Steele 05 - Irresistible Forces

father of her child was enough for now.
    “Did you enjoy dinner?” he asked, trying to control the situation.
    “Yes.”
    “Good. It’s getting late. I’ll walk you downstairs for Ryder to take you home,” he said, grabbing his jacket off the back of the sofa and slipping into it.
    “I’m going home for the weekend,” she said casually. He knew home to her was Charlotte, North Carolina.
    “If you change your mind about anything while I’m away then—”
    “I won’t be changing my mind,” he said in an assured tone as they walked toward the door. “In fact, I’ll give my attorney a call to draw up the necessary papers.” At her surprised look he said, “I’m sure you know that I’ll feel better about the situation if we treat it like a legitimate business deal—which it is. That means a binding contract between us that we can agree on.”
    “Of course.”
    He glanced over at her. She said the words but to his way of thinking sounded none too pleased. Had she thought he would give her a verbal agreement on anything and not follow it up in writing? Not only would doing so protect him but it would protect her, as well. All he had to do was recall what had happened to his childhood friend Matt Caulder.
    Matt had fallen in love and had gotten married a few years back. The woman had been bad news from the first, but love had blinded his friend to that fact. Within months the woman had gotten pregnant and had tried using the child as bargaining power whenever she’d wanted anything. Luckily, Matt had been able to take Rhonda to court and prove he was the better parent.
    He couldn’t imagine ever having to take Taylor to court for anything, but still he wanted his rights regarding any child they made together protected.
    “I’ll arrange for my attorney to get the papers to you within a week. That will give you time to let your own attorney review them,” he said as they walked toward the bank of elevators. “Do you have any idea when we’ll be leaving for the island? There’re a few business matters I’d want to wrap up before then.”
    “In two weeks. I’m contacting my travel agent tomorrow to set everything into motion. I’m looking at the first week in April. Will that work for you?”
    Whether it did or not, he intended to make it work. A week spent on an island with her was worth shifting anything around that needed to be changed. “Yes, it will work.”
    When they stepped onto the elevator she said, “Sorry I didn’t get to meet your parents.”
    He nodded. He was sorry, as well. They would like her. “They were meeting friends but I thought that perhaps they would return early. I was wrong. However, considering the circumstances of our business arrangement, it’s inevitable that you’ll eventually meet them.”
    He had to continue to think of what they would be doing as a business arrangement and nothing more. He glanced over and caught her staring at him. Her head was tilted in a way that gave the impression she was trying to figure something out. Most likely it was him. Although she had been his asset manager for a couple of years she’d never really seen the personal side of him. Things had always been kept on a strictly business level.
    “Will you tell your parents everything?”
    “No. They have purely romantic minds and won’t understand how we can do such a thing without being in love, so the less they know the better.”
    He sighed knowing in a few moments the elevator would be back down in the lobby. He turned to her. “Are you sure this is what you want, Taylor?”
    Now he was giving her the chance to reconsider all they had agreed to this evening.
    “Yes, I’m sure. I want a baby.”
    “In that case,” he said slowly, “I’m going to try my best to give you one. To give us one,” he clarified.
    Unable to resist, he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. It was a lot tamer than the lip-locker, tongue-thrasher of earlier, but he still managed to feel blood sizzle through his veins. Kissing her was definitely increasing his sex drive, arousing everything male within. Considering the number of beautiful women who routinely crossed his path, he found it strange that he would want her so intensely.
    The elevator door opened and he saw Ryder across the lobby, standing and talking with one of the hotel workers. The older man caught his gaze and nodded. Dominic returned his eyes to Taylor. “This is where I must bid you good-night,” he said,