by Mia Caldwell
I nodded, understanding exactly where he was coming from. I’d outlined my own professional and financial goals in a five year plan. However, the NKL job falling through had set me back a bit.
Andrew ran a hand through his hair. “By focusing solely on my work, my personal life has suffered. I honestly thought I’d be married and have a family by now. For some reason, I thought achieving success in the professional realm would be far harder than in the personal, but I know now I was wrong.”
It took all of my control not to raise my eyebrows in skepticism. Andrew Rutledge was handsome, wealthy, and from what I could tell in the brief time we’d been together, had a nice personality. Most women would be grateful for a guy who had even one of those qualities, and would think they’d hit the jackpot if the guy had two of them. Since Andrew had all three, he had to have been chasing women off with a stick.
He must have sensed my doubts because he said, “I’m not saying there haven’t been plenty of opportunities for me to date. There have been several women in and out of my life over the last few years, but each relationship ended for one reason or another. Yet, while I haven’t been able to find a wife, my desire to start a family is as strong as ever.”
Such personal confessions began to make me uneasy. While I sympathized with him not being able to find Mrs. Right, I wondered what this had to do with me.
Andrew shifted in his seat, leaning forward with an earnest expression. “I learned from the report I had prepared on you that a job offer you’d accepted had been rescinded and that you’re now looking for other work.”
“Suspended, not rescinded,” I said, not sure why it felt so important to distinguish between the two.
“But you are looking for work?” After I nodded, he asked, “Has anything some through for you yet? Anything look promising?”
I shook my head, but I got the feeling he already knew the answer. “Well, Ryanna, I’d like to make you an offer of sorts.”
Finally! I almost let out a sigh of relief, glad he was at last getting to the point of this meeting. Still, I wanted to play it cool. “I don’t know much about electronics, but I’d be happy to be part of your company.”
His smile stiffened a little. “My offer doesn’t have anything to do with Rutledge Electronics. My offer has more to do with my personal life than my professional one.”
My confusion must have shown on my face because he said, “I’m really botching this, I’m sorry. I don’t know a graceful way to ask you this so I’ll just say it straight out.
“As I said before, I want to start a family, even though I haven’t found the woman I want to marry. Given everything I’ve found in your background, including your intelligence and clean record, you’d be the perfect mother for my child.”
I stared into his clear green eyes, unsure that I’d really heard what I thought I did. “I’m sorry, did you say─”
“The mother of my child,” he finished. “I realize how odd this sounds, and how foolish I must look, but let me explain.”
I held my hand up before he could go any further. “No need, you already have. You want a family, but can’t find a wife. The surrogate route is probably the right one for you, but I’m not the right candidate.”
I moved to stand up, ready to get away and put this bizarre meeting behind me as quickly as I could, when his voice stopped me. “Three million,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll pay you three million dollars if you’ll have my child. You’ll receive one million dollars upon the signing of an agreement committing to attempting to conceive a child for at least a twelve month duration. Another million will be paid once the child is conceived and your pregnancy is confirmed. You’ll receive the final million once the child is born.”
I slumped down into the sofa, more stunned than ever. I’d thought I’d arrived in the big leagues once I saw the starting salary in my offer from NKL. Maybe not a member of the one-percent, but definitely a ten- or fifteen-percenter. However, that salary, which seemed like a ton of money only a few weeks ago, was only a tiny fraction of the amount Andrew quoted.
“I take it you’re interested in the offer?” he asked, with more than a hint of knowing satisfaction in his voice.
A moral, ethical person probably would have told him that their body wasn’t for sale at any price and left the office in a huff. Yet, I remained seated there in Andrew’s enormous office, rooted in place by the idea of making three million dollars in as little as nine months.
“I’m interested,” I said carefully. “But I have some questions. How would we conceive the baby? Artificial insemination or in vitro?”
Andrew’s eyes darkened. “Neither, I’m afraid. As the CEO of a publicly traded company, I can’t risk the scandal that would ensue if word of our arrangement leaked.”
“But don’t fertility clinics have to follow the same rules of confidentiality that patients and doctors have in the hospital?”
“They are supposed to, but given my high profile, I can’t risk it. I know how unorthodox my proposal is and how many people would disapprove of it. There are several board members of my company who would love to force me out. The revelation of our arrangement would cause a scandal that would give them the ammunition they need. No, this child will have to be conceived organically, with no clinic or test tubes involved.”
I had a feeling he’d say that. But on the other hand, sleeping with Andrew Rutledge wouldn’t exactly be a hardship. Ever since I pulled him out of harm’s way on that Center City sidewalk, I’d been attracted to him. The expensive, exquisitely tailored suit he wore didn’t conceal the impressive, muscular physique that lay underneath it. And if he brought to the bedroom even half of the intensity with which he spoke about wanting a family, making a baby wouldn’t be that unpleasant at all. It might even be fun.
Images of hot sex aside, thoughts of what would happen afterwards made me turn serious again. “After the baby is born, will I be able to see him or her?”
“Of course.” Andrew grasped my hand and squeezed. “You can be involved as much or as little in our child’s life as you want. All I ask is that whatever you decide, it is done on a consistent basis. My own father was only in my life sporadically when I was a child. I don’t want that kind of instability for my child.”
“I don’t either.” To emphasize the point, I squeezed his hand just as hard as he’d squeezed mine before letting it go. “My parents divorced when I was seven, but I saw my father regularly even though my mother had custody. I know people say all children should grow up in a two parent home. However, I’m proof that children turn out okay even when the parents are no longer together.”
Andrew nodded in agreement. “You have all the qualities I want my child’s mother to have. Does this mean you’ll accept?”
“I don’t know.” I slid my hands away from his. “I didn’t see myself becoming a mother until I was at least in my thirties. Having a baby is a big responsibility that I’m not sure I’m ready for.”
“You won’t be doing this alone. The bulk of the responsibility will be mine. Well, after the baby is born anyway,” he chuckled. “I don’t mean to minimize what you’ll go through during the forty weeks of pregnancy.”
Three million dollars for forty weeks of work. My student loans would be a distant memory after receiving just the first installment. I wouldn’t have to keep stressing out about when NKL would lift the hiring freeze. Hell, if I invested the three million dollars right, I wouldn’t have to worry about working ever again.
But living a life of leisure for the rest of my days didn’t interest me. I loved working as a chemical engineer and hoped I’d eventually find a job that would allow me to do so. Could I do it and be a mother? While there were plenty of single working mothers in the world, this situation somehow seemed different.
I began cracking my knuckles, something I only did when my nerves got the best of me. “You promise I can be in the child’s life. He or she will know I’m the m
other?”
Andrew reached over and covered my jittery hands with his own. “I promise you that our child will know us both as its parents.”
“What if you change your mind, hire a nanny, and kick me to the curb?”
“I wouldn’t do that.” He looked me straight in the eye. “We don’t know each other that well yet, but this arrangement is going to require a great deal of trust on both of our parts. You’ll have to believe I’m doing to do right by you and our child. Just like I’ll have to believe you’ll follow through on your end of the bargain and not take off once you get the first million in your bank account.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” I said, echoing his words. “I won’t lie, I can really used the money you’re going to pay me. However, it’s your child I’m going to conceive and carry. I wouldn’t take him or her away from you, especially knowing how badly you want this.”
“So, we have a deal then?” Andrew stuck out his hand.
“We have a deal,” I told him, shaking his hand and wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into.
CHAPTER THREE
Things moved very quickly after Andrew and I reached our handshake agreement. Within a week, I’d met with his lawyers, signed the contracts, and received the first million dollar payment. I still couldn’t believe I possessed a bank account with that many zeroes.
My first order of business had been to move out and find my own place. But those plans changed after I mentioned to Andrew that I’d have to find a two bedroom apartment so there would be room for a nursery.
“Apartment?” He frowned. “Actually, what I thought we could do for now is to have you stay at my estate outside the city. Living under the same roof would give us a chance to get to know each other better.”
In theory, that sounded like a good idea, but I didn’t want to give up that much of my independence. As if he sensed my hesitation, Andrew added, “The main house on my estate is over twenty thousand square feet. You’ll have your own space, and I won’t intrude on your privacy.”
“Maybe I can take a look around before saying yes or no,” I suggested, and let out a silent sigh of relief when he agreed.
I got Natalie to drive me in her car to Andrew’s place. He had to give us specific instructions to put into the GPS, or otherwise we never would have found it. While only about ten minutes outside of Philadelphia, it seemed like Natalie and I had entered another world as we drove up the long, winding tree strewn road on his property.
After driving for what must have been miles and miles, we came across a small wooden shack painted white and trimmed in green. A man in a security uniform signaled for us to stop. “What the hell?” Natalie asked after he took our ID’s and disappeared back into the shack.
“When you’re a billionaire, you can’t be too careful, I guess,” I told her, though the unfamiliar surroundings and mean looking security guard unnerved me too.
“You sure you want to go through with this, Ry?” she said, the first time she’d voiced any doubts about this scheme. I’d signed a nondisclosure agreement agreeing not to tell anyone about any part of our arrangement. However, Andrew had given me special permission to talk to Natalie about it.
“She was there when we met and she knows that you followed up with me afterwards,” I’d told him after he initially expressed his fears that Natalie would run to the press if I confided in her. “If I suddenly show up pregnant, it won’t be that hard for her to put two and two together. Besides, I can’t imagine going through nine months of pregnancy without my best friend’s support.”
Natalie had been stunned when I first told her how the meeting with Andrew had gone and what he wanted me to do. But she quickly got over the shock and encouraged me to accept the proposal. “Three million dollars for one pregnancy? You’d be a fool to turn that down.”
Yet, she didn’t sound quite as excited now, as the security guard returned our ID’s and we started driving again. “It’s so isolated out here, Ry. Why can’t you continue to live in the city?”
“Andrew wants us to live together while we conceive and during my pregnancy. This way, we can get to know each other and bond before the baby is born.”
“Sounds like he’s trying to control you.”
I opened my mouth to disagree with her, but a gorgeous, three story Georgian mansion suddenly came into view and I forgot what I’d been about to say. As Natalie drove around the circular driveway, Andrew opened the door and exited the house before the car had even come to a complete stop.
“You made it!” He beamed as I climbed out of the car. “Owen let me know you were on the way.”
“Yes, we followed your directions and ─” Andrew wrapped his arms around me in a big bear hug that drowned out the rest of what I had to say. The warmth of his embrace felt nice and temporarily silenced the growing chorus of doubts that had begun to echo in my head.
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and whispered, “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” I said, meaning it. Being in his arms filled me with a certainty I couldn’t explain, except that I knew everything would be all right as long as we were together.
I’d almost forgotten Natalie was there until she cleared her throat, reminding me of her presence. I reluctantly disengaged from Andrew’s embrace and said, “This is my best friend, Natalie. She was there the day we met, but you probably don’t remember her.”
Andrew looked apologetic as he walked toward her with his hand extended. “It’s nice to meet you, Natalie. I’m sorry but I don’t remember much about that day except Ryanna and realizing she’d saved my life.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said in a quiet voice, appearing shyer than I’d ever seen her. Normally, Natalie took the attitude of ‘a stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet,’ greeting people with boisterous affection. Now, she acted like I usually did with strangers, shy and withdrawn.
Not that I blamed Natalie. Even without knowing he was a billionaire CEO, Andrew’s height and stunning good looks made him an intimidating presence. As if he realized this, Andrew looked her in the eye and said, “Thank you for bringing Ryanna here today. I know how important you are to her, and that makes you important to me as well.”
Natalie’s face brightened and I breathed a sigh of relief as well, knowing he’d gotten her seal of approval. We all entered the house, which was even more impressive on the inside. The modern, sleek furniture looked like it came straight from the pages of Elle Décor. The liberal and strategic placement of various antiques created a unique atmosphere. While all very beautiful, it didn’t look like a place where I could make myself at home.
Andrew appeared to read my mind, because he said, “These front rooms are where I do most of my entertaining. But come, let me show you where I spend most of my time, where I’m most comfortable.”
We walked along the hallway, passing what felt like at least a dozen more rooms, before we came to a small wood paneled den with exposed beams and a rumpled decor of comfort. “Your man cave?” I asked in a teasing tone.
“Yep.” He collapsed onto a leather couch, and I couldn’t help but notice how toned and muscular his body looked as he sprawled out. “This room is usually off limits to any and everyone. But I wanted to share this with you because I didn’t want you to think those front rooms represented the entire place.”
“That’s good because they weren’t very child friendly,” I said. I’d been doing that more and more, thinking in terms of how something would affect or impact a baby. Andrew and I hadn’t even had sex yet, and I already acted like the baby would be coming any day now.
“Where is Ryanna going to stay?” Natalie asked.
I looked at Andrew, whose lips curled into a mischievous grin. “I thought we’d have some lunch before I showed Ryanna to her wing.”
My wing? Natalie and I exchanged impressed looks. If my “wing” was anything like what I’d seen so far, I’d be living in luxury and splendor for the next few months.
Natalie made an exaggerated show of pulling her phone out of her purse. “Would you look at the time? I have an appointment back in the city, so I’d better get going. It took longer to get out here than I thought it would.”
I knew she was making up an excuse to give me and Andrew privacy. “Oh, come on, Nat, you drove me all this way. The least I owe you is a little lunch.”
“Seriously, Ry, I need to go. Training at the bank has been moved up to next week, and there are a million things I need to do before I start working there.” She hugged me and whispered in my ear, “You’re in good hands. I wouldn’t leave you here if you weren’t.”
I hugged her back, grateful for the encouragement and support. “I’ll talk to you later.”
After Natalie left, Andrew led me to his kitchen, where a chef was putting the finishing touches on our lunch. There were probably some three star Michelin rated restaurants whose kitchens weren’t as big as this one. However, as we sat at a small round table in the kitchen nook, the enormous room became cozy and intimate.
The chef placed the dishes in front of us, roasted slices of prime rib with asparagus, mushrooms, and onions on the side. It smelled delicious and tasted even better. “This is, hands down, one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time,” I said.
“I’ll give Henri your compliments.” Andrew winked. “Since he’s going to be preparing all of the meals while you’re here, I’m glad you like him.”
“With food like this, I’ll probably want to stay here barefoot and pregnant forever.” As soon as I’d uttered the words, I wanted to snatch them back, realizing how crass they sounded. “I’m sorry, Andrew. This isn’t a joking matter. I didn’t mean ─”
He covered my hand with his own to silence me. “Ryanna, it’s okay. Actually, I’m glad you’re showing me your sense of humor. It means you’re feeling more comfortable around me. This is a new situation for the both of us, so a sense of humor will come in handy.”