“Hey,” I said.
“Huh?” the guy said, looking around.
“Hey, who are you?” I asked. The man spun around and almost fell over.
“Oh, hello pet,” he said. He had an accent. British. It sounded stronger than Charlie’s, didn’t have that American twang to it.
“Pet?” I asked. “Who are you?”
“Who are you?” he countered. He was slurring his words. Was he drunk?
“I asked you first.”
That seemed to stymie him. “Niall. Where’s Charlie?”
“Niall who?”
“Look,” he said, pausing and closing his eyes. Oh yeah, he was definitely drunk. Too many questions. “Only one of us is lost here and it’s not me, alright? My cousin lives here.”
“Your cousin? You and Charlie are related?”
He had finally answered my question but I still had about fifty. Why was he in the house? Okay, he was family and he let himself in but I had no idea Charlie had much family in the States especially after his dad died. He mostly talked about his mother’s side of the family in Britain. Besides my mother, I’d never give anyone my house key. How were they related by the way? He had a British accent but he seemed to live here. Speaking of living here, did he live here here, like in this house?
“We are. Last I checked you and I weren’t.” He paused, looking at me. “Unless we are?”
“We aren’t.”
“Oh, well, nice to meet you. Niall. You’re… oh. Oh! I know who you are,” he said, grinning widely. “Look at that. One of Aunt Veronica’s picks made it to the second date.” The questions just kept coming. I knew now that the man was drunk but why did he also have to talk in riddles?
“Aunt who?” I asked.
“Did she offer you a trip or something? Jewelry? I always wanted to know what she does to make the girls go out with him? Did she tell you that this was the only way you’d be able to bag a man like Charlie Hampton so you better make it count?”
I blinked at the drunk man. “Sounds like a bitch,” I said. He laughed, throwing his head back and clutching his gut.
“She has her moments. You don’t look like the girls she usually picks up for Charlie.”
I frowned. “Thanks. I think.”
“No, I mean it’s a good thing,” I said. “I usually can’t stand Charlie’s girls.”
“Well, I’m not his girl. I’m more of his employee, really.”
He laughed. “That’s an interesting way to put it. Hey, you tell me if he’s messing about. I’ll sort him out for you,” he said. I nodded, amused. I kind of liked this guy. Charlie had interesting family members. But then again I was pretty sure that he negged me just now.
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. Do you know where he is?” I asked.
“I was just about to ask you that,” he said. He went over to the bar and poured himself a generous serving of a brown liquid. More? Okay then. Far be it for me to ruin his good time. It was technically a Saturday night and it wasn’t even ten yet. The night was still young. “Let’s wait for him,” he said, plopping on one of the seats. I laughed. Okay, I really liked this guy.
“So, what do you do?” he asked. “What’s he paying you to do? You’re not his housekeeper, are you?”
I was just about to answer when the door opened.
“Ah, speak of the devil,” Niall said, jumping up to his feet. Charlie walked in with a priceless mask of confusion on his face.
“Niall, what are you doing here?”
“We were waiting for you,” he said.
“We?” he looked at me, then at Niall again. “You stink, are you drunk?” He took the drink from him.
“Me and your new girl were just talking about you. Weren’t we, pet?” he said, grinning at me. Charlie looked murderous.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No, I like this one. I never thought your mother would go as far as buying you a woman but she’s nice. Can we keep her?”
“My mother had nothing to do with this. She doesn’t even know Brenna.”
“Shut up,” Niall said. He started giggling. “If it wasn’t her then who? Your taste isn’t this good.”
“I… Brenna is my surrogate,” he said. Niall stopped laughing. He seemed to move a couple of degrees closer to sober.
“Your what? Don’t mess about. She’s your what?”
“My surrogate. Didn’t you say I should just bite the bullet and take matters into my own hands?”
“I didn’t think you would actually do it?”
“I was through with the mindless dates with mindless women.”
“So, paying a woman to carry your baby for you was better?” he asked in disbelief.
“You suggested it,” Charlie said smugly.
“It wasn’t a suggestion. I was just thinking out loud.” Niall fell into a chair dramatically. I couldn’t help it, I laughed. The men finally looked over, paying attention to me after their heated argument.
I stood up. “Anyone want some coffee?”
13
Charles
I waited for Brenna to leave the room.
“Fuck off, right now. I need you to leave,” I said to Niall.
“What?” he asked.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Me? What about her? I leave for a couple of weeks and suddenly you’ve hired some woman to give you a baby.”
“I didn’t hire her,” I said. Yes, I had. Technically yes, that was the case. She was getting paid, by me, because she was offering a service; having a baby. I just didn’t like the way that it sounded. That made it too impersonal. It was fate or just dumb luck that I found her again and yeah, the situation wasn’t the best but that was none of his business.
“Well she said she wasn’t your girlfriend,” he said. I didn’t like the way that statement stung.
“Is there something you want?” I asked.
“She’s living here, right?”
I paused before replying. “Yes, she is.”
“Is she knocked up already? She doesn’t look pregnant.”
“She’s not. We haven’t done the procedure yet.”
“What did Aunt Veronica say?” he asked, grinning.
“She doesn’t know.”
“You’re not telling her?”
“I didn’t say that,” I said. “I’m just not yet ready for her to know that. I’ll tell her when the time is right.”
“And when will that be? You know she’ll lose her mind when she finds out, right? She’ll try and put a stop to it.”
“That’s why you’re going to keep your mouth shut and not tell anyone, especially not her.”
“Wow, you’re not kidding, are you?” he said.
“Just lay low or something. Don’t come around here. I don’t want you upsetting Brenna.”
“Upsetting her? She loves me.”
“I’m serious Niall,” I said.
He looked at me. “Is there something going on here?” he asked.
“You walked in here drunk and harassed my surrogate.”
“No. There’s something you aren’t telling me,” he said.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe you’re more pissed than you think.”
“I’m going to remember this,” he said.
I shrugged again. If anyone could read me, it was Niall. I wasn’t giving out any information that wasn’t specifically requested. I knew that I could trust him but this wasn’t the way I wanted Niall and Brenna to meet. The circumstances were wrong in every way that they could be wrong. What the hell did Brenna think? She was getting involved with a family of drunks and degenerates? What had he said to her about my mother? Did she know about the dates that she would set me up on?
Brenna walked back into the room holding a tray. On it was a few mugs with creamer and sugar.
“You want some?” she asked Niall. “Might help you sober up.” Niall took the mug and had a sip. He made a face.
; “Too hot?” she asked. “Sorry, I didn’t ask how you take it before I went.”
“Coffee? Is that what you’re serving? This is the worst bar I’ve ever been too.”
Brenna laughed. “I can pour some scotch in there if you want.”
“No,” he said. He got up. “I’ll head out.”
“It was nice to meet you,” Brenna said.
“Likewise,” he said to her. He shot me a look that said our conversation wasn’t over. I’d tell him whatever he wanted to know. Everything. Well, almost everything. He knew most of what was out there to know about me but he didn’t know about Brenna. I never told anyone. The memory of her and what we had was just so sacred, I wanted it to be all mine.
“Do you want some coffee?” Brenna asked. She held a mug out to me. I took it.
“I’m sorry about Niall,” I said.
“Oh, that’s okay. I’m kind of sad he couldn’t join us.” She sat on the couch stirring her cup. “It was nice to have someone to talk to.”
“What did he tell you?” I asked.
She grinned. “Nothing incriminating. Don’t worry,” she said. First of all, I didn’t believe that. Niall took every opportunity to ruin my good name. Perks of being the one who didn’t have to inherit the title. She wasn’t forbidden from leaving. She wasn’t my prisoner. I didn’t care where she went as long as she came back but she wasn’t lonely, was she?
“I can't imagine he was good company.”
“It was nice having someone to talk to since you’ve been so busy this past week.”
She was lonely, or something like it. I didn’t expect a woman telling me I hadn’t been paying enough attention to her to excite me as much as it was right then. That wasn’t right. She was here at my house so I could keep an eye on her. Well, she was here so I could properly monitor her lifestyle; that was the reason on paper. I didn’t want to crowd her. She was in my house and she had signed a contract but realistically, if she wanted to walk out that door and never see me again, I had no way to stop her.
“Have you missed me?” I said because I couldn’t stop myself.
“You’re a way busier man than I thought you were, that’s for sure. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to avoid me,” she said, grinning at me over her coffee cup.
“If I was trying to do that then what kind of sense would moving you into my house make?” I asked. She shrugged.
“I don’t pretend to know how you think.”
“If Niall’s the best company you can come by, I’m worried,” I said.
She smiled at me. “Then stick around some more and you won’t have to be.”
We spent a little more time downstairs together but she went up for the night first. I waited, stopping at my office for a bit before I went up to my room too. I closed the door of the master bedroom behind me.
What the hell are you doing? Go after her.
I looked at the door. She hadn’t given me an invitation, just told me that she wanted to hang out more. It might have been a promise, it might have been an invitation for a later time, but she was not telling me to go to her bedroom tonight and ravish her. When she wanted it though, it could be arranged at her soonest convenience.
I underestimated what it was going to be like having her right there in my space with me. Monitoring her health wasn't the only reason that I wanted her around. Of course, it wasn't. She was the one that got away who I had finally gotten back. I was not going to be the fool that lost her again. That was nice to think about, but seeing her around, knowing she was there, even her fucking smell drove me completely insane.
I wanted her. As strongly as I wanted her that first night we got together, I wanted her now. It was a little too much, I wasn't going to lie. I went to the bathroom and took a quick shower to rinse off and... calm down. Back in the bedroom, all I could think about was the wall separating my room from hers. If I wanted to talk to her, she was right there. I wanted to touch her, well, that would probably be a little more complicated, but still, she was right there. We hadn't been this accessible to each other since that summer.
I flopped onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Those last few days were absolutely perfect. I wasn't that guy trying to get a baby via surrogate to calm down my frantic mother. She was just the girl working the beach snack shack. I closed my eyes. I probably wasn't going to get a lot of sleep. Did she ever think of that time? I didn't want to be the only one.
Seven Years Ago
Dreams really did come true, didn’t they?
You’re here now, don’t cock it up.
I was kissing Brenna Andrews, naked. I thought about this day coming relentlessly but never thought it actually would. I didn’t know what it was. Nerves? Thinking she liked someone else? Thinking she was totally out of my league and wouldn’t want to be with me anyway?
Combination of the three most likely.
I pulled her leg up so I was between them. I pushed myself up so I was kneeling, looking down at her. Her eyes were half-lidded and heavy looking up at me. Her lips were parted and her face was flushed. Her limbs were tanned from the sun. She was beautiful. She pushed herself up onto her elbows.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah. No, of course. I just…” I felt my neck and ears get hot. “You’re gorgeous Brenna,” I said. She smiled shyly.
“Oh, thanks,” she said. She looked up at me, her eyes falling to between my legs. I was already hard and I had put the condom on. I didn’t trust how long I was going to be able to last. I needed to make this good for her. There was no way I waited the whole summer to touch her just to end up being a minute-man.
I leaned down and kissed her again. I ran my hands down her body, cupping those luscious breasts and feeling every curve. I kissed her neck. She ground her hips against me, my cock pressed right up between her lips. I had to pause, it felt so good. I kissed over the tan line on her chest separating the tanned skin from the milky white of her tits. Her nipples were dusky pink, hard as pebbles. I sucked them into my mouth one by one. She sighed and ran her hands through my hair.
I used my thumb on her clit; a little primer before I got my tongue down there. I kissed down her abdomen and got between her legs. Her lips were glistening with her juices. I looked up and saw her looking at me.
“You alright?” I asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “It's just, nobody has ever done this to me before, I wanted to watch you.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I mean I’ve had boyfriends in the past and we... did stuff, but not this.”
“Your boyfriends in the past didn't want to go down on you?”
She blushed. “No, I mean yeah. They didn't go down on me. They didn't do anything else either.”
I raised my head so I was kneeling between her legs again. “Brenna, are you trying to tell me that you're a virgin?”
She shifted up on to her elbows. “Yeah, I honestly thought you knew. Is that a problem?” she asked when I guess I took too long to answer her. Some people were virgins, not everyone had been fucking since fourteen like you Charlie. I just didn't realize why I thought that Brenna was not one. I mean, it didn't matter how much I wanted to sleep with her since apparently, she had never felt that way before.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I'm here, aren't I?”
I shook my head and looked in her eyes. “That isn't what I asked you,” I said.
“I am sure, Charlie. I want my first time to be with you,” she said. I leaned down over her again, kissing her.
“Will you tell me if I hurt you?” I asked.
“You’re not going to hurt me,” she said. I was going to do my best not to. It was her first time. I didn’t want to give myself too much credit but she’d probably remember this. I didn’t want to be the bad first time that she told her girlfriends about in the future. I was going to have a good time regardless. Finally getting to be together, I didn’t want her to regret this.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Don’t stop,” she said. I didn’t. I felt her hand on the back on my head. These cute little moans and squeaks kept coming out of her, I wanted to keep hearing her. Soon, her hand in my hair stopped being so gentle. She started bucking and grinding against my face. I loved it. It was so hot. She was so sexy. She came, shuddering while trying to bite her lip to stay quiet. I looked up at her from between her legs.
“You okay?” I asked. She looked at me and started laughing. “What’s so funny?
“No, you did great. It’s just my… you know, is all over your face,” she said, giggling.
I shrugged. “What can I say? I was putting my best work in.”
“You were.” I knelt between her legs, hoisting them up and lining my cock with her entrance. “Do you want me to fuck you?”
She pushed forward with her hips so the tip of my cock slid inside her. I leaned forward, thrusting into her slowly.
“Too much?” I asked.
“More,” she said, pulling me into her. I should have asked myself the same thing. She felt incredible. Whatever happened after this, we’d always have tonight. I was making it last.
14
Brenna
He was right there. You know he isn’t going to kick you out if you go over there and say you want to have sex.
I stared at the ceiling. There was a very lovely light fixture up there but that wasn’t why I was looking. I couldn’t sleep, I was horny and I was upset. The coffee I had just had before coming to bed was probably working against me but besides that, I couldn’t stop thinking about Charlie after our talk earlier. It was so frustrating not knowing for sure where we stood. Things were going to start changing once we actually went through the medical procedure to conceive. What then?
Admit You Miss Me: A Surrogate Pregnancy Romance (Irresistible Billionaires Book 1) Page 8
