“How was your flight into the city?” she asked, reclaiming his thoughts.
“As usual Martin was excellent at the controls,” he said of his private pilot. “It was good flying weather and he made the most of it.”
Taylor nodded, trying not to stare at the way he was sitting in the chair—perfect posture, immaculately groomed and sexy to a fault.
“What kind of business deal have you put together that was so important you wanted us to meet today, Taylor?”
His question pulled her back in, made her aware he was staring at her while waiting for her response. She swallowed. She couldn’t get cold feet now. She was a risk-taker and this would definitely be a risk worth taking.
“This is a business deal but then it’s also sort of personal.”
She watched the lifting of his dark brow before he asked, “Personal? In what way?”
She paused for a second before she said, “I want to make you an offer that really won’t cost you anything.” Just your sperm, she decided not to add.
He tilted his head slightly and gazed at her. “Then what would be the investment on my part?” he asked. “And what will be the return?”
She was not surprised by his questions since the majority of their meetings always addressed investments and returns. “The return is based on something I heard you say that every man should have a right to do.”
“Which is?”
“To father a child.”
He frowned. “I don’t recall ever saying anything like that to you.”
She wouldn’t expect him to remember. “It was last year, during the bank’s Christmas party at Rockefeller Center. You made my boss extremely happy by making an appearance. One of the secretaries had dropped by and brought in her newborn baby for everyone to see. I believe you were speaking to yourself out loud more than making conversation with me.”
His frown deepened as he continued to stare at her. “And just what did I say?”
“You were staring at the baby and said that every man should have a right to father a child and you regretted not having done so yet.”
He nodded and she felt a rush of gratitude that he didn’t deny having said such a thing. She shifted in her chair and met his gaze. “Is that true, Dominic? Is that something you regret not doing? Do you want a child?”
For the first time in their business relationship, she could feel his defense mechanism go up. He had often used it with others but never with her. And a part of her understood his need to use it now. He was a private person and she was asking him some rather personal questions.
“Why are we discussing this, Taylor?” he asked gruffly, narrowing his gaze at her.
Her emotions flinched at the look but she knew despite that, she had to go on. She paused a moment and then said, “We are discussing this because I feel the same way. I think every woman who wants a child should have the chance to mother one. And I want one.”
The glare in his eyes indicated he wasn’t quite following her, was still somewhat confused. “Then why don’t you have one?” he asked flatly.
“I plan to do so…and that’s why I’ve asked you here. It seems the two of us want the same thing and then again we don’t want the same thing. We both want a child, but I’ve read you quoted many times as saying you will never marry again.” She knew his wife had been killed in a car accident four years ago.
“Yes, and I was quoted correctly.”
She nodded. “And getting married is the furthest thing from my mind, as well.”
He leaned forward in his chair, holding her gaze under the penetrating stare of his green eyes. “Let’s cut to the chase, shall we, Taylor. I still don’t follow this business proposition of yours. You’ve established the fact that we both would like a child, but I don’t know where that is leading.”
She stood and picked up the brochure off her desk. “To this,” she said, handing it to him. “You and I. Together. And a week spent on a procreation island in the Caribbean for the sole purpose of making a baby.”
He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind as he accepted the brochure. He moved his gaze from her to the pamphlet. It took him a few moments to read it and then he lifted his head to meet her gaze again. “Aphrodisiac-laden drinks? Constant mind-blowing sex? Are you serious?”
She nodded nervously and grimaced when she heard the incredulity in his voice. Chances were he thought she had really lost it. “Yes,” she replied, knowing she had to somehow convince him that she was still sane. “And I’d like to make you an offer. I want a baby, Dominic. Yours. A baby we will get to share. And to start things off we get to spend a week on that island. Many obstetricians even recommend such trips to couples who might find it difficult to conceive…not that I think we would have any problems. But it would take the tension off some and there is a guarantee of privacy. I’ve considered other options, such as having the procedure done by artificial insemination, however, I chose this route because I want my child conceived the normal way, a way I consider natural, with the two of us making love.”
She inhaled deeply as he continued to stare at her. “Good heavens! Do you know what you’re asking me?” he queried, his voice low and husky.
“Yes, trust me I know,” she said, refusing to look away from the intensity of his stare. “But you are a man I have come to respect and admire and when I thought about a potential father for my child, I couldn’t think of anyone else I would rather have. You have all the qualities that I want.”
Dominic wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, so instead he slowly got to his feet. The nature of this meeting was definitely a surprise to say the least. “There’s no way I can decide on something such as this right this minute. We need to discuss your business proposition further and I suggest we do so tonight over dinner. Let’s say around seven o’clock at the hotel. Is that time okay?”
She swallowed. At least he hadn’t given her a flat-out no. “Yes, that’s fine.”
“Good. I’ll send my driver for you around six-thirty. My secretary will contact you later today for an address.”
“All right.”
He walked toward the door and before reaching it, he turned back around and said, “I’ll see you tonight, Taylor.”
He stared at her for a moment longer and then she watched as he turned and walked out of her office. It was only after he left she realized he had taken the brochure with him.
* * *
The driver opened the door and Dominic slid onto the plush leather seats of the limo. “Where to, Nick?”
“Back to the hotel, Ryder.”
When the car began moving Dominic glanced down at the brochure he still held in his hand as his mind recalled everything Taylor had said. The brochure was proof he hadn’t imagined it. She wanted a baby. His baby. And she wanted them to spend a week on some island in the Caribbean to make it happen. To say he was stunned would be an understatement, but he had heard the sincerity in Taylor’s voice. She was dead serious.
He began reading the piece of literature. If the words didn’t hit him below the gut, the pictures most definitely did. Procreation vacations. Just when he thought he’d heard it all. Evidently not. According to the brochure, it was a growing trend for couples that wanted to conceive. And Taylor Steele wanted to conceive.
If he were totally honest with himself, he would admit that so did he. The thought had crossed his mind several times in the past year, ever since his father’s bout with prostate cancer last year.