by Katie Dowe
“What time is it?” She rose up and passed one hand over her hair in confusion.
“Almost nine.”
She rescued the manuscript she had been reading before it ended up on the carpeted floor. “Eve usually wakes me.”
“She had to leave early because of some emergency.”
“Oh!” She shook her head and looked at him. “Why are you still here?”
“I had some things to take care of. The book signings for next week and the ads in the papers had to be dealt with and I wanted to look them over.”
“Michael usually delegated those kinds of things to Eve or the PR department.”
“I wanted to look them over.” He studied her for a moment and decided to go for personal. “It’s a Friday night and you are not out on a date. Why is that?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” she pointed out.
He smiled at that. “I guess you could. I am not in a relationship right now.”
“Neither am I.”
“Why?” he persisted.
She swung her legs off the sofa. “If we are going to go there, I opt for a drink.” She put the manuscript aside and went to the small fridge in one corner of her office. “I have sodas and imported beers. What would you like?”
“Neither,” he told her. “I cannot stand beer and soda is just poison.”
“Water then?” she suggested as she took out two bottles. “And you just ruined my love for a good can of soda,” she added as she handed him a bottle of water.
“Good, because you should not be dumping that inside your system,” he told her in amusement as he uncapped the bottle. “You were saying?”
“I am afraid that I love my work a little too much,” she said with a grimace.
“A little or a lot?”
“Okay, a lot,” she said with a laugh. “And I have never met a man who could compete with the love I have for my work.” Until now, she added silently.
“And if you do?” he asked her. “Would you give it up to be a wife and mother?”
She looked at him quizzically as she thought about it. “I would not go so far as to say I would give it up, but eventually I would like to think that I will meet someone and we would be a family.”
“Family is important to you?” he asked her a little casually.
She nodded, not stopping to wonder at the totally inappropriate conversation they were having in the silence of the usually busy building. “I am an only child and grew up wishing that I had siblings and buried my loneliness in reading books. So yes, family is important to me.”
“I think the same way.” He rolled the bottle between his palms absently unaware that Caitlin was staring at him. He had opted to wear a light pink cotton shirt and left the two top buttons open. His thick dark hair had strands falling forward and his beard was trimmed neatly but gave him such a sexy appeal that she felt her body heating up as usual. She managed to hide her attraction for him by being professional and trying her best not to be alone with him, but now that they were alone in the building, except for the guards downstairs, she wondered how she was going to hide it! She jumped to her feet suddenly, startling him and causing him to stare at her.
“I have to go,” she muttered.
He glanced at his watch and nodded. “I will get my things and meet you out in the main area.
She nodded and took several deep breaths as soon as he left. It was getting harder for her to keep her feelings in check!
Chapter 4
“A medieval theme for the launch!” Caitlin announced as she sailed into his office. It was the middle of July and he had been at the publishing house for two months now and he had still yet to get used to her energetic way of doing things or worked up the courage to ask her to carry his children! He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. He had seen her earlier that day, but they had both been busy with meetings so they had not gotten the chance to talk. His eyes ran over the thin floral dress and chic rose pink jacket in appreciation. Her unconsciously sexy perfume enveloped him as she pulled up a chair next to him and showed him what she was talking about. “Think Game of Thrones meets Queen of Scotland and, Matthias, if you tell me you have no idea what I am referring to, I swear to you right now that I am quitting.”
“And we certainly would not want that,” he told her in amusement. He enjoyed her and each morning when he was supposed to come to the publishing house, he would feel his heart skipping beats because he was going to be seeing her. She was fascinating and beautiful and her enthusiasm rubbed off on others. “Are we talking about the latest in the Gothic series?”
“All that blood and gore and fighting amongst kingdoms have people getting more and more fascinated. I think it is going to be picked up by a network pretty soon. We could make sure of that by putting up billboards around the city and having the party in the town square.”
“We will need a permit for that.”
“And you are Matthias Zeng with all the clout so there should not be a problem.” Her dark brown eyes sparked in excitement. “We could get a minor actress to reenact the female part and someone in here to play out the male character. What do you think?”
“It’s a good idea.” He leaned back in his chair and studied her. “Would you mind closing the door for a minute? I need to discuss something with you.”
She looked at him curiously but got up to do as he asked before coming back to sit not in the chair she had moved next to him but one of the others in front of his desk. “What is it?”
He moved forward and placed his hands onto the desk. The decorator had certainly done a very good job inside his office. There were no traces of the heavy furniture Michael Vern had favored, but they had settled on light and airy and subtle. Matthias’ desk was a circular glass-topped one with a deep leather chair in smoky grey that was the color theme throughout the entire office and it suited him to perfection.
“I have an unusual favor to ask you.”
“I am listening.”
“I like you a lot.”
Her tapered brows lifted and her heart hammered. She had been working up the courage to say something to him but had not gotten there yet. She more than liked him, she was slowly falling in love with a man who was her boss and one of the richest men in the world! She had done her best to keep it professional, but she had no idea how long she was going to keep it that way. “That’s good because I like you too,” she told him cautiously.
“I want children.”
This time the shock was evident on her beautiful face. “I see.”
He smiled slightly. “I am the only one remaining in my family and I want children to pass on my wealth to.” He leaned back in his chair and studied her. “I have been searching around to find the perfect person to help me with this and I think it is you.”
Caitlin shook her head, not quite sure she understood. “You want children?”
“Four of them at one go.” He leaned back on his desk, his expression intense. “I have been doing some research on IVF and-“
“Hold up!” Caitlin held up one slim hand as she stared at him. “You are talking about quadruplets?”
He nodded. “I would like you to think about it, Caitlin, and I promise that whatever you want, it is yours if you do this for me.”
“So you just want children? No relationship?”
“As I said before, I like you and I think I am attracted to you so we could explore that avenue if you are interested.”
It sounded so cold and unemotional that for a minute she thought they were discussing the weather or something similar! “Surely, there are other women who would jump at the chance-“
“Not like you,” he told her quietly. “You are effervescent and honest and smart and I want those qualities in my children. Just say you will think about it and if you do not agree, I promise you that there will be no hard feelings.”
She sat there in silence, her mind churning as she stared at him. She wanted children too, but she wanted them the
normal way, with a husband who adored her and who would always be there for her. She wanted them with him, but she was not sure of the method he was introducing to her!
“Promise me you will give it some thought.”
She nodded and got to her feet. “I will.” She frowned a little bit. “Why four?”
He shrugged. “It seems like a nice even number.” His intense dark eyes held hers. “I have this fear of spending what is left of my life alone with no one to share anything with and I do not like it.” He laughed grimly. “I want to be surrounded by children, Caitlin, and I want it more than anything else in the world.”
She nodded again and moved away from the chair. “How soon would you like an answer?”
“As soon as possible. I don’t want to pressure you.”
“I will let you know,” she said before walking out and leaving the door open. She ignored Eve’s chatter as she passed the woman’s desk and went into the office and closed the door behind her. She sat around her desk and stared at her desktop computer blankly. It was almost four P.M. on a Thursday and she was planning on staying late. The medieval launching was one of the biggest things right now and the crime series coming out in December was finally on target. The high school love series had been a hit on social media and they were hoping that it would become their next bestseller, but she was not thinking about that right now. She was staggered by his request! She frowned a little bit at the word. Was it a request? She with her degree in English could not come up with the appropriate term to use! Was it a request or a favor? No, she shook her head. A favor does not quite fit someone asking you to carry four children inside your womb. To deliberately go through IVF, the uncertainties, the rigors to one’s body. She had read up on it as well when she was reading something for her friend Valerie who had wanted to take that route, but it had been too expensive for her and she had dumped the idea. She would have to visit the fertility clinic which with his money he could well afford and she would have to go through a process of testing to see if she was healthy enough to go through it. Then the implantation and then the waiting and after that the hoping that the children would come to full term which they would not do because four children was taking a hell of a risk! They would be premature and maybe suffer a whole lot of health issues. She would be crazy to deliberately do that to children! He wanted four! Why not one now and a few years down the road another now and so on, unless there is something that he was not telling her! She dialed his extension and he picked up.
“What is the real reason?”
“I already told you.”
“No, you told me some bullshit about wanting children around you, but there has to be more and I want to know.”
“Are we really going to discuss this now?”
“Okay, mister, after everyone has left we are going to talk.”
He agreed and hung up, but she still could not get it out of her mind. With a frustrated sigh, she went back to looking into ideas for the medieval launch.
*****
He came to her after the office had emptied out. She sat around her desk working on the proposal for a new author she had discovered, deliberately staying away from thinking about him. It was approaching seven P.M. when he walked into her office and took a seat on one of the chairs opposite her desk. He looked so at ease and confident in his tan trousers and burgundy shirt with his jet black hair combed back from his face. “Did I come at a bad time?” he asked as she continued to work.
“No.” She gave him her attention. “You made me unable to concentrate so I had to be going over things more than once.” She sighed. “Let’s hear it.”
He leaned back and put one ankle on his knee revealing the soft Italian leather he was wearing on his feet. “I have a very low sperm count, inherited from a long line of men with the same problem in my family.” He shrugged. “I remember asking my parents why they did not have more children and they fed me some line about wanting to concentrate on me, but I found out after the real reason why. A few years ago, I froze some of my sperm because the older I get, the less likely for them to be effective so I decided to take precautions. I mostly shoot blanks and in years to come, maybe one or two, I will not have the ability to sire children and that is not an option for me.” He clasped his hands around his knee and looked at her. “This is in the strictest of confidence because aside from my doctor and a very good friend of mine, no one else knows.”
“Don’t worry, I am not going to blab it to anyone.”
He smiled at that. “I know you won’t.”
She took a deep breath. “I am really thinking about it.”
“No rush.”
She lifted her brows at him and he laughed.
“I read up on IVF as well. My friend is unable to have children and she had thought about it, but it was too expensive.”
“I have the best fertility doctors in the world.”
“Of course you do.”
“I made generous contributions to the study of new drugs and keep up to date.” He leaned forward and looked at her. “I really want this, Caitlin, more than anything in the world. I enjoy making money and investing in something that will pay off and I enjoy taking risks, but none of that means anything unless I have people to share it with.”
“I agree with you,” she told him quietly. “Give me until this weekend to think about it.”
He nodded and got to his feet, looking at his watch. “I have to fly out of town in the morning and through the weekend. I will be back at my place on Sunday. If you have an answer for me by then, you can call me and come over and we will talk some more.”’
“I don’t know where you live.”
“I will text you the address.”
*****
Caitlin paced the length of her living room Saturday morning as she waited for her laundry to be finished. She had thought about going into work that morning for part of the day but had decided against it. She had housework piling up and a refrigerator that was stinking up the place with the half-eaten food she had shoved inside it when she was at home to eat anything. She had deliberately buried herself in work yesterday while he was not around to stop herself from thinking about the situation. She was supposed to let him know by tomorrow and she was no way nearer to a solution than she had been when she spoke to him. He had told her that if she said no there would be no hard feelings and that they would go on as before but that would not be the case. She was falling in love with him and could not bear the thought of him going to someone else with the offer. But the thought of going through all that scared her and she wondered if loving him was enough for her to give up everything to carry his children! No matter what she told herself, she would have to stop working eventually if the implantation held strong and the babies survived. She would definitely have to be on bed rest for most of the pregnancy and would have to stop doing the thing that she loved. But it would be worth it, wouldn’t it? a voice inside her head murmured. She closed her eyes briefly and wondered what she would tell her dad. “Hey, Dad! Guess what? Matthias Zeng asked me to carry his children and I said yes. Oh, and he wants quadruplets!” Somehow she did not see her dad getting on board with something like that! She was going there for breakfast in the morning, but she could not say anything to him until she knew what she planned on saying to Matthias!
*****
He met her at the door of his apartment and took her light jacket before gesturing to the open glass door that led out to a balcony with a view. The apartment building was only a few blocks away from the publishing house and she knew that he had bought it a year ago when he was contemplating taking over the publishing house. “Would you like something to drink?” he asked her in a polite tone as she took one of the chairs and leaned back against the railings. He was dressed casually in knee length khaki shorts and black t-shirt that was stretched taut against his muscled chest. His feet were encased in leather sandals and his hair was tousled.
“Yes, please.”
“I have white
wine and champagne. What shall it be?” He waited for her to respond and she realized that the choice of beverage was his way of finding out her answer.
“I think champagne is in order.”
He took a deep breath and then his smile came, showing white against his beard. He nodded and went off to go and get the bottle and two glasses. He came back shortly and poured her a glass before pouring one for himself before taking a seat across from her. “I was on tenterhooks the entire time wondering if you were going to say yes.” His dark eyes studied her face. “What made you agree?”
She shrugged. “I want children too.”
“And?”
“And I figured that having them with a billionaire is not half bad.”
“Right.” His expression was amused as he continued to look at her. “Thank you, Caitlin.”
“Please don’t thank me yet,” she begged. “There are lots of obstacles to go over before we reach the finish line and even when we reach that finish line, there will be others.”
“We will face them together,” he assured her. He continued to sip the excellent champagne before he spoke again. “There are going to be speculations about the status of our relationship.”
“Eventually,” she agreed.
“I will let my corporate office deal with it when the time comes. My assistant is quite adept when it comes to matters like these.”
She nodded. “I don’t want to stop working.”
He looked at her in surprise. “I would not ask you to do that.”
“I am going to have to stop going to the publishing house when I am in an advance stage of pregnancy.”
“Then you can work from home.”
She ran the tip of her fingers along the stem of the glass. “What about a physical relationship?”
He frowned a little as he stared at her. “I think we should consider having one.”
“Is that something you want to do?”
His eyes ran over her face body and settled on her lips, causing the heat to rise inside her! “You are a beautiful woman, Caitlin, and I would be flattered to make love to you.”
