped his hand to her cheek. “Yes, you
were
a bet, Taylor. I went all in, hoping you’d help me finish this Bali project and put the past behind me, that you wouldn’t turn out to be just another gold digger after my money, and that you’d still want me even after you knew what I’d done. And I’ve bet it all again, everything I have on you.”

Uhhh….
What did he mean by that? Had he purchased a racehorse and named it after her? “I don’t understand.”

He reached for her hand. “Lady Mary didn’t sell to me.”

“She didn’t?” After all that, she still said no?

Bennett shook his head. “No. She bought my company instead.”

Taylor took a moment to digest. “So, she—”

“She will absorb Wade Enterprises.”

“And those people in Bali?” Taylor asked.

“She will hire someone to build the factory and run the operation. She’ll buy all of her ingredients from them. Nothing changes, except those people’s lives.”

Taylor was stunned. “But why? Why work so hard just to sell and hand over the project?”

“So I could be with you. No more baggage. No more living in my father’s shadow or in the past. No more running myself into the ground. Just you.” He looked down at her stomach. “And that
thing
growing inside you.” He grinned.

She sat there staring out at the lights, unable to believe it. He’d given up his company and his project in Bali, just to make a fresh start with her? It was insanity. His company and work were his life, part of his identity. Yet, he’d washed his hands of it all simply to make room for her.

“You really gave it all up?”

“Yes. However, I’m hoping to get something much better in return.”

“I don’t know, Bennett.” She scrubbed her face with her hands.

He pulled back. “What else could you want, Ms. Reed? My undying soul? My blood? My manhood?”

She didn’t know what would be enough. Her heart still felt so wounded.

“If you don’t forgive me now,” Bennett said, “I won’t ever be able to forgive you.”

She looked up at him. “That’s my line.”

“Did it work?” he asked. “Because I don’t really understand what it means.”

She took a deep, bracing breath and stared back out at that ocean. She’d only managed to climb halfway up that cliff. Did she have it in her to turn and jump back in?

“I love you, Taylor. I’ll beg if I have to, but I’d much rather spend my energy fucking you on this table.”

She shot him a look.

“Sorry. Just being honest,” he said unapologetically.

Reformed man or not, he was still cocky Mr. Wade. And always would be.
Damned fucking hot, too.

Her eyes darted down to his groin.

“Are you staring at my cock, Ms. Reed?”

She began nibbling her fingernails nervously. “No…?”

He gave her a skeptical look. “Yes, I think you were.”

She shook her head, her eyes now locked on his bulge.

She twisted in her chair and stood up slowly, her gaze running up the length of his muscular torso.

He reached for her hands and guided her to her feet, looking her body over. “I don’t know what it is about you, Taylor. But you being pregnant makes me want to put you on your back and keep you that way.”

With his foot, he pushed her chair out of the way and backed her against the table.

He slid between her thighs and grabbed both sides of her face. His lips made contact, and there it was. Heaven. His warmth, his tongue, the sinful rhythm of his movements—it was like getting a full body slash jellybean massage through her mouth.

As she leaned in, running her hands around his tight waist, he pulled back, still cupping her cheeks. “Say yes, Taylor.”

She blinked and looked up at him.
Whatever you want. Just keep kissing me like that. Maybe a bit lower.

“Yes to what? To the house?” she asked.

He slowly shook his head, pinning his pale blue gaze on her. “No, Taylor,” he said, his voice low and husky and seductive as hell. “Yes, to marrying me.”

She jerked back her head in shock. “Your wife?”

“How else will this work?”

“I don’t know, Bennett. Marriage is a big step.”

“Oh, come, come now, Ms. Reed. Nothing is bigger than love. Or a baby. Marriage is just a legal arrangement. Nothing more.”

She looked at him and laughed. “You’re serious.”

He nodded. “Did I leave out the part about putting everything in your and the baby’s name?”

“What?”

“I figured I’d never be happy unless I had you, anyway.”

“You’re crazy.” As in certifiable. On the other hand, it was a pretty ballsy gesture. It also showed he’d put all of his trust into her.
He said he’d bet everything on you. He really fucking meant it.

“Yes. Crazy for you. Is that a yes?”

“It’s a maybe.” Honestly, it was a yes. A big yes. But she really wanted to see how far he’d go to get the word out of her.
He so loves a challenge.

His head tipped back toward the night sky. “God, help me. I think she wants to drive me mad.” He looked at her again with a devilish smile. “Let’s see if I can turn that maybe to a firm yes.” He kissed her hard, his sultry lips moving over hers, his tongue sliding into the intimate domain of her mouth. This time, his kiss didn’t feel like domination, but like a gift.

He reached underneath her little pink dress and slid down her panties. Her entire core was on pins and needles immediately, already anticipating the delicious pleasure of his long thick cock.

Their kiss turned rougher, more frenzied, and she felt him reach between them and free his massive erection from his jeans.

When he broke the kiss, she expected him to turn her around, but instead, he took his cock in his hand and pushed it to her entrance, teasingly dipping the soft velvety head in and out to prepare her.

Oh, God. What’s he trying to do to me?
A little bit of teasing wasn’t at all what she needed.

Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she began twisting her body for him.

He stopped her. “Uh-uh. Not like that.”

“No?”

With a wolfish grin, he replied, “No.” And then leaned her back slowly.

She planted her arms behind her to keep from falling, while her heart lit up with a million little sparks of joy.

Never leaving her gaze, he moved into her with an almost excruciating slowness, pushing his cock to the brink of her ecstasy and then pulling back again, allowing her to feel every inch of him riding in and out.

She flung back her head, her chest heaving toward the night sky as he drove into her with the most sensual rhythm. She fought the need to come by focusing on his breath, on the view of his thick biceps flexing as he pushed his body into her. But the moment his pace quickened, the table dancing inch by inch across the patio with each hard thrust, she couldn’t hold on.

Her orgasm hit her with crippling waves of erotic convulsions, deeper, harder, more intense than she’d ever experienced. Was it the heightened levels of hormones or the fact that she was with the man she loved? She didn’t know, and it didn’t matter.

He bowed over her body with his large, muscular frame and pumped hard. Then he froze as he thrust himself into her one final time, triggering yet another mind-blowing orgasm. Shivers erupted over her skin, and his cock twitched inside her, spilling his hot cum.

After a moment of their hearts and lungs moving together as though they were Olympic athletes who had just finished the decathlon, Bennett let out a little “Fuck” under his breath.

She froze. “What. What’s wrong?” she asked as he continued to hold her tightly, his erection deep inside her throbbing walls.

“I think I got you pregnant.”

“Oh.” She let out a little laugh and smacked his brawny shoulder. “Funny boy.”

He laughed and looked into her eyes. “Hit me again,
Ms. Wade
, and I might need to spank you.”

Her eyes went wide.
Heck no. Me first.
“You can spank me if you like, but I’m not taking your name.”

“Why the hell not?”

She smiled. “I never want to stop being Ms. Reed.”

“Why?”

“It’s just too fucking hot when you say my name.”

He raised a dark brow. “I can still call you Ms. Reed anytime you like, Ms. Wade.”

She grinned, enjoying the feel of their bodies joined together. “I’ll think about it.”

If she was lucky, he’d give her another round of persuasion-sex.

“So
this
was your important dinner tonight?” Bennett asked from behind the wheel of his brand-new black Land Rover with all-terrain tires and state-of-the-art traction control. All right, it was really one of those soccer mom SUVs, but to him, anything that didn’t go fast or climb a muddy mountain was not respectable. He felt better pretending it was an off-road vehicle.

What does it matter? You bought it for Taylor anyway.
He hadn’t told her yet, but he would. He wanted to give her time to adjust to her new lifestyle, to let her settle into the notion that she now had more money than she could spend in a lifetime. No, he hadn’t been joking about signing his wealth over to her and the baby. He really hadn’t seen the point of having all that money if they weren’t there to share it with him.

“Yep,” Taylor said, staring out the window at the three-story Victorian with the big garden and white picket fence, overlooking the San Francisco Bay, “dinner at your mother’s house. I hear she’s making meatloaf.” Taylor smiled, her flushed face a vision of sexy, feminine beauty. Everything he loved about her—that fire in her eyes, the way she looked at him and made his soul tingle—only seemed amplified by her pregnancy. Or perhaps it was because she was happy.

Or maybe it’s because you just gave her five of the most incredible orgasms known to mankind
.

He mentally patted himself on the back. Making love to her and getting over his little mental block had been quite the victory, but it paled in comparison to receiving her forgiveness. He still found it difficult to believe what an asshole he’d been, but everything around him had been tainted by pain. However, the moment he had heard Taylor was pregnant, he had seen everything with such clarity. Happiness was right at his fingertips, being offered on a silver platter. Yet he’d pushed it away. He’d wanted to suffer. He’d wanted to live in the past.

And then, just like that, he didn’t.

He wanted her.

The day following Ms. Luci’s party, he went to work, clearing the dark pain from his old life off the shelves to make room for Taylor and the baby. His proposal to Mary Rutherford took all of two minutes to make over the phone and thirty seconds for her to accept. It was meant to be. The next part, trying to find the perfect home near her brother Jack—something Taylor had told his mother was important—proved a bit more difficult, but Robin and Candy both pitched in. They said he shouldn’t be allowed to pick the house because poor Taylor would end up with some sterile, modernist palace unfit for a child. Anyway, it had all worked out beautifully. There was one piece left unsettled.

He looked at Taylor in the sexy blue dress she’d thrown on before they’d left. Her long brown hair hung loose over her shoulders, prompting him to lean over and kiss her. Her lips were like luscious little pillows meant for kissing and touching and…

“Can we go in?” she said. “I’m really hungry after that workout.” She grinned.

He smiled back. “Absolutely.”

They exited the car and strolled up the walkway. Music and voices poured out from an open window.

Taylor stopped on the porch and gave Bennett a suspicious look. “Wait. Your mother didn’t say anything about guests,” she said.

Oh, now that was what he loved about her. She could see right through him. He’d never be able to BS her.
Or surprise her. She figures everything out.

He flashed her a guilty little smile. “I guess she changed her mind?”

Taylor huffed and rang the doorbell. “You’re up to something, Mr. Wade. I can feel it. You and your mother are sneaky folk.”

She was right. In a moment, that door would open, and Taylor would find her father—a very large man with a scowl to equal Bennett’s; her three very large brothers—who had made him promise to never hurt their sister again or risk losing his legs; Taylor’s two best friends—he was pretty sure they were undressing him with their eyes every time they spoke; his mother, and the handful of people in his life he truly trusted, including Robin and Candy.

Taylor would also find a very big ring and a reverend waiting by the fireplace.

Bennett looked down at Taylor’s beautiful face.
I hope she says yes. Because she’s got all my money. And my baby. And my heart…

The door opened, and Ms. Luci stood there in a pale yellow dress next to her bug-eyed manservant, Sebastian. His mother had insisted they come because she actually believed that Bennett’s relationship with Taylor was entirely attributable to the cookies.

But that was crazy.
Cookies,
he mentally
hmphed
.

“Taylor, my dear, you’re late,” said Luci with a warm smile.

Taylor flashed a little glance at Bennett and then looked back at Luci. “Late for what? What are you doing here?”

Ms. Luci shrugged. “You owe me a wedding. With that young man.” Her eyes went to Bennett.

“Is she serious?” Taylor asked Bennett.

He nodded, waiting anxiously to see what she’d do. This entire event had been a huge gamble. She could’ve refused to give him another chance.

Taylor laughed sweetly and looked back at Luci. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.”

See.
You’ll never lose if you bet on Taylor.
Bennett let out a sigh of relief.

“Excellent,” Luci stepped aside to let them pass, “I baked your wedding cake myself.”

Taylor turned and threw her arms around Bennett’s neck, planting a lingering kiss on his lips. She pulled back and looked in his eyes. “I love you, Bennett.”

“I love you, too.” More than she could ever possibly understand.

She moved to go inside, but paused for a moment, a devilish smirk on her face. “Hey,” she whispered, “let’s make sure all our friends and family get one of those cookies. Those things are awesome.”

Ms. Luci must’ve overheard. “Why do you think I baked the cake, child? Now get in here and let’s get you dressed.”

Taylor laughed. “Coming, Ms. Luci.” She gave Bennett a happy wink. “See you at the altar, Mr. Wade.”

He gave her a quick nod. “Take all the time you need, Ms. Reed. I’m not going anywhere.”

THE END

(No. Really! It’s the end. No cliffhanger! See? I’m not evil…much.)