Admit You Miss Me: A Surrogate Pregnancy Romance (Irresistible Billionaires Book 1)

by Ajme Williams

  “Are you telling me you would rather be working than doing anything, literally anything else? Because that's what I'm offering.”

  “Isn’t your family like royalty or something? You don't have to work for your money. Frankly, it’s useless trying to explain this to you because you couldn’t possibly understand.”

  I enjoyed her ribbing even though she was refusing to listen to me. “We're not talking about me, we're talking about you. We're talking about how you are overworked, stressed, exhausted, and still about to go clock in.”

  She got up and walked over to me. “Thank you for looking out for me Charlie, but in this case, you don't need to.” She kissed me on the cheek and walked out of the room. I followed her down the stairs. She had to head to work, but I wasn't going to the office until much later in the day.

  “At least have breakfast before you go,” I said to her.

  “So this is the reason why you wanted me to live with you.” She walked into the kitchen. She was totally planning on just heading to work. I knew it. She needed to quit. It wasn't that I wasn't comfortable with her having a job. If she really enjoyed working, like she said she did, then I wanted her to do the things that she enjoyed. This particular job, however, seemed like one she could do without. From what she had told me, she had been working for her current employer for years and had barely seen an increase in her pay. She worked way too hard for the amount of money she was making and the role she was employed in. I wanted her to work if that was what she wanted to do but I wanted her to have a kind of job that deserved her labor.

  Jerry, as usual, had cooked up a whole spread. I watched the two of them make conversation as she split a bagel and smeared it with cream cheese, then wrapped it in a napkin so she could eat it on the way to work.

  “I wish you would sit down and have breakfast like a normal person,” I said to her.

  “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today,” she said taking a bite out of the bagel.

  “Just listen to me sometimes and we won't have this problem anymore.” She thanked Jerry, then came up and kissed me.

  “I'll see you when I get home.”

  I sat down at the table in the kitchen. The spread looked delicious, and of course, it would be but I wasn't really hungry. I realized that it was just me being selfish, but I hated it when Brenna wouldn't let me help her. All I wanted to do was make her as comfortable as possible, but she wouldn't let me.

  Look at that, the woman your mother picked would have let you rearrange the order of her life with no complaints. She’d happily become the kept woman of your dreams. You went and picked a girl who didn't let people walk over her.

  I loved that about her, but sometimes, like now, when she was basically running on fumes, I wished that she would let me shoulder some of her responsibilities and rest. I wished she would just take three days to do nothing but take care of herself. If she said she could do it though, then she could do it. She knew that better than I did.

  It was my turn to work however and I couldn't do it. From the minute I sat down in my home office, to the time I gave up and decided to go to my other office, I barely got anything done. Working away from home was marginally more successful. I stared at the screen of my computer until it went dark, then I woke it up and started the process all over again.

  I couldn't stop thinking about Brenna. I missed her. I wanted to know how she was and I knew that texting her would be useless because she was working. I couldn't hold her diligence and work ethic against her, that was just selfish. I wanted her near me, was that such a crime?

  If she didn’t feel the same way, yeah, it was.

  Hey babe, how about you quit your job so that you can spend more time with me? I could see myself asking it, and her immediately shooting it down. She liked to work. She didn't say it, but I felt like in addition to enjoying her work, she felt like she needed the money.

  Then what if she worked for me?

  Of course. That was perfect. If we worked together, we would spend the whole day together by default. Not only that. She could take as much maternity leave as she wanted. She had gone to school for accounting, but I knew her skills were so much wider than that. She was a good worker, clearly from how she insisted on working even when she could justifiably take time off. Would she go for it?

  Either she would laugh in my face, or she would think it was a good idea. At this point in the relationship I had seen both reactions from her, so neither was going to surprise me. I'd ask her tonight. With something to look forward to, the rest of the day flew past. I got home before her. I was planning on asking her during dinner. I waited a while. Then kept waiting. Then kept waiting some more after that.

  She texted me before my mind started wandering to everything that could have happened to her.

  Working late. Project w/boss. Trying to get a raise.

  I cursed out loud. She didn’t need to get a fucking raise. She didn’t need to work overtime to make more money. Money was no longer…

  It was fine. At least I knew where she was now. It was almost dinner though. She was going to miss it. I went to the kitchen and asked Jerry to pack me a box for her. She wouldn’t stop to eat on her own, this way I could make sure she wasn’t going hungry. Barry drove me to her office. I had never seen where she worked before. From time to time, I realized how much there was left to learn about Brenna even though I felt like we were so close.

  Good thing neither of us was going anywhere.

  I walked into the office and found it predictably empty. I had no idea which one of the desks was hers. After walking around for a short while and failing to find her, I took my phone out to text her. I noticed a light under a closed door. I walked up to it, listening for voices.

  “I know what I signed up for, Mr. Jackson,” I heard a woman say. The second voice was muffled but it sounded like I belonged to a man. The woman was Brenna. I heard that voice so often, even in my dreams; I knew her voice when I heard it.

  “Yes. To look over projections, not to get manhandled,” she said. I dropped the box. The bottom shattered and the lid popped off. Food spilled all over the floor. I charged into the room, flinging the door open. Brenna was backed into one corner, looming over her was a man, slim built but taller than her with one of his arms on the wall blocking her from getting past him.

  I ran into the room and grabbed him, pulling him back. He wasn’t expecting it so he jerked back, flailing. I wrestled him to the ground and got on top of him. I heard Brenna’s voice like she was a mile away when my fist connected with the guy’s jaw.

  “Charlie! What are you doing? He’s my boss!”

  I grabbed him by the collar and shook him so he looked at me. Terror, confusion… annoyance? He had the nerve to be pissed off when I had walked in on him harassing my pregnant girlfriend?

  “Consider this Brenna Andrews’ official resignation.” His nose crunched under my fist again. Brenna grabbed the back of my jacket, pulling me away from him.

  “I swear to god, Charlie, he’s going to call security, get off of him.”

  I let her pull me off the guy. She tried to herd me out of the office, almost dragging me away, back to her desk to get her purse and to the elevator to get out of there. I had a lot of fight left in me yet. The guy on the floor wouldn’t be able to walk out of here if I had it my way. I was fuming. What the hell would have happened if I hadn’t shown up when I had? The elevator doors slid shut.

  Brenna sputtered and started laughing. I stared at her.

  “What? What’s so funny?”

  She was gasping, clutching her chest. “Consider this Brenna Andrews’ official resignation,” she said, repeating the line I fed to her boss. I felt some of the heat come off of me. My hands and shoulders started to relax. I reached for her, hugging her to my chest.

  “You’re insane, you know that?” she said, looking up at me. I cupped her face and kissed her.

  “You enjoy your work? You like coming here to deal with this man trying t
o feel you up?”

  “He didn’t feel me up. Well, there was that one time… but that’s beside the point. I could have handled it myself.”

  “Which one time?” I asked.

  She sighed. “This is why I didn’t say anything.”

  “If your boss was harassing you, I wanted to know.”

  “You came in right before I kneed him in the nuts. That was his last warning.”

  I squeezed her, kissing her head. “That’s my girl.”

  We left the office and went down to the limo. She didn’t need me tonight but I liked being there for her. It was my job. I was supposed to protect her. I wanted to do it.

  “I hated that by the way,” I said.

  “What?” she asked. We were sitting close together, her head resting on my chest and my hand in her hair.

  “I hated seeing another man touching you,” I said.

  “He didn’t actually touch me. You knocked him out before he could.”

  “Still,” I said.

  “Sorry, I can’t wear a sticker on my forehead that says ‘property of Charles Hampton’.”

  “I like the sound of that,” I said, laughing.

  “Of course, you do,” she said, looking up at me. I kissed her. I meant what I said. I didn’t want another man touching her, let alone her slimy boss who wanted her to do stuff above her pay grade. I gripped the back of her neck as we kissed. We kept the screen up more than we kept it down these days, you know, just in case.

  She pulled away and straddled me, kissing me hungrily. I ran my hands up her thighs and hips. Her body was made for sin. I sunk my hands into her ample curves as she ground her hips into me. I was hard and getting harder by the second.

  The limo lurched to a stop and we both almost fell over. I helped her out of the car and followed her out.

  “Plans for tonight?” Brenna asked as I unlocked the door. I cupped her ass in my hand.

  “Just one.”

  We tumbled into the house. I slammed the door shut, then grabbed Brenna. She giggled as our lips came together again.

  “Aren’t you at least going to offer me something to drink first?” she asked. She yelped as I scooped her up and sat her on a table with a vase on it. The vase fell and crashed to the ground.

  “Charlie!” she said.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll buy another one.”

  She laughed as I pulled her underwear off and got my cock out. I didn’t need anymore convincing, I was rock hard. I pressed up against Brenna, holding her legs apart. She guided my cock to her lips. I shuddered sliding into her. She was heaven. Her body was heavenly, perfect in every way. I would kill a man who stood in between me and her.

  We went at it. We were rabid, starving wild animals. The table rhythmically knocked the wall with my thrusts. Brenna buried her face in my neck, moaning softly. Yeah, I’d definitely kill a man to be able to do this. I’d kill a thousand men to be able to do this.

  26

  Brenna

  “Charlie…”

  I couldn’t think or speak when we were like that. All I could do was feel. It really shouldn’t have but that little spectacle at the office had turned me on. I would never tell him because I didn’t condone violence, but it turned me on the way he protected what was his when he thought it was under attack.

  Me. I was his. He was mine. It was instantaneous. My orgasm surged through me so hard I almost choked. I thought I was going to die. That was impossible because being with him was my idea of heaven. I waited as he climaxed, pumping into me.

  I panted with my arms around him. He had gripped my hips as we were having sex and was finally letting go. His hands softened and came up to my waist.

  “Are you-”

  The doorbell cut him off. I snapped out of it immediately. We walked in and didn’t even make it to the bedroom. Not even the living room where we could have had a little cover. The worst thing that could have happened, happened. The front door opened.

  I heard a woman gasp. I was mostly covered by Charlie’s body and we were both still fully dressed, save for my underwear on the floor. I peeked over his shoulder.

  Today just wasn’t my day, was it?

  “Charles Hampton… what in the name of god do you think you’re doing?”

  Veronica Hampton, mouth wide open, white as a ghost was standing in the doorway. How could my luck get worse? It couldn’t, not unless she suddenly announced that Charles and I were related.

  Ew. I slid back on the table so my back hit the wall and Charlie’s soft dick slid out of me. He sighed and tucked himself back into his pants before turning around.

  “Mum, I swear to god, get the fuck out of my house.” He could have slapped her across the face, she looked so shocked.

  “Who do you think you’re speaking to that way,” she said indignantly.

  “It's one thing that you keep showing up here unannounced, mother. I've almost given up on telling you to stop but I’m drawing the line at you letting yourself in.”

  “Then you should have locked the damn door. Who is that you’re with?” she asked. Uh-oh.

  She gasped. “You!”

  The jig was up.

  I slid off the table, fixing my clothes so I didn’t flash her. I didn’t expect that to be the way Veronica Hampton and I reunited. I could have done with an informal coffee together or something, just anything that wasn’t this. I felt sick, embarrassed, small, stupid and even a little ashamed. There was no way in hell that I could let her know how much I wanted to drop dead right then. I cleared my throat.

  “Veronica. Pleasure seeing you again,” I said; the most shameless lie I had ever told in my life. The woman looked disgusted to see me and the feeling was mutual. Charlie was baffled, looking between the two of us waiting for it to make sense.

  “I certainly can't say the same,” she said. Oh yeah, me neither but while she was an unabashed bitch, I had the manners to conduct myself honorably even with people I didn’t care for.

  “Pity,” I said under my breath.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Charlie asked.

  “I remember you… it is you,” Veronica said. “You have some nerve involving yourself with my son again. Didn’t you learn your lesson the last time?”

  “What last time?” Charlie asked. He looked at me.

  “Your little summer jaunt in California. She worked on the beach selling peanuts or something,” his mother said. I worked the beach shack, she wasn’t all the way wrong but we didn’t sell peanuts. Nice to know that in her old age, her memory was at least kind of still intact. Charlie turned to me.

  “You’ve met my mother before?”

  Unfortunately. Why didn’t she tell him? Did he really not know about the showdown that had scarred me to this day?

  I didn’t want to do this again. The feelings from that day flooded back. Feeling under attack by a woman much older and richer than me who made me feel like a piece of dog shit on the bottom of her designer stiletto.

  “Ask your mother,” I said to him. He did whatever she said after all. She had walked in at just the right moment to convince him never to see me again. It would be just like the charity ball or whatever that thing was where he met Elizabeth Thomas. For someone so rich and powerful, he really wasn’t hard to sway, at least not when his mother was concerned. I left the room as he rounded on her for the interrogation. Good luck to them. I didn’t need to be there for this one. I didn’t even want to eavesdrop.

  I went through to the kitchen instead of heading upstairs. There was an exit that led out to the back of the house. We were done done. It had been nice while it lasted. So much for this meaning anything or lasting or even being possible. Why the hell had I believed that? With the history that we had, why had I ever thought that we could have had something now? Those weeks with Charlie in the past were paradise, I thought we were back there again, but it was impossible. Those days were done. They were dead.

  27

  Charles

  “What is she
talking about mother?” I looked back over my shoulder for Brenna but she was gone. I wanted to go after her to make sure she was okay but she wasn’t going to tell me what was going on. I turned back to my mother.

  “I don’t have time for this, Charles.”

  Oh, she barges into my house and suddenly when things get a little dicey she doesn’t want to talk anymore?

  “You’ve met Brenna before. When?”

  She pursed her lips and fingered her hair, looking awkward and uncomfortable. I almost never saw my mother like that. Usually, she was the most composed person in the room, whether it was an act or it was authentic. Something about Brenna totally knocked her off balance.

  “The summer you spent in California. I was at the beach house and suddenly this… this girl walks in. This fat little thing who said she was your girlfriend.”

  “Don’t talk about Brenna like that,” I snapped.

  “Oh please. Her tongue is plenty sharp. She doesn’t need you defending her.”

  “She’s my girlfriend and you won’t disrespect her in my presence.”

  “Girlfriend.” She scoffed. “That was what she said last time and I still don’t believe her. I don’t believe you either.”

  I remembered my mother visiting that summer. I was certain that she had had me microchipped like a dog or something. How the hell else would she have been able to find me? I had told no one that I was going to Dana Point. I thought I had gotten away when my aunt and uncle, Niall’s parents let me use their beach house.

  She had shown up to collect me and bring me back to New York, literally. She had a roster of women for me to make my way through in order to make one of them my bride. I told her back then that I had a girlfriend but she laughed in my face. A summer fling wasn’t the same thing as an engagement and she’d be waiting for me to finally come to my senses. I tried to tell her that Brenna was more than a summer fling but she didn’t want to hear it.

  “It was true then and it’s true now.”