Dominic also was acquainted with Cameron Cody, the man her oldest sister would be marrying. They moved in the same social circles and had even been involved in a highly successful business venture a few years back. When it came to business Cody was sharp as a tack.
Dominic wondered if Taylor’s family was aware of how she intended to branch into motherhood. She wanted a baby, but not a husband. All things considered, he could certainly entertain the thought of having a baby without a wife. However, before he agreed to Taylor’s proposal there were a number of things he had to think about, questions he needed answered.
On the flip side, he definitely had no qualms about accepting her proposal. He was attracted to her and had been from the first. Making a baby with her would definitely give him the excuse he needed to cross over the line of business only. The thought of having Taylor in bed beneath him while making love to her had kept him aroused all day.
The phone rang and he was jerked out of his thoughts. He quickly moved across the room to pick it up. “Yes?”
“Your guest has arrived, sir. Do you want me to escort her up?”
“No, I’ll be down to meet her myself.”
He hung up the phone feeling, oddly, a bit nervous.
* * *
Taylor glanced around thinking that this was the first time she had been in a Saxon Hotel. It was big and spacious with an understated degree of refined elegance. It was definitely a five-star that was replete with a luxurious-looking grand interior and a uniformed staff on duty to satisfy a client’s every whim. A person could definitely get swept away with such grace and style.
“Mr. Saxon will be coming down for you, Ms. Steele.”
Taylor glanced at the uniformed man who had spoken. He was the same one who had picked her up from her condo and now stood solidly beside her. “He is?”
“Yes.”
She figured once inside the hotel she would be on her own. Apparently not. It appeared Dominic had other ideas. When he had invited her to dinner she’d known they would be dining in his suite. He hadn’t said as much but she had assumed it. He was a private person and the majority of the time when they had dinner meetings he always made it a habit to suggest a private room. It wasn’t uncommon for him to cause a stir, especially among the media who enjoyed writing about the wealthy Saxon heir.
“Here is Mr. Saxon now.”
Taylor glanced in the direction of the elevators and caught sight of Dominic walking toward them. She had prepared herself to see him again. Or so she thought. The man was so extraordinarily sexy, so ridiculously sensual that her entire body began responding. As he crossed the wide stretch of lobby toward her, people, mainly women, stopped to stare.
She suddenly felt her heart take a nosedive into her stomach. He was wearing a tailored suit and blue shirt that fit him with precision and even at a distance she could detect his calm restraint. She was about to look away and place her focus elsewhere, when his gaze suddenly snagged hers. His penetrating stare was doing things to her, forcing her to embark on one hell of a fantastic voyage. Heat rushed through her, zinged her with a force she hadn’t felt before. The man had enough sex appeal to bottle for future generations.
Damn. Definitely not what she wanted to be up against tonight. How was she going to get through a meal with him when already she felt trapped in his gaze? All right, I can handle this. I can handle him. Those words flowed through her mind as he got closer. With a half smile she expelled another breath and forced back the thought that suddenly entered her mind about just how great it would be to share a hotel room with him, a bed, the same intimate space. Hot sex. Heated Sex. Never-ending Sex. And all for a full week. With her lips barely moving, she released a soft laugh. There would be little time for chitchat.
That thought put every nerve ending in her body on red alert. But she refused to give anything away. So she stood there waiting, looking more poised than she actually felt. She was here for a good reason and knowing that reason gave strength to her resolve. It would be pointless to fight off the sexual heat the man generated but she wished she wasn’t so aware of him. She would have appreciated it if he didn’t make such a powerful impact on her vital signs and wasn’t oozing such raw physical force.
And more than anything, she wished he didn’t look like all the millions he was actually worth. Boy, how she wished.
When he finally came to a stop in front of her, and she saw the beauty of his green eyes as he gazed into her dark ones, she had never wished for anything so much in her life.
* * *
The first thing that had hit Dominic, even before he’d reached Taylor, was her scent. He had to compliment whatever perfume she was wearing. It was both soft and sensuous and had a punch that could drive a man to distraction. But then he had been blown away the moment he had stepped off the elevator and had seen her standing with Ryder. She looked delicate beside the huge hulk of man. Above all, she looked stunning.
The dress she was wearing definitely brought out her sensual side. Thanks to his mother he knew enough about fashion to realize that not every woman would be able to pull off wearing an outfit such as this. You had to have the small waistline, curves and legs to make it happen, otherwise it would be a total waste of good fabric. Taylor had the small waistline, the curves and the legs. Another added bonus was that she also had the breasts, since the square-neck bodice emphasized them. Yes, altogether he would give the outfit an A-plus.
Even now as he stared at her, with her head tilted and meeting his intense gaze, he was fighting for control. He had always admired Taylor for her intelligence, her investment savvy, but now he was about to bestow on her accolades for her ability to take him on at a personal level. He was beginning to discover that she was one irresistible force.
“Dominic.”
His name on her lips seemed to warm his skin. He even felt his insides beginning to melt. He figured he needed to get her up to his hotel room before his sexual response to her became too obvious. “Taylor, I hope you had a pleasant ride coming here.”
She smiled as she glanced over at Ryder. “Um, it was rather interesting.”
Only someone who knew Ryder Sanders as well as Dominic was aware of the man fighting the urge to smile back. Evidently his driver had broken several speed limits.
Years ago, when at the age of fourteen, a kidnapping attempt had been made on Dominic, Franco Saxon, in one of his rare but manipulative moves had sent Ryder. Marcello had been too distraught at the thought of someone trying to use his son in a ransom scheme to send Ryder back. By the time Dominic had learned of his grandfather’s gesture, Ryder had become not only his bodyguard, driver and traveling companion, but the now fifty-something man had become his good friend. Dominic moved around freely knowing that Ryder had his back.
“Interesting?” Dominic said. “I’m sure it was. Are you ready to go up to my suite for dinner?”
“Yes, I’m ready.”
The sound of her voice stoked the fires within him once again. There was a whole world of difference between the Taylor he met each month to discuss his financial portfolio and the one standing in front of him looking good enough to devour. All of a sudden the menu that he’d carefully selected lost its appeal and he was developing a taste for something else altogether. Something that was just as succulent.
He gestured toward the bank of elevators. “There’s a private one that goes up to the floor where the owner suites are located.”
She began walking beside him across the lobby floor. He saw several heads turn and knew everyone was probably thinking they made a beautiful couple. Little did they know that during the course of the next few hours they would be encased in his hotel room discussing whether or not they should make a beautiful baby together.
His heart began to thunder in his chest. He had a feeling it would be a long and tempting evening.