by Nikki Chase
It’s also a good idea to be generous. Research shows that the idea of reciprocity is sound. If you do someone a favor, they’ll like you and they’ll want to do something nice for you, too.
This means I can essentially buy goodwill. And with the amount of resources at my fingertips, there’s no end to the favors I can do for Kat.
“I’ll give you my answer before the end of the week,” Kat says as she gets up from her chair and starts to make her way to the door.
Not so fast, kitten.
I catch up to her and corner her against the wall. “Didn’t you forget something?”
Kat leans her head back and looks up at me. There’s apprehension in her eyes—I’ll admit this is a highly unusual situation and she has good reason to worry. But there’s something else, too, deep in those moss-colored eyes, so deep most people would miss it.
Lust. Wild, uncontrollable lust. The kind that has been suppressed for so long it would incinerate everything within her reach once it’s let out.
And I can see from the way she gazes at me that she already expects me to be the one to take her inner slut out to play. I can’t wait.
“What is it?” Kat asks. Her lips part, letting her breaths out in shallow little pants.
“I told you I was going to give you a taste of what’s to come.” I put my palms up against the wall, caging her in.
Kat says nothing. She only glances at my hands on either side of her head and swallows as she directs her gaze back to me.
She wants this. I bet it’s not just her face that’s filling with blood. I can almost make out her nipples as the hard little peaks poke through her thin white blouse.
The corners of my lips tug up. “I wasn’t done showing you the benefits of this arrangement.”
I grab her hair in my fist. I swear her eyelids flutter shut and, in a split second, as soon as she opens them again, the hidden lust from before roars to the surface. She just opens up for me—eager, yielding, submissive.
Fuck.
I crush her lips with mine, and I feel her body melt under my touch. She’d spread her toned legs faster than hot butter if I were to take here right here, right now.
But I have to be patient. She might run away if I get too hasty.
This is a game. And I have to play my cards right.
Once, I made the mistake of letting my dick do the thinking for me. But guess what, kitten? I’m in full control now—of both my own desires, and of your delicious little body.
I can’t wait to have more than just a taste. But today’s not the day.
When I pull away and let her go, Kat drifts down the wall for a second before she regains her balance.
That’s right. I bet your legs feel weak now.
She stares at me, wide-eyed and alarmed, as if she has just realized what’s happened.
But she doesn’t waste much time staying confused. She smooths out her blouse and pencil skirt, as well as her hair, which is put up into a neat bun as usual. And my prim-and-proper assistant is back.
Interesting.
“Like I said, I’ll, uh, get in touch before Friday.” She gives me a quick glance, as if afraid of what those pretty eyes would reveal if she lingered.
And then she’s gone.
But only for the week.
I know she’ll be back. And when she comes back, it’ll be as the future mother of my child.
Kat
“You kissed Heath Anders?” Jane almost screams the question.
“Shh…” I put a finger against my lips. I’ve been telling her to quiet down, but she just won’t do it.
We’re in our own living room, but the walls are thin and I know how shocking this news is.
Heath Anders used to be all about working hard and playing hard. And by that I mean there are pictures still circulating today of him snorting some white powder up his nose, with multiple girls hanging on his arms.
But that was the old Heath. He stopped his partying ways when he met the woman who would later become his ex-wife. And after the divorce, he just never got back to his old ways.
People are dying to hear some juicy personal news from Heath Anders. I’m sure there are gossip journalists out there who’d kill to learn about the hot kiss he gave me in his office today.
“He kissed me,” I correct Jane. “I didn’t do anything.”
“And by that you mean you kissed him back, right?” Jane looks at me with so much hope in her hazel eyes you’d think she was waiting to hear me announce her lottery number as the winner of some multi-million jackpot—or, since this is Jane we’re talking about, give her the insider info on the stocks Heath is personally holding.
“Yeah,” I admit.
“I knew it!” Jane exclaims with victory. “I told you he wants that ass.”
I let out a big sigh. I really have no idea how to feel about this whole thing. “I checked my bank account and the money’s already there.”
“Of course it is,” Jane says with the absolute conviction of a true fan. “If Heath Anders says it was going to be there, then it would be there. What, you think he doesn’t have $5,000 to spare? The financial papers say he made, like, seven million dollars on his last transaction.”
“No, I just… I don’t know. I keep thinking this must be just a dream, or a prank, or something… you know? Something other than an actual offer for me to have his baby.”
“I still can’t get over how bold of a move it is,” Jane says with more than just a hint of admiration in her voice. “That’s just like Heath Anders. He’s a ruthless shark.” She sighs with regret. “God, I wish I could tell someone about this.”
“I’ll kill you if you do,” I say quickly before she gets any ideas.
If people find out about this… I don’t even know what that’s going to do to my good name—not that people would remember and recognize my name if the news got out today… but one day, I will be a household name.
“You know, Kat, if this gets on the news, it could be a good thing for your romance career. You want to put your name out there, right?”
“Not like that.”
I’d rather not have a nasty scandal be my claim to fame.
I mean, look at Monica Lewinsky. It’s been more than twenty years since her thing with Bill Clinton, and that’s still the main thing people remember her for. We’re already on our third president since that scandal, for God’s sake.
No, a sex scandal doesn’t go away. And I want to be known for my writing.
Right now, I can’t even get people to read my book, much less like it and become fans of my work. Something’s missing and I know it’s not my writing. If I can just get my foot in the door, I know I can make it.
And then maybe Vera will stop treating me like shit, and maybe my dad will see how much I’ve grown and he’ll want to see me.
One can dream.
It’s been years since I last saw my dad—or my real mom, for that matter. According to Vera, my dad just showed up with me one day and admitted that I was his child with his mistress. I was four.
To her credit, Vera took me in and let me grow up with her kids. I was always aware that I was different—I always had to wash my own dishes and theirs too—but at least I had a home.
When I was fourteen, Dad left and that place stopped becoming a home. It became hell.
Vera blamed me for everything—for my dad’s infidelity, for looking so much like him, and even for the electricity being cut off (even though the whole reason that happened was because she hadn’t worked in months and we had no money in the bank to clear the check I’d mailed on time to the utilities company).
“Are you going to do it?” Jane asks, startling me back into reality.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “If I think about it, it’s not so different from what my mom did with me, right? She gave birth to me, and then gave me to my dad to take care of.”
“Plenty of people become surrogates these days, Kat,” Jane says. “Even Kim and Kanye are hiring
one. It’s getting more and more common.”
“Really? I don’t know anybody doing that.”
“That’s because you don’t have rich friends,” Jane says plainly.
I shrug. That’s true, I guess, and it doesn’t offend me one bit.
Most of my friends make enough to live on. They write for the paper, take photographs for travel magazines, and edit videos for advertising agencies. Those jobs come with a lot of perks, too, on top of the salaries, like free travel or backstage admission at concerts.
But Jane’s friends, who are investment bankers just like her, make the kind of money that would make relatives of the Saudi king jealous. Jane’s just starting out herself, but I have no doubt she’ll start making six figures in no time.
“A few of my colleagues have been talking about doing it. That’s why I know,” Jane says. “It’s a huge topic among the women in my office these days. They want to have families, but they don’t want to sacrifice their careers. Plenty of women have been demoted after taking their maternity leaves. Finance is a cut-throat industry.”
I nod along to Jane’s story. I like how different our worlds are, and I enjoy the occasional glimpse into hers.
“So, for these women, surrogacy is the perfect solution. It’s not cheap. The national average cost for it is between $98,000 and $140,000.” Jane looks right at me. “So that $500,000 Heath offers you is very generous. That’s between three and five times the national average.”
I can always count on Jane to give me the facts and figures.
She gives me an impish grin. “I guess the higher fee is because he wants to do it the old-fashioned way.”
I try to stop my body from reacting, but it’s too late. Before I know it, my whole face is burning. Damn it.
“Ooohhh… Someone’s looking forward to it,” Jane teases me.
“Shut up,” I say. I cup my cheeks with my hands in an attempt to bring the temperature down. I pause to think for a few moments and give Jane a serious look. “You really think I should do it?”
“I don’t see why not.” Jane shrugs. “You’ll get a lot of money. You’ll get a lot of time to write and polish your manuscript. You’ll get a book deal out of it—” Jane holds up her index finger before I can open my mouth “—and don’t even dare say that you may not find anyone to publish you because you will. You absolutely will.”
I stare at Jane. “So you think I should do it?”
“It’s your decision, Kat. If I were you, I’d do it.” Jane giggles. “But let’s be honest here. If I were you, I would’ve jumped his bones for free.”
“It’s about the baby, Jane. Not about the sex,” I say, even though I don’t buy that myself. How can I, when my body still thrums at the thought of the sizzling kiss he gave me at the office today?
“It’s about both, Kat. Face it. He wouldn’t have kissed you otherwise,” Jane insists. “But since you brought it up, I’m sure the baby will be in good care, too. I remember reading some magazine—this was when Heath was still married—about how he was looking forward to building a family.”
I can only nod along. I don’t keep up with updates from the real world because most of the time I’m busy with my own fantasy world.
Luckily, Jane reads everything: gossip tabloids, financial newspapers, political websites, women’s magazines, and even cooking blogs (although she doesn’t even cook). She keeps me up to date with the latest developments in the real world.
Jane continues, “And that’s why Heath stopped partying. He was ready to be a family man. Your baby won’t just grow up with material wealth, but also a good dad who’s present.”
“My baby,” I form the word on my tongue and sound it out.
It’s strange. But I don’t dislike it.
In my mind’s eye, I see tiny little fingers and toes, pink and perfect.
“It’s probably not a good idea to think of it as your baby. It’s Heath’s baby, really.” Jane gives me a stern look. “If you’re going to do this, you need to be careful not to get carried away and start thinking it’s a real relationship or a real family. Your hormones will try to convince you that it’s real, but you can’t listen to them.”
“I know,” I say.
Despite Heath’s obvious interest in my body, he doesn’t seem to expect any kind of personal involvement between us. This is going to be a business arrangement and nothing else.
“So…?” Jane asks, her eyes searching for clues in my face.
“I’ll do it.”
Kat
“I’ve reviewed the contract you sent me, and I only have one thing to ask,” I say.
“Go ahead.” Heath sits back in his chair, looking stately and confident. He knows he’s won.
But it’s okay. I’ve thought this through.
After talking about it with Jane that first night after Heath gave me the offer, the challenge for the rest of the week was to come up with a decision. I went back and forth, but in the end I decided to go for it.
Jane’s right. It’s not like I’ll be exploited. Heath needs me as much as I need him, so we’re helping each other. What’s wrong with that?
This is a one-way ticket to success, which is what I’ve always wanted.
I feel like the experience would bring me closer to my mom, whom I’ve never met. Maybe if I have my own baby and then give it away, I’ll finally understand why she did it.
And… I don’t hold out much hope that this will happen… but I wish my dad would come out of hiding and reach out to me if I’m successful.
I’m concerned about my obvious attraction to Heath.
Obviously, it would be easier to keep things professional if I didn’t soak my panties as soon as he speaks to me in that low, sexy voice. But at the same time, I wouldn’t have even considered accepting this offer if Heath weren’t so irresistibly gorgeous.
Now there’s only one thing to straighten out.
“This is going to be confidential, right? Nobody’s ever going to find out.”
Heath bursts out laughing. “Kitten, that’s the last thing I expected to hear from you, but I’m glad that’s what you’re concerned about.” Heath gives me a reassuring smile. “Believe me, I don’t want anyone to find out about this arrangement either. I think we can both agree that I have more to lose in that scenario than you do.”
He’s right.
I’m a nobody—at least for now. People don’t care about me. They don’t want to read about me in their favorite gossip blogs.
But Heath… Even him going out to buy coffee is newsworthy, judging by the paparazzi who wait just outside the building for Heath to appear every morning.
“So this is never going to get out?” I ask again.
“If you don’t say anything, nobody’s going to find out. Only you know about it, and my lawyer who’s drafted this agreement.” Heath stares at me with his sharp, blue eyes. “Have you told anyone about our arrangement?”
I squirm. I didn’t expect my question to backfire. “I told my roommate, but she won’t tell anyone.”
“That’s what they always say,” Heath says dismissively. “Just so we’re both clear on what to expect, I’ll deny any involvement with you publicly if word ever gets out about this.” He points at me, and then at himself. “I’m sure you understand why, and I recommend that you do the same if the media ever goes after you for confirmation about our association. To everyone else, I’m just your boss and you’re just my personal assistant.”
“I know,” I say curtly. It’s kind of offensive, what he’s saying. He’s implying that I’ll blab to the media about this.
“If you ever mention my name and say that we’re more than that, the deal is off. Even years from now, I’ll come after you with my lawyer if you ever decide to write an exposé about it or something,” he says.
“I don’t even write non-fiction,” I snap.
“Maybe you’ll reconsider. Maybe you’ll think it’s a good way to market your work.” Heath shrugs. “But hey,
no need to get defensive. I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just going through what’s going to happen under certain circumstances. That’s what this contract is about, remember?”
“Yes.” I nod. I should leave my emotions out of this. This is strictly business, I remind myself.
“Good,” Heath says in the kind of voice that sends a thrill straight to my core. He speaks with absolute certainty. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You will report to work in the morning as usual, but you’ll be working inside my office. And as we’ve already discussed, it’ll be a different kind of work.” His smile is calm, but his hungry gaze leaves no doubt as to what he means.
As I nod, I concentrate on ignoring his hot stare and his filthy words. I hate how easily I blush. In a situation like this where I need to put forward a strong front, it’s a big handicap that I need to contain.
“Once you get pregnant, you’ll move into my apartment,” Heath continues. “You’ll go to the doctors’ appointments that will be scheduled for you, and you’ll eat whatever my personal chef cooks for you. I want to make sure you’ll give birth to a healthy baby.”
I listen to Heath’s words, but I already know these things from the contract he sent me. We’re just going through things we already know now.
But I like how thorough he is. It makes me feel like we can actually pull this off. Yes, this may be a crazy plan. But if we cover all the bases, it could work.
“When the baby is born, you’ll continue to live with me to breastfeed the baby. Once he or she is weaned, you’ll go back to your old life—or an improved version of your old life, I should say.” Heath pauses to let his words sink in.
“You’ll have a new job as a romance author, and you’ll be free to plan your days,” he says. “You won’t have to wake up in the morning and get stuck in an office, doing things you don’t care about for eight hours. You can fill your days with activities you enjoy doing.
“Hell, you can just stop working altogether and retire on the money I’ll give you. You can do that if you invest that money well and live simply.
“You know what? That’s probably a good thing to do, no matter what you decide to do. I’ll introduce you to a great financial planner. He’ll help you get things sorted out.”
