“But?”
“We might have gone a little heavy on the alcohol.” I waited through his laughter, rolling my eyes for Lissa to see my irritation. “Can you come pick us up?”
“I can. Where are you?”
I gave him the details and hung up refusing to let him kill my buzz. We’d had a great time and laughed about stupid shit we’d done in times gone by. I loved getting to know new people, well the ones that I wanted to know, anyway. Learning about them, what made a person tick, how their experiences shaped them, was always fascinating. Lissa had led one hell of a life, even if there seemed to be chunks and people missing, determined to do everything she’d had on her list before settling down. I’d tried to veer away from the fact she’d finished her list and now was to the settling down part as much as possible. I was proud of myself for having been mostly successful.
Twenty or thirty minutes after I’d hung up the phone, my husband and his best friend came strolling through the door. I was facing the entrance and had the pleasure of seeing the way people stopped to look at both men, how their eyes followed them through the restaurant when the hostess pointed in our direction. Brett’s eyes locked with mine, and the rest of the room disappeared until he sat down next to me and kissed the side of my head.
Dan took a seat next to Lissa who was fifty shades of red. She wasn’t expecting Dan to come with Brett, but they were smarter than the two of us. Now there wouldn’t be a car sitting at the restaurant.
Lissa looked up at Dan, her eyes gleamed with love, but when she hiccuped, I worried about what might come from her parted lips. “You’re very pretty.” She smiled a goofy grin and took a sip of what remained of her drink. “Way too pretty to be a man. Women around the world would kill to be as pretty as you.”
Had Dan had anything in his mouth, he might have launched it all over me. He wasn’t expecting any of what she’d said, but the smirk on his face said he thought it was endearing. His arm snaked behind her on the back of the booth. She looked up at him like a child awestruck by Santa.
“You’re cute as fuck when you’re drunk. Either you enjoyed last night, or you’ve forgotten it.”
I didn’t know what they were talking about, but I realized when she responded, it was probably better I didn’t.
“Maybe you should remind me.” She tried to wink but in her inebriated stupor just blinked both eyes really hard. Her attempt at seduction had me choking on laughter. She was already struggling with Dan’s commitment to her; I didn’t want to add to her self-doubt by openly laughing at her.
I was giddy, and Lissa was drunk.
Dan admired her with a satisfied grin and a slight shake of the head. The two of them were simply stunning together. My face warmed, and my heart raced, I was witnessing a deep connection, love between two people I cherished.
God, I hoped Dan got his head out of his ass before she lost hope.
“You ready, Penny?”
Lissa gave him a playful scowl but stood to follow him.
Before I got out of my chair, I turned to Brett. My face scrunched in confusion and I whispered, “Penny?” Either I was more intoxicated than I thought, or Dan had lost his marbles.
“Like the coin, I’m guessing.” He slid out of the booth and extended his hand.
The instant I hit my feet, the alcohol took over. Wobbly, I held on to Brett’s hand like it was a lifeline. “Why would he want to call her a penny? That’s not very nice. Why not a quarter? Or silver dollar?” I asked as we walked out the door and onto the sidewalk.
Dan was helping a very inebriated Lissa into her SUV when I stopped to wait for his answer.
“Because pennies are made of copper.” He waited for the understanding, but I just shook my head. “Her hair.”
My brows went up, and my eyes went wide. “Oh,” I drew out the word and made the shape with my mouth.
Brett shook his head and opened the car door for me. There was a reason I never drank; stupidity didn’t look good on me.
Chapter Eleven
Brett
The knock startled me. I almost never closed my office door, and if I did, no one ever knocked, they just opened it and barged in. I was having a hard time focusing on the mounds of reports on my desk with the noise in the DC and had hoped to eliminate some of the racket.
“Come in,” I called out.
Dan opened the door and peeked his head around.
“Why are you knocking?”
“You never close the door, so I didn’t know if maybe you had a private guest you might be entertaining.” He wagged his brows at me like an idiot.
“The only private anything I’d have would be Annie, and that doesn’t happen here.”
“Well, maybe not now. But it did.”
I threw my pen at the asshole. He was screwing with me and thought he was funny.
“Speaking of your better half, have you guys considered Lissa’s offer?” The joking stopped instantly, and his face took on a serious expression. Dan swung the heavy metal door open far enough to allow his giant frame to pass through before shutting it behind him.
I hadn’t answered his question, not with words. Instead, I watched his long stride carry him to the chair in front of me where he sat his big ass without invitation.
“Well?”
“Not really, I mean it was sweet, but we didn’t take her seriously. She has nothing to worry about. So what’d you need?”
“Why didn’t you take her seriously?” Offended, he straightened his spine and sat taller. Everything about Dan was large—he was football-player size, and I don’t mean college. He ate his Wheaties growing up, preparing for the NFL. He was a tank…who never played football.
I went back to trying to decipher the numbers on the page as I carried on idle chit chat with my best friend. “Annie’s best friends didn’t even offer to be a surrogate. That’s a huge thing to do for someone you barely know.”
The low growl that came from across my desk was not a good sound. Hesitantly, I met Dan’s glare.
“Dude, don’t get pissed. She’s a great girl, we love her, but this is a baby we’re talking about. Nine months is a long time to hold someone’s body captive while we incubate our seed. Don’t you think?” The pen made a thud on the paper when I dropped it on the desk.
Apparently, this was more serious to Dan than I understood. If he wanted to have this conversation, we certainly could, but he wouldn’t like my response.
“So, it’s not that you guys don’t want to, it’s that you don’t want to inconvenience her?”
“Dan, you’re my best friend. I love you like a brother, and for that reason, I’m going to be honest with you. I’m flattered she offered, it was very kind, but you don’t have the best track record for keeping women around. What happens when you break up with her, and she’s carrying our child? Do you think once she has our baby after carrying it for nine months that Annie is just going to give her the boot from the baby’s life? Even worse, what if something happens to Lissa during delivery? You’re not thinking through all the implications here, Dan. All you’re seeing is that your girlfriend made an incredibly kind gesture to two people you love.” My arms crossed over my chest, and I leaned back in my chair to wait for his response.
“You know she’s different, so let’s just call that bullshit. Secondly, it wasn’t just a kind gesture—she’s dead serious. She wants to do this for you guys. The shit Annie told her that night we went out for pizza hit her hard. I knew about the crap she endured dating Gray, but I had no idea they had lost a baby or about the guy she dated in high school. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s not my story to tell. Annie doesn’t open up about any of that. I was surprised she did then, but I figured if she was sharing, she needed to.”
“She deserves something good, Brett. That woman has been through far too much to have this happen, too. Fuck, she not only dated Gray but ended up married to you. It’s like God hates her.” He tried to lighten the mood, but I knew what he
meant.
Annie did deserve something good. I wanted her to be happy. I’d kill to be able to give her this.
“How can you not at least consider it, Brett? Lissa and I have spent days talking about all of it. What it would mean for her. What it would mean for us. But most importantly what it would mean for you and Annie. She wants to do this. Legit wants to.”
“Why do you want her to do it, Dan? And what are you going to tell people about your girlfriend being pregnant and it not being your baby?”
“First and foremost, she wants to do it because she loves Annie, so I’m in support of that because I love Lissa, and I love Annie. But mostly, before any of those reasons, I watched you cry in the hospital. I heard your voice on the phone the morning she miscarried. I want it for you—because you want it. And if anyone is brave enough to ask me about my girlfriend being pregnant and it not being my baby, I’ll be happy to tell them how fucking proud I am to have a woman on my arm who cared more about our best friends than she did their snotty opinion.”
He was proud of himself. Dan was sold on this and wouldn’t let up until I bought what he was pushing. “And if you guys break up?”
“Status quo, man. I get shit would change, and Lissa would be in Annie’s life. I couldn’t fault you guys for that…but shit isn’t going to change.”
“Dan, you can’t be sure of that unless you somehow manage to get her to agree to marry your ugly ass. Then she’d be legally bound to you. Poor thing.”
“Would that change your mind? Make you consider it?” He leaned with his forearms on his thighs…as if getting closer would give him insight I hadn’t shared.
“No, dumbass. I don’t want you to get married so Lissa can be our surrogate. Are you insane?”
“Promise me you’ll talk to Annie tonight?”
“I can talk ’til I’m blue in the face, Dan. But I don’t expect it to change anything.”
“Sweetheart?” I called as I closed the front door.
Her car was here, but that hadn’t meant much recently. She and Lissa were virtually inseparable and were always doing something together. Dan had been hounding me for days to talk to her. I was afraid if I didn’t do it soon, he’d show up with Lissa and corner her himself. His determination had caught me off guard. Dan hadn’t let up, and he’d brought Lissa in for reinforcement. I’d gotten emails and texts from her asking if Annie had reconsidered. She’d even had Dan transfer her to my extension two days ago in an attempt to convince me how important this was to her.
But I couldn’t figure out why.
I knew she and Annie were close, they spent tons of time together, but realistically, they’d only known each other a little over six months. Annie had friends she’d known for decades who didn’t even know about the second miscarriage, much less offer to carry her child for her. Yet here Lissa was, offering herself to us as a sacrifice. She loved Dan, and I wondered how much of this was to please him and possibly coax a ring and a commitment out of the man. It was pretty hard to walk away from the woman who helped your best friend start his family—selflessly. Then I thought about the fact that she didn’t hesitate at dinner that night to offer us a solution. She didn’t look to Dan for approval or hell, even to discuss it with him. It came out of her mouth without thought.
I’d gone back and forth on the whys, the should we, but couldn’t convince myself that if she was willing to sign the paperwork, how this could not be a good thing. She was legitimate—so it seemed. I wanted to believe her. This was the universe giving us the upper hand, and I needed that to be true. But first, I had to convince Annie.
“I’m in the kitchen.” Her sweet voice rang out in the house.
The rest of the world seemed eerily quiet as though it were waiting on Annie’s answer with as much anticipation as I was. The birds weren’t chirping, no cars passed by outside, sound ceased to exist, with the exception of her voice.
“How was your day?” She continued to speak loudly enough for me to hear as I set my stuff down and made my way to her.
Coming up behind her at the sink, I cupped her hips in my hands and kissed her exposed neck. She quit peeling carrots and closed her eyes to enjoy the sensation of my lips on her skin. Her eyes closed in peaceful acceptance of the adoration I offered, and she leaned back into my chest.
I finally came up for air before we ended up naked in the kitchen.
“That was quite the hello. You must have had a good day.”
Annie would never get that coming home to her was the greatest gift I’d ever gotten, and I got to open it daily. “Mmm,” I murmured onto her pebbled skin. “It’s fantastic now that I’m home.”
“Okay, what do you want?” She turned in my arms questioning my motivation.
“Why do I have to want anything to show my wife how much I love her?”
Her stare didn’t waver. She just waited for me to answer.
I pulled back but kept my hands on her hips. I hadn’t wanted to have this conversation standing up, but I’d work with what I had. “Dan came by my office today.”
“Oh, is it unusual for a manager you work with to stop by?” The corners of her mouth teased me with a hint of a smile.
I ignored her sassy mouth and kept talking. “It’s unusual for Dan to come by every day to spend hours talking about his girlfriend carrying our baby for us.” I waited for her to respond, shut down the conversation, something other than watch my eyes. “Lissa really wants to do this for us.”
There was an innocence in Annie’s eyes when her mind was calm; somehow they seemed younger, rounder, larger—childlike. Her whiskey-colored irises were hypnotizing as she stared up at me in wonder. I rarely caught sight of that look but wished I could bottle it up to savor. She looked at me that same way the first time I told her I loved her, when we said our vows, and anytime she tried to comfort me.
“I know.” The sarcastic tone was gone, and her voice was soft and warm.
“Did Dan call you?” I loved him, but I would wring his neck if he’d reached out to Annie after I’d asked him not to.
“No. Lissa has been talking about it daily since we went for pizza that night. I wasn’t sure you would be interested in hearing anything she had to say, so I’ve just kept it to myself. I didn’t realize she had Dan working you.” A gentle smile pulled her cheeks, and her eyes sparkled in the sunshine streaming through the kitchen window.
“What did Lissa have to say?” I couldn’t tell if Annie was leaning toward wanting to consider this option or if she was humoring her friend. I had to tread lightly not to sway her opinion before she’d actually shared it with me.
Annie moved away and opted to lift herself onto the counter, her legs dangling in front of her. I backed up to the counter opposite her, putting my hands on the edge behind me.
“She’s just been trying to encourage me to see her as an option. Every reason I’ve given for her not doing it she has refuted.”
“So is this something you seriously want to consider?” I was shocked. She hadn’t mentioned it since that day in the car, and after she’d gotten rip-roaring drunk that night and again the next day, I hadn’t wanted to bring it up.
Her shoulders went up just slightly, and her gaze cast down toward the floor. At that moment, I realized, she didn’t feel like someone should want to do this for her. It was a huge sacrifice, and she didn’t think she deserved it.
“Sweetheart, look at me.”
Slowly she raised her head and then her stare. My wife’s eyes filled with unshed tears. I pushed off the counter to cup her face in my hands. “She loves you, Annie. She wants to do this.”
“But why? Friends I’ve had for years haven’t offered. Why Lissa?” The first tear fell when her voice cracked.
“Your other friends not offering doesn’t mean they don’t love you, Annie. Most women wouldn’t be able to carry a baby knowing at the end they had to give it away. Adoption is an incredibly hard choice for even the most willing of birth mothers. Plus, your friends either w
ant kids of their own, or they aren’t willing to stop smoking pot long enough.” I gave her half a grin to show I was playing with her. I loved Jenny, and Annie knew I did. She was good to my wife, and that was all I cared about.
“I’ve told myself all those same things. But it still doesn’t answer the why with Lissa.”
“Have you asked her?”
“Yeah, and her response is really simple. She wanted to know what being pregnant was like but didn’t want the responsibility of a baby afterward. She doesn’t want children.”
“Do you not believe her?”
“No, I do. It just seems too perfect. Nothing works like that in my life. Everything is always broken and a struggle.”
“Well, this won’t be perfect. You will have to deal with the lack of control you have over someone else’s body carrying your child. You can’t micromanage her life while she’s pregnant.”
Annie scowled at me. I was teasing her, but there was truth behind my statement. I knew my wife—she would be so concerned something would happen to the baby she would hover over Lissa if I didn’t keep close tabs on her. The last thing I wanted to happen was their friendship to end in destruction. This meant too much to us as a couple, and Lissa meant too much to Annie as a friend. I didn’t even want to think about how Dan would be implicated.
“I’m not a control freak, Brett. I don’t care what other people do. You know why I’m diligent in my own life.”
She was right; she was regimented in her daily life because she needed that to keep the darkness away. But I thought she might be a tad naïve to think she wouldn’t be that way with the woman carrying our child. Every part of me told me Annie would be a protective mama bear…even before the baby arrived.
We stayed in the kitchen long past the sun setting, talking through the possibilities and problems that might arise if we proceeded. We agreed Lissa needed her own attorney to go over any legal documents we needed signed after ours drew up the paperwork. Annie ordered Chinese takeout, and we made the most monumental decision in our lives to take Lissa up on her offer, over egg rolls and Kung Pao chicken. My wife did her best thinking with Asian food in front of her.
Freed (Bound Duet Book 2) Page 18
