Steele 05 - Irresistible Forces

she would be proud of Marcus, as well, and more than satisfied at the fine job Chance had done in raising their son. Now Chance was married to Kylie, and had a seventeen-year-old stepdaughter named Tiffany and a baby son named Alden, who would be celebrating his first birthday soon.
    Although surprised, the members of the family took both Taylor’s and Cheyenne’s pregnancy announcements well, and for once the cousins hadn’t bothered asking a lot of questions. After all, Taylor and Cheyenne were grown women, financially secure and able to take care of themselves. But Vanessa knew everyone had to be mildly curious about the men in their lives since no one had ever met either of them.
    Vanessa was more than mildly curious but knew there was no need wasting her time on Cheyenne. Trying to get anything out of her would be like getting blood from a turnip, so she turned her concentration on Taylor.
    “So, will you and Dominic Saxon have joint custody of your baby?” she asked Taylor, since she wanted to know.
    Taylor shook her head. “No, I’ll have full custody, but he’ll get visitation rights.”
    Deciding to play devil’s advocate, she asked, “And what if he changes his mind later and wants full custody? What will you do then?”
    “It won’t happen.”
    Vanessa raised a brow. “You seem certain of that.”
    Taylor shrugged. “I am. I trust Dominic to do what he said he would do.”
    Vanessa decided to make an observation. “You also love him, don’t you?”
    At first Taylor didn’t say anything and then after taking a sip of her lemonade, she said, “Yes, I love him. But it doesn’t matter.”
    “And why doesn’t it matter?” Cheyenne wanted to know.
    Taylor smiled at her two sisters. “Because falling in love with him wasn’t part of the deal. I may never have his love but I will have his baby.”
    “And will that be enough for you?” Vanessa asked softly, hearing the pain in her sister’s voice.
    Taylor toyed with her glass a second or so before saying, “It has to be enough, Van, because that’s all I’ll ever have.”
    Later that night Taylor couldn’t get to sleep so she lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling. She couldn’t help but recall the night when Dominic had dropped by her condo so he could be there when she found out whether or not she was pregnant. They had made love several times, and he had taken her to dinner later and ended up spending the night.
    The following morning had been like all the others on the island when she had awakened in his arms…and to his lovemaking. He left the next morning for a business meeting in Australia. He hadn’t made any promises about when he would see her again, but had promised to call to check on her and he had, practically every day. She enjoyed receiving her daily phone calls from him, although she knew he was calling more for the baby’s sake than for hers.
    When she had spoken to him earlier today he had mentioned that he had told his parents about the baby and they wanted to meet her. He hadn’t said how he had explained their relationship and she didn’t ask.
    She heard her cell phone ring and glanced over at the clock. It was almost eleven. Wondering who would be calling her at this hour she got out of bed to grab the phone off the dresser. Caller ID indicated it was Dominic. Her heart jumped at the thought that he was calling her and wondered if anything was wrong, since they’d talked already that day.
    “Dominic?”
    “Yes, chérie? ”
    “Is anything wrong?”
    She heard his soft chuckle. “No, nothing is wrong. It was only after dialing your number that I remembered there’s a three-hour time difference between us. I’m back in L.A. visiting my parents.”
    “Oh.” Earlier that day when she had spoken with him he had been in Italy. He was definitely a jet-setter, but she knew that Dominic had investment interests all over the world.
    “And how are your parents?” she asked.
    He gave another soft chuckle. “They’re doing fine and are still walking on cloud nine at the thought of becoming grandparents. You have made them happy, Taylor. And they like the names we’ve picked out.”
    Taylor smiled. “I’m glad.”
    There was a slight pause and then he said, “I miss you, Taylor.”
    She closed her eyes at the sexiness in his voice. “I miss you, too, Dominic.”
    And she did, although she knew the reason she was missing him was vastly different from the reason he was missing her. She was smart enough