by Неизвестный
Haley wasn’t at all surprised that Luke had ordered their dinner without consulting her or the menu. That
was the type of man he was—a take charge kind of guy, who expected everyone to go along with
whatever choices he saw fit to make.
“Did you enjoy your day off?” he asked conversationally, once the young waiter had placed their wine
glasses in front of them, then silently moved away. “Were you able to give a significant amount of
thought to my request?”
Leave it to him to bypass her need to respond to the small talk and get right to the sole reason they were
having dinner together.
“I haven’t been able to think of anything else since you left my apartment yesterday afternoon,” she said
truthfully. “You really gave me a lot to think about.”
“Have you reached a decision?”
She stared at his handsome face as she mentally readied herself to recite the list of demands she’d spent
the day memorizing and knew would have him rescinding his proposition in less than a heartbeat. But
being prepared for what she had to say didn’t make saying it any easier.
“Yesterday, when you asked me to consider doing this for you, I don’t recall you mentioning anything
that would give me an incentive to help you,” she clarified, choosing her words carefully. “What would I
get out of this besides gaining a significant amount of weight and a few stretch marks?”
“After I left your place, I gave that some thought,” he agreed, nodding. “And there’s no question that I
would take care of all medical expenses, as well as give you as much time off from work as you’d like.
With pay, of course.”
He made it sound so simple. Had he even considered the permanent changes her body would undergo or
the possible risks if the pregnancy was problematic? And what about the emotional devastation she
would endure when it came time to give him custody of her child?
“That isn’t nearly enough,” she declared, flatly. “I want more.” She shook her head. “No. That’s not
correct. I want a lot more.”
His eyes narrowed and she could tell that he hadn’t anticipated her rejection. “What exactly is it you
want, Haley?” he finally asked.
“I’m sure it’s a lot more than you’re willing to give,” she stated, taking a sip of wine.
“Name your price and we’ll see.” There was a challenge in his voice, indicating that he was about to go
into serious negotiation mode.
“I never said I wanted money,” she offered, staring at him over the rim of her glass.
He cocked one dark eyebrow. “Then what do you want?”
Haley slowly placed her wine goblet on the table and took a deep breath. She was about to reveal the
hopes and dreams she’d had since childhood to the man she quite possibly loved, then listen to him
reject each and every one of them.
“I don’t expect you to understand how I feel about this, but I’m a traditionalist. When I have a baby, I
have every intention of being a mother to my child. I’m going to be there to get her up each morning and
tuck her into bed each night. I’ll be there to see her first steps and hear her first words.” She had to pause
a moment to keep the emotion out of her voice as she finished. “And every minute of every single day,
my child will have the comfort and security of knowing that she’s loved and cherished by her mother.”
A frown creased his forehead. “Is that it?”
“No.”
“There’s more?” The lines on his brow deepened and the tone of his voice indicated that he thought she
was being extremely unreasonable.
Nodding, she stated the final demand, certain he’d find it completely unacceptable, giving up on her as
his surrogate once and for all. “When I have a child, Luke, I intend for her to have a mother and father
who are equally responsible for raising her, as well as living under the same roof and sharing the same
last name.”
His intense stare was intended to intimidate, but as far as she was concerned, this was one issue that was
nonnegotiable. He might as well get used to that fact.
“In other words, you want to get married,” he said after several uncomfortable moments of silence.
Their waiter chose that moment to bring their salads and she waited for him to leave before she
answered. “When I have a baby, yes, I have every intention of being married and making a stable, loving
home for my child to grow up in.”
“Anything else?”
Shaking her head, she reached for her fork with a trembling hand. “No, I think that just about covers the
subject.”
Silence reigned over the table as they ate and she knew Luke was contemplating ways to change her
mind. But that wasn’t going to happen and the sooner he realized it, the better off they’d both be. Then
they could forget that he’d even brought up the subject and resume being an executive assistant and her
workaholic boss.
“Did you find everything to your satisfaction?” the waiter asked while he removed their plates.
“As always, the meal was excellent,” Luke answered. Turning to her, he inquired, “Would you like
something for dessert, Haley?”
“No, thank you. I’m positively stuffed.” Smiling, she looked up at the server and crossed her fingers
beneath the table for the lie she was about to tell. “Everything was delicious.”
In truth, she couldn’t have said whether they’d had prime rib or a piece of shoe leather. She’d been far
too preoccupied wondering when Luke would tell her that he found her requirements completely
unacceptable and that he was officially deleting her from his short list of surrogacy candidates.
Nodding, Luke handed the waiter a credit card. “I think that will be it for this evening. Have the valet
bring my car around to the front.”
Once Luke had taken care of the check and they walked out of the restaurant, they had very little to say
to each other. The drive home was little better and Haley was more than relieved when he parked the
car, walked her to her door and bid her a very quick, very platonic good-night.
Confident that he’d given up on the idea of her becoming the surrogate for his child, Haley felt her mood
dip into sadness. When she’d told Luke what she wanted, she’d been revealing the dreams she’d carried
for the past five years. And knowing there wasn’t a snowball’s chance on a hot July day that any of them
would come true now, was almost enough to send her running to the freezer for the carton of triple fudge
nut ice cream she kept on hand for just such depressing occasions. Instead, she opted to change into her
nightshirt, pour herself a small glass of white wine and watch the nightly news on television before
turning in for the evening.
But half an hour later, as she crawled beneath the sheets on her bed and reached to turn off her bedside
lamp, the phone rang. The caller ID revealed Luke’s cell number and her heart skittered to a stop.
This is it, she thought, taking a deep fortifying breath. He was calling to tell her that he found her
requirements totally unacceptable and he would be searching elsewhere for his surrogate.
“Hello, Luke.”
“Have you already gone to bed?” His deep baritone sounded so darned smooth and sexy it sent tiny little
shivers straight up her spine.
“Uh…yes, but I hadn’t gone to sleep.”
�
��Good. Get out of bed and get to the front door.”
Her scalp tingled and a wave of goose bumps shimmered over her arms. “Why?”
“Because I’ll be there in about thirty seconds and I want to get this thing settled tonight.”
“Can’t we discuss this over the phone?” she asked, throwing back the covers and scrambling out of bed.
Holding the phone between her shoulder and ear, she frantically searched for her robe. Where on earth
had she put the thing? She rarely wore it because she never had overnight visitors.
“No, I’d rather talk in person,” he said as the doorbell rang. “Now, open the door and let me in, Haley.”
At the sound of him ending the call, she tossed the phone on her bed and, giving up on finding her robe,
pulled her raincoat out of the closet. “All right, I’m coming,” she muttered when the bell rang again.
Shrugging into the coat, she hurried down the hall to the entryway. “Somebody needs to remind Mr.
Luke Garnier that patience is a virtue.”
When she opened the door, Luke walked right in as he’d done the day before. “Are you going out?” he
inquired, turning to eye her coat.
Pushing the door closed, she pulled the coat’s belt tight around her waist. “I couldn’t find my bathrobe
and you wouldn’t stop ringing the doorbell.”
“You don’t keep your robe handy?” he asked as he walked into the living room.
“I live alone and if I want to walk around without a robe, there’s no one here to care,” she replied,
wondering why she bothered to explain herself. It was her business, not his. “Now, what do we need to
discuss that can’t wait until tomorrow morning, Luke? I thought I made my position quite clear at
dinner.”
“You did,” he said, nodding. “And I’ve given it a fair amount of thought.”
She couldn’t tell what he was thinking from his expression, but knowing him, he was there to get her to
come around to his way of thinking. “I’m not changing my mind, Luke.”
“I didn’t think you would.” Staring at her, he took a deep breath.
Here it comes, she thought, anticipating his rejection of her requirements.
“I’ve decided that the terms you laid down tonight are within reason and I’m willing to accept them,” he
stated as if closing a business deal.
Her heart felt as if it lodged in her throat at the same time her knees gave way. Sinking down on the
couch, she could have sworn that the walls started to move in on her.
“W-what did you say?”
“We’ll get married this weekend right after you sign a prenuptial agreement covering the protection of
my assets, shared custody of my heir and a fair settlement for you if and when the marriage ends.”
“But…we…I mean, you—”
“I assume that since you haven’t indicated otherwise, you’ll be in the office tomorrow morning?” he
interrupted.
Unable to find her voice for the second time in as many days, all she could manage was a short nod.
“We can discuss the details and refine our agreement then,” he continued. “Now, get some sleep. We
have a big day ahead of us.”
Haley watched him walk to the door, then close it with a click that seemed to echo throughout the room.
She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak and rational thought was completely out of the question.
What on earth just happened? Had her commitment-phobic boss really just informed her that they would
be getting married for the sole purpose of having a baby? And this weekend, no less?
Knowing that sleep would be out of the question, she took off her raincoat and tossed it on the back of
the couch. As she prowled the room like a caged tiger, she tried to arrange her tangled thoughts into
some semblance of order.
The man of her dreams, the very man who clearly stated he had no time for love and marriage, was
willing to become her husband. And his only purpose for making her his wife wasn’t because he loved
her and wanted to raise a family with her. He was willing to marry her in order to have her bear him an
heir.
She stopped in the middle of the room and barely suppressed a scream. Every one of her dreams was
well on the way to becoming reality and for all the wrong reasons.
She wanted love and all the bonding that went with it. She wanted a lifetime emotional commitment, not
a prenuptial agreement. But to Luke, their union would be just another business arrangement.
As she stood there, she couldn’t help but wonder where her plan had gone wrong. And what had
possessed him to agree to her demands?
But most important of all, how in the name of all that was holy was she going to talk him out of
following through with it?
Three
T he next morning, Luke slid a folder across his desk for Haley’s perusal. “I’ve taken the liberty of
having an attorney who specializes in family law draw up a prenuptial contract for you to sign.”
“How did you manage to get this done so quickly?” she asked, looking a lot like the proverbial deer
caught in the headlights of a car.
“You can get just about anything done in a short amount of time for the right price.” He nodded toward
the document she hadn’t yet touched. “I think you’ll find the agreement spells out what is expected from
both of us when it comes to joint custody and parenting the boy. It also covers what we’ll both keep and
what compensation you’ll receive when the marriage is dissolved.”
She looked a little distressed. “And when will that be?”
“Whenever we both agree that we’d like to move on with our lives.” He shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll know
when the time comes.” Leaning back in his chair, he motioned toward the folder. “Take your time to
read over the contract, then sign it and have it back on my desk by the end of the day.”
“It’s so generous of you to give me an ample amount of time to think over what I’ll be signing,” she
said, her tone sarcastic.
He stated what he saw as obvious. “I don’t intend to drag my feet on getting this finalized. You laid
down the terms, I’ve made the decision to comply with them and we’ll get married on Saturday
morning. But between now and then we have a lot to do.”
“What’s the rush?” she asked, hiding a yawn behind her delicate hand. She looked thoroughly exhausted
and he’d bet his next multimillion-dollar deal that she hadn’t slept a wink the night before. The thought
that she’d soon be in his bed caused his heart to stall and a slow smile to tug at the corners of his mouth.
“Why wait?” he responded, answering her question with one of his own. “I want to get started making
you pregnant as soon as possible.” That instantly brought her fully awake and added quite a bit of color
to her unusually pale cheeks.
“You can’t be serious. We’ll be sleeping together?” She shook her head and the curls brushing her
flawless cheeks fascinated the hell out of him. “I don’t remember you mentioning anything about that
last night.”
He smiled. The idea of waking up with her in his arms each morning was becoming more appealing with
each passing second. “I didn’t think I’d have to. The last I heard, that’s what married people do.”
Her turquoise eyes grew wide. “But the only reason for the marriage is to have a child. I thought we’d be
sleeping in separate rooms and visit a doctor for some kind of medical procedure. That’s what we woul
d
be doing if we weren’t getting married.”
“You assumed wrong.” He couldn’t stop himself from giving her a wicked grin. “I have all of the
required equipment, sweetheart. And let me assure you, everything works just fine. I see no reason for us
to resort to a turkey baster when I’m perfectly capable of taking care of the job myself.”
He almost laughed out loud at the shocked expression crossing her pretty face. “But we barely even
know each other outside of this office. And you’ve made it quite clear that you have no expectations of
the marriage lasting for any length of time after the birth.”
Had he heard a hint of panic in her voice?
Interesting.
“That’s not exactly true. I said we’d know when it was time to move on. That could be a month, a year
or even ten years after the birth before that happens. But that’s not the point,” he said, shaking his head.
“I can’t think of a better way to get acquainted than making love. Besides, if I have to get married to get
the heir I want, you can damned well bet I’m going to enjoy all of the benefits of the marital institution.
And that includes sleeping with you.” Heat began to gather in his lower belly and anticipation filled his
chest. There were definite advantages to meeting her demands.
He didn’t think it was possible, but the blush on her cheeks changed from pink to a deep rose. Was it
possible that Haley found the idea of making love with him less than appealing? Or could it be that she
was a bit more innocent than he’d anticipated?
Deciding to find out, he stood up and rounding the desk, took her by the hand to help her to her feet.
“While you read and sign the prenup, I’ll make the arrangements for our trip to Pigeon Forge,” he said,
taking her into his arms.
“W-what are you doing?”
“Giving the woman I’m going to marry a hug,” he responded, drawing her a bit closer. Holding her to
him increased the heat in his lower body and sent a shaft of excitement straight through him.
At first, she stood stiffly in his arms. “We aren’t going…to be married…here in Nashville?” she asked,
sounding delightfully breathless.
“No.”