He's the One by Jane Beckenham (mobi reader android txt) 📕

chairs stacked up on the tables, silent shadows played across the walls. The jukebox was switched off, and only ghosts from the past screeched. The place felt empty. Sad almost. He'd never noticed that before. Or shut his mind off from it. Somehow, Taylor had bridged a gap, and now she wasn't around that gap yawned as cavernous as the Grand Canyon.

Back at his desk, Cade spied Taylor's business card on his desk. For a few, indecisive moments he stared at the phone.

A jagged laugh escaped his lips. He'd done this before. Every day, for three days, and here he was again. Waiting. Watching. And hoping?

He picked up the phone and punched in Taylor's number and waited, and waited and for every, long, drawn out second of it, he held his breath.

He didn't have a clue what he would say.

Finally, the answer phone kicked in. Again. Just as it had last night and the night before. Cade cursed, using every expletive he could drum up as if it would make everything all right. It didn't, and lousy didn't even cover how crappy he felt.

Always the answer phone, damn it. Even when he phoned her office during business hours, either her assistant Nita stonewalled him or the phone switched automatically to the answer phone. Cade slammed the phone down. The frustration was killing him. And it wasn't just because he'd had a hard on since Sunday.

What would it take to see Taylor Sullivan?

* * * *

"Everything set?” Taylor bundled up her “emergency” bag and deposited it onto the back seat of her car.

"Sure. Isn't it always?” Nita frowned. “Don't worry, Taylor. You're an expert at this wedding stuff."

Taylor couldn't help but worry. Something always went awry. It was the nature of the marriage business.

Just like your marriage that never was.

"Seeing Cade later?” Nita looked at her surreptitiously.

Taylor saw the hope in her assistant's friendly eyes. “No. It was a one night stand, remember?"

"One night that lasted three days."

"Well, we got a bit carried away, that's all."

We? You mean you!

And that was where her guilt escalated. And the hurt. That she'd forgotten her past, forgotten the date. She always went the cemetery on that particular anniversary, but this time she'd forgotten.

Too busy having sex with Cade, that's why.

Taylor's mouth pursed into a thin, disapproving line. Yep, got that right, and because of it, guilt gouged a brutal path right through her.

Rob. The perfect man for her. The guy that tempered her “enthusiasm” her parents had said. The boy next door, the budding mathematician. Perfect for her family.

Taylor slammed the car door closed. Shame she couldn't slam the door closed on her past. Trouble was, her family made sure her past was kept wide open.

"Nice!” Nita cooed still obviously focused on Cade.

And you aren't?

"He's perfect for you."

"Tell that to my parents."

"Taylor, you're twenty-four. When are you going to tell your family to keep their noses out? They've already found one husband for you. Isn't it time you made your own choices?"

"I have."

"You mean your life as a nun who has nothing but work."

"I love my work.” Taylor gave her standard reply to Nita's standard prompt.

Her assistant put an arm around her shoulders. It was nearly the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. “I know you do. But you need Cade."

Taylor bristled. “No, Nita. You're wrong. What I need is to get to this wedding. Last weekend was our only break for a while. Engaged couples are coming out of the woodwork.” Taylor stepped out of her assistant's embrace. “I know you mean well, but I've got to make my own life."

"Isn't that what I'm saying?"

"Perhaps,” she agreed and mentally counted off the list of things she still had to do. “But let me do it my way. I've spent years doing things my parent's way. I'm not a mega brain box like them. I'm creative. They don't understand that."

"They still look down on your success?” Nita's assessment sadly made reality too real.

"To them, this is playing until I get a proper job."

"You mean play doctor or something?"

"Yeah,” she grimaced. “Something like that.” Taylor observed the flicker of worry cross Nita's bright eyes and gave her assistant a reassuring smile. “Don't worry. It's not going to happen. This business is my baby, my life. I'm not giving it up."

"But you're giving up on Cade?

Was she? Had she? Taylor didn't want to think about it, but in truth she hadn't thought of anything else but Cade Harper, his touch, what he made her feel, everything about him, since Sunday. She was a total wreck but with hours of preparation ahead of her she willed herself to stay calm and strong. Controlled. “I never had him, Nita. It was a business deal. Simple as that. Cade's a businessman. He understood the deal."

"And you're good at business."

"Yes, I am. Once I've given him the plans for his new bar, the deal is over."

"No chance of resuscitating it?” Nita asked, ever hopeful.

Could she? Would she? No, that was impossible. “How do you resuscitate something that never was?"

"Oh, Taylor Sullivan, you're fooling yourself. It was. Believe me. I see it in your eyes every time the phone rings."

Damn it. Nita saw far too much. While Taylor felt too much, and right now she needed to escape. “Gotta go,” Taylor chimed, and spinning on her heels, she climbed into her jeep, belted up and started the engine in quick succession. She gave Nita a wave. “I have dinner with my family tonight after the wedding."

"Fun with the family.” Nita grimaced.

Taylor refused to ponder that particular statement. History reminded her that “fun” wasn't something in her parents’ well-orchestrated and well-pigeonholed lives. While she was the proverbial round peg in their square-holed life.

Chapter Eleven

Cade chewed himself out. He should be anywhere but here. Why the heck hang out at a wedding? He wasn't in the market for one.

He slowed the pickup to a crawl along the curve of the bay, halting across from the reception venue. He switched off