THE BILLIONAIRE’S

SURROGATE

A SMALL TOWN BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE

SERIES
LAUREN WOOD
Copyright © 2020 by Lauren Wood
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book
review.
 CONTENTS
Prologue
1. Joey
2. Angel
3. Joey
4. Angel
5. Joey
6. Angel
7. Joey
8. Angel
9. Joey
10. Angel
11. Joey
12. Angel
13. Joey
14. Angel
15. Joey
16. Angel
17. Joey
18. Angel
19. Joey
20. Angel
21. Joey
22. Angel
23. Joey
24. Angel
Epilogue
Knocked Up By The Boss
Chapter 1
Also by Lauren Wood
About the Author
Exclusive Offer
 PROLOGUE

M
y senses went into overload as my eyes slowly
opened. I rapidly took in the throbbing pain in
my head, followed by the realization that I was
not in my own apartment. The silky gray sheets wrapped
around me were much nicer than anything I owned, and the
giant window overlooking my hometown of Cherry Falls next
to the bed was completely foreign from anything that existed
in my tiny efficiency apartment.
I rolled over, trying to remember the events that transpired
the night before. That’s when I felt the slab of warm bare flesh
beside me—one that awakened a renewed surge of arousal. I
looked over slowly, taking in the sight of the delicious body
that rivaled the stunning view of our city.
Joey Williams. It had finally happened. I had finally
landed in bed with Joey Williams, the obsession of all my
fantasies from the moment I first met him at my best friend’s
boutique.
He had olive-toned skin that matched the slight Bronx
accent. He had that whole Italian, bad boy, New Yorker vibe
that was enough to slay any woman. His gym-rat muscular
body certainly helped, with its chiseled curves and a six-pack
unlike anything I had ever seen outside of a magazine or
billboard, much less next to me in bed.
I couldn’t help but smile and let out a quiet squeal under
my breath. He was still sleeping soundly, giving me the chance
to feel around the nightstand for my phone. But it wasn’t there.
I looked around the room, spotting my handbag thrown off
into the corner.
Flashes started coming back to me. I remembered how we
burst into the room with my legs wrapped around his waist,
him effortlessly holding my entire body weight. I didn’t realize
my purse was still draped over my arm until he went to take
off my shirt. It was kind of a miracle that I had managed to
hold onto it for so long since we had been making out with a
passionate fury from the moment we found ourselves alone in
the back of his limo.
I had tossed it into oblivion, not caring at that moment
where it landed. Its contents were scattered across the plush
carpet of his bedroom, and I couldn’t resist taking the risk of
slipping out of bed to creep over and snag my phone. I winced,
trying to be as quiet as humanly possible as I climbed back
into the sheets next to him. Thank goodness that expensive
mattresses rarely creaked or made a peep.
I opened my phone’s camera and snapped a picture of him
sleeping like a baby, making sure to catch the way the light
shone across his bulging muscles in all their glory. Those
arms… Those pecs… I followed each curve right down to the
V-shape beneath his stomach. Everything below that was
covered in the sheet that clung to his hips, which made me feel
a lot less guilty about the picture. Him being shirtless and
sleeping was one thing. I was not about to go so far as to snap
a pic of some guy’s dick without his permission.
 I needed a souvenir to remember all of my pent up
fantasies finally becoming a reality, but I also needed proof. I
flipped to my ongoing group text with my two besties, Del and
Lizzy, and sent them the photo of Joey followed by a plethora
of emojis communicating a wide range of emotions, covering
everything from heart eyes and a drooling face, to a wide-eyed
freakout and a scream.
I wouldn’t have expected them to be awake, considering
we all had a late night out drinking for the opening of
Damon’s new club. That is, all except for Lizzy, who was
pregnant and due any day now. Of course, she had still come
to support her fiance’s newest venture. I was surprised when
the phone immediately started dinging back in rapid-fire
responses, each one indicating a freakout on par with my own.
Me: How are you guys even awake right now!?
Lizzy: Uh, girl…it’s noon.
Oh shit, I thought, glancing at the time in the upper right-
hand corner of the screen to confirm it was true.
Del: I’ve been up with the baby since six. Glad we made
the call to close the show today.
Me: Ditto. Way too hungover for work.
Lizzy: Right, but… Can we talk some more about the fact
that ur in bed next to JOEY WILLIAMS right now!
Ding. Ding. Whoosh. Bloop. Ding. My phone continued
lighting up with the incessant messages, each one threatening
to make me burst out into a roar of laughter. I got so caught up
in the screen that I didn’t notice Joey had been woken up by
the messages and was staring me down.
He cleared his throat, startling me into rapt attention. I
chucked the phone back down to the carpet like a kid that had
just been caught red-handed stealing from the cookie jar.
“Something funny?” he asked, stretching out his perfectly
sculpted arms, making my mouth water.
“It was nothing!” I smiled innocently, with maybe a little
too much guilty desperation.
He jumped out of bed and grabbed his boxers. “I’m going
to hop in the shower. Want me to call you a cab?”
My heart sank. It wasn’t like I expected anything to come
out of our hook up. I was a big girl and understood the concept
of a one-night stand, even if it was with someone who played
such an integral role in my closest group of friends.
Joey had come to Cherry Falls, North Carolina, with his
real estate partners, Nick, Damon, and Ben. When our little
small town became the newest up and coming destination,
they couldn’t resist relocating from New York to get a piece of
the pie. They wanted to be big fish in a small pond, rather than
face all the competition back in the Big Apple. It had proven
to be a smart move for them, and not just for the sake of their
business. Nick had coupled off with my best friend, Del,
almost instantly. They had since gotten married and had a kid.
Then it was Damon and my other best friend, Lizzy, who
paired off and were now expecting their own baby.
It was only a matter of time before one of the guys got
together with me, the last remaining single member of my
girlfriends. Ben and Joey were the only two left, but I only had
eyes for Joey. I had finally found my way into his bed, and
now he was in a rush to get in the shower and send me off on
the walk of shame.
“Angel? Did you hear me?” he asked, popping his head
around the corner of his bedroom door with a towel thrown
over his shoulder. Those gorgeous brown eyes and kissable
lips made me ache inside—all things of the past for me now.
“Sorry, I’ve got to get into the office. I have a meeting at two.
Did you want me to call you a car?”
I did my best to hide the hurt expression on my face. “No,
that’s okay,” I answered finally. “I don’t live far. I’ll walk. I
could use the…” Joey had already nodded and slipped off into
the bathroom with apparently no interest in what I could use.
“Fresh air,” I mumbled to myself.
I sat up in bed, looking around the room. My stupid phone
was still blowing up on the floor. I didn’t have the heart to tell
Del and Lizzy how unceremoniously I was being dismissed
from Joey’s bed. A happily ever after like what they found was
not exactly what I hoped to get out of this. But morning sex?
Breakfast? Was that too much to ask? The excitement I felt
when I first texted them had already dwindled into nothing but
the glaring symptoms of my hangover.
I hadn’t felt this cheap since my random drunk hookup
phase in college. I found myself feeling angry as I crawled out
of bed and scrambled to find my clothes. I wasn’t a prude by
any means, but I was still a small-town girl and didn’t think
having casual sex meant that there was no room for a little
chivalry. I guess Joey had other ideas.
With all of my clothes back on and the contents of my
purse put back where they belonged, I headed for the front
door. I paused by the bathroom, where steam was billowing. I
could hear the water running inside and see Joey’s silhouette
through the curtain.
My lips parted to yell over the sound of the gushing water
to let him know that I was leaving, but I stopped myself. He
obviously didn’t care, and I was not about to chase him around
like a lost puppy. All of my giddiness over the night before
was yanked right out from under me and replaced with a
scornful rage.
With my fists clenched, I spun on my heels and marched
right out the door, making a point to slam it loudly behind me.
It wasn’t until I got in the hall and found myself face to face
with an elderly woman who lived next door that I realized I
had never checked my appearance in the mirror. Judging by
the stunned, judgmental look on her face, it was safe to assume
that my kinky black spirals were frizzed out in every direction
and that my eyeliner was smudged all around my eyes. Maybe
that was part of what turned Joey so cold, though no guy from
my past had ever complained about my morning-after look.
I blushed and smiled, offering a polite wave before jetting
off to the elevator. I only felt a little better by the time the
fresh afternoon air hit me outside. I took my time walking
home, kicking pebbles along the sidewalk as I went.
In between Joey’s place and mine, I stopped outside the
old Italian restaurant that had shut down in recent months,
unable to keep up with the rapidly changing economy and
clientele since the infamous Cherry Falls population boom. I
was sad for the owners. Nick, Joey, and the other guys worked
hard to make the changes in our town as kind to natives as it
could be, but not everything was immune to gentrification.
I looked longingly at the boarded-up windows and noticed
a sign saying it was for lease posted out front. Cooking had
always been a passion of mine, and I dreamed of owning my
own restaurant. I noticed the Ransom Realty logo in the corner
of the lease sign. It was one of Nick and Joey’s properties now.
Too bad, I was broke. I sighed to myself. After the way Joey
had just treated me, I imagined I could have leveraged my way
into a good deal on the place if I only had the means.
Oh well. I tried to shrug off my dream of ever owning that
place right along with the ridiculous notion that anything could
have come out of my night with Joey. Not even a simple, “Last
night was fun. Hope you have a great day.”
I started back down the sidewalk to my place. Luckily, I
knew the best recipe for a banging hangover cure breakfast—
one that I would have cooked for him if given a chance. His
loss. That just meant more for me once I got home and started
cooking.
 1

JOEY

I
had just finished my last email for the day when my
secretary chimed in over the intercom. “Mr. Williams, I
have Vincent Milano for you on line one.”
“Thanks, Sheila,” I quickly shot back before picking up the
phone and holding down the button to take the call. “Joey
here.”
“Joey boy. How’s it hanging?” Vincent’s greeting came
through the receiver in a thick Italian Bronx accent that made
me long for my familiar neighborhood back home.
“Hey, Vin. I take it you’ve had time to think over the
property I showed you the other day?”
“You’re straight down to business. I like that. No
bullshitting. My kind of guy. As a matter of fact, I have, and
I’m very interested.”
I winced a little at his reply. I was hoping he would decide
he wasn’t interested so that I could avoid having to tell him I
couldn’t approve a leasing contract for him. I had a feeling the
kind of business he was hoping to get going in the space was
not the kind of thing I wanted to promote in Cherry Falls. But
I also hated to judge people, having been misjudged most of
my life.
 “Listen, Vin. Before we proceed any further, can you send
me a business plan? Or give me a run down of what you’re
envisioning for the space?”
“Certainly. I can do that right now, as a matter of fact. It’s
simple,” he replied. “Titty bar.”
“Come again?” I asked, just to be sure. Though his
response was exactly what I had expected.
“You know. Girls. Dancing. Topless. I believe you suits
call ‘em strip clubs.”
I leaned back in my chair, glancing up to the ceiling in
irritation and disappointment. I hated to crush people’s
dreams, but I was not about to let Vincent turn that upscale
restaurant space into some seedy strip joint that would
probably have all sorts of other underground illegal schemes
going on left and right. Not only was it too risky as a landlord,
but it wasn’t the right image we wanted to portray with
Ransom Realty. Or for the small-town innocence that we were
trying to maintain through the growth of Cherry Falls.
“You there, Joe? Did you hear me? What do ya say I round
up some of my girls and have ‘em give us a little private show
when we get together to sign the papers? My treat.”
“Ah, no thanks,” I answered slowly. “I appreciate the offer,
but…I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. Both the private show and
drawing up the lease. Unless you have some other kind of
business idea in the works.”
“Excuse me? The line must be breakin’ up. I thought I just
heard you say you didn’t wanna rent me the space.”
I sucked in a deep breath. There were times to be gentle
and timid, and then there were times when you had to be
straightforward. I had no problem being either, even if it meant
pissing this guy off. I didn’t come all the way down to North
Carolina just to get bullied into stuff I didn’t want to do by the
same type of characters who ran rampant in the big city.
“You heard right, Mr. Milano. My apologies for wasting
your time. I should have asked for more information when I
showed you the space. I’m afraid your business model doesn’t
align with our values here at Ransom Realty. I hope you can
understand.”
“Oh, now I’m a mister, eh?” He let out a wheezy laugh.
“You know, I asked for you specifically out of all you guys
over there at Ransom. I thought you were more like me. A
man of opportunity. I didn’t realize you were another snob
who decided he’s too good for his own kind now that he’s in a
nice suit.”
Ben’s face appeared on the other side of my office
window. He knocked just before showing himself in, quietly
taking a seat in front of me.
I held up one finger to ask him to wait. “I assure you, Vin,
suit or not, I don’t think I’m better than anyone. I do, however,
take issue with businesses that bring crime to the area…along
with a certain appearance that isn’t up to our standards.
Perhaps you can find another realtor to work with. Or if you
ever want to get into the restaurant business without the
topless women, give me a call.”
“Why you little…”
“Have a great day,” I offered half-heartedly before quickly
calling Sheila back. “Yeah, take a message for all future calls
from Mr. Milano. Thanks.”
“Busy day?” Ben asked, eyeing the phone as I slammed it
back into the receiver.
 “You could say that. Wrapping up now, though.”
Ben Wilder and I had been best buds since we were kids,
right along with our other business partners, Nick and Damon.
We had all come a long way from the ghetto neighborhood we
grew up in. Though now that Nick and Damon were both
family men, Ben and I had been closer than ever.
“How’s the property on Stanford Avenue going?” he
asked, obviously having picked up on the tail end of my phone
call. “Aside from rejecting topless women.”
I smirked back at him. “Still holding out for the right
tenant. I feel bad that the old ones couldn’t stay in business.
Now I don’t want to let it go to just anyone.”
Much like Vincent Milano, anyone with a strong Italian
heritage like myself expected me to look out for them. I would
if they were stand up guys. Unfortunately, the previous
occupants, despite their Italian-American menu, made some of
the worst food I had ever tasted in my life. Otherwise, I would
have been happy to help them keep their business afloat.
“That’s my man,” Ben replied. “Heart of gold. Are you
ready to go? We’ve got to swing by to pick up Damon and
Lizzy.”
I raked my hands over my face, pretending to stare at a
very busy calendar. “Uh, listen. About tonight…”
Ben immediately started shaking his head. “Uh-uh. No. No
way, man. You can not bail on this. Damon and Nick hardly
ever go out anymore unless we’re just stopping by to see
Damon working at his club. They’ve got sitters tonight, and
we all agreed it’d be like old times.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell Ben that I was more
sympathetic to Damon and Nick than to him. If I was lucky
enough to have a wife and kids waiting for me at home, I
wouldn’t be going out anymore, either.
I was trying to decide if it was worth it to push him. The
last thing I wanted to do was shove through a sweaty crowd of
strangers in the dark, drinking too much and destroying my
hearing with all the loud music in the process. I hated to
become the cliche who stopped wanting to go out the older he
got, but I couldn’t help it. Besides, we had a lifetime of
partying in previous years. The appeal of coming to Cherry
Falls for me was settling into a quieter life. I was ready to
settle down, though I’d never tell Ben that.
Before I could resist any further, my cell phone started to
ring. I instantly recognized the number on the screen and knew
it was not a call I could take with Ben sitting right in front of
me, so I silenced it and shoved it back into my pocket.
“Come on,” he persisted. “Do this for Damon and Nick.”
“All right,” I groaned reluctantly. “But let’s try to go
somewhere nice, huh? A VIP room or something where we
can have a little privacy.”
“Fair enough. I’m sure I can snag us a few girls to invite
along. And Angel will be there.”
“Shit,” I said under my breath, immediately regretting
having given in so easily.
Ben shot me a frustrated look. “Don’t make it weird. You
know she’s Del’s and Lizzy’s best friend. Nick and Damon
aren’t going anywhere without them now, and those girls don’t
go anywhere without Angel.”
“Don’t remind me,” I grumbled.
“Angel hasn’t done anything to you, anyway. At least
nothing you didn’t whole heartedly consent to,” he argued.
 “I was drunk.”
“So what? Get drunk again. I’m sure she’s down for round
two.”
“No. No way.” I put my hands up for emphasis. “No
matter how much I have to drink, you are under no
circumstances to allow me to leave with her again. It was
already risky enough to hook up with her the first time with
how close she is to everyone. I don’t want to make things
weirder than they already are.”
“Don’t worry, man. I’ll look out for you. The last thing I
want is for you to get married like our other two boring old
guys.” He finally stood and made his way out the door. “I’ll
have my car pick us up downstairs in ten minutes,” he said on
his way out.
The problem was, I wanted to be exactly like Nick and
Damon. I wanted to be a boring old guy with a wife who loved
me. I was ready to start a family, but Angel seemed like the
wild type who had no interest in settling down. I’d had enough
of wasting years on women, thinking they might be the one,
only to realize far too late that they were just along for the ride
that my money could afford them and had no interest in
actually getting married or having kids.
I had hoped women in Cherry Falls would be different, but
so far—no such luck. That’s why I was planning to skip the
wife part of the equation altogether.
I slid my phone back out of my pocket and clicked to listen
to the voicemail that came through while Ben was in my
office.
“Mr. Williams, this is Lucille Connors from the Strathmore
Surrogacy Clinic. I received your message and was hoping to
connect with you to provide the information you requested
about our services. Please give me a call back at your earliest
convenience, and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.”
I added a reminder to my calendar to give them a call back
in the morning just before closing down my laptop and
shutting down for the night. I was done waiting to find the
right woman. I had more than enough money to pay for a full-
time nanny, so if raising a kid on my own was the only option
left to have a family, I was up for the challenge.
 2

ANGEL

A
fter three sets of knocks on Lizzy and Damon’s
door with pauses in between and still no answer, I
finally turned the handle and let myself in. Entering
my best friend’s home when there wasn’t an answer felt like a
normal thing when she lived in a tiny little apartment like mine
—one that was basically like a second home to me. It was a
tab bit harder to get used to now that she lived in a giant
mansion with Damon.
I swung the door open and stepped inside the lavish foyer,
complete with a chandelier hanging above. All things
considered, it was homey for a mansion, especially with the
kid’s toys and clothes strewn around the rooms. Yet, it was not
the kind of place I ever envisioned my best friend living.
“Hello? Anyone home?” I called out, looking through the
halls and entryways.
“Lilly!” Lizzy’s frazzled voice rang out from the kitchen,
followed by a screaming cry from her little one.
I followed the commotion to see Lilly in her highchair,
covered in remnants of food while Lizzy clamored around her
with the phone pressed to her ear, doing her best to talk over
her daughter’s cries while cleaning up the mess.
 I leaped into action, snatching up a towel to clean up the
bits of chopped veggies that Lilly had tossed over her head in
protest, giving Lizzy a moment to step out of the room and
finish her call. Lilly’s temper tantrum quickly melted into
excited laughter at the sight of me. She reached out her little
fingers and began waving them in and out, begging me to pick
her up.
“Well, it looks like dinner time may be over.” I chuckled,
pulling her out of the chair and onto my hip.
“Oh, hey, Angel.” Damon emerged, looking fly as ever in
whatever new designer threads he was wearing. “Ready for
our big night out?”
“Probably not as ready as you must be,” I joked, wiping
the last bit of food from Lilly’s cheeks.
“She’s a handful, all right. We’re definitely ready for a
break.”
“Apparently, we’re not going to get one,” Lizzy huffed,
popping back into the room.
I could see her attempts at getting dolled up with her hair
styled and makeup quickly thrown on. The sequin top and
tight jeans she had put on showed just how ready she was to
get out and blow off some steam, but she had a horribly
disheartened look on her face.
“The sitter canceled, last minute,” she huffed. “I’ve been
trying to call everyone I could think of to cover for her, but no
one’s available at this point.”
“Who’s ready to party!” Del sang out as she danced into
the room. Nick was behind her with a rather amused look on
his face as he watched his wife.
 “Let’s pregame!” Ben suggested as he followed in behind
Nick.
I tried not to notice Joey standing at the back of the line
into the kitchen, and instead, I turned my attention back to
poor Lizzy.
“Lizzy was just saying that they have no sitter,” I told
them.
“What? No way,” Ben’s face dropped. “That’s bull shit.”
“Language!” Lizzy hissed, cutting her eyes down to Lilly,
who was now emptying her mother’s purse out onto the floor.
“What do you mean, no sitter?” Del asked, taking her son,
Jackson, from Nick’s arms. She quickly snatched up Lizzy’s
purse and spread out a blanket from the diaper bag, putting
him down on the floor so the two little ones could play
together.
“I mean just what I said,” Lizzy snapped back. “And
believe me, no one is more upset about it than me.”
A collective buzz kill fell over the room as Damon rubbed
Lizzy’s back. “You go ahead. Have a fun night out,” he
offered. “I can stay here with the kids.”
“Uh, I don’t know about that,” Del winced. “You may be
used to Lilly’s antics, but I’m not so sure you can handle both
her and Jackson.”
“That’s not the point, anyway.” Lizzy frowned. “I was
looking forward to us all going out together. Like the old
days.”
I couldn’t help but flash a fleeting look in Joey’s direction
and then back to the guys. I was all for going out like the old
days, but nothing was like it used to be. We’d be kidding
ourselves if we pretended otherwise. Lizzy, Del, and I had
been thick as thieves since grade school, but ever since Nick
and his crew swept into town, everything had changed.
My two best friends were married off with kids, leaving
me alone to deal with things like the awkwardness that was
going out with Joey, who I never fully forgave for his cold
treatment after our little hookup. I didn’t understand why the
guys always had to follow us around everywhere. Sure,
Damon and Lizzy were married now, and so were Nick and
Del, but couldn’t we ever just have a night to ourselves? Just
us girls? Now that would have been like the old days.
But with Nick and his entourage crowded around, both
him and Damon trying to console their wives as they
wallowed in the acceptance that their night out was ruined, I
could see that it obviously wasn’t the time to broach that topic.
“There will be other nights,” Damon said, gently kissing
Lizzy’s forehead.
“We could hang out here,” Del suggested, always the one
to look on the bright side. “The kids will go to bed before too
long, anyway. We can take shots and play games.”
“No. No way!” Ben argued. “We hang out at our houses all
the time. The whole point of this was to actually go out.”
Lizzy looked down at her sparkly outfit and sighed. I knew
this was the first night that she could fit back into her skinny
jeans after having the baby, and while Damon was the love of
her life, she was dying to get out and show that body off.
I felt the nagging feeling that I needed to do something for
them to fix this. After all, they had signed up for night after
night of caring for their kids. I still had the freedom to go out
any time I wanted.
 “I can stay here with them,” I offered slowly, already
regretting the words the second they came out.
“But I wanted you to go with us, too!” Lizzy protested in
an almost annoying whine.
I tilted my head in her direction while kneeling down to
pull a set of keys from Jackson’s mouth. “Well, you have no
sitter. You’re obviously not getting the night out with everyone
you imagined, but you can still make the best of it. I’m tired,
anyway. Honestly, a night in with the kiddos sounds nice. You
guys go and have fun.”
“Really?” Del asked with big, hopeful eyes. She was so
desperate, she looked like she might cry. “Angel, we’d hate to
ask that of you. But if you’re okay with it, it really would be
so amazing. We’d owe you big time.”
“Don’t mention it.” I waved dismissively. “Go dance the
night away and have an extra drink or two for me.”
Del and Lizzy swarmed me in a flurry of hugs and excited
squeals before jumping back into Del’s dance routine. “Who’s
ready to party?” they sang and laughed in unison, bumping
their hips together.
“I’ll stay, too,” one of the guy’s voices chimed in, bringing
their celebration to a dead stop.
I closed my eyes, not turning around to look, but I knew
exactly who had just offered to stay behind with me. I didn’t
have to look at him. Everyone else was just as surprised as I
was and staring him down with gaping mouths.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ben laughed, shaking his
head.
“You know, I grew up with a lot of brothers and sisters,”
he shrugged. “I miss it sometimes. I wasn’t really in the mood
to go out, anyway, and I’m sure Angel could use the help.”
With that, I finally whipped my head around. “Actually, I
grew up in a full household, too, and I know plenty about
looking after kids. I’ll be fine on my own.”
Del placed a hand on my shoulder. “Word of advice, which
I’m only just now starting to fully understand myself—if
someone wants to help you with the kids, you let them.”
“But I don’t need—”
“So, it’s settled, then,” Lizzy cut me off. “Joey and Angel
are on babysitting duty. One of you for each kid. Sounds
perfect to me. Now, let’s roll.”
“You’ve lost your damn mind,” Ben scoffed in Joey’s
direction before fleeing to the door. Maybe he thought if he
stayed a moment longer, he might get sucked into changing
diapers, too.
I held up my finger, desperately trying to get out one
protest after another about why Joey really didn’t need to stay
behind. I felt like I had better chances of being heard if my
dispute was directed to everyone else instead of Joey himself. I
followed each of them around, explaining why I was fine on
my own, but my words were lost in the chaos of the girls
snatching up their things and kissing the kids goodbye. The
guys were quick to follow behind them, and before I knew it,
the front door slammed shut in my face.
I turned around slowly to see both Jack and Lilly sitting on
the floor, looking up at me with stunned little smiles over how
quickly everything had happened. Jack started to laugh
randomly, the way babies his age did. It was infectious to
Lilly, who soon followed suit with her own little adorable
toddler giggles. I couldn’t help but feel like they were
laughing at me, taunting me for my shitty luck.
I bit my lip and finally cut my eyes up to Joey, who didn’t
look nearly as uncomfortable as me. He was standing there
with his arms crossed, obviously fine with the whole thing.
“How’s it been?” he asked casually.
“Great.” I faked a tight smile before going over to pick up
Lilly. “Well, since you’re here, you might as well make
yourself useful and help me get these two into a bath.”
 3

JOEY

J
ackson stared up at me from his few safe inches of
bathwater, which had just been warm enough but was
now starting to turn cold. He was having so much fun
splashing around with his toys that it was hard to
crash his party.
His blue eyes lit up with that innocent, curious amusement
that all little kids had. He was a mischievous little stinker who
always had a permanent grin plastered on his face like he was
constantly plotting his next move. I could see so much of Nick
in him, and it was hitting me harder than ever that, soon, I
would be making moves to bring my own kid into this world.
A few bubbles rippled through the water behind Jack,
which sent him into a fit of giggles.
I smirked. “All right, buddy. I’d say that’s a good sign that
we’re done with bath time for the night.”
He kept laughing and cooing as I scooped him up in my
arms and wrapped him in the soft yellow duck towel that
Angel had laid out. There was a patter of feet behind me as
Lilly ran into the room, now fully dressed in her PJs and with
a stuffed animal in hand.
 “No running in the bathroom!” Angel called after her. She
may not have had kids of her own, but her voice boomed with
startling authority and motherly instincts.
“That was fast,” I said, shooting her an impressed smile.
“Yeah, well, like I said, I was the oldest of five. So by the
time I was a teenager, I was a pro at wrestling little munchkins
down after bathtime and wrangling them into their pajamas.”
She nodded. “I really didn’t need your help tonight.”
We stood in the close quarters of the bathroom with her
staring up at me, one hand on her hip and a less than amused
expression on her face. She was wearing a satin and lace
camisole, and her eyes glittered with dark eyeliner and shiny
shadow—all dolled up only to get stuck here with these kids. I
was kicking myself more than ever for that random night we
had shared together. This was exactly the sort of awkwardness
I hoped to avoid.
“Listen, Angel. About…what happened between us,” I
started slowly. “I never meant to…hurt your feelings or
anything. I just…”
“Hurt my feelings?” she scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself,
Joey. I knew what I was doing that night, and I knew nothing
would come out of it. I mean, you didn’t have to be such a jerk
about it, but…” Lilly cut her off with a squeal as she took off
running down the hall. “But now’s really not the time to talk
about it.”
“Maybe later,” I said as she took off after Lilly.
“I’d say the time to talk about it has passed,” Angel replied
over her shoulder before disappearing into the kid’s room at
the end of the hall.
 I couldn’t help but smile at how strong and sassy Angel
was. It was the thing about her that always turned me on. But
for as confident as I felt with kids, I couldn’t say the same for
women. That was where things got tricky for me, and I had
given up a long time ago on trying to make things work with
them.
I got Jackson dried off, diapered up, and into a fresh onesie
with pants and booties to keep his feet warm. With him all
bundled up, his eyes started to grow heavy as he let out a big
yawn. We found Angel and Lilly in Lilly’s room. Angel was
laid back in Lilly’s bed with Lilly’s small body draped across
her chest as they read a book. I put Jack in his playpen and sat
next to him while she finished the story.
“And they lived happily ever after. The end,” Angel said as
she gently closed the book.
“I’m a princess. I will live happily ever after,” Lilly
murmured in the sweetest sleepy voice as she slowly closed
her eyes.
“That’s right, sweetheart,” Angel replied, kissing her
forehead before inching her way out from under her.
Jack took his cue to lay down as I pulled the blanket up
around him, tucking him in. We had run all of their energy out
after the gang left, and they were more than ready to pass out.
Angel and I crept to the door and turned out the lights, not
resuming our normal stride until we had reached the bottom of
the stairs.
Angel was quick to plop down on the couch with a big
stretch and yawn of her own. I wanted to join her, but the
tension between us was still thick.
 “You may not want to talk about it, but I am sorry if I
came across like a jerk,” I told her before finally sitting down
at the other end of the couch.
She rolled her eyes and flopped her head to the back of the
couch. “Ugh, Joey. Seriously, let it go. That was forever ago,
and I’m beyond over it.”
Something in her voice and everything about how she had
treated me that evening told me she wasn’t, but I wasn’t going
to push her and make things worse. “Well, you’re right. You
probably would have been just fine with the two kids on your
own. You’re really good with them. Have you ever thought
about having kids?”
She laughed. “I’d have to find a man first.”
“Not necessarily.”
She wrinkled her brow and looked at me like I was crazy.
“I just mean that there are other ways, you know. I, for
one, am ready to have kids. Start a family. So, I’m considering
going the surrogacy route.”
A shocked smile spread across her face as she sat straight
up, pulling a pillow into her lap. “Wait, what? Are you
serious?”
“Ah, I shouldn’t have told you that. It’s been a long day,
and that’s been heavy on my mind. I can’t believe I let it slip.
Just, please don’t tell anyone. You’re the only one I’ve
mentioned it to.”
Her mouth was still hanging open as she contorted her face
into all sorts of scrunched-up configurations, trying to wrap
her brain around the idea. “Wow. I’m… I’m… I don’t know
what to say! I don’t know if I’ve ever met a single, straight
guy who was so ready to have kids that they were willing to
pay a surrogate! It doesn’t make any sense. Why would a guy
like you need to pay a woman to have your child? You’re rich
and hot. It seems like you’d have your pick of women who
would willingly start a family with you.”
I cringed a little at the thought of trying to explain my
sordid history of failed relationships. “You may think it’s
crazy, but to me, having kids on my own is far simpler than
trying to navigate a relationship…or marriage, for that matter.
Besides, Del and Lizzy will be around. And you, too,
hopefully. So there will be plenty of other women who can be
positive female role models for my child.”
She grew more serious and gently asked, “Your parents
split up when you were little, didn’t they?” She instantly
picked up on my discomfort. The only thing I recoiled over
more than talking about my past love life was talking about
my parents’ painful divorce. “I only ask because…mine did,
too. So, I know what it’s like. It makes it hard to trust anyone
or to really have much faith in love and relationships. I’m
sorry.”
I nodded, still feeling uneasy. The sincerity in her voice
truly was comforting, though. I felt like she really understood
without me explaining much of anything.
“For me, I’ve always dreamt of my career more than
having kids,” she added.
“In fashion?” I asked. “I know you’re still working at Del’s
clothing boutique.”
“Oh, no,” she laughed. “I like clothes and shopping as
much as the next girl, but it’s not exactly my idea of a dream
career.”
 I couldn’t help but scoot a little closer on the couch,
feeling drawn to her all over again. “Then what is?”
“Cooking,” she responded, her face lighting up with a
dreamy look in her eye. “I’ve always loved to cook, and when
I was little, I used to dream of opening up my own restaurant.
In fact, every time I walk by that vacant spot over on Stanford
Avenue, I still stop and wonder what it would be like to open
up my own place there.”
“So, why don’t you?”
She laughed again, shooting me an incredulous look.
“Check your privilege, rich man. I’ve been working as a
waitress and in retail my whole life. I barely make rent. I
certainly haven’t had time to save up that kind of money. But I
still cook. Just last night I made…”
She stared off with a spark in her wide, dark brown eyes as
she described the details of everything she had cooked
recently. I didn’t know anything about food beyond what I had
read in restaurant menus, but the way the names of spices and
sauces slid off her plump pink lips made my mouth water.
It was hard not to drift back to memories of what she had
been like in bed, with her light mocha skin sweating and
writhing underneath me. There was a reason we ended up like
that in the first place. Angel was undeniably sexy, with a
passion and heart of gold to top it off.
“All this talk of cooking is making me hungry.” She
giggled to herself, scrunching her nose in the most adorable
way. “Sorry, I’ll stop rambling on about food. Once I get
going, it’s hard to stop.”
“No, I’m not complaining.” I grinned. “I like hearing you
talk about it. I can tell you’re really passionate about food.”
 Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she pulled her
eyes away from mine, but I could see her quickly lighting up
with something else all over again. “I have an idea. Why don’t
I cook something for you? I’m starving, and I know just the
thing to make.”
Before I could respond, that perfect ass of hers was
bounding off toward the kitchen, and I had no choice but to
follow.
 4

ANGEL

I
couldn’t help but laugh to myself as Joey and I stood on
opposite sides of the kitchen island, chopping small piles
of onion, bell peppers, garlic, thyme, and tomatoes.
There was something so sexy about a man like him with a big
chest and bulging muscular arms skillfully handling a kitchen
knife over a cutting board.
The kids were fast asleep in bed, leaving me alone with a
hot guy who had given me some of the best sex of my life.
And what did I insist on doing with that time? Cooking, of
course.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, briefly flashing his eyes up
at me over his diced garlic.
I sucked in a sharp breath, knowing I couldn’t very well
answer the question honestly. The truth? Despite the fact that I
knew it would be a bad idea for anything else to happen
between us since he’d inevitably go cold after, hurting me all
over again—I still wanted to. Or rather, I didn’t want to. My
body wanted him, regardless of what I thought was best. I
could feel the aching warm rise of desire surging through me
as I did my best not to break out in a feverish sweat from all
the tension in the room.
 While I melted inside like a cat in heat, we kept cooking.
That was the safe thing to do, and I really did love to do it. I
might as well make the best out of how the evening was
shaping up. Joey being dangled in front of me again like a
delicious forbidden fruit did not help, but I did my best to keep
myself in check. It would do me absolutely no good to get
myself in the same mess all over again, given how much it
affected my life so much now, long after the first—and only—
time we had slept together. Nope, it was best to cook. This was
the right decision.
“Oh, nothing,” I sang, turning to check the linguine and
shrimp cooking on the stovetop.
I could feel Joey studying me from behind as I threw in
pinches of cayenne pepper, oregano, and salt, along with an
array of other spices, including my secret ingredients.
“This is a cajun dish, right?”
“Sure is,” I replied. “I was born and raised in New
Orleans, so I’d like to consider myself a pro at cajun cooking.”
“That’s impressive. Well, I hope you get your restaurant
one day. This town could use a good cajun restaurant.”
I felt the hot tingle in my cheeks again—a sensation that
had been hitting me so much through the night that I was
starting to feel light-headed from the overload.
“Thanks,” I said softly. “Um, do you want to set the table?
Once I throw all of this in, it will only be another five minutes
or so until it’s ready for us to dig in.”
“Whatever you say, chef.” He winked and began searching
for plates and silverware.
Truthfully, I was just looking for some relief from his
intent stare. I didn’t want to get so distracted that I burned
something after I had bragged on my cooking skills all night.
When everything was combined and done simmering, I
spooned the shrimp linguine out into a serving dish and carried
it to the dining table. I froze for a moment when I turned the
corner to see Joey had grabbed a vase of flowers from one of
the end tables and placed it between our two plates, along with
a couple of candles he was lighting.
“Oh, this is, uh, fancier than I expected for an impulsive
late dinner.” I laughed nervously, setting the dish down in
front of him while noting the bottle of wine and two glasses he
had also rummaged up.
He shrugged. “Hey, if we’re gonna do it, we might as well
do it right.”
My cheeks turned hot yet again. Were we going to do it?
No, we were not going to do it. At least, not anything beyond
sharing a nice meal. I couldn’t let myself fall for his games all
over again. I wouldn’t.
We sat down and filled our plates, shooting each other
awkward smiles and glances across the table. I took the liberty
of filling our wine glasses nearly to the top to make things
easier on us.
I watched carefully as he drew the first bite to his lips,
followed by the appropriate deep groaning, “Mmm,” that
escaped his mouth as he chewed.
“This is…fucking delicious,” he said, pointing to his plate
with a fork before scarfing up another bite.
I ignored the memory of other things that I knew could
make him let out that same groan and said, “Thank you.”
“You weren’t kidding when you said you were a good
cook.”
 My shoulders rose and fell. “At least that’s something I’m
good at.”
“You’re good at a lot of things,” he shot back.
Was I crazy to think it sounded suggestive? Why was he
pushing things when I was already being more gracious than I
should have been by cooking and eating with him at all? After
how he had treated me that morning, many women would not
so much as give him the time of day, and yet, here I was. I had
to assume he was all too aware of the sexual power he had
over women, too. He had to know what he was saying and
how it would make a woman—a woman who had slept with
him—feel. It was wrong of him.
“I know I am,” I replied somewhat bitterly, thinking to
myself, I know I’m good at lots of things and a super amazing
person…and you’re the idiot who passed all of that up.
He laughed and dragged a napkin across his mouth. “I
know you said you were over it and didn’t want to talk about
it, but I hope this whole setup can be a sort of peace offering,”
he suggested, waving his hands across the flowers and candles.
“I should have been more of a gentleman that night.”
“Oh, sure. Maybe the first time you should have invited
me to a romantic dinner and acted like you were in love with
me all night so that I’d be even more confused over your cold
shoulder the next day,” I scoffed. “No, thank you. I prefer to
know what to expect, and I didn’t expect much, considering
we just kind of drunkenly fell into each other.”
“And caught our falls with each other’s mouths?” He
chuckled. “No, really, Angel. You expected me not to be a
jerk, and I was. Sometimes, I’m just not much of a morning
person, and—”
 “Can we please stop talking about this?” I begged him.
His hands went up in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. Fair
enough. I’ll let it go. But that doesn’t mean I should stop doing
things the right way this time around.”
He stood up and walked around my chair, sliding it out
from the table and extending his hand to me. “Whether it’s one
night or a legitimate date, you deserve to be treated like the
goddess you are. So, my lady, now that we’ve finished this
wonderful meal you prepared, would you care to join me back
on the sofa for another glass of wine?”
I shook my head, burning my eyes into him before I finally
gave in and slipped my hand into his. The touch sent a chill
through my body—only brief relief from the heat that had
been surging through me all night long. He handed me my
wine glass, grabbed his own, and led me over to the couch as
if he was leading me across a ballroom.
We settled in and continued to drink, and I was bubbling
over with questions. I was genuinely curious about all the
things I didn’t know about him, but I also needed to start
saying something before there was room for anything else to
happen between us.
“So, tell me, Joey… Aside from not being a morning
person, what is your deal with women? You’re really ready to
give up a future with a normal relationship by going ahead and
having a kid on your own? Or are you planning to use the baby
to lure in your future wife?”
A big smile spread across his lips. “No, I’m not trying to
lure anyone in. Quite the opposite, actually. If anything, maybe
it will keep women away. I’m not much of a relationship guy.”
“That figures,” I muttered under my breath.
 “Excuse me?”
“It’s just, well, typical that a guy like you would say he’s
not into relationships. Any decent, good-looking guy with
money and a successful career says that.” I shook my head.
“But I’m afraid your plan is flawed. Everyone knows women
go crazy for single dads.”
“Is that right?” he shot back. “You seem to know a lot
more than me. I mean, look at the way you just summed me
up. You obviously know everything there is to know about
me.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not what I meant. I know there’s
obviously more to you and to every person. But all you have to
go on in the beginning is what you can see on the surface.”
“I guess, but when I look at you, I don’t see a Cherry Falls
native who works in her best friend’s shop,” he argued, staring
a little too intently for my comfort.
“You left out, ‘who’s a really good cook.’” I laughed,
trying to lighten the mood.
Joey’s eyes were smoldering and intense. He seemed to be
leaning in closer as he said, “A really good cook who is also
naturally beautiful. You don’t even have to try, and your hair
always falls in the perfect way. Your cheeks are always the
perfect shade of pink. You’re strong and a hard worker, but
you’ve never given up on your dreams, even though you feel
like they’ve given up on you.”
By the time he finished, there was no mistake about it. His
lips were inching closer to mine, the space between us on the
couch rapidly vanishing right along with my breath.
“Joey,” I said softly. “Are you trying to seduce me again?”
 His fingers brushed around my cheek, over my jawline and
chin. “I think you’re the one seducing me. Don’t think I didn’t
know what you were up to when you cooked that shrimp.”
“I was hungry and trying to prove a point.”
“Maybe that’s all I’m doing now,” he rasped, making the
final move to press his lips to mine.
I barely felt the warmth of his kiss before, suddenly, the
front door went flying open. A blur rushed past, with Del
doing her best to keep up on her heels.
“What the hell is going on?” I shouted.
“It’s Lizzy,” Del said as she ran past. “She had a little too
much fun and is sick.”
Damon and Nick walked in and quickly took in the scene
—me and Joey too close on the couch with the remnants of a
candlelit dinner in the distance. I was desperate to escape their
smug, accusing smiles, so I quickly jumped up to go help Del
with Lizzy.
Poor Lizzy was in the bathroom, buckled over the toilet
seat with Del standing behind her, holding back her hair.
“What’s going on out there?” Del asked as I came in and
shut the door behind me.
“Obviously nothing as exciting as what you two got into,”
I quipped. “I haven’t seen her puke like this since college.”
“Shh, I’m blocking it out of my mind,” Del snapped,
closing her eyes. “I have to pretend she’s not puking so I don’t
throw up, too. We took shots. So many shots.”
I laughed, darting my eyes between them. “She’s only
inches away from you. How the hell are you blocking it out?”
 “It’s a gift that comes along with being a mother. You
become very good at shutting things out. You go to a happy
place inside, and everything else around you fades.”
Lizzy collapsed onto the floor, rubbing a towel over her
face. “You also become very good at drinking way too much
way too fast the first second you get some time away from
your kids.”
“I’ll keep all of that in mind as I remain convinced that I
am never having kids,” I grumbled.
“Anyway. I meant, what was going on in there when we
first came in?” Del asked again.
I donned my best look of innocence. “Nothing. What do
you mean?”
“Cut the bull shit, Angel,” she said with a hand on her hip.
“You and Joey looked like you had just been caught red-
handed. I thought you said you hated him after what happened
the first time?”
“Hate is a strong word. I don’t hate him. I just… Okay, so
I was a little disappointed with the morning after last time. So
what? It’s not the end of the world. Tonight was just a fluke.
He felt guilty, I think, but I wouldn’t seriously get my hopes
up again, even if you guys hadn’t barged in and things went
too far.”
“Water,” Lizzy rasped from the cold tiled floor. “For the
love of god, will someone please get me a glass of water?”
Del didn’t let off her skepticism as she watched me pull
out a plastic cup from under the sink to fill it up for Lizzy.
Lizzy downed it the moment she got her hands on it,
immediately holding it back out to me for more.
 I pulled out a second cup, filling it to offer it to Del. “Here.
You should drink this, too. I think you both need to hydrate.
You’ll thank me in the morning.”
“Well, let me tell you a little something you’ll thank me for
eventually,” Del snapped back, full of sass. “There are some
men who claim they’re scared of relationships or whatever
just to string women along. Then, there are some men who
really are just scared. But with the right woman, all those walls
come crumbling down and they morph into the best boyfriend
anyone could ever ask for.”
“You two got lucky, and it’s made you delusional,” I
scoffed. “I’m going home. You got this one taken care of for
the night?”
Lizzy groaned and rolled over, pulling the dirty towel over
her like a blanket.
“She’ll be fine.” Del smirked. “In a day or two.”
 5

JOEY

I
sat behind my desk, staring off into space while I
chewed on the end of an ink pen. I barely even noticed
Nick come in the door.
“Busy day?” he teased.
“Busier than it looks,” I answered.
He pulled a chair up and took a seat. “Ben says it’s a no-go
with that spot on Stanford and Mr. Milano?”
“Definitely a no-go. He doesn’t fit the bill for elevating the
space like we had envisioned.”
“Well, keep me posted.” He leaned back, letting the whole
thing go. We had worked together long enough that he trusted
my judgment. “In other news, what’s going on with you and
Angel?”
“Oh, no. Don’t start. You’re not about to play matchmaker
with me the way you did with Lizzy and Damon. Just because
you and Del are happy together doesn’t mean you have to
marry us all off one by one.”
“I’m not trying to play matchmaker,” he smirked. “Del
said Angel thought something might have happened between
you two…again. That is, if we hadn’t all come in and crashed
the party.”
 “The way you two gossip is really cute until it involves
me.”
He threw up his hands. “I’m just passing along what I
heard, is all.”
“I didn’t exactly handle it well after we hooked up the first
time,” I explained. “I was just trying to make it up to her, and
it was a good thing you all came in when you did because
things were getting carried away. That’s not a road I’m trying
to go down right now.”
“Mm-hmm.” He nodded, looking unconvinced. “Okay.
Got it. So, the surrogacy thing, then? That’s still on?”
I instantly remembered why I hadn’t told my friends about
my plans before. I hated having them bring it up on the fly.
But after I let it slip with Angel, I felt like I had to go ahead
and share the news with Nick and the guys before it got back
to them through Del.
I glanced down at the flashing light on my phone,
notifying me of a voicemail the service had left for me that I
hadn’t listened to yet. I had met with them to get all the
information, and it was everything I wanted. They could find
me a well-vetted woman in good health with an almost perfect
family history. The service had excellent reviews and came
very highly recommended by families of all kinds, including
rich, single men like myself.
“Joey?”
“Huh? Oh,” I snapped back to our conversation. “Sorry.
Yeah, I guess it’s still on. I’m supposed to follow up with them
this week to set up a time to come in and look through their
surrogacy candidates.”
 “That’s gotta be weird. You just, like, flip through a
catalog of women and pick your baby mama?”
“Pretty much,” I said through a big breath. I didn’t know
why talking about it suddenly made me tense up so much, but
Nick could see my discomfort.
“What’s on your mind? Come on, man. I’ve known you
my whole life. Don’t try to hold back.”
I ran my hands over my face. I didn’t know what was
wrong. The surrogacy service sounded perfect. It was
everything I had been looking for, but when it came down to
pulling the trigger, something felt off.
“Getting cold feet?” Nick suggested.
“No, not about having a child,” I replied. “I’m ready to
start a family. I’m not getting any younger, and I’m certainly
not ready to get married. But being a father? There’s no doubt
in my mind that I’m ready for that.”
Nick checked his watch and jumped to his feet. “Well,
good luck picking your baby mama, I guess. Maybe you could
invite Angel along to help. She might be a good second
opinion to have around.”
“I don’t think a friend I randomly hooked up with once
would appreciate being invited along to shop for a surrogate
with me,” I grumbled.
“You never know,” he said, walking toward the door.
“Chicks are into weird shit sometimes. Anyway, I gotta head
out for this lunch meeting. I’ll talk to you later.”
“See you, man,” I nodded toward him as he left.
I was alone with my thoughts again, and all I could hear in
my head was Angel’s suggestion that it shouldn’t be so hard
for me to find a woman to settle down and start a family with
the old fashioned way. As terrified as I was of relationships, I
had to admit the idea was starting to sound more tempting,
especially if it was with someone like her.
I flew to my feet and paced the office. Those were
dangerous thoughts to have, and it really was not a road I
wanted to go down. If Angel and I were supposed to be
anything more than friends, it would have just happened
naturally. The only thing that had happened naturally between
us so far was drunkenly falling into bed together—that and
almost making out on Damon and Lizzy’s couch. I would feel
that same draw to tons of attractive women, though. It wasn’t
enough of a basis for a real relationship.
She was hot and a damn good cook, though, and she was
smart and sexy on top of that. I had meant every word I said to
her on the couch about what I saw when I looked at her. She
was right. It wouldn’t have been hard for me to find a wife if I
really wanted one. I had a graveyard of exes, who once upon a
time, were chomping at the bit to claim that role in my life.
The problem was…me. I had zero faith in marriages working
out, though I kept that from my friends since they were taking
the plunge. I hoped for the best for them, and so far, they
seemed really happy, but that was not enough to circumvent
what my own life experience had taught me. Marriages rarely
worked out, and even if the two people managed to work it
out, how many of them were really happy? No, there was not
enough evidence to convince me that marriage would work out
for me.
My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t had
lunch yet, which only left me longing for more of Angel’s
cooking. People weren’t kidding when they said a way to a
man’s heart was through his stomach because she had
definitely worked some kind of magic on me with her dinner.
The Stanford Avenue papers were spread out across my
desk. I had two more calls that week about it—one for a nail
salon and another for a dog groomer. I didn’t know why I
hadn’t called them back any more than I knew why I felt so
hesitant about the surrogacy service all of a sudden. I was
normally so confident and decisive, but my restlessness was
starting to get to me. It was making me question and doubt
everything, even something as simple as signing a contract
with a new tenant for the vacant space.
It was a shame that Angel didn’t have the capital for
opening her restaurant like she had always dreamed of. It
would be a hell of a success if she ever got the chance, and not
just because she was a good cook. There was something about
her that made me feel like she would be a hell of a restaurant
owner.
My phone lit up. The surrogacy service was calling again.
The moment I saw the number flash across the screen,
everything clicked into place. I had an idea. It may have been
a crazy one, but it was the first thing I had felt certain about all
week. When things felt right like that, I tried not to wait
around to let myself question it and pick it apart. Instead, I
strolled right out of the office, setting out to put my crazy idea
into motion.
 6

ANGEL

I
stood back and tilted my head at the mannequin in front
of me, biting my lip. What is this missing?
Clothes and fashion never held the same passion for
me that they had for Del, but I often told myself it wasn’t so
different from cooking. Putting together a good outfit was like
making a new recipe. You try a little bit of this and a little bit
of that until you hit that sweet spot where everything comes
together perfectly.
This needs a scarf. I snatched a bright, patterned silk slip
from the nearby rack and tied it around the mannequin’s neck.
“Looking good, girl,” Del said, placing a hand on my
shoulder as she eyed the outfit. “Mitsy will like that. Now just
ten more looks to go.”
“I don’t understand these rich chicks having someone else
do all the shopping for them,” I told her, sliding the
mannequin aside to start piecing together the next look. “Isn’t
that the fun part? Don’t they have girlfriends to do this sort of
stuff with them?”
“Maybe not.” She shrugged. “You, me, and Lizzy are
lucky to have each other, after all. Not everyone has close
friends like we have.”
 I faintly noticed the ring of the bell on the front door just
as Del stopped and cleared her throat. “Speaking of close
friends, it looks like another one of ours just stopped in.”
I turned around to see Joey standing at the front of the
shop, watching us with a smile. My breath caught the way it
always did when he was around.
“I’ll be in the back if you need me.” Del winked before
sneaking away.
I rolled my eyes at the little grin on her face—the one that
implied this was something more than just a random, casual
visit from Joey.
While I continued pulling out shirts and holding them up
to see what I might want to pair together next, I could hear
Joey slowly walking closer.
“What brings you into the shop today?” I asked without
looking at him.
“I was hoping you and I could talk,” he announced.
I tried to hide the way my whole body froze up with the
suggestion. “Oh? What about?”
“It might be better to discuss it when you’re not working.”
His eyes flashed to the back of the shop, and then he leaned in
close—too close—behind me, sending chills up my spine.
“And when Del isn’t eavesdropping on us from the back
room.”
I looked up just long enough to see Del lurking near the
doorway, where she probably thought we wouldn’t see her.
Her shadow was a dead giveaway.
“Okay,” I replied as calmly as possible. “I close up the
shop at five tonight. We can talk then.”
 “Perfect. I’ll be waiting for you outside when you get off.”
Without another word, he strolled right out the front door
as casually and unexpectedly as he had come in. Del
immediately came bounding out the second the shop door
closed behind him.
“What was that all about?” she squealed.
“You know, I don’t know. You heard as much as I did. He
wants to talk.”
“Do you think it has anything to do with the other night?
Maybe with whatever happened while you two were
babysitting together?”
I let out a big sigh. “I don’t know, Del. Nothing happened
the other night. We were two friends having dinner and wine.”
“Did you talk about the first time y’all hooked up?” she
asked frantically, her brain working even harder than mine was
to solve this new puzzle.
“A little, but no, not really. He’s not into relationships.
That’s all I know. Surprise, surprise.”
“Maybe he changed his mind! Maybe that’s why he wants
to talk to you!” Her voice turned shrill with excitement again.
“Let’s just calm down here and take a step back. I don’t
know what the hell he’s thinking or what he wants, but I’ll find
out tonight. So, let’s not freak out until then.”
Inside, I was freaking out just as much if not more so than
Del. I spent the rest of the day picking it apart in my brain.
Maybe he wanted to take me on a real date? But he could have
just asked that upfront. Or maybe he had more feelings about
that one night together than he was prepared to say the other
night?
 The hours passed by slowly until, finally, the shop was
empty, and as soon as the clock struck five, I was heading to
the front door with the key in hand. Just as he promised, Joey
was leaning against his car out front, waiting for me.
“Hello again,” I said, sucking in a deep breath.
“Thanks for agreeing to talk to me,” he replied in a very
businessman-like tone. He opened the passenger door for me
and stepped aside while I climbed in, promptly shutting it
behind me.
“Do I get to know where we are going? Or is that a
mystery, just like tonight’s topic of conversation?” I asked as
he slid into the driver’s seat.
“That’s also a mystery,” he said and grinned. “It’s more
fun that way.”
“More fun for you,” I groaned.
“It won’t be a mystery for long.”
I was more confused than ever when we pulled onto
Stanford Avenue and parked in front of the vacant restaurant
space that his company now owned. He offered no explanation
as we got out of the car, but I did notice the leasing sign in the
window had been taken down. He approached the front door
with a ring of keys, and I assumed he was just nice enough to
let me have a look at the place before the new tenants moved
in. I had told him how much I admired the spot and about my
dreams of owning it for myself one day.
We stepped inside the dark, broken-down building. It was
torn to pieces from when the last tenants removed all their
equipment, decor, and furniture, but it needed work even
beyond that. Still, all I could see when I looked at it was
potential. I spun around, taking it all in. It was filled with so
many possibilities.
I was so caught up in my daydream that I nearly forgot
Joey was in there with me until he said, “I have a proposal for
you.”
I snapped out of my fantasy and turned my full attention to
him. “A proposal? I’m listening.”
“I told you how I’m ready to start a family of my own,
skipping the whole marriage bit. And I’m looking for a
surrogate.”
“Mm-hmm,” I replied slowly, thinking, What the hell does
this have to do with me? Or this restaurant?
“I’ll just get straight to the point.” He slid his hands into
his pockets and spoke in his stern businessman voice again. “I
need a surrogate, but I have reservations about doing this with
a total stranger. You need help in opening your own restaurant,
like you’ve always dreamed of doing. So, my proposal is that
we help each other.”
My brow furrowed. “I mean, sure, I’ll help you pick out a
surrogate. I guess. If that’s what you want. But I don’t see how
you can help me—”
“I don’t want you to pick out the surrogate. I want you to
be my surrogate.”
I wasn’t sure if I breathed in a bug or clump of dust, or if
what he just said was really so hard to swallow, but I erupted
into an odd mix of coughing and laughter. Joey wasn’t
laughing.
“I’m sorry. What?”
 “You agree to be my surrogate, and I’ll give you this space
and the start-up capital to start your own restaurant,” he
clarified.
My mouth dropped open wide as I started looking all
around the space again. My brain went into hyper-mode,
imagining all those possibilities I had been dreaming of finally
coming true. I almost got lost completely until I remembered
the first part of what he said.
“But…me? Your surrogate?” I laughed again. “Joey, no.
No way. Why on earth would you want me to do that? You
want me to get pregnant? And then have the baby? Your
baby?” Each new word spilling out of my mouth was more
breathless than the one before until I was breaking down,
sounding like I was hyperventilating.
Joey rushed over and pulled up a large crate, placing his
hands on my shoulders to urge me to sit down. “I know it’s a
lot to take in and a lot to think about, but hear me out. You’re
an amazing woman and a good friend, and you’re good with
kids. I know you’ll be around in my life and the baby’s.”
“Will I?” I shot back. Joey and I had mutual friends, sure,
but outside of our random night together in bed, it’s not like
we were close.
“Your best friends are married to two of my best friends,”
he reminded me. “Of course you’ll be around. Look, I know
it’s a lot to talk about, but just tell me if this is even remotely
possible, if you’re even a little interested, and then we can
work out the details.”
“How… How… How would this work?” I stammered. “I
mean, would we… Well, you know how babies are made.
Unless you just want to turkey-baster me the way you would
through the service.”
 “Turkey-baster you?” He hung his head in laughter. “Like I
said, we can work out the details. But no, I suppose I thought
since you and I had already…hooked up once…that we would
do this…the old fashioned way.” He leaned in closer with a
grin on his face. “That sounds like a lot more fun than using
some clinic.”
I was still in shock, but his deep sexy rasp and the promise
of both sex and a restaurant nearly made me agree to
everything right then and there. Then I remembered the rest of
it. The complications of having a baby for someone else.
Being pregnant for nine months and then the pain of labor. It
was too much to process all at once.
“I’ll have to think about it,” I said, still feeling out of
breath.
“Of course. Take all the time you need.”
 7

JOEY

A
s crazy as it sounded, ever since I made my
proposal to Angel, I had an extra pep in my step.
Sure, I was still distracted at work. Only now, I was
staring off into the distance with a smile on my face rather
than being wrinkled with worry.
“You look like you’re in a good mood,” Nick commented
from the door.
“I am.” I smiled back at him. “At least I will be if this all
works out. Two birds with one stone, man. The Stanford
Avenue property is taken care of and going to someone who I
truly believe in. I know Angel’s restaurant will be the perfect
kind of business I imagined for the area, and I’ll feel better
about how I’m bringing a child into this world. It’s a win-win
if she agrees.”
He pursed his lips and waved to the seat across from me.
“May I?”
“Sure.” I shrugged, slightly rolling my eyes. I knew he
wasn’t as confident in this new turn of events as I was. It was
written all over his face.
He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “Did it
ever occur to you that maybe you’re treating this whole thing a
little too much like a business transaction? I mean, sure,
everything with the Stanford property, I agree with. But a baby
trade? Don’t you think it sounds a little…”
“Crazy?”
“Yes. Absolutely bat shit crazy,” he said with an
unapologetic tone.
I let out a pitying laugh. “Look, I know it’s a lot to wrap
your head around. I can’t describe it. Something about this just
feels right. If Angel feels the same way, then she’ll agree to it,
and the rest will be a piece of cake.”
He shook his head, still unmoved. “Nothing about having a
baby is a piece of cake except the baby shower, and that’s
under normal circumstances. You’re proposing to knock up
your friend and then raise the baby on your own. I’m not even
going to get into the fact that maybe you were having
reservations about the service because becoming a single dad
while you have this kind of busy, demanding career is a crazy
enough endeavor on its own. Actually, no. I am going to get
into it. Have you considered that maybe this way of going
about things feels better because it’s closer to an actual
relationship? Like with a man, woman, and baby all together?
Maybe, just maybe, that’s what you’re secretly wanting.”
“Nope,” I said confidently. “I assure you, that is not what I
want. I just think Angel is a natural mother, and I feel good
about her being the mother of my child.”
“But she’s not going to be the mother of your child,” he
argued. “She’s just having a baby for you. You’re going to be
both the mother and father of this child. She’s going to be busy
running her restaurant.”
 “Like I said before, I don’t know how to explain it.” The
frustration pushed my voice up an octave. “I have a gut
instinct that this could all work out perfectly. I don’t care how
it sounds or what it looks like. We take big real estate gambles
all the time. Hell, that’s why we’re here in Cherry Falls in the
first place.”
“That’s real estate. Buildings don’t have social security
numbers or heartbeats. Babies do.”
I let out a groaning sigh, letting my pen plop to the paper
pad in front of me on the desk. “If it’s not meant to be, then it
won’t be. Angel will say no. Unless she has a problem with it,
I’m good to move ahead as planned. You’ll just have to trust
me. But until I have an answer from her…”
Just then, I heard my secretary yelling in the lobby outside
my door. Angel ran in, out of breath, steadying herself against
the doorframe.
“Are you okay?” I shot up from my desk. “Did you run all
the way over here?”
She couldn’t speak at first through all the heaving and
coughing. Finally, she raised a finger and said, “I did actually.”
She turned her gaze to Nick. “Could you…you know…”
“Say no more.” He jumped to his feet, turning back to me.
“Sounds like you might have your answer. So, I just hope you
know what you’re doing.”
He and Angel traded places, and she quickly collapsed into
the chair in front of me. Her hair was frazzled, and her cheeks
were bright red.
“No offense, but you look like hell,” I noted honestly.
“Gee, thanks. You can get used to that, I guess, if we’re
going to do this thing.”
 I felt a surge of reassurance rise up inside. “So, you’re
saying you’re agreeing to my proposal?”
She shook her head and swallowed hard. “I haven’t slept
since you took me to the restaurant the other night. I haven’t
been able to stop thinking about it. As crazy as it sounds, I
want to do this. I knew I had to rush over here and tell you
right away before I had a chance to change my mind.”
A huge exhale blew out from her lips as if she had been
holding her breath and those words in from the moment she
started running to my office.
“You’re sure about this?” I asked slowly. “I know this is a
lot to ask. You’ll be going through nine months of pregnancy
and then labor. And in the end, you’re not keeping the baby. I
mean, of course I want you to be a part of the baby’s life,
but…”
“No, I know. I won’t be the baby’s mom, like, on a day to
day basis,” she answered quickly. “I think you were right. It’s
perfect. I’ve always been curious about what it would be like
to experience having a baby, but I’ve never wanted kids of my
own. I only ever wanted my restaurant. As far as I’m
concerned, this is the best of both worlds.”
I nodded in agreement, still a little stunned that it was all
coming together. “I feel the same way. Either this is genius or
pure madness.”
“Or maybe both?” she proposed. “I don’t know, but I guess
we’ll find out. How do we do this thing?”
My brain went into an organizational mode, breaking
everything down into steps. “Well, first, I talk to my lawyer.
He’ll draw up a contract that we’ll both sign. And then…”
 Her already blushing cheeks turned an even brighter shade
of red. “And then we…”
“Yes.” I smirked. “And then we move on with the next
part.”
“Making a baby,” she said, and her eyes lit up with nerves.
“Okay. That part is easy. I’ve been practicing since I was
seventeen.” She laughed anxiously.
Even though she was enthusiastically on board, I could tell
she was freaking out inside. I walked over and kneeled down
in front of her, taking her hands in mine as I stared intently
into her eyes.
“Angel, listen. This may be an unorthodox way of doing
this, but I’m not delusional. I know what I’m asking of you
and what you’re agreeing to. I just want you to know, I’m
going to take care of you during this. Every step of the way. I
may be raising this child on my own, but everything up until
then, we’re doing together. You’re not signing up to do the
next nine months alone.”
She raised a brow. “Oh, so you think it will happen that
fast? You’re awfully confident about your sperm’s accuracy on
the first try.”
“I was kind of counting on there being way more than one
try,” I smirked. “I’m looking forward to it, actually.”
She flashed a smile that quickly faded. “Joey, this isn’t
going to get weird, is it? I just need to know that there’s not
any confusion about what this is between us.”
I stood up and straightened my tie. “No confusion. We’re
just two friends who happen to be attracted to each other, and
we’re helping each other move into the next phase of our lives.
That’s all.”
 She did her best to mimic my confident, nonchalant
attitude with a little shrug of her shoulders. “Yeah. Totally.
That’s all. Sounds simple enough when you put it that way.”
I walked back to the other side of my desk and sat down,
checking my calendar. “Are you free tomorrow night?”
She jumped a little. “Tomorrow night? Why?”
“I could have the contract ready by then.” I laughed at her
nervousness. “I could bring it over for us to go over and sign.
And then, we could get started.”
“Oh! Yes! Get started. With the sex. Us. Having it. Making
a baby.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? You can have some more time
to think if you—”
“No!” she cut me off. “I don’t need more time to think.”
Sucking a deep breath in, she calmed herself. “I’m ready to do
this. I just, well, it’s weird. It may take a little getting used to.
But believe me, it’s all I’ve been thinking about for days.”
“Me too.” I smiled, wondering which part she had been
thinking about the most. I had kept my mind strictly prohibited
from getting too stuck on the sex part, but now that everything
was certain, it was suddenly all I could think about.
That one time with Angel had been mind-blowing. I didn’t
have the heart to tell her that was part of the reason I was so
cold the next morning. The better the sex, the deeper the
connection—the higher the risk was of getting hurt. I had felt
it with her like lightning surging through my body, and knew I
had to put some distance between us the next morning in every
way I could.
Now, at least for a little while, she and I could let some of
our guards down. We would have a contract outlining all the
rules—removing all the potential for the messy parts about
relationships that normally scared me off. It was
straightforward sex with a purpose, and then friendship. A
partnership, even.
 8

ANGEL

I
tugged at the floral dress I had thrown on as I stood at
my kitchen counter, pouring myself a shot of vodka. The
liquid courage burned against the back of my throat, but
at least it was loosening me up, which I so desperately needed.
I fiddled with the dress some more, but no matter how
many times I adjusted it, I couldn’t get the damn thing to feel
right on my body. I had tried on about fifty different things
before landing on this dress. I knew how to get dressed up for
a date, but getting dressed up to make a baby? That was a new
one for me.
I quickly poured and threw back another shot, taking a
quick glance at the clock on the wall. Maybe I still had time to
change just one more time before…
The knock came on my front door. I blew out a nervous
breath and went over to answer it. Joey was waiting on the
other side with his arms full of bags, looking tall and
handsome as ever.
“You’re here!” I blurted.
“We said seven o’clock, right?”
“Yes. Yes, we did. I just… It’s nothing.” I could feel the
blush in my cheeks. “Come on in.”
 I waved him in and followed closely behind as he set the
bags down on the kitchen counter. I was still fumbling with
my stupid dress as I noticed the stalks of celery and carrots
sticking out of the tops.
“What’s all this?”
“I thought we could make dinner together,” he explained
as he started pulling the items out of the bags. “Is that okay?”
I shrugged. “Sure, great.”
“I figured I wouldn’t get any complaints out of you.” He
grinned. “Since you love to cook so much.”
I leaned against the counter, reminding myself over and
over to just act natural. “Nope, no complaints here. I guess I
just thought… Well, I didn’t know if we’d be getting straight
down to business.”
He winked. “I think we had enough of that last night.”
I squirmed at the memory. I met Joey and his lawyer at his
office the previous evening. The stuffy old man described each
item, line by line, going over the terms of every part of my
pregnancy from start to finish in great detail. I had never felt
so uncomfortable, and I felt like my cheeks were still stained
red from the whole ordeal.
“Tonight should be more relaxed. Natural. The contract
and lawyer business was the hard part, but it’s over now,” he
said, surveying my kitchen for whatever pot or pan he was on
the hunt for.
I grabbed the bottle of vodka and two shot glasses.
“Agreed. And cheers to that!” I tipped the bottle toward him
before pouring a shot and sliding it his way.
 “I want to do everything I can to help keep you in good
health during all of this,” he said as he continued rifling
through my kitchen. “I thought cooking a nice healthy meal
together would set the right tone.”
I was already throwing back my shot before I noticed the
hesitant expression on his face. He left his own shot untouched
on the counter and walked over to me, cupping my face in his
hands. My whole body froze as our eyes locked together in
deep intensity.
“I know this baby will be mine in the end,” he said softly,
stroking my cheekbones with his thumbs. “The restaurant will
be all yours in the end. But until then, we’re in this together. I
want to help in any way I can.”
I swallowed hard, struggling to break my gaze from his.
Finally, he went back to his work in the kitchen, setting me
free. I let out a big breath and reached for the vodka again.
“Aren’t you drinking with me?” I asked, eyeing his still
untouched shot.
He watched me throw back another and said, “On the note
of health, maybe you should consider cutting back drinking
while we’re trying to conceive. Just a suggestion.”
“Sure, but I could really use something to calm my nerves
while I’m getting used to all this. Cut me some slack tonight,
okay?”
“Fair enough.” He smiled, drawing his own shot glass to
his lips. “Cheers!”
“Cheers!” I shot back enthusiastically. I couldn’t have
handled the whole night sober, even if it was just him choosing
not to drink.
 “Maybe we can do a sort of re-creation of that first night
we were together,” I suggested, only half-joking. “How much
do you remember? Well, besides lots of this stuff.” I held up
the bottle of vodka with a smirk.
Joey stopped what he was doing and searched his
memories with a nostalgic smile. “The grand opening of
Damon’s club. You were dancing,” he recalled, staring off into
the distance. “With your friends. You were wearing some
sequined little halter top, and you were absolutely glowing.”
“With sweat,” I quipped.
He hung his head in laughter. “Maybe, but that didn’t
make it any less sexy. I had been drinking a little myself
already. I kept watching you out there on the dance floor,
thinking you were the most gorgeous woman in the room. I
felt drawn to you like a moth to a flame.”
“Then the music slowed,” I chimed in, smiling ear to ear.
“You cut in and asked if we could dance…”
I bit my lip as my words trailed off. I could vividly
remember how our bodies melded together as we swayed back
and forth. There was an intense heat sparking between us as
we moved slowly, staring into each other’s eyes.
“Then the music stopped,” Joey remembered. “I asked if I
could buy you a drink.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “And then we were goners!”
It was true. From the moment we crawled into that booth
together with another round of drinks in hand, we lost
ourselves completely, just talking and laughing. Soon that
turned into making out—that somehow mysteriously happens
whenever you’re drunk. Talking turns to kissing, which
quickly turns to leaving and then tumbling into bed.
 “I just hope it happens that easily for us tonight,” I added
nervously.
Joey was quiet for a moment, then shot a finger up in the
air. “I have an idea.”
I watched him stroll into my living room, quickly locating
my record player. He skimmed my collection until he found a
salsa album that closely resembled what had been playing
during our slow dance before we hooked up. He put it on and
dimmed the lights before coming over to take another shot.
“Shall we?” he asked, holding out his hand.
I shook my head, thinking the whole thing was ridiculous.
I couldn’t refuse that eager, optimistic look in his eyes, though.
I smiled and slid my hand into his, letting him lead me into the
middle of the living room.
With his hands on the small of my back, he pulled my
body against his and began to sway. The center of our bodies
locked together while everything else flowed and moved to the
rhythm. Our eyes locked again, just as they had that night, and
I instantly felt all my worries and doubts start to melt away.
“You look gorgeous,” he told me, looking me up and
down.
I quickly remembered the ugly floral frock I was wearing
and tensed. “Oh. This thing. I meant to change before you got
here…”
“You’d look sexy in a paper bag,” he insisted in a low,
deep rasp.
His words shot to my core, awakening a surge of lust that
spoke much louder than any reservations I had still swirling
around inside. I wanted to lose myself in it, and we were
dangerously close to kissing. But there was still dinner to
make, and kissing was not what made a baby.
I felt the wall around my heart go up, sending me flying
back a few feet from Joey. “We should start cooking,” I
suggested, turning colder than before.
His brows flinched in confusion for a moment. “Yes.
Absolutely. Let’s get back to dinner.”
“What are we making?” I retreated back to the kitchen,
desperately needing us to refocus on anything but us and
whatever the crazy thing was that happened when our bodies
got close.
I listened to Joey explain the ingredients and recipe for his
chicken and vegetable pan roast, but inside, I was reminding
myself of the contract. We have sex until we make a baby. We
handle the pregnancy as a sort of partnership. The baby will be
born, and Joey will be on his own. As will I. I will recover
from delivery and get to work on my restaurant—the end.
There was no room for slow, sexy salsa dancing, and
definitely no room for the warm feelings that swelled up in my
heart whenever he pulled me close like that. I realized for the
first time more than ever that I was going to have to be careful
with this whole thing. I had a huge crush on Joey, after all,
which had faded after we slept together and he kicked me to
the curb.
But this would be over nine months of closeness. If I
didn’t keep my feelings in check, I would get hurt. Or worse, I
would do something to jeopardize the whole agreement,
putting myself out of the restaurant, which was the whole
reason I signed up for this in the first place.
“Think we can handle it?” he asked.
 I snapped to suddenly, realizing I had zoned out and not
heard a single word, but with a quick glance over the
ingredients and a quick remembrance of what I did happen to
hear him saying, I knew it would be a cinch.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I know I can sure
handle it.” I flashed a cocky grin and grabbed everything I
needed to prep the vegetables.
“Oh, I don’t doubt it.” He smiled back. “I don’t think
there’s much you couldn’t handle.”
Except maybe having your baby without falling for you, I
thought to myself.
 9

JOEY

I
was drawn into Angel’s laughter as we finished the last
bites of our meal. She threw her head back with her
perfect smile, and it was like music to my ears.
“You’re funny,” she sighed as it died down.
“I think I get funnier when I’m around you, just so I can
hear you laugh,” I confessed.
She flashed a coy smile up at me, and those big beautiful
brown eyes cut into me with a mischievous spark.
“Have you been thinking about your restaurant plans?” I
asked.
She grabbed her drink, moved up onto the couch, and
replied, “Sort of. I mean, yes. It’s just still kind of hard to
believe this is all really happening. I wanted to have my own
restaurant for so long…and then bam. Just out of nowhere, it’s
kind of falling into my lap. I’m still a little shocked, I guess.”
I sat down next to her, admiring her smile as she talked.
“Well, whenever you get your head wrapped around it, I know
you’re going to come up with some great ideas for everything.
It’s going to be amazing because you’re amazing.”
Her eyes widened. “I am? I mean, I know I think I’m
amazing. I just didn’t realize you thought I was, too.”
 Our hands met along the back of the couch, and I trailed
my fingers down her arm. “Of course I do. That’s why I
wanted you to be the mother of our child.”
She chuckled and leaned in closer. “Oh? I thought it was
just because you knew we’d make a cute baby together.”
I smirked. “That too.”
I could see her start to tense, and knew I wanted to chase
her doubts away before they threatened the ease we had fallen
into with each other.
“Those eyes,” I murmured, inching close enough that our
legs were touching. “I hope the baby has your eyes.”
“He or she wouldn’t be bad off at all if they ended up with
your eyes, though.”
“Maybe, but those lips…” I cupped her face in my hands
and trailed my thumbs down, brushing along her bottom lip.
“These lips?” she asked softly.
I nodded and leaned in to kiss her gently. We instantly
melted into each other, deepening the kiss. I forgot how good
of a kisser she was but was quickly reminded as she opened
her mouth wider, inviting my tongue in to explore hers. She
nipped my bottom lip and ran her hands around the back of my
head, pulling me on top of her.
As soon as her back spread across the couch underneath
us, I felt her breath catch. She pulled away and sat back up
quickly.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice breaking. “I just… I need a
minute.”
“Everything okay?”
 She fanned both hands in front of her face as if she was
trying to cool herself down. “Yeah, I think so. Just a little…
nervous, is all.”
“Don’t be nervous. It’s just me.”
Her eyes locked to mine. “Exactly. It’s you.”
I studied her expression, wishing I could read her mind.
“Are you still upset about what happened between us before?”
Her lips parted, but then she stopped herself. “No. I guess
not. Look, it’s fine. Don’t worry about me. I want to do this.”
She lunged forward to kiss me again, but I pulled back,
taking her hands into mine, instead. “Angel, I know we signed
that contract, but we can rip it up. I don’t want you to do
anything you’re uncomfortable with.”
She spread her hand around the back of my head, stroking
my hair. “Thanks, Joey. I know that. But I know you’re going
to be a great father. I want to give that to you, and getting my
own life long dream fulfilled in the process is a fair trade. I’ve
just obviously never done anything like this before, so give me
a minute, and I’ll be fine.”
I stood up from the couch and reached out to her. “Come
with me.”
She looked up at me with curiosity and slowly slipped her
hand into mine. “Where?”
“Lead me to your bedroom.”
She pulled me around the corner into her room. I stopped
for a moment to take it in. The walls were painted a terracotta
orange, which felt so warm and inviting under the dim string
lights glowing along the edges of the colorful tapestry hanging
over her bed. I pulled out my phone and put on some relaxing
music and pulled her close.
“Take your clothes off.”
“What?” She laughed. “Just like that? I don’t think that’s
going to help me feel more at ease with all of this.”
“Just trust me.” I grinned. “We’re going to take it slow, but
I want you naked. I’ll go ahead and take mine off, too, if that
makes it any easier.”
She crossed her arms and replied, “Yes, actually. I think it
would. So strip.”
“Should I dance while I strip?” I quipped.
“No, please don’t.”
She watched intently while I unbuttoned my shirt and slid
it off, followed by the tank top underneath. I unbuckled my
belt and tugged the zipper, letting my pants fall down around
my ankles.
“Now it’s your turn.”
She bit her bottom lip with a smile as her eyes danced
across my body from top to bottom. Finally, seeming more
confident than before, she bunched the fabric of her loose-
fitting dress in her hands and pulled it over her head. My
mouth dropped at the sight of her in only her sexy bright pink
lace bra and panties that popped against her dark caramel skin.
“I hate to ask this because you look so damn good right
now, but those will have to come off, too.”
She smirked. “So come and take them off of me.”
Her eyes burned into me as I slowly stepped closer. I
stared back deeply while reaching around to undo the clasp of
her bra. I gently ran both of my fingers under the loose straps,
drawing it away from her body. I felt myself getting harder the
moment her perfect bare breasts were in front of me. My
memory of seeing them the first time was hazy, and the
reminder was nearly enough to make me lose track of my plan.
I ran the backs of my hands along the sides of her breasts,
trailing down to her stomach before hooking my fingers under
the elastic of her panties. I dropped slowly to my knees while I
pulled them off of her, putting my face directly in front of the
folds between her legs. She was so close, and it would have
been so easy to suck her into my mouth, but that would have
to wait.
I stood again, sparking a quick look of confusion on her
face.
“Go get on the bed,” I told her. “Lay down on your
stomach.”
While she did as I asked, I searched through the collection
of lotions on top of her dresser. I found one with a sensual
amber scent and joined her on the bed.
Squirting the lotion into both palms, I began kneading into
her shoulders, then slowly down her back. She grunted and
moaned under the pressure. Her sweet sounds were nearly
enough to unravel me, but I stayed focused. After working my
way down her legs and back up again, I began massaging my
thumbs into her cheeks—gently teasing between her legs. Her
moans became broken and breathless, and her whole body
seized up as I kissed gently up the length of her spine.
The pounding erection in my boxers pressed up against her
as I kissed up to her neck and ears. I teased her skin with my
tongue until she suddenly rolled over, pressing her lips against
mine. Her legs wrapped around my waist, pushing against my
hard-on even more than before.
I ground into her, giving a hint of what was to come, which
she seemed all too eager about. She arched her back and
pressed into me, clawing into my back with each grazing touch
between us.
“I’m ready now,” she whispered. “I want you inside me.”
I stared deep into her eyes and murmured, “Are you sure?”
“Please.” She crossed her legs around my waist, arching
herself up into me again, begging me to get rid of those damn
boxers standing between us.
10
 ANGEL

I
felt frighteningly sober as Joey moved over me, looking
deep into my eyes. I could feel his erection pushing into
me, and I knew I couldn’t wait for a second longer
before feeling him inside me. We may have done this once
before, but it was all a drunken hazy blur. This time I could
feel and savor everything—like his tongue running down to
my breasts, running circles around my nipples until they were
hard and pointed. He sucked each one into his mouth, making
me dizzy. I kneaded into his back, desperately urging him to
give me more.
Each time I bucked my hips against him, I could feel him
growing harder. Our breath quickened as he finally pulled
down his tight boxers, setting his throbbing cock free. I
couldn’t resist taking it into my hand, relishing in the way he
hissed through clenched teeth as I gently stroked it.
He reluctantly broke free from my grip and continued
kissing his way down my body. “I know you said you wanted
me inside you,” he murmured against my skin, “but I want to
taste you first.”
I couldn’t find a single complaint with that. His lips teased
up and down my inner thighs, and he gave me a gentle bite
every so often until I was squirming in his hands. He kissed
every inch of my skin, every last curve, except for where I
wanted his mouth to be the most. Digging my fingers into his
hair, I impatiently urged him between my legs.
Finally, his tongue spread across my folds in one long, hot,
wet swoop. He pressed it against me harder, licking me up and
down as I writhed against the mattress. I moaned and tugged at
my grip on his hair, pulling him in closer. He sucked me in,
drawing a breathless whimper from my mouth. My body
buzzed with the building pleasure while everything outside of
me, him, and the bed underneath us seemed to slip away into
nothingness.
His fingers slipped inside me as his tongue and lips picked
up the pace. My legs were shaking in his arms, and I felt
myself getting closer. All at once, the surge of pleasure ripped
through me, sending my hands grasping for anything and
everything at once while I unraveled, tugging his hair, balling
the sheets up in my fist. I bucked against his mouth, wanting
more and less all at once, but he held me down and sucked me
in deeper until every bit of my climax finished rippling
through me.
I laughed as my orgasm faded, and his head popped up
from between my legs, searching my face for approval.
“How did I taste?” I asked.
He slowly pulled his fingers out from inside me and
brought them up to my lips, trailing them along my bottom lip
before dragging them across my tongue.
“You tell me,” he groaned.
An intense wave of heat crashed over my body. It was so
hot to taste myself on his skin with him watching so intently
that it felt as if his life depended on my lips wrapping around
his fingers, sucking my sweet juices off of them.
The moment his fingers slipped from my mouth, he
quickly met my lips with his. I could taste myself on his
mouth, too, so I drug my tongue along his bottom lip. The
spark in his eyes told me he knew exactly what I was doing,
and it was driving him mad with desire.
He inspired me to press my palms firmly against his
muscular chest, pushing him back onto the bed. “Okay, I let
you have your fun,” I teased. “Which was quite fun for me, as
well, but now I want what I asked for before.”
“Refresh my memory. What was that?” he asked in a
mischievous tone.
I swung my leg over his body, taking his hard cock into my
hand again. “This. Inside me. I want you inside me.”
I raised above his throbbing shaft, teasing the tip of it
along my folds, stroking him as I let him slide ever so gently
inside me. I watched him close his eyes, his mouth falling
open as he groaned from my touch and the hint of warm
wetness waiting for him inside. I stroked the head against my
pulsing clit, still sensitive from the intense orgasm I had only
moments ago. I had to join him in closing my eyes at the
feeling. We both stayed like that for a minute, him
surrendering to my grip that led his cock anywhere and
everywhere I wanted it to go.
As his groans grew louder and more impatient, I finally
lowered myself onto him, letting him fill me completely. I
slowly stretched around him as the sensation shot through my
entire body. Everything inside me was lit up, pulsing,
throbbing. I lifted up slowly and lowered myself again while
his fingers clenched into my thighs, a hiss seeping from his
teeth.
“God, you feel so good,” he said in between moans.
The words made me move faster, grinding him as deep
into me as he could possibly go. My heart pounded as I let my
head fall back. I let go of everything as I rode him harder and
harder. I could barely make out the string of words spilling
from his lips as I went.
“You’re so fucking wet. Oh my god, Angel. Yeah. Oh my
god, yeah.”
Even though I could barely hear them in my heightened
state of arousal, each syllable was hurtling me closer to the
edge. I felt him pulse inside me as I got closer and closer, and I
could feel him coming undone right along with me.
I had forgotten all about why we were in bed together
again until he shuddered and squeezed his hands around me,
filling me with his come. I rode him harder until I couldn’t
move anymore—milking every last drop of him. With one of
my last thrusts, the room suddenly spun around as he grabbed
me and flipped me over, pumping into me until there was
absolutely nothing left.
Our eyes met as we finished, and we both found something
startling and unexpected there. Our gazes seemed to beg the
question—wait, what were we doing? Was there more here
than we realized?
We were both quick to shake it off and push it all back
down. He pulled out slowly as if he was trying to preserve
everything he had spilled out inside me.
“Should I stand on my head or something?” I laughed. “I
think I’ve seen chicks doing that in movies when they’re
trying to get pregnant.”
He smirked against my lips, giving me a gentle kiss. I’m
sure he had sweet intentions, but I tensed with confusion. We
were having sex to make a baby. The sex part was over. Why
was he still kissing me? And what was that look we gave each
other at the end?
Once again, I shook it all off and squeezed my legs
together tight, holding everything inside to increase our
chances of getting it done on the first try. But it seemed that
Joey was already anticipating the next time.
“You know, we’ll have to keep doing this until you get a
positive pregnancy test,” he reminded me in a coy tone.
“Oh, no. Not more of that. Please, anything but that!” I
joked, shrieking out in laughter as he started tickling up and
down my sides.
His tickle turned into a gentle touch as he looked into my
eyes again, kissing me one last time.
“I guess I should get going,” he said hesitantly, searching
my face for any sign of reluctance to see him leave.
“Stay,” I whispered, trailing a finger through his hair.
“That way we can have morning sex. You know, to increase
our chances.”
“Good thinking.” He smiled, nuzzling into my neck. “If
you’re comfortable with me sleeping over.”
“Why not?” I shrugged, but inside, I knew exactly why
not.
We were already dancing a fine line between what we
planned and agreed on and what was easily deemed
dangerous. The intense, longing stares and the gentle kisses he
was still planting up and down my neck… A sleepover only
complicated things, encouraging the crazy chemicals of
attachment to start swirling around in my brain.
I insisted to myself that it was just about fulfilling the
contract I had agreed to. It had absolutely nothing to do with
how warm and safe I felt with his body wrapped around me.
11
 JOEY

M
y body was teeming with excitement when the
knock came to my front door. I quickly answered
it to see Angel standing there, looking sexy as
ever in her tight jeans, strappy heeled sandals, and top that
showed enough cleavage and midriff to send any man over the
edge. The sly smile she wore while I looked her up and down
only made me want to get her inside faster.
She smiled. “Hey, you.”
“Get in here,” I growled, pulling her into my chest and
kicking the door shut behind her.
We instantly melted into a deep kiss. I loved the moaning
sounds she made as my tongue swept across hers. Maybe the
casual kissing thing was blurring the lines a bit with our
arrangement, but we were still in full-blown baby-making
mode, so nothing seemed off-limits. It was all just foreplay.
“It smells good in here,” she said softly against my lips.
“This time, I thought I would cook for you,” I explained,
leading her into the kitchen. “I’m nowhere near as talented of
a chef as you are, but my mother did her best to teach me her
manicotti recipe.”
 “Mmm, I’ll have to be sure and send her my appreciation,”
she quipped.
“Well, you haven’t tasted it yet. You may want to send her
your regrets.”
“And what about dessert?” she asked, not backing down
from my furrowed brow. “What? I’m practicing eating for
two.”
I pulled her into my chest, running my hands up and down
her back. “Hmm. Dessert,” I said, kissing her neck. “I have
something different in mind for dessert.”
“Oh?” she laughed.
“Mm-hmm,” I murmured into her ear, pulling the tie on
her top until it came undone.
She giggled as I kissed across her chest and slid my hands
under the falling top to caress her breasts. I slowly backed her
to the table, tossing her shirt aside.
She leaned back, giving me a perfect view of her topless
body in nothing but her blue jeans and shoes. I rushed to get it
all off of her, our mouths colliding every few seconds with
labored breaths. From the moment we got back into bed
together to make a baby, we had been insatiable, drinking each
other in every chance we got. It never seemed to be enough.
I slid her jeans down from her body, then kissed my way
back up her legs. She laughed under her breath and groaned as
I bit into the elastic of her panties to pull those down. Pushing
her back onto the table, I nibbled along her inner thigh, testing
her with my fingers to see how wet she was.
“Oh, you are so wet,” I said from between her legs, hissing
at the sight of my drenched fingers sliding out of her.
 She wrapped her hands around my head and pulled my lips
back to hers. “You make me very wet,” she said in a soft voice
that drove me mad. Her voice could get me going from zero to
sixty in a heartbeat.
I kissed her more urgently, feeling torn about what to do.
“I do want to have you as my dessert before dinner, but…”
“But that doesn’t make a baby,” she said with a mocking
pout.
I looked into her big, warm eyes and decided out loud,
“Fuck it. I don’t care. You’re too good to resist, and we’ll
worry about the rest of it later.”
“I know that I’m already topless and all,” she said as I
kissed my way back down her body, “but won’t dinner get
cold?”
I flicked my tongue between her legs, and she seemed to
forget what she’d asked me. I buried my face deeper, watching
the way she rolled her head back in a deep groan. With one
hand braced on the table’s edge and the other on the back of
my head, moving me wherever she wanted me, I lapped and
licked until she was grinding against me, pushing herself
closer and closer.
“Yeah…like that,” she whimpered. “Oh my god, Joey.
Fuck yes.”
“Like this?” I asked, letting my words get muffled in her
folds as she bucked against me harder.
“Fuck…yes! Just like that!” Her words trailed off into
loud, unbridled cries of ecstasy as she rocked against me
harder and harder.
I sucked her deeper into my mouth until I felt her entire
body clench and slowly release again. I could feel her muscles
spasming from the inside out.
“Hmm, thank you.” She smiled. “And now onto the
important part.” She grabbed the throbbing bulge in my pants,
squeezing it in her hand.
“Dinner?”
“What?” She laughed. “No. Not dinner. At least not yet.”
I pressed my lips to hers, brushing gently at first, but like
always, I was soon swept up into the passionate hunger
erupting between our mouths.
“No, really.” I grinned, pulling away again. “Let’s eat.
We’ll get to the rest of it later.”
“Okay. If you’re sure. I don’t want to neglect my
contractual duties.”
I bit into her neck, feeling her tense with the need for even
more. “Oh, believe me. You have fulfilled all of your
contractual duties thus far and then some. I am not
complaining.”
She stared down at her body as I pulled away. “I guess if
we’re going to eat, I should get dressed.”
“Oh, no,” I objected, locking my fingers into hers. “I said
we were taking a break for dinner, but there’s still plenty more
where that came from. Go look in my room. I left something
for you on my bed.”
She raised a brow and slid down from the table, prancing
off into my bedroom. She emerged a few seconds later,
wrapped in a big, soft, white robe.
“This is very convenient. What’s all this other stuff in
here?”
 “I thought you might want to take a nice, long, hot bath
later,” I explained. “I got you everything you might want.
Bubble bath, bath bombs, lotion, face masks…”
“You’re awfully good at anticipating a woman’s bath
needs,” she quipped.
I winked. “My assistant might have helped a little.”

T HE NEXT DAY AT WORK , I sat in a meeting, doing my best to

suppress the grin on my face. I was working even harder to
focus and to not drift off into all the hot memories I had of
Angel over the past month. The only thing that really worked
to stifle my constant state of arousal was to remember that we
soon could have a positive pregnancy test. Then, our excuse to
hook up left and right would be gone. All sexual activity was
supposed to stop after that, which felt a little like trying to
cram everything back into Pandora’s box.
The thought always caused a hard lump to form in my
throat, making it hard to swallow. I had secretly been hoping
that maybe we hadn’t sealed the deal that first month. Just one
more month of this, that was all I wanted. Then it would be
easier to put a stop to it. At least that’s what I kept telling
myself.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a
notification for a text from Angel flash across the screen.
Doing my best not to be so blatantly disinterested in front of
Nick as he worked hard to present our next big real estate
closing goal, I swiped across the screen, expecting a text to
confirm our plans for that evening.
Angel: I think I’m pregnant.
 My heart dropped, but the feeling was a surprising sting of
disappointment. I shook my head, reminding myself how
badly I had wanted to have a child and how badly I wanted her
to have my child. This was excellent news, even if it did bring
with it an end to our sex life together.
I cleared my throat and raised a hand to Nick. “Uh, sorry
to interrupt, but you’ll have to excuse me. Send me notes
later?”
Nick nodded, waving me out the door. “I’ll call you.”
I jumped up from my seat and raced into the lobby outside
the boardroom, my thumb already clicking to call her as I
went.
“Hello?” she answered. Her voice was dry and shaky,
filled with nerves.
“I’m on my way over. Want me to bring anything?”
“More pregnancy tests,” she said with urgency. “Tons
more. I know this has to be right, but it’s… As crazy as this
sounds, it’s still kind of hard to believe when it actually
happens.”
“I understand what you mean.” I smirked, still in disbelief,
too. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I hung up and called my driver to pick me up out front,
thinking with every step, This is it. It’s really happening. I’m
going to be a dad.
12
 ANGEL

I
paced my apartment with the test in hand, squinting at
the very obvious positive line that I didn’t even have to
squint to see. Yet, I still just couldn’t believe it was
there.
I was talking to myself in my mind as I walked in the same
manic pattern, circling through my living room, into the
kitchen, and then back again. Of course it’s positive. That’s
what you were trying to do. You were trying to get pregnant,
and you have been having sex like your life depended on it.
In some ways, I thought my life did depend on it. The
career aspect of my life did, anyway. I was so wrapped up in
my own thoughts that I jumped at the knock on the door. The
test went spiraling up into the air, and I had to make a mad-
dash, fumbling maneuver to catch it.
My heart leaped with excitement as I flung open the door
to see Joey standing there with a drugstore bag in hand. The
father of my baby, I thought with a sigh to myself, and a damn
fine baby daddy, at that. But that’s not what this is about.
That’s not why you’re excited. You’re having this baby for him,
not with him.
“Is that it?” His eyes flashed across the stick in my hand.
 “Um, yeah.” I ushered him in, feeling a strange need to
tuck my hand behind my back.
“Well, can I see it?”
I scrunched up my nose. “Uh, yes. I guess so. Is that
weird? I mean, I peed on it.”
He laughed under his breath. “I have been in nearly every
part of your body and seen just about all there is to see. A little
pee on a stick doesn’t bother me.”
“Well, you won’t be saying that in nine months,” I
mumbled under my breath, suddenly feeling hyper-aware of
every part of the process.
I thought of my legs up in stirrups while Joey watched me
push a human being out of my body. No matter what he
thought was normal, that part wasn’t exactly at the forefront of
my fantasies about him as my crush. Or my former crush?
Right?
Reluctantly, I held out the test for him to look. His eyes
darted back and forth between me and the test for a moment.
“It’s positive, all right.”
“I still think I should take more. Just to confirm, you
know?”
He handed me the bag of tests from the store. “I got a
couple of different brands. But I also scheduled you an
appointment with the best obstetrician in Cherry Falls.
Ransom Realty actually sold his practice the building they’re
operating out of, so he pulled a few strings for me and said he
could squeeze you in tomorrow morning.”
“Really? Can you do that? Schedule an appointment for
me?”
 “You gave me all of your medical information when we
signed the contract. Remember?”
“Oh, yeah.” I nodded, blowing out a nervous breath.
“That’s right. I forgot.”
I felt myself spiraling back into manic mode again when
Joey came over and grabbed my hand. “Hey, are you okay?
You can call him back if you want to. I won’t schedule any
more appointments for you if it makes you uncomfortable. I
was just trying to take as much off your plate as I could so that
you wouldn’t be stressed. I want to relieve stress, not make
more of it for you.”
I felt my pounding heart rate slow as I looked up at him.
He held my hand to his chest, and it was the kind of moment I
had grown so comfortable with, but now everything had
changed.
“It’s weird,” I said quietly, staring deep into his eyes.
“Usually, this is when I would kiss you. But I guess that’s over
now.”
I saw a hard lump roll down his throat. “Like I said, I want
to relieve stress for you. Would a kiss calm you down?”
I nodded slowly, feeling my body sway into the familiar
draw to him. Our lips locked together in a tender sweep, but I
quickly had to pull away. I could feel myself tumbling over the
edge into dangerous territory. We didn’t have an excuse for
things like that anymore.
“We should keep the line between us clear, I think.” I
picked up the bag of tests and looked inside, avoiding his gaze.
“You know, just to keep from complicating things.”
“Right.” He nodded. “I agree.”
 But was I crazy to think I detected disappointment in his
voice? I tried not to think about it and focused on selecting
which test I would take next. I rushed into the bathroom and
ripped open one of the boxes, following the instructions
carefully. A while later, I came out to find Joey waiting for me
on the couch. I had three more positive pregnancy tests in my
hand.
“I’d say we did it,” I told him, tossing all three tests onto
the coffee table in front of him.
His eyes flashed across the assortment of sticks, each with
their own distinct pair of pink or blue lines. “I’d say so.” He
smiled. “How do you feel?”
“No symptoms yet,” I shrugged. “My period was supposed
to start today, so I took that first test without really expecting
much. I don’t really feel any different.”
“That’s good,” he said.
“Yeah, I suppose so.” I started pacing again before turning
back to him. “You’re happy?”
“Of course I am.” He grinned. “I’m going to be a dad. I’ve
been wanting this for years. Really, I’ve wanted this ever since
I was a kid, helping out with my brothers and sisters.”
I felt a strange wave of sadness wash over me, making it
hard to breathe. “It’s strange, I guess, how we both grew up
helping out with our siblings. It made you want a family more
than anything, but it sent me in the opposite direction. I never
really wanted kids at all.”
“I guess we’re a good example of turning gender roles
upside down,” he quipped.
I relished in the relief of laughter that came over me.
“Yeah, I guess that is one way to look at it.”
 “Angel,” he said in a serious tone. “Don’t worry about
how I’m feeling through all of this, okay? All I have to do is
sign that space over to you. The hard part is on you. I can’t
thank you enough for agreeing to do this for me. I am going to
make sure you don’t have to worry about anything for the next
nine months.”
Again, I was hit with the overwhelming urge to lay in his
arms. I wanted him to hold me and tell me he would take care
of me.
“Joey, can I ask a favor of you? If it’s too weird, you can
say no.”
“Ask me anything,” he replied.
His response jolted my brain for a moment. It made me
realize that there were actually a hundred different questions I
wanted to ask him, but I brought myself back down to the one
that mattered most right then.
“Do you think you could stay with me tonight?” I had to
look away as I asked, and I could feel myself blushing.
Showing vulnerability was not exactly my strong suit. “We
don’t have to do anything. It’d just be nice to have the
company, you know?”
“Of course,” he answered without pause. “I think it’s a
great idea, actually. Then I can go with you to the appointment
tomorrow if that’s okay with you.”
I let out another huge gush of breath and nodded my head.
“Yeah, that’d be great. I have done many things in my life, but
a baby doctor? That’s a first for me. At least for myself. You
know what I mean.”
Joey laughed and reached for my TV remote. “I know
what you mean. Why don’t you pick out something to watch?
I’ll order us some food. Anything you want.”
I hated being coddled, but the shock of actually being
pregnant made me think I could lower my guard for at least a
little bit, maybe just for that night. Having Joey around to take
care of me did seem to be the only thing that could calm my
racing heart and mind.
13
 JOEY

P
anic rose in my heart the minute I rounded the corner
to Del’s shop. I hadn’t even opened the door yet, and I
could already see Angel in the back, bending over to
pick up a box. I flung the door open and rushed in, quickly
taking the box from her arms.
“What are you doing?” I snapped. “You shouldn’t be
lifting this.”
Angel’s brow furrowed for a moment. She stared back at
me with a fire in her eyes. “It’s not that heavy. Anyway, what
are you doing here? I’m working, and this is part of work.”
“Something wrong?” Del popped in from the back room.
She put a hand on her hip, looking back and forth between us,
quickly registering the anger on Angel’s face.
“Don’t you think you could do the heavy lifting around
here while Angel is pregnant?” I asked.
“Oh, sorry.” She shrugged. “Those are just new
accessories. It’s not that heavy. But sure. Just ask me next
time, Angel. Okay?”
She breezed off to do other things, leaving Angel and me
alone. Angel was even more pissed than she had been
moments ago.
 “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in on you like this,” I
explained. “I just got worried when I saw you.”
She tightly gripped my arm and pulled me into a more
private corner of the store. “Look, I get you’re worried and all,
but I’m being cautious. I’m not some fragile little thing that’s
going to break, okay?”
“I’m just worried about you. I wish you’d quit working
while you’re pregnant. I know it wasn’t in the contract, but I
can give you money to live off of until it’s time for the
restaurant to open.”
“And then what am I supposed to do?” she fumed. “Just sit
around, twiddling my thumbs for the next nine months? No
way. I want to stay busy, and the doctor said I was perfectly
fine to continue most of my normal activities.”
“You know, most women would kill for an offer like that,”
I grumbled.
“Well, I’m not most women,” she barked.
We were in a standoff, and I could feel the heat rising in
my body. Mixed in with all the frustration was pure lust. She
blew away a few curly strands of hair that had fallen around
her face, and I could see she had no intention of backing
down. It made me want to pin her against the wall and take out
everything on her body.
“I can see that,” I replied after a moment.
“Can you also see that you’re interrupting me while I’m at
work? How would you like it if I bursted in on you at the
office and started bossing you around?”
I threw my hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. Let’s just
take a step back here.”
 “You should step right back out the door.” She swirled her
finger around to the front of the store. “I’ll talk to you when I
get off.”
I spun on my heels and started for the door. “Jeez, those
pregnancy hormones must be kicking in,” I grumbled.
“Excuse me!” she shrieked from over my shoulder.
“Nothing! I didn’t say a word. I’m going. Call me when
you get off.”
I retreated from the store, realizing I never even got to talk
to her about why I came by in the first place, which was to ask
her if I could order her something for lunch. Although, the last
time I tried that, she snapped at me for treating her like a child
who wasn’t capable of ordering her own food.
I had dated tons of women who said I was too wrapped up
in my work or said I didn’t pay enough attention to them, but
Angel seemed to take every attempt I made at caring for her as
a personal attack. I guess the difference was that we weren’t
dating. But weren’t we still partners in seeing this baby into
the world?
I went back to the office and tried to take my mind off
things, but as the clock got closer to five, I couldn’t stop
staring at my phone, waiting for Angel to call. I jumped to
answer it the second it rang.
“Hey,” she huffed, still sounding angry. “I’m heading
home. But listen, I’m tired. I think I’m just going to take a
long, hot bath and call it an early night.”
“I’ll bring you dinner,” I offered.
“No, Joey. I can make my own dinner, okay?”
 I was silent for a moment, missing the days when we were
sex-crazed and racing to get to see each other again. “Is
everything okay?”
There was a long pause before she finally sighed. “Yeah,
I’ll be fine.” I could hear her voice cracking like she was
starting to cry. “I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”
She hung up before I had a chance to reply. I wanted to
respect her space, but I couldn’t stand the thought of her
sitting in her apartment, crying, pregnant, and alone. If
something was wrong, I wanted to fix it for her.
I wrapped up everything with work and called a car to take
me to her place, stopping on the way for a big bouquet of fresh
flowers. I wanted to grab food, too, but I didn’t want to push
things.
After I knocked, she answered the door slowly. It was like
she knew it was me before she even opened it. She didn’t look
too happy to see me.
“How did I know you’d show up here tonight?” she
groaned.
“Can I come in?” I asked, handing her the flowers.
She considered it while she drew the blooms to her nose
and took in a deep whiff of their scent. “I guess. Even though I
specifically told you that I’d see you tomorrow.”
“You used to be excited to see me,” I argued as I stepped
inside.
“Well, things were different then, weren’t they?”
I turned around to face her, noting the fear and anger in her
eyes. “Different how?”
 “Making the baby was a lot more fun than being
pregnant,” she confessed. “And you weren’t treating me like
some fragile little doll then.”
“Am I going overkill?” I asked.
She stared at the floor, fidgeting with her feet. “Yeah, I
think so.”
I knew we weren’t supposed to be sleeping together
anymore, but the tension building between us was eating us
from the inside out. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was part
of the reason she was so frustrated with everything I tried to
do.
“Just tell me what you need, and I’ll do it,” I replied,
stepping closer. “Do you want…space?”
As I asked the question, I closed the gap between us,
studying her reaction. I noticed her breath catch as she avoided
my gaze. I hooked my finger under her chin and brought her
eyes to mine. All she could do was shake her head no.
“Do you want less space?” I suggested, drawing her lips
closer.
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “I don’t know what I want
right now. Other than to not be treated like a piece of glass, I
just want to feel like me again.”
I pressed my hand into the small of her back, yanking her
body against mine. Taking her face into my hands, I angled her
mouth to mine and kissed her urgently. We melted into the
heat emanating between us as I lifted her up, wrapping her
legs around my waist and pinning her to a wall.
We were already breathless and full of need. We had
denied ourselves this from the moment she got the positive
test, and neither of us could stand it anymore.
 “Is this better?” I asked just after biting into her bottom lip.
“Much better,” she whispered, crushing her lips back into
mine.
I rolled my tongue into her mouth, urging her to open
wider—to let me in deeper. Without breaking our kiss, I
carried her off into the bedroom and tossed her onto the bed.
We ripped each other’s clothes off like our lives depended on
it, kissing and biting every inch of skin we could as it became
exposed.
She grinned. “That’s much, much better.”
14
 ANGEL

O
ne minute, I was ready to smash the bouquet of
flowers over Joey’s head, and the next, I wanted to
ravage him. I could have blamed pregnancy
hormones, but I was pretty certain the month of the best sex I
ever had followed by complete abstinence was more the
problem. Not just abstinence, but also no sex while also still
being haunted by his presence around the clock. He was
always showing up and trying to tend to my every need—
always being impossibly perfect and also one hundred percent
unobtainable. It was torture.
I finally found relief as his tongue teased my open mouth.
He slid my drenched panties down my legs. I pressed my body
into his and smoothed my hand along the back of his head. I
sucked in his bottom lip, making him moan, which only sent
me pushing into him harder, trying to feel as much of his bulge
against me as I could.
“Is this what you needed?” he asked with a heavy breath
and low rasp.
I bit into his neck as I nodded my head, trailing my tongue
along the edge of his earlobe. Somewhere between my living
room and bed, and during the heated makeout session in
between, we had managed to strip away each other’s clothes.
 I used it to my advantage, taking his hard shaft into my
hand and sliding the sensitive, stretched skin up and down
until he was growling into my ear. I rolled over on top of him,
grinning as I ran my tongue up and down the length of him,
swirling it around the tip.
“Is this what you needed?” I teased back. “Something to
make you loosen up? You’ve been so uptight the past few
weeks.”
“This might be exactly what I needed,” he managed to
reply between grunts as I took him into my mouth.
I gripped the base, sliding my hand along the moisture
from my mouth as I slid him in and out of my throat. He thrust
his hips against my mouth, giving me a taste of his precum.
That little drop was enough to send me into overdrive.
“I love sucking your cock, but…”
“But you’re ready for more?” He smiled mischievously.
Within seconds, he was flipping back down underneath him.
“I’ll be gentle,” he promised.
I shook my head, pressing my fingers to his mouth. “No. I
don’t want you to be gentle.”
With one hand on his firm, muscular chest, I pushed him
back enough to wiggle out from under him. I rolled over and
grabbed the headboard, pulling myself up to my knees.
“Fuck me,” I begged him, pressing my ass to his throbbing
cock.
He wrapped his hands around my hips as he slid inside me.
I was dripping wet, greedily taking him in with ease. He
smoothed his touch along my torso, cupping my breasts as I
bucked against him. He responded to my urgency, thrusting in
deeper and harder.
 “Yes, just like that,” I moaned breathlessly.
I already felt like I was about to burst at the seams, but
then he ran his fingers around to my clit and began circling
over my folds in rhythm with his thrusting cock.
“You’re getting me close,” he warned as I ground into him.
I took it as a dare and started ramming back into him even
harder. I could feel his movements getting more uncontrolled
and urgent as he pulsed inside me. His sounds confirmed just
how close he was getting, and every last grunt or groan made
the rising pleasure inside more intense. I cried out through my
orgasm just as I felt him spilling out inside me. Just weeks
ago, his come seemed so important to what we were trying to
accomplish, but the fact that I was already knocked-up didn’t
damper my enjoyment of the warm liquid exploding inside
me.
I felt his wet, half-hard cock slide out of me as we both
caught our breath. I could tell he was getting ready to speak,
initiating some kind of talk about what that meant or where we
would go from there. I wasn’t ready to hear it yet. I whipped
around and crashed my mouth into his, still whimpering from
the remnants of my sensitivity.
“Can we do that again some time?” he pulled away and
asked suddenly.
I stared him down with wide, worried eyes. “But the
contract…”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to,” I argued. “I just don’t think
it’s a good idea.”
I swallowed hard. I wanted more than anything to be able
to enjoy no-strings-attached sex with him while I could, but I
had been feeling the strings around my heart from the
beginning. There was no way to keep playing this dangerous
game with him without me getting hurt.
“You’re probably right,” he reluctantly admitted.
I wanted to cry as he climbed off the bed and started
putting his clothes back on. I knew he’d stay with me if I
asked, and I knew he’d fuck me again, too, if that was what I
wanted. But what I wanted and what I needed were two very
different things.
“Can I get you anything before I go?” he asked sweetly.
You could fall in love with me, I thought, but even that
request was far from simple. Joey was a parent now. I guessed
I was, too, but technically, only for nine months. Once the
baby was born, he or she wouldn’t be mine anymore. Neither
would Joey.
Whatever a future with Joey would look like, it would
involve the child I signed up to make with him, even though I
didn’t want kids of my own. I thought things had been
complicated enough after our one-night stand, but we had
effectively hurled ourselves into a whole new level of
complications.
“No,” I answered finally.
I watched him study me in the dark, hesitant to leave. I
could see a million words rolling around on the tip of his
tongue, but he didn’t let anything slip. Even if he had, I knew
it wouldn’t be what I wanted to hear.
“I’ll call you tomorrow?” he asked, still seeming hesitant.
“No reason to,” I shot back, wrapping my chest in the
sheets of my bed. “My next doctor’s appointment is a week
away. I can call you if anything comes up before then.”
 He took in a deep breath, letting it out again slowly. “Are
you sure, Angel? I mean, did I do something wrong by—”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” I forced a smile. “I
needed this tonight. I really did. But now, I also need some
space. Think you can manage that?”
“Space it is, then.” He nodded, looking wounded. “I’ll
just…show myself out. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” I whispered.
The moment I heard my front door shut, I grabbed my
phone and dialed Del’s number. I could hear Jackson crying in
the background when she answered, just further confirmation
that I wasn’t ready to be a mother.
“Hey, I know it’s getting kind of late, but if it’s not too
much trouble, do you think you could ask Nick to watch the
baby so that you can come over?” I asked, fighting back my
tears. “I could really use my girls right now.”
“Sure! Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
“Hang tight. I’ll be there in a few. I’ll pick up Lizzy on the
way,” she said.
Knowing my friends would soon be there to listen to me
vent brought a little comfort. Until then, I curled up in my bed,
avoiding putting on clothes for as long as possible. My belly
was already starting to bulge. I ran my hands along my
stretched skin, still in disbelief that a baby was growing inside
me.
I resisted the urge to have my own secret conversations
with him or her. It seemed Joey was not the only attachment I
was fighting against, and my growing connection to the life
inside me would be an even harder love to ignore.
Del and Lizzy arrived a while later, showering me with all
my most craved foods—peanut butter, ice cream, pickles, and
orange soda. We summoned our oldest slumber party practices
with face masks, pedicures, and sappy movies. But most
importantly, they listened to me rant and rave about the
impossible position I had put myself in.
By the time they left, I felt stronger and more resolved. I
would have to give up on entertaining anything more with
Joey and the baby. I wanted a restaurant, and that was finally
coming true. It was time to focus on that.
15
 JOEY

D
amon looked like some guy returning from war,
slumped over a drink in the corner booth of the VIP
room of his club.
“Rough night?”
He shook his head, trying to be more awake. “Lilly was up
all night,” he groaned. “Lizzy is trying to get her to stop
sleeping in our bed, and it’s not going great.”
“Well, I guess all those years of staying up all night out
drinking on the town and then being back in the office early
the next morning is proving to be useful for something,” I
quipped. “It was like sleep deprivation training.”
He didn’t look too amused. I felt a hand on my shoulder
and looked up to see that Nick had come in. He slid into the
booth next to me, passing another round of drinks across the
table.
“You’ll know all about that soon,” he said to me with a
pitying expression.
“But it’s all worth it, right?” I asked, referencing
everything I had ever heard about the highs and lows of
parenting.
 “At least you’ll have a nanny around to help out,” Damon
offered. “And you’ll be paying her, so you don’t have to feel
bad when you decide to skip out on the middle of the night
feedings. With Lizzy, I’m obligated to do my fair share.”
Nick shook his head. “I could never do it without Del. It’s
not just about splitting the work fifty-fifty. We give each other
emotional support.”
I felt a pang of disappointment over the side of parenting
that I would never know. I wouldn’t have someone I loved in
the trenches with me.
“Yeah, but at least I won’t have someone I’m arguing with
constantly,” I huffed.
They both perked up, staring back at me awkwardly.
“Actually, Lizzy and I don’t fight that much,” Damon
admitted.
Nick nodded in agreement. “Yeah, neither do Del and I.
Sure, we disagree a lot, but we’re a good team. We talk
through it.”
I wanted to debate them on the matter, but the more I
thought about it, I couldn’t really remember a time I had seen
either of them do more than the standard bickering you’d
expect out of any relationship where two people spent a lot of
time together. My friends’ marriages were nothing like the
stormy, dramatic deal I had witnessed with my own parents
before my dad finally left us.
“I’m not so sure I could ever pull that off with someone,” I
told them, taking a big swig of my drink. Sometimes, I
wondered if it was in my blood to be just like my father.
Nick and Damon exchanged a look across the table before
Nick turned to me, looking unconvinced. “But you and Angel
seem to get along just fine. I mean, I know you’re not
technically together, but you see each other almost every day.”
“Not anymore,” I sighed. “Things were starting to get
weird between us. She asked that we see a lot less of each
other. It’s for the best, probably.”
I rolled my shoulders, trying to pretend to be totally fine
with it, but deep down, I hated not being able to call her or
stop by whenever I wanted to.
“All right, buddy,” Nick sucked in a deep breath. “It’s time
for you and me to have a talk about this.”
“Oh, shit,” Damon murmured, bracing himself.
Looking back and forth between them, I could tell there
were things they were both thinking but not saying, and maybe
they had been holding it in for a while. “Talk about what?” I
asked.
“Sure, Angel wanted you guys to see less of each other so
that neither of you got too confused about your feelings, but
did you ever think maybe it’s too late for that?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I insisted. “I
was getting on her nerves. She’s really independent, and she
didn’t like me being in her business all the time. So, I backed
off. It’s really not so confusing.”
Damon rolled his eyes. “Dude, Angel has had a thing for
you since before you two hooked up that first time. Everyone
can see it. It’s like when Lizzy had that crush on me before I
came to my senses.”
“No way. It’s not the same,” I argued. “It was obvious that
Liz was head over heels for you. Everyone could see it, even
you.”
 “Exactly,” Nick replied. “Everyone can see that Angel has
a thing for you. The only difference is, you’re pretending not
to notice. But all that sleeping together stuff and now having
this baby together… It’s no wonder you two are spinning out.
This whole thing was just playing with fire. I tried to warn
you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You two don’t know Angel like
I do. She’s stubborn and likes to be alone. She doesn’t want a
relationship, and she definitely doesn’t want kids…”
“But she wants you,” Nick added.
“She wants her restaurant. And a career. She doesn’t have
time for anything else,” I shot back.
“That’s funny because when she calls Del crying late at
night, it’s certainly not about her restaurant,” Nick snapped.
I froze for a moment. I hated to think about Angel being
alone and crying. Why wouldn’t she just call me? I told her I
would do anything for her.
“Well, what is she crying about? Since you seem to know
everything, thanks to the way you and Del gossip about
everyone.”
“You…you dummy,” he said in disbelief. “If Angel is
acting weird around you, it’s because she’s falling head over
heels for you, but she is convinced that you don’t feel anything
for her in return and that you’re hell bent on raising this baby
alone.”
“She’s right. I am.”
Again, he and Damon flashed their eyes at one another as
if they had all the secrets in the world that I was just too dense
to see.
 “It’s harder than you think, man,” Damon told me,
dropping his head. That war veteran look swept back over
him. “Nothing can really prepare you. If you have someone
who wants to be your partner in raising that baby, you should
try and make it work. Not just because it’s hard to do it alone,
but because…”
“Because Angel is falling in love with you, and you’re
falling in love with her, too,” Nick pointed out bluntly.
I groaned and raked my hands over my face. In my
experience, love could come and go. Here one day and gone
the next. While I wanted to believe something more was
possible, I knew that what my friends had found was rare.
Even then, no one could predict where they would end up ten
years down the road. Even though I hoped they would never
have to go through it, their perfect marriages might crumble
the same way my parents’ marriage did. I sure as hell wasn’t
going to risk letting the same thing happen to me.
“You’ve got it all wrong,” I insisted.
Nick stood from the table, taking the last sip of his
bourbon. “Speaking of wives and babies, I need to get home to
mine. Think about what I said, okay?”
“Whatever. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I replied, waving
goodbye. When he was gone, I looked up at Damon. “Can you
believe that guy? Angel, in love with me? Psh. Ever since he
got with Del, he thinks everyone is in love.”
Damon also threw back the last of his drink before
standing up from the table, adjusting his suit jacket. “Nah,
man. He thought Lizzy and I were in love with each other.
And you know what? He was right.”
 “So now, every time he thinks two people should be
together, you automatically assume he’s right?”
“No, not every time.” He winked. “You’ll figure it out,
Joey. I need to go meet with my staff before I head home to
Lizzy. Cross your fingers for me that Lilly lets us get some
sleep tonight.”
Suddenly, I felt like Damon had transferred all of his
exhaustion and frustration over to me. The whole point of this
contract with Angel was that it was supposed to be more
simple than a traditional relationship. It seemed like my safest
bet to start a family. Now my friends were trying to twist it
into something that was every bit as complicated as it would
have been the old fashioned way.
I took a long, slow drink from my glass, hissing from the
burn of the liquor. I considered ordering another, but I could
already feel the intense longing to call or visit Angel. I knew
that would only get worse the more I drank. So instead, I paid
my tab and went home, trying to ignore all the noisy thoughts
that Damon and Nick had stirred up in my head.
16
 ANGEL

O
kay, Angel. You can do this. Just walk right in, and
keep it short and casual. Then get the hell out. I
stood outside Joey’s door with a folder of my
restaurant plans tucked under my arm, giving myself a little
pep talk.
Finally, I knocked and waited. I didn’t know what he had
invited me over for, but I was determined not to let the visit
spiral out of control like so many others had.
Joey answered with a big smile on his face. “You look
great. Come on in.”
“I look fat,” I snapped back, clutching the bottom of my
belly as he showed me in.
I was seven months along now, but I felt like I was full-
term. I couldn’t imagine my body stretching and bloating out
any more than it already had. And yet, Joey always looked at
me like I was the most beautiful woman on earth, which only
made me resent him more.
“You’re not fat. You’re pregnant, and you’d look amazing
at any weight,” he insisted. “Can I get you anything? Water?
Decaf coffee? Juice?”
 I held up a hand, knowing he’d name every liquid in the
house if I didn’t stop him. “I’m fine.”
“What do you have there?” He nodded to the folder I was
carrying.
“My plans for the restaurant.” I smiled. “I thought you
might want to see how they were coming along. It’s pretty
much how I spend all my time now, when I’m not working at
Del’s shop.”
“The time is getting closer, huh?”
I looked down at my pregnant belly, smoothing my free
hand across it. My restaurant would open after the baby was
born, which meant the time for labor was getting closer, too. I
couldn’t deny that I was getting nervous about it.
“I guess so,” I replied through a nervous exhale.
Joey kneeled down in front of me, caressing my stomach
the way he usually did when he saw me. He always wanted to
talk to the baby, which I thought was adorable. But it was a lot
like how he was always complimenting me. What good did all
of those amazing qualities of his do for me once the baby was
born? He’d be off living his life without me.
“So, anyway. Why did you ask me to come today?” I
asked.
He shot up with an excited grin. “I want to show you
something.”
Taking my hand in his, he led me up the stairs of his
gorgeous two-story manor. He looked like a kid on Christmas
morning, trying to contain his enthusiasm.
“Whatever you’re going to show me, it must really be
something,” I commented as I followed him down the hallway.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you this excited since we saw the
baby’s first ultrasound. I still can’t believe you wanted to wait
to know the gender.”
“I told you that I was fine with you finding out,” he
argued, his smile still not fading. “I just want it to be a
surprise. The gender doesn’t matter, anyway, as long as he or
she is healthy.”
“That’s true.”
Finally, we reached a door across from his own bedroom,
which I had seen a few times when we were still trying to
conceive. He paused for a moment before opening it, grinning
from ear to ear.
The door swung open to reveal the most breathtaking
nursery I had ever seen. It was decorated in light grays and
pale yellows. The circular crib had an ornate canopy overtop,
complete with a mobile of little ducks hanging overhead. Big
matching drapes hung down around a giant window
overlooking the garden. I spun around in a circle, taking it all
in. A framed photo on the dresser caught my eye. I stepped
over to take a closer look at the black and white print.
“It’s me,” I gasped, running my fingertips across the photo
he had taken of me reading by a window in my apartment. It
was from a couple of months earlier when I had already started
to show. “Why would you want a picture of me in here?”
“That’s something I was hoping to talk to you about
today,” he said slowly. “I know, originally. we decided you
would be in the baby’s life since we’re all friends and
everything, but that we’d take the more traditional surrogacy
route where the baby didn’t know you were their biological
mom.”
 “I remember,” I said, still finding it hard to breathe.
“I thought maybe if you were open to it, we could change
that.”
My eyes showed my worry as I looked over at him. “What
do you mean? Change it? You want the baby to know I’m their
mom? Won’t that make things harder and more confusing?”
“I don’t think it has to,” he suggested. “I mean, I wanted
you to be the mother because I know you and think you’re an
amazing woman. I just started thinking, why wouldn’t I want
the baby to know you’re their mom?”
“Maybe because they’ll wonder why I’m not involved in
their life,” I said bluntly. “They’ll be so confused seeing me
when we’re all together with Del and everybody. They’ll
wonder why I didn’t want to be a part of their life.”
“But you will be a part of their life,” he argued, stepping
closer to take my hands into his. His touch still gave me
shivers, especially when I remembered the last time we stood
face to face like that—it quickly ended with us in bed together
again, and I was a wreck afterward.
“Not as their mom! Not really!” I shrieked, feeling tears
building behind my eyes.
“That’s…that’s what you wanted, right? You said you
didn’t want kids of your own.”
I shook my head, feeling so confused. I looked around the
nursery and felt the ache of all the things I would never know
and things I thought I never wanted, but now it all seemed so
hard to walk away from. I wanted to imagine coming into the
nursery in the middle of the night and rocking the baby in the
chair in the corner. I could see Joey holding the baby up to the
window to see outside or playing with them on a blanket on
the floor. I could see an entire life flash before my eyes, one
that was never supposed to be a part of my plan—or our plan,
for that matter.
“I don’t know if it’s such a good idea for them to know
who I am,” I rasped, trying to hold back my tears the best I
could.
“You’re upset. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I just thought
if you saw… I thought you’d want to see where—”
“No, I don’t,” I cut him off. “I don’t want to see any of
this. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
I tossed my folder of restaurant plans onto one of the tables
and fled the nursery as fast as I could. Joey called out after me,
but I didn’t stop. I had never felt so stupid as I ran to my car
and jumped inside to speed off.
What was I thinking, agreeing to this? Why did I think I
could have a baby and not want to be a mother to him or her?
With Joey as the father, at that!
I thought the restaurant would be enough for me. I thought
that I didn’t want anything else. Yet, with each passing day, I
felt the baby growing inside me, and along with that, my
motherly urges were growing, too. I started to think the trouble
wasn’t that I didn’t want kids. Who I had kids with made all
the difference to me, and I was being slapped in the face with
the startling realization that Joey was the perfect guy. I wanted
to let him take care of me, but not just for nine months, and I
didn’t want our baby to know who I was without me being a
real mother to them.
I was sobbing so hard that I could barely see as I tried to
navigate my way home, kicking myself the entire way for even
agreeing to see Joey. The further I got in my pregnancy, the
harder it got to be around him and accept the reality of what I
had signed up for.
My phone vibrated from the passenger’s seat. Joey called
several times in a row, but I couldn’t answer. All I wanted to
do was crawl into bed and drift into a deep sleep, forgetting
about everything and everyone else for a while.
17
 JOEY

I
stood alone in the nursery, feeling completely
flabbergasted. I didn’t know what I was thinking, asking
Angel to come here and see it. I decorated it in colors I
thought she would like. I don’t know why I thought hinting at
her being a bigger part of the baby’s life would be the thing to
get her to open up to me again. I should have known it would
only send her running for the hills.
After trying to call her several times and getting no
answer, I clicked over to answer an incoming call from Ben.
“This isn’t really a good time.”
“Too bad. I’m standing outside your front door,” he
replied.
I stepped over to my window to see Ben pacing back and
forth out front. He waved up to me and said, “You gonna let
me in or what?”
I hung up the phone and reluctantly went downstairs to see
what he wanted. “I haven’t seen you outside of work in
months, and now you just show up randomly at my house?”
“It’s not my fault that you haven’t seen me,” he argued,
sliding his expensive shades down from his eyes. “You’re the
one who never goes out anymore.”
 “Get used to it. I’ll be even more of a homebody once the
baby is born. Anyway, I’m doing it for solidarity with Angel.
She can’t go out drinking anymore, so I shouldn’t, either.
She’s having the baby for me, after all.”
“So, I just have to party overtime to make up for you,
Damon, Nick, and all your women, I guess. Speaking of
which, aren’t you going to offer me anything?” he asked,
nosing around the house.
“Come on.” I waved, leading him to the bar cart in the
corner of the main living room. “I could use a drink, too.”
“Yeah. Nick said you had to leave the office early for
something. What’s up?”
I poured two glasses of bourbon, handing one to Ben.
Everything with Angel happened so fast, and I was still
scratching my head over it. When I planned the day out, I
thought the afternoon with Angel would be a good thing. I
hadn’t expected to send her running from my house in tears.
“I wanted to talk to Angel and show her the nursery,” I
explained. “But I guess that was the wrong move. Lately, I
can’t seem to get anything right with her.”
“I bet it kind of makes you wish you had gone through the
surrogacy service after all,” he said, leaning back on my couch
with his drink in hand.
“No way. I still know I made the right choice with her as
the mother of my child. I just… I don’t know. I don’t know
what’s gotten into her.”
The moment I said the words, I had a feeling I knew
exactly what had gotten into her. I had been trying to outrun
my complicated feelings for her, and maybe she was doing the
same with me. Only she was having to outrun both the baby
and me while I was flaunting the nursery in her face and
making things worse.
“That’s why we’re single, right?” he suggested. “So we
don’t have to deal with those kinds of things. You know
women. They’re all crazy.”
“I guess,” I murmured.
“What’s that?” he asked, eyeing the folder in my hand.
I had picked up the file Angel brought in, but I had been so
busy trying to process the whirlwind of her brief visit that I
hadn’t had a chance to look at it.
“It’s Angel’s plans for the restaurant,” I replied, tossing it
over to him.
I watched as he flipped through it. “Impressive. It’s going
to be a hit. You were right. She was born to do this.”
I smirked. “You haven’t even tried her food yet. You don’t
know half of it.”
Ben smiled to himself and put the file on the coffee table. I
could tell he had a mouthful for me, just like Nick and Damon
did. He swirled his drink around in his hand, looking deep in
thought.
“Did Nick and Damon send you here to lecture me?” I
asked, sitting down on the other end of the couch.
“Nope. I came on my own accord. I figured you could use
another bachelor advising you on this one.”
I dragged one hand across the side of my face, feeling
exhausted even though it was only three in the afternoon. “I
was stupid for thinking that contract would make things simple
for us.”
 “Maybe not,” he proposed, tilting his head. “Or maybe the
contract is only making things worse.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re frustrated because Angel only wants to be a part
of your life according to what’s outlined in the contract. Am I
right? So, maybe you’re the one making things harder on her.
Maybe the terms you agreed to aren’t what you really want,
after all.”
“I know that,” I groaned. “I thought I could talk to her
today, but she left so fast. I didn’t have time to—”
“Bull shit,” Ben blurted, leaning toward me with a
determined look in his eye. “You’re going about this all
wrong. You’re tip-toeing around everything when that’s not
what kind of guy you are. What do we do in a real estate deal?
We don’t put things lightly.”
I felt like I wanted to scream. “Nick said from the
beginning not to treat this like work. I thought that’s what I
was doing. Now you’re telling me the opposite.”
“That’s love, buddy. It’s confusing shit,” he quipped. “Just
tell her what you want. Be direct.”
I rolled my eyes and sank back into the cushion. “That’d
be a lot easier if I actually knew what I wanted.”
“Oh, I think you know. And it’s obviously not what’s in
that contract, or you’d have an easier time following it.”
His words hung heavy in the air between us. They were
ominous and liberating all at once. I could feel a tingling
certainty that I did know exactly what I wanted. It was the
same feeling of rightness that I had when I first decided to
propose this whole thing to Angel. That feeling carried me
through the first month, and the trouble only started when we
had to stop sleeping together.
I stared at the folder on the table. Why did it all have to be
so black and white? Couldn’t Angel and I both have what we
wanted, and maybe have each other, too?
I could go to her right then and tell her to rip the contract
up. We could have the baby together, and she could still have
her restaurant. But then flashes of my childhood came
flooding back over me—all the screaming and fighting. My
dad walked out. My mom was left to do everything on her
own.
“What if we don’t work out?” I gulped.
“You still think you did the right thing in asking her to
have your child?” he asked. “Even though it’s been a
complicated mess ever since?”
I nodded.
“Because it’s worth it, right? Knowing she’s the woman
having your baby is all that matters, even if it means you have
to navigate your way through some hard shit along the way.
Telling her you want to be with her is the same. You don’t
know if it will work out, but you have to ask yourself, is it
worth the risk?”
Everything in my heart screamed that yes, it was worth the
risk, but my painful memories stopped me from trusting it. If it
was a business deal, I would never change my mind on the
terms after the papers had been signed. Maybe I just needed to
stop forcing myself onto Angel and let her set all the
boundaries she wanted, even if it meant pushing me out of her
life.
 “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” I admitted, throwing
back the rest of my bourbon.
Ben nodded, patting his hand on my knee. “Well, one thing
is for certain. You’re going to be a dad.”
“A single dad,” I added. “Just promise me you’ll be ready
to go out whenever I leave the nanny on duty.”
“Even better. I’ll babysit for you. Babies are a chick
magnet. I can’t wait to take that kid to the park and just sit
back and let the women come to me. Hell, if you ever get tired
of single life, you could do the same.”
I couldn’t tell if Ben was joking or not. All I could think
was, why go looking for someone new when the closest thing
to a perfect woman I’d ever find was already pregnant with my
baby?
18
 ANGEL

“W
hat’s that?” Joey asked, appearing before
me suddenly in the doctor’s waiting room.
I suddenly felt the need to cover the
book up with a magazine, but I sucked in a deep breath and
patted the chair next to me, inviting him to sit down. How
handsome he looked in his suit and tie when he came straight
from the office still sent a warm surge of excitement through
me, and the scent of his cologne didn’t help matters, either.
“It’s a book about women who give birth but don’t keep
their babies, either through surrogacy or giving them up for
adoption,” I confessed. “I guess I finally decided to stop
denying how this might affect me emotionally.”
I studied his reaction carefully. I hated admitting my
vulnerabilities about this all, but I was getting tired of hiding
things from him.
“Is it helping you?” he asked with a concerned expression.
“Yes, I think so,” I nodded. I always admired his
neverending sweetness and sincerity. It was another thing I
had grown to both love and hate him for.
I was officially eight and a half months into my pregnancy,
and I was a month and a half into avoiding Joey at all costs.
Each time I saw him, I hoped that it would somehow
magically be less awkward, but even after enduring all the
rising tension between us thus far, things only got
progressively worse after that day I stormed out of his house.
It would all be over soon, though. In just a few more
weeks, he would have his baby, I would have my restaurant,
and I could bid farewell to the whole confusing mess I got
myself into. Until then, we would still have these obligatory
waiting room conversations and the occasional phone call
when he wanted to check on the baby and how the pregnancy
was going.
After that day’s appointment, Joey walked me to my car. I
felt uneasy as we went. I was getting tired of all the weirdness
between us, but I was getting better than ever at pushing things
down and pretending they didn’t exist. He walked next to me,
staring at the pavement with a furrowed brow. He seemed to
be holding a lot in, too.
“Hey, can we talk?” he asked suddenly.
I nodded, having known we would probably need to,
eventually. “I’m sorry I’ve been so distant. I know this isn’t
how you wanted this pregnancy to go.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he shot back quickly. “Please, you don’t
be sorry. I think there are a lot of things about this that neither
of us expected to feel.”
I felt my body gravitate toward his. “Really?”
Everything inside me was bursting with hope, but I knew
that was dangerous. I was very aware of what I hadn’t
prepared myself for. I had no clue what he had been surprised
by, and my heart wanted to believe it had something to do with
his feelings for me.
 “Can I come over tonight? I want to talk. I really do. Just
not here, like this. I could bring over dinner. Or…dessert. Ice
cream. Whatever you want.”
I couldn’t help but smile. For once, I found his insistence
on providing my every need less annoying than usual.
“Whatever you want to bring. Dinner would be nice. We
haven’t done that in a while.”
I shuddered to think about what happened the last time he
proposed such a thing and showed up at my apartment
unexpectedly. No matter how bad of an idea it was, I was
honestly prepared to not refuse any offers he might have of
taking me to bed again. I doubted he’d want to since I was so
pregnant, but it might have been the last chance I’d have to
sleep with him before the baby was born and before he was
done with me.
His features softened, and he looked more relaxed than I
had seen him in weeks. “Great. I’ll see you tonight. I’ll be
there around seven?”
“Sounds good.” I grinned as he opened my car door for
me.
I climbed inside and felt a release of weight I had been
carrying. I was ready to clear the air with him, even if he
didn’t feel the way I wanted him to.
I drove home and started getting ready for the evening by
taking a long, hot bath. I attempted to dig through my closet
and find something that looked remotely sexy, but maternity
wear didn’t exactly give off that sex-kitten vibe, no matter
how I felt on the inside.
I was changing out of one wrap-around dress to another
when the phone rang. I glanced at the screen just to make sure
it wasn’t Joey letting me know he’d be late or that there was a
change in plans. I was surprised to see my doctor’s office’s
number scroll past.
“Hello?” I answered awkwardly, sliding the next dress
over my shoulders with one hand.
“Hi, Angel. This is Cynthia. Your nurse from earlier
today.”
“Hi, Cynthia. I didn’t leave something in the exam room
again, did I? This last trimester has made me so scatterbrained,
I swear.”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that. However, something came to
our attention on today’s ultrasound that I’d like to discuss with
you.”
“Is everything okay?” I asked slowly as my heart dropped.
“Most likely, everything is fine,” she answered carefully.
“But there was a slight discoloration around the baby’s heart,
and we’ll need you to see a specialist to have it checked out.
Just to make sure it’s nothing to be concerned about. Are you
available tomorrow morning?”
“Tomorrow?” I panicked. “Yes, of course. If I need to be. I
mean, is it that urgent?” My head was spinning. I didn’t know
what could possibly be fine about a discoloration around the
baby’s heart. Nothing sounded fine about that.
“Better to be safe than sorry,” she replied. Her tone was
too casual and bubbly, and it made me want to scream.
I was in a daze as she talked me through setting up the
appointment. I barely realized the call had ended as I stared at
the phone in my hand. Moments ago, I was getting ready to
talk to Joey and enjoy a nice dinner with him. Now it felt like
my entire world had flipped upside down.
 My phone dinged, making me jump. I looked at the screen
to see a message from him.
Joey: I might be a few minutes early if that’s okay. I picked
up all your favorites from that Italian place you like. I’m
excited to see you.
I wished I still felt excited to see him. Part of me wanted to
tell him everything. I wanted to cry in his arms because he was
the only person who would fully understand what I was going
through. But I had no idea what he wanted to talk to me about
that night. What if he was finally going to confess that he had
feelings for me? If something was wrong with the baby, would
he still want me?
My brain spiraled into a full-blown panic, leaving me
completely incapable of answering his text. I dug through my
purse, trying to find something to take to settle my heartburn.
What I found instead was one of the ultrasound printouts still
buried inside. I didn’t know why I had even bothered keeping
it. It’s not like this was my baby, not really.
Yet, while facing the possibility of something being wrong,
this baby felt more like my baby than ever before. I clutched
my stomach while staring at the ultrasound in my other hand,
and I silently prayed for everything to be okay. I could feel hot
tears streaming down my cheeks.
I wanted more than anything to give Joey a baby as I had
promised, but for the first time, I started to think I wanted
more than anything to have this baby be healthy and okay for
reasons much bigger than him.
19
 JOEY

I
barely slept a wink after Angel texted and canceled
dinner. I was ready to talk to her about everything, but
something made her pull the plug at the last minute.
Something wasn’t sitting right with me about it, but she hadn’t
answered any of my calls or messages since.
I was already halfway to the boutique where she worked
when I pulled out my phone and dialed Del’s number. If Angel
wouldn’t come right out with it and tell me what was going on,
I would have to find some other way to get to her.
“Dahlia’s boutique. Can I help you?”
“Hey, Del. Is Angel working today?”
“Hey, Joey. No, she’s not. I thought you’d be at the
appointment with her.”
“Our appointment was yesterday,” I replied in confusion.
A dreadful silence fell over the line for a moment. “She
didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
She let out a reluctant sigh and replied, “Okay, well, I
really shouldn’t be the one telling you this. She should have
called you. She had to go in to see a specialist today.”
 “What kind of specialist?” I tried to control the rising
panic in my voice. “What’s wrong?”
“You should talk to her. I can give you the doctor’s
address, and if you go right now, you should be able to meet
her there.”
“Thanks, Del.”
My heart was racing as I hung up the phone and waited for
her to text the address. Angel’s pregnancy had been the picture
of perfect health so far, and it left so much room for getting
caught up in stuff between us. I had stopped worrying about
anything going wrong a while ago, but it seemed that the
moment I let my guard down, trouble found us.
I said silent prayers to myself as I rushed over to the
specialist’s office. I could see Angel’s car parked outside, and I
noticed her door opening as soon as I pulled up.
“Joey? How did you find me? What are you doing here?”
she asked as I jumped out of my car. She looked terrified, and
she had dark circles under her eyes from crying and lack of
sleep.
“Del told me I could find you here,” I answered, wishing I
could lunge forward and take her in my arms. “What’s going
on?”
Her bottom lip quivered for a moment before she broke
down in tears. I couldn’t hold back any longer. Contract and
boundaries be damned. I walked over and let her collapse
against my chest, sobbing.
“Shh, it’s going to be okay,” I whispered, stroking her hair.
“Just tell me what’s happening, and we’ll get through this
together.”
 She sniffled and lifted her head. “I should have never shut
you out like that. I just didn’t expect anything to happen, but
ever since last night… Joey, I’ve never felt so alone.”
“You don’t have to feel alone,” I assured her, my heart
breaking from the pain in her voice. “I’m right here.”
Pulling back to wipe her eyes, she nodded and tried to
steady her voice. “They don’t know if anything is wrong. They
said something showed up on the ultrasound that concerned
them, so they wanted me to come in and have it checked out.
It’s just so…scary. This is all so scary.”
I brushed her cheek, feeling her head melt back down to
my shoulder. “I wish you would have let me come over last
night. You shouldn’t have had to wait for this alone.”
“But I do,” she insisted, yanking back. “That’s what you
don’t understand! You’re afraid of relationships because of
your parents. Well, I’m afraid of relying on people because of
mine. I’m used to doing everything alone and being the only
one I need. I’ve never done anything that forced me into
needing someone else. And now… Now not only do I feel like
I have to have help for the first time ever, but…” her voice
trailed off into tears. “But now… Joey, what if something is
wrong?”
I stood there for a moment in deep thought. “Angel, let’s
make a deal. I’ll stop being afraid of you if you’ll stop being
afraid to rely on me. I know you’re a strong, albeit stubborn,
independent, amazing woman, no matter what. Nothing I do
for you is going to change that.” I stepped forward and took
her hand into mine. “Let’s walk into this together and find out
what’s going on.”
I watched her brace herself, mustering up all her strength. I
wanted to break down, too, but I pushed everything down to
keep it together for her. Being the strong, silent type could
finally do me some good.
We walked through the doors of the doctor’s office, hand
in hand, and checked in. It was strange to be directed to the
waiting room as if everything was so ordinary while, inside,
we were both panicking.
Once we took our seats, I reached for some tissues on the
coffee table and handed them to her.
“Thanks,” she said, wiping her face. “I hate crying in front
of everyone like this.” She pulled a mirror out from her purse
and held it up to her face. “Ugh, look at me. I’m a hot mess.”
I reached over and took her face into my hands, wiping
away the last of her tears with my thumbs. “Listen to me. You
are beautiful. You’re beautiful right now, and when you’re
happy, and every other second of every day.”
A woman’s throat cleared in front of us.
We both looked up to see a doctor with an auburn bob and
plum lipstick staring back at us with a smile. “Sorry to
interrupt,” she told us, leaning down in front of Angel’s chair.
“I’m Dr. Kushner. Thanks for coming in today. I know this
must be very scary for you, but I promise we’re going to take
every precaution to make sure everything is okay with your
baby.”
“Thank you,” Angel croaked.
“I can see you’re a very lucky woman to have such an
attentive, kind husband,” she added, flashing her eyes over at
me.
Angel tensed up, quickly correcting the woman. “Oh, he’s
not my husband. We’re not… I’m a surrogate.”
 The doctor’s face dropped in surprise. “Oh! Forgive me.”
Her brow furrowed as if she didn’t look entirely convinced.
And she wasn’t wrong. This wasn’t exactly the most
conventional surrogacy situation. “Well, whatever your
relationship is, I can see you make a great team. Are you ready
to go back for the exam?”
Angel flashed an awkward smile at me as I extended my
hand to help her up from her seat. We squeezed our hands
tightly together while following the doctor into the back of the
office. Just before we walked into the exam room, I pulled her
to a stop.
“Hey, I just want you to know, whatever happens, I care
about you. I’m not going anywhere, okay?”
Her eyes searched mine for meaning, and even as I said the
words, I was confused myself. I didn’t know what our lives
looked like without this baby tying us together, but I did know
I cared about her way too much to let her slip away, even if
that just meant keeping her as a close friend.
20
 ANGEL

M
y body was cold and tense as I sat on the exam
chair, waiting for the results of my extra test. I
couldn’t stop fidgeting with my hands and
moving around on the noisy, uncomfortable paper covering.
“Do you want to sit here?” Joey asked.
“No,” I grumbled. “It doesn’t matter where I sit. Every part
of my body already aches. Nothing is going to make this wait
suck any less.”
He wrapped his hand around mine and stared into my eyes.
“It’s going to be okay, Angel.”
I smiled, grateful for his reassurance. He was doing such a
good job of holding himself together and keeping me calm. It
wasn’t the best time to bring up everything going on between
us, but I loved him so much at that moment that it was hard
not to say something.
Just as I parted my lips to speak, not really sure of what
might spill out, there was a knock on the door. The doctor
peeked her head in before walking in with a chart in her hands.
Joey and I clenched our fingers together as tight as we could,
holding our breaths as we waited for her news.
 “Thank you for waiting.” She smiled. “I took a look at the
detailed ultrasound, and I have great news. There is a small
spot of calcification around the baby’s heart, which is what
was causing the abnormal coloring on the ultrasound. This is
found in a small percentage of normal pregnancies, but it
poses no health problems for your baby.”
I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but my brain was
having trouble catching up. “What? Are you sure? So,
something is on the baby’s heart, but it’s not a problem?”
“It’s just a small spot of mineralization or a calcium
deposit, but there is nothing to be concerned about. I do need
to inform you that, after examining you, it appears you’re
dilated one centimeter.”
“Dilated!” I shrieked. “I’m in labor?”
I could feel Joey straighten beside me, though he was still
trying his best to stay calm.
“Not exactly,” she chuckled. “Some women can remain in
the early phases of dilation for days or even weeks. My
suggestion is to go home and take it easy. And make sure you
have everything ready for…” She recoiled a bit as if she didn’t
know the appropriate wording for our situation. I wanted to
say that it was okay because we didn’t either. “For your baby!”
“Just call the hospital when you start having contractions,
or call your regular doctor if any other symptoms come up that
you’re unsure about,” she added.
Joey leaped to his feet and vigorously shook her hand.
“Thank you so much. I’ll take good care of her.”
“I know you will.” She grinned. “You two enjoy the rest of
your day. Take advantage of the peace and quiet while you still
have it.”
 “Uh, Dr. Kushner? Just one more thing before you go,” I
blurted as she turned for the door. “I think… I’d like to know
what the gender of the baby is.” I looked up to Joey. “I know
you don’t want to know, but you did say I could find out if I
wanted to.”
“Absolutely.” He nodded. “I’ll leave you two alone for a
minute.”
He walked out of the room, leaving the doctor and me
alone. I felt a wave of warm happiness wash over me as she
told me the gender of the baby. I smiled and thanked her,
reminding myself that I would have to keep it a secret from
Joey at all costs. Just as he said, all that mattered was that the
baby was healthy. He had that reassurance. As for myself,
knowing the gender of the baby only made it all seem more
real.
She waved for Joey to come back in and slipped past him
out the door, leaving us alone again. We looked at each other,
our eyes watery with relief and joy. My hands were already
wrapped up in his, but I felt his touch slowly moving up my
arms. I assumed we would hug over the good news, but before
I knew it, our lips were intertwined. He raked his hand through
the back of my hair, pulling my mouth closer to his.
It started as a sweet and simple accident, but like most
things between us, it quickly spiraled into more. He slid his
tongue between my lips. We hadn’t kissed since the last time
we accidentally hooked up, and I found myself being more
than okay with sinking into the moment. For just a brief few
seconds, I was done worrying and questioning everything. Our
baby was okay, and no matter what happened, we would be
okay.
 Joey seemed to come to his senses before I did. He
reluctantly pulled away, searching my eyes for a reaction.
“Sorry, I don’t, uh…”
I wasn’t even sure which one of us needed to be
apologizing. “It’s okay. Yeah. Don’t… Don’t worry about it.”
I shrugged it off and slid off the exam table, reaching for
my purse. Joey quickly grabbed my hand to steady me and
handed me the bag.
I took in a deep breath and forced myself to say the words
I knew I needed to say. “Joey, I still think we need to talk. Like
we were going to last night before I got that call from the
doctor.”
“I think so, too.” He exhaled. “Let’s get you home. Then
we’ll talk.”
He led me out of the doctor’s office, and somehow, it
seemed brighter outside than it did when we went in. I didn’t
know if it had been overcast that morning or if my fears about
the baby made everything seem gray. I didn’t care anymore. I
felt a lot of things I had been so concerned about melting
away.
Joey wanted to have a baby on his own and without a
relationship. I didn’t think I wanted to have a baby at all. But
as I prepared to go into one of the scariest experiences of my
life, I cared less and less about whatever I thought might
happen. No matter the outcome, I needed to tell him how I felt.
We stopped by my favorite ice cream shop on the way
home. As we walked out with two cones—one strawberry for
me and one caramel chocolate for him—Joey stopped and
turned to the shop next door.
 “It’s that new bookstore that just opened up,” I noted over
his shoulder. “Should we go in?”
“If you want to. We could pick out some books for the
baby.”
I considered it for a moment. I had been studiously
avoiding all things baby—other than what was actually
required of me as his surrogate—but I had spent the last fifteen
hours thinking that there was something wrong with the life
growing inside me. Now that I knew the baby was okay, I was
finally ready to accept that I was a mother, whether I was the
one raising the baby or not.
“Okay, let’s do it.” I exhaled, linking my hand into his. It
may have been crossing a line, but we had already blown past
so many other lines. What was the harm in one more?
21
 JOEY

A
ngel and I walked into her apartment with a bag
full of children’s books. I was so happy the baby
was safe and healthy and that he or she would
make their appearance in the world soon. But spending the
afternoon with Angel left an ache in my heart that I couldn’t
quite put my finger on.
She plopped down on the couch and pried off her shoes.
“My feet are so swollen,” she groaned.
I perched on the coffee table by her side, taking her feet
into my hands. “Well, I think we’ve made it this whole almost
nine months without you getting a single foot rub. We can’t
have that, so I’ll just take care of that now.”
“No, you really don’t have to…” Her words trailed off as I
kneaded into the soles of her feet. She rolled her eyes back and
moaned, letting her head fall to the back of the couch. “Okay,
you’re right. I don’t know why you haven’t given me a foot
rub before now.”
I smirked. “I guess because it wasn’t in the contract.”
“Well, not that I see myself ever being a surrogate again,
but at least now I know that foot rubs should be mandated.
Although, massages weren’t in the contract, either, and that
didn’t stop you the first time.”
I hung my head and laughed, digging deeper into the tense
parts of her swollen feet. “I guess a lot of things weren’t listed,
but hey, it’s not like either of us had ever done this before.”
I spent another moment just relishing the relief that
everything was okay, but I was still unable to figure out what
was bugging me. Obviously, there was still all the lingering
confusion between us. Beyond that, I felt frustrated as I
thought back on our trip to the bookstore and how thoughtful
she was about the books she picked out. I remembered how
good she always was with our friends’ kids and felt even more
conflicted.
“So, Angel,” I started slowly. “Now that you’ve made it
this far, do you think your ideas about being a mom have
changed any? Think you might want some of your own one
day?”
She lifted her head to look at me, and I could see she was
every bit as confused and frustrated as I was. She sighed. “I
don’t know. I am positive about what I want out of my career.
Not so much about living a life as a mom.” She sat up on the
couch, pulling my hands from her feet. “But I do know that I
love this baby,” she said sternly, staring intently into my eyes.
“I know you do,” I replied softly.
“Joey, I… I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that day I
stormed out of the nursery. I know you were just trying to let
me be involved, and I really appreciate it. That wasn’t about
you.”
“No, I shouldn’t have pushed you. We had an agreement.
I’ve made all of this harder on you than I should have, and
that’s the opposite of how I wanted things to be,” I insisted.
“I’m sorry.”
We were in a face-off to see who would say what next. It
was the big talk that both of us had been gearing up for, but
somehow, we still weren’t ready to say the things we needed to
say. If we didn’t talk soon, though, we’d be out of time.
Then again, talking about our feelings was never our
strong suit. We could iron things out in a contract all day long,
but when it came down to talking about the messy stuff…
Well, we always seemed to do better when we let our bodies
do the talking.
She retreated from our intense stare, buying herself time. I
watched as she straightened her back and stretched her arms
high above her head, letting her loose, wide-necked sweater
slip down over her shoulder. One glimpse of her bra strap, and
I was reeling. Through all the tension, and even through the
changes in her body, I had never stopped wanting her.
“You know what amazes me the most about you?” I asked,
trailing my eyes up and down her curves. My voice dropped,
revealing the depths of my need. “I expected a woman who
was nearly nine months pregnant to be a sweaty, hot, frumpy
mess. Somehow, you are still so goddamn sexy.”
Her soft pink lips parted as her big brown eyes fixed on
me. They were curious and longing, even if she looked caught
off guard.
“I have to admit, as much as I thought I’d hate having
someone chase me around and trying to coddle me, there has
been something about you taking care of me that has… Well,
it’s had a certain effect on me.”
 “Oh?” I raised a brow, giving into the dance of us testing
each other. “And what kind of effect would that be?”
Her eyes softened with a tantalizing gaze—one that told
me I knew exactly what kind of effect she was referring to. I
kneaded into her feet again for a moment before testing her,
spreading my hands across her legs, inching my way up her
calves.
“I have heard that after a woman has a baby, she has to
wait eight weeks before…”
A sly smile spread across her face. “Before?”
“She can be intimate again. Just throwing that out there in
case, you know, you want me to help you out with anything
before the time comes.”
“I am capable of helping myself out. Even with that,” she
quipped with a slight blush to her cheeks.
I snuck my grazing touch higher on her legs, teasing her
inner thigh. I was delighted by the arousal that registered on
her face in response. “Leave it to you to be stubbornly
independent about every last thing.” I smirked. “But is
whatever you can do really a full replacement for the real
thing?”
I crept even higher, gently brushing one fingertip under her
skirt and across the folds already growing wet under her
panties. I waited and watched carefully for any sign of her
pushing me away, but instead, her legs inched open wider.
“A full replacement?” she replied breathlessly, sinking
back further onto the couch. “No, I suppose not.”
My thumb pressed against her clit more boldly, leaving no
doubt as to what I wanted to happen next. It seemed to chase
any doubts she might have far away, too. Her legs spread open
even wider as she brought one arm up over her head,
surrendering herself to me completely.
I climbed up to meet her lips with mine, feeling impatient
to pull her sheer knitted top off her. My hands moved with me,
running over her full, supple breasts along the way. They were
bigger and more firm since the last time I was able to indulge
myself with them, and I couldn’t wait to wrap my hands
around her bare flesh.
Our mouths crashed together, picking up where we had left
off when we accidentally kissed in the doctor’s office. I
moaned from the relief of tasting her again, feeling the
softness of her velvet tongue rolling against mine. I heard a
soft but desperate whimper escape her lips, and it shot straight
to my core. The growing bulge between my legs was already
pressing against her, urgently craving to be inside her again.
“Joey,” she whispered.
I pulled back, waiting for her to tell me to stop. My heart
froze with the possibility, but the rest of me was still surging
with hope. Please just let us have this one last time, at least, I
thought.
Before she could say anything else, she was already
pulling my mouth back down to hers. She ran her hands up the
back of my head and down my back, tugging at my shirt. Our
lips parted just long enough for me to pull the shirt over my
head. With it out of her way, I kissed up her rounded belly,
lifting the fabric of her shirt from her breasts. She moaned and
writhed between me and the couch as I nibbled along the edge
of her bra. I was so desperate to get everything off her and dig
into her caramel skin.
We were drowning in lust and need when she started
whispering again, “Joey. Oh my god, Joey.”
 “What is it, baby?” I murmured, feeling my heart swell. “Is
everything okay?”
We were panting, tangled in each other’s bodies as the
words seeped from her lips. “I love you.”
I was ready to respond, but she swept her tongue back into
my mouth before I could. Her greedy mouth begged me not to
talk. She seemed to be thinking the same thing I had been
moments before. Maybe we were better off when we let our
bodies speak for themselves.
22
 ANGEL

J
oey’s body enveloped mine, bringing a rush of
feelings over me that I had been trying to push down
for months. He may have proposed this whole thing
as a favor to me, but I could tell by the look in his
eyes when I accidentally said that I loved him and by the way
that he ravaged me that he wanted me so much that he could
barely stand it. Being able to do that to him, as pregnant as I
was, only turned me on more. I needed to feel desired and
sexy. I needed to light up and bloom under his touch.
He kissed my neck and slid his hand under my shirt,
drawing a gasp from my lips as he grazed my tender breasts.
Sliding my sheer top and undershirt over my head, he kissed
around my tender breasts. Every swipe of his tongue, teeth,
and lips sent me over the edge with yearning. I could barely
hold off another second as he reached for the elastic waist of
my skirt.
He teased along the soft skin of my inner thighs as his
tongue explored my mouth, sending my hips bucking up into
him, begging for more.
“Fuck yes,” I murmured. “Please, Joey.”
“Please what?”
 “Please…don’t stop.”
He grinned and spread my legs wider, sliding two fingers
inside me. I wrapped my hand around his, desperately pushing
him in deeper. I pushed him away just long enough to yank my
panties down, tossing them aside with my skirt to follow. I
couldn’t wait long enough for him to torture me, undressing
me slowly, not this time.
He smiled as he pulled back and unbuckled his pants,
setting his glorious erection free from the strain of his boxers.
As confident as a man as Joey was, I always loved the way he
eagerly looked to me for approval whenever he pulled himself
out for me. I loved to feast my eyes on every inch of him. I
grinned right back at him, reaching out to stroke him, drawing
out a hiss from between his teeth.
“I can’t wait,” I whimpered, pulling him toward me.
His eyes burned into me, letting me know that waiting was
the last thing he was going to make me do.
“I told you this whole time that I would do anything you
needed me to,” he quipped, teasing his tip along my wet folds.
I bit my lip, opening my legs wider to coax him in. He
pinned one hand above my head, using the other to guide
himself in. We instantly fell into a perfect, urgent rhythm. I
couldn’t take my eyes off him as he moved inside me, giving
me the thing I had been craving for so long while fighting so
hard to deny it.
For a moment, I could forget that I was an expectant
mother and that my giant pregnant belly stuck out between us.
I was just a woman having her needs fulfilled, and oh, how he
fulfilled them so well. I sank into the feeling of him deep
inside me, stretching me out around him with a radiating
warmth that shot through every inch of my body.
“Harder,” I begged as his mouth crashed into mine, and he
moved faster, deeper.
“I want you to come, baby,” he murmured against my
mouth.
Every time he called me baby, my whole body tingled with
excitement. I could pretend for just a moment that everything
between us wasn’t so complicated. I thought the word itself
was enough to push me over the edge, but then he whispered
something else into my ear.
“I love you, too, Angel.” His fingers brushed through the
damp tendrils of my hair and along my chin.
The stroke of his fingers was enough. They were like a
magic wand, drawing the orgasm out of me from deep inside.
It vibrated through my whole body while I opened my mouth
wider, sucking his tongue in as deep as I could. My mouth
pulled from his naturally as my cries grew louder and more
primal. I felt my whole body start to quiver as the pleasure
built to impossible heights. His own groans became broken
and uncontrolled, and he pulsed inside me.
In perfect harmony, our bodies shook with that powerful
shared release. It tore through us and then faded, leaving us
with nothing but the feeling of our limp bodies draped over
one another. We panted, catching our breath and let our sticky,
sweaty skin melt together in exhaustion.
I didn’t know how long we laid there on the couch before
he finally decided to slide out from beside me. I was half-
asleep in my post-sex haze, but the cold absence of his skin
made me alert and wide awake.
 “Come back here,” I whined, catching his hand to pull him
back down. “The doctor said we should enjoy the last of our
peace and quiet while we could.”
He gladly melted back down beside me and hesitated to
say, “Yeah, but I guess the peace and quiet won’t be totally
gone for you. I’ll be all on my own with those midnight
feedings.”
“But this is different because you’re naked and right next
to me,” I argued. “I want to stay wrapped up like this for as
long as possible. I want to enjoy it before…”
I stopped myself from saying, “before this is all over
between us.” I didn’t want to admit to that reality and ruin the
moment. The feeling of his hand stroking my stretched belly
chased the words away so fast that I forgot what they were,
anyway.
“I’m glad the baby is okay,” he murmured. “I didn’t want
to freak you out, but I was really afraid.”
“I could tell.” I sighed. “But it’s all okay now. She’s fine.”
Joey’s head popped up too fast for me to fully register my
mistake. “What did you just say?” he asked, smiling ear to ear.
I froze in confusion before I realized what I had done. My
fingers shot to my lips. “Oh my god, Joey! I’m so sorry! I
didn’t mean to ruin it for you. I don’t know why… Pregnancy
brain, I guess. It just slipped—”
I was quickly silenced by the feeling of his soft, plump lips
returning to mine. He showered my mouth with a flurry of
quick, excited kisses.
“Don’t be sorry,” he said in between pecks. “I didn’t think
I wanted to know, but now that I do, I’m so happy. Thank you,
Angel.”
 My eyes watered at the sight of his happiness. “You’re
going to have a little girl.”
“We’re going to have a little girl,” he insisted.
Before I could respond, he darted up from the couch.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to tell the guys,” he replied in a rush for his phone.
“I have to tell everyone. We’re having a little girl!”
I started to pry myself up from the cushions to join him in
celebrating the news, but the moment I sat up, I felt a sharp,
gut-wrenching pain radiate from deep within. I winced and
clutched my stomach, but Joey was too caught up to notice.
The pain subsided, giving me a moment to catch my
breath. I let out a sigh of relief and tried to sit the rest of the
way up. The moment I moved again, I was hit with another
deep, twisting pain, followed by a warm trickle of liquid down
my legs.
“Joey,” I called out nervously.
He zipped back and forth through the apartment with his
phone in one hand while quickly putting his clothes back on
with the other. “We should go out and celebrate,” he
announced as he stumbled his way back into his pants. “I want
to treat everyone to a big dinner.”
“Joey!” I called out louder as another wave of cramps hit.
Finally, he slowed down long enough to look at me and
notice the twisted expression on my face. He bolted over to
my side, rubbing his hands up and down my back.
“What’s wrong!”
 “I think… I think my water just broke,” I growled through
the rapidly growing pains. “And…and I’m having… Oh god!”
I screamed.
“It’s time?” He quickly pulled up his phone, dialing the
hospital’s number while answering himself. “Oh shit. It’s
time.”
23
 JOEY

A
ngel and I both stared down with a loving gaze at
the beautiful baby girl in her arms. Her labor was
over almost just as fast as it started. We rushed into
the hospital, and within just a few short hours, we were
holding our baby girl.
She had her mother’s mocha skin and dark hair. I could
already tell by the curve of her lips and cheeks that her
features were a perfect mix between the two of us. I felt my
heart surge with feelings I had never known before as she
parted her tiny pink mouth and let out a gentle coo.
Angel whimpered and delicately traced her fingertip over
the baby’s mouth. I was suddenly filled with dread at what was
supposed to happen next. I wanted so desperately to ask her
how she felt. We never had a chance to talk, and I suddenly
felt awful for seducing her when I did. I put off the most
important conversation we’d ever had, and now it was too late.
Maybe waiting was for the best. Seeing her with the baby
erased every question I had still lingering in my mind last
night. I didn’t want this to be over between us.
I didn’t want to do this without her.
 But she had barely recovered from her intense labor. It
didn’t seem like the right time to ask, and I was proven right
when a series of gentle knocks came to the door of the hospital
room.
We looked up to see the whole gang tip-toeing in—Nick,
Ben, Damon, Lizzy, and Del. Their faces melted one by one as
they got close enough to see her face.
Nick was the first to walk up and give me a big hug. He
grinned. “Welcome to fatherhood.”
I could see Del and Lizzy looking at Angel with the same
concern I felt. Angel took in a sharp breath as our baby girl
wrapped her tiny little hand around her finger. They both
looked back to me with growing worry.
Ben caught onto the exchange and took it upon himself to
swoop in. “Hey, little lady. I’m your crazy Uncle Ben. I hope
you’re ready to be the best chick magnet I’ve ever had.”
We all laughed, trying to stay quiet so that we didn’t
disturb her. Even though she wasn’t entirely asleep, it was
hard not to do everything a little gentler in her presence.
“What do we call her?” Damon asked. Lizzy quickly
elbowed him in the side. “What?” he asked cluelessly.
“Do you need anything, Angel?” Del asked, desperate to
change the subject. “I can get you anything. Maybe a big
cheeseburger? Or a milkshake?”
“A drink?” Lizzy huffed sarcastically.
“I’m just really tired,” Angel replied with an exhausted
yawn.
“No problem, sweetie,” Del said, rubbing her shoulder.
“Why don’t we call the nurse in to take her and give you a
little rest?” She grabbed me by the arm and whispered through
clenched teeth, “Can I talk to you in the hall?”
We each admired the baby once more before filing out into
the hall. The moment we stepped out the door, Del and Lizzy
shuffled me off into a corner, and neither of them looked very
happy.
“So, what happens now?” Del demanded with her hands
on her hips. “Angel is in there, looking at her baby all dewy-
eyed, and what? You’re just going to pry her from Angel’s
arms and take her away?”
“Whoa. Calm down, babe,” Nick pleaded. “They’re both
adults. They have a contract and have a plan. I’m sure they
know what they’re doing.”
“I know my friend, and I can tell you by the look on her
face that she doesn’t know what she’s doing,” Del hissed back.
“It’s nice that she wanted to do this for you,” Lizzy
suggested. “But I don’t think she fully understood what she
was getting herself into.”
“She doesn’t want kids,” Ben chimed in, shrugging his
shoulders. “So what? Lots of people don’t want kids. I know I
sure don’t.”
“Did you see her in there!” Del snapped. “The way she
was looking at her baby? Does that look like a woman who
doesn’t want kids?”
“Oh, man,” Damon groaned with a half-smile, rubbing his
face. “You’ve really gotten yourself into a mess with this one.”
“Is anyone going to mention the fact that they’re in love?”
Nick added.
 “Everyone just stop!” I roared, bringing everyone to a halt
—including all the staff and patients in the halls and nearby
waiting rooms. They all stared at me in shock. I waited for the
gentle hum in the background to pick back up before starting
again, more quietly that time. “Would you all just calm down?
No one is taking the baby from Angel, and yes, I am very
much aware of how complicated this all is.”
“Mr. Williams?” a nurse said gently, pulling me away from
the group. “According to the birthing plan, Angel is a
surrogate. She requested to stay in the room alone after birth.
We’ve arranged a seperate room for you and the baby until
she’s cleared to go home, as you requested. If you’re ready, we
can get you all settled in now. I’ll just go get the baby from
Angel.”
“No!” I snapped, stopping her from taking another step
toward Angel’s room. I could feel all of our friend’s eyes
burning into me expectantly as I tried to gather my words.
“There’s a tentative change to the birthing plan, but Angel
does want some time to rest. I’ll bring the baby to you if that’s
okay.”
“But, sir,” the nurse protested, looking irritated.
“Hey, lady, he said there’s a change to the plan, okay?” Del
appeared behind me, redirecting her anger to the nurse. It was
a relief to not have her barking at me anymore, at least for a
moment. “He’ll go in and bring our sweet baby girl out to you
when he’s ready.”
“You’re a real pain in the ass.” I smiled at Del. “But I’m
really glad for it right now.”
Nick rubbed her shoulder from behind with a proud smile.
“Do you want us to go get her?” Lizzy asked.
 “Yes, if Angel is ready. Just so she can rest, and that’s it,” I
agreed, already starting off down the hall.
“Wait, where are you going?” Damon asked. Everyone else
gathered behind him shared his puzzled expression.
“I have to run a quick errand. Make sure Angel knows I
won’t be gone long!” I called out, taking off toward the
elevator.
I was teeming with excitement and nervousness as I rode
down into the lobby. Everything should have been over
between us, and I was meant to be on my own with a baby to
raise. It was everything I thought I wanted, but I knew things
were far from over between Angel and me. No matter what
she said about not wanting kids, I saw the way she looked at
our baby. It was the same way we looked at each other—
terrified but too deeply in love to care about what logically
made sense to us. All the things we convinced ourselves were
right for us turned upside down the moment we started this
whole thing.
I marched out of the hospital with determination, pushing
my way through the busy streets of downtown Cherry Falls. I
was feeling more convinced than ever that I could really do
this thing with Angel if she would have me.
24
 ANGEL

I
was still in a blurry haze of pain medication and
hormones when my eyes slowly opened. The room was
dark with only the warm, orange glow of a lamp and the
quiet sound of the TV in the background. I jumped awake all
at once, feeling a sudden panic.
“The baby,” I gasped. “Where is she?”
A warm hand wrapped around my hand. I was too groggy
to make it out at first, but I felt an instant wash of comfort ease
over me from the touch. My eyes glanced over to see Joey
sitting at my bedside, smiling back at me.
“She’s sleeping. She’s okay,” he assured me, nodding
toward the rolling hospital crib nearby.
I could see her bundled up inside and longed to go to her,
take her into my arms, and hold her close. Whatever
reservations I had about motherhood flew out the window the
moment she came into this world.
My heart ached, knowing that it was really none of my
business now. We had agreed long ago that I would pump all
of my breastmilk for as long as I could and that the baby
wouldn’t stay with me in the hospital. Most of those things
were my requests—to avoid any confusing emotions. Now that
it was happening, I didn’t know if I could stand it. My
instincts were flaring, putting me on high-alert for her safety
and well-being. I hated to admit it, but it felt wrong to be away
from her.
I sat up to ask him what he was doing there. I assumed that
when I woke up, it would be Del or Lizzy by my side instead.
But as I angled myself up on the bed, I felt something hard and
small in my lap. I looked down to see a black velvet box in the
sheet across my legs.
“What’s this?” I asked, wrinkling my brow. I looked over
to Joey again, this time noticing that he had a small stack of
papers in his hands. “And what’s that?”
“It’s a revised contract,” he replied. “I wanted to propose
some new terms. You don’t have to agree to them if you don’t
want to. If you need time to think about it, that’s fine too.”
“I’m listening,” I murmured, feeling my breath catch.
There were so many things I wanted him to say. There was so
much that I wanted to say in return. Yet, the potential pain of
getting my hopes up was too great. All I could do was wait to
hear him out with my heart on the line.
He cleared his throat with a smirk and held the papers up
to the light. “I won’t read it word by word, but the original
contract will be amended on the following points. Rather than
living separately and not knowing the baby as anything more
than a family friend, you’ll move in with me as soon as you
are ready. The baby will stay with you until then if you’d
prefer. She will know you as her mother, and we will raise her
together.”
I exhaled slowly, nodding my head. “Agreed. Go on.”
 “Rather than contact between the mother and father
becoming strictly platonic following conception, or in this case
birth since we already kind of messed that one up…” He
stopped for a moment as we both laughed. “We’ll be together
and just accept that we’re madly in love, whether we like it or
not.”
I felt the dam of tears building behind my eyes break,
sending hot wet streams down my cheeks. I nodded my head
in agreement but couldn’t speak. I diverted my eyes to the
black box, still resting in my lap. Slowly, I opened it. I felt like
I might burst at the sight of the big diamond ring nestled
inside.
By the time my eyes met Joey’s again, he had tossed the
contract aside and was kneeling on one knee beside my
hospital bed, taking my hand into his once again.
“Mr. Williams?” a nurse appeared in the doorway, but she
froze when she saw both of us teary-eyed, Joey down on one
knee. “Right. I will…check back in a few.”
I laughed through my tears and waited for the words I
longed to hear.
“Angel, I have always been terrified of relationships,
especially marriage, but if there is anyone in this world I could
ever dream of making it work with…it’s you. I don’t want you
to just be a surrogate. I want you to be our baby’s mother.
More than that, I want you. I want you to be my wife, and you
can begrudgingly tolerate me trying to take care of you for the
rest of our lives.” He chuckled. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” My voice cracked, so I tried again. “Yes, of course,
I will marry you, Joey. It’s just a shame you didn’t realize you
felt this way from the beginning!” I teased.
 As soon as I said it, I felt the foreign motherly pang that
came with the sounds of my precious baby stirring. She
whimpered and let out a slow, soft cry, putting me on high-
alert.
“Sit back,” Joey said assuringly. “I’ll bring her to you.”
I watched as he gently scooped her into his arms and
carried her over to me. I cried even harder as I felt her warmth
against my chest. “Although, I guess there were a lot of things
I didn’t realize in the beginning, too,” I confessed. “Like how
much this would mean to me.”
“All that matters is that we figured it out before it was too
late,” he replied, gently stroking our baby’s head as she rested
against my arms.
“It’s good that this all worked out.” I sniffled. “Because I
already thought of a name.”
“Well, of course I would have respectfully accepted your
input regardless of how things turned out, but I do like things
better this way. What do you think, mama? What should we
name our baby girl?”
“Olivia,” I told him as I looked into her small brown eyes.
I was immediately filled with certainty that it was the perfect
name for her.
“Olivia Williams,” he said softly. “It’s perfect.”
We lost ourselves in those tender moments of caring for
our baby together, even the harder parts like changing her
diaper and feeding her. I was grateful that Joey was willing to
give me time before I moved in with him, but I knew right
then that I never wanted to be apart from her or him when I
could help it.
 “I want to go home with you when we leave,” I decided
out loud.
“Of course,” he smiled. “I’ll hire some people to pack your
things and move it all. Consider it done.”
Just then, the revised contract on the bedside table caught
my eye. “Oh, and I guess I’ll need to sign that,” I noted, only
half-joking. “Do you have a pen?”
He smirked and grabbed the ring, posing to slide it on my
finger. “Just put this on. That’s enough of a signature for me.”
“Deal.” I lifted my finger from the side of Olivia’s small
body, wrapped up all snug and warm.
Joey leaned in, wrapping us both in his arms as I admired
the sparkling diamond in the soft light of our room. Everything
felt right in the world with him by my side, and nothing was
left unsaid. There was just one more thing we needed to be
clear about.
“Wait,” I blurted, wondering if my exhaustion and
hormonal surge had made me answer his proposal too rashly. I
saw his face drop with disappointment as I prepared to make
my final demand. “I hope you’re not expecting me to be a stay
at home mom,” I warned. “I do want everything you’ve
proposed so very much, but I do still want my restaurant, too. I
don’t want to have to choose between a family and my career.
I’ll be a part of your lives, regardless, but…”
“Angel, stop.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out
another set of folded documents. He spread them out in front
of me to read for myself. “Regardless of what you said today, I
had these drawn up. The spot on Stanford Avenue is all yours.
You don’t even have to pay rent. You have your restaurant.”
 Just when I thought I couldn’t laugh, smile, and cry any
harder all at once, more emotions came bursting out of me.
“I hope you still want me as part of the deal,” he added.
“Oh, you are non-negotiable,” I told him, leaning up for
him to kiss me.
It was officially the best day of my life. Not only did I end
up with the career and business of my dreams, but I got the
best husband and baby anyone could ever ask for, even if it
took me a while to figure out just how badly I truly wanted
them.
 EPILOGUE

“N
o, Nick. I need those contracts today,” I
groaned into the phone. “We’re supposed to
close on the deal early tomorrow morning.
These guys were already on the fence about making the
plunge, and if we hold off on them, they’re going to get cold
feet.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get legal on it right away,” he assured
me.
“They should have been on it yesterday.”
“Don’t worry, man. I’ll make sure it’s taken care of,
okay?”
Before I could give him any more of a hard time, the door
to my home office flung open. I was just starting to wonder if I
needed to be around the office more to make sure my business
was handled better, but the minute Olivia’s smiling face came
bobbling into the room on her tiny legs, I knew I was right
where I needed to be.
“Sorry, Nick. Just a little tired and cranky,” I admitted as
she tugged on the leg of my pants, begging for me to pick her
up. “I’ve got to run. You and Del still coming over dinner
tomorrow night?”
 “Hey, man, you’re preaching to the choir. And you bet.
We’ll see you tomorrow evening. Give that cutie a big hug and
kiss from her Uncle Nick.”
“Will do.” I smiled before hanging up the phone.
Olivia had climbed up into my lap. She lay her curly head
against my shoulder as if it had been days since we last saw
each other, but it had really only been a couple of hours.
“Oh, Mr. Williams!” Anita exclaimed from the doorway.
“I’m so sorry! You know, ever since she started walking, she
just takes off so fast! I was putting her clothes away, and next
thing I knew, she was outrunning me down the hall!”
“No worries, at all,” I replied to the nanny. “I’m just
wrapping up for the day, anyway. I’ve got it from here. We’ll
see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, Olivia!” she waved
and showed herself out.
“Daddy,” my precious daughter said adoringly in her sweet
little voice.
“Have you had a fun afternoon?”
She nodded her head while toying with the buttons on my
shirt. I lifted her in my arms as I stood and walked over to the
window of my home office. She loved looking out and
pointing at all the birds and squirrels.
“Mama.” She said and clapped her hands, even though
Angel wasn’t around. She could remember all the time she had
spent strolling through the garden with her mother.
“Should we go see Mommy?”
She started squirming with excitement and giggling. “Yay!
Mama!”
 I kissed her soft forehead, taking in a deep breath of her
scent—still faintly resembling how she smelled when she was
a tiny infant. With her first words and steps, I felt those
cherished, albeit exhausting, baby years slipping through my
fingers like sand in an hourglass. But as old things faded,
wonderful new things came in their place. Fatherhood was
everything I hoped and dreamed it would be and then some.
“Let’s go, then,” I told her, carrying her out the door,
grabbing her diaper bag on the way.
Angel’s transformation of the old restaurant on Stanford
Avenue was even more amazing than I thought it would be.
She had the siding redone along with a whole new awning and
sign. I still smiled every time we stopped by and stood outside
in front of the lit-up cursive words prominently displayed on
top—Olivia’s Place.
Olivia loved it, too, even if she didn’t fully understand the
importance of the place being named after her just yet. We
walked into the empty building as wait staff darted back and
forth, preparing to reopen for the dinner rush. I stuck my hand
into the diaper bag, making sure I had remembered to stick
that day’s paper inside.
We found Angel in the kitchen, ordering her cooks around
like a pro. No matter how busy she was, her face always lit up
when we stopped in to visit.
“My loves!” She beamed, racing out from behind the
counter to hug and kiss us one at a time.
“How’s everything going?” I asked. My heart still swelled
with pride every time I took in just how amazing of a joint she
had managed to open.
 “Fantastic! We’re premiering the new seasonal menu
tonight, and we’re already fully booked with reservations.”
Her shoulders rose and fell with a proud sigh.
I had respected and admired Angel long before the doors
to her restaurant ever opened, but seeing how fulfilled she was
with each passing day only made me love and adore her more.
“Oh, I heard all about that, actually.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? How?”
I pulled the newspaper out of the diaper bag and spread it
out on the counter for her to read. “You made the front page of
the entertainment section of the Cherry Falls paper. But that’s
not all.” I pulled an additional stack of magazines and papers
from the bag. “Damn near every publication in town is giving
you raving reviews. It’s no wonder you’re all booked up. I had
my assistant send me three copies of each.”
Angel’s hands flew over her face with shock, but I could
see the joy in her eyes. It was almost as much fun to watch as
it was to watch the way she was with our daughter.
“Did you hear that, everyone!” she called out to her staff.
“We’re a hit!” Everyone cheered as she pulled out a bottle of
champagne. “I think this calls for a little afternoon celebration.
And we just so happen to have some samples of everything for
tonight all ready to go. I take it you two will be my trusted
taste testers and food critics?”
“Aren’t we always?”
Olivia squealed, smiling ear to ear with all the commotion.
“Mommy make yummy!”
“Yes, without a doubt,” I laughed. “Mommy makes the
best yummy in all of Cherry Falls, and well beyond our little
city, too.”
 “Actually.” Angel raised her brows with a sly smile.
“That’s another reason why we’re celebrating. Ben and Damon
called earlier, and they are officially closing the deal on the
additional locations. Olivia’s Place is now a franchise!”
“Baby, that’s amazing.” I said, kissing her cheek.
She filled up two champagne glasses for us, along with a
cup of apple juice for Olivia. We settled into one of the booths
while her staff brought out plates of all the samples. The menu
was a delicious variety of both Italian and cajun dishes—
blending both of our backgrounds together in a surprising but
seamless way. Angel was always finding new ways to
incorporate the tastes of other cultures, as well. Food critics
were hailing it as one of the most unique and original
selections of cuisine to be found under one roof.
Olivia and I both erupted in a series of sounds as we
devoured the samples in front of us. Angel tasted a few things,
too, though she was already full from tasting and perfecting
everything throughout the day. As I took my last bite, I caught
her grinning at me.
“What is it?”
She shook her head in awe. “It’s just amazing, sometimes,
to think that one accidental drunken hookup after Damon’s
club opening would somehow lead to all of this. You. Me. ”
“Oh, you definitely got more than you bargained for out of
that one-night stand.”
She playfully slapped my arm. “Hey, I never wanted it to
just be a one-night stand. That was all on you. Until you
begged for me to be your baby mama.”
“We both got more than we bargained for.” I chuckled.
“But am I ever glad we did. This is all I’ve ever wanted.”
 “Me too.” She leaned in, pressing her lips to mine.
“Me too! Me too!” Olivia cried between us.
We both laughed and showered her with a flurry of kisses.
I felt like the luckiest guy in the world. Maybe part of me was
like my dad, but not the part that walked out on his family. I
knew I could never leave Angel and Olivia. And as much as
she worried about becoming a mother, Angel was better at it
than anyone I knew.
“I better get back to work,” she sighed. “I’m glad you two
stopped by. I’ll sneak out for a while later to come home for
bedtime.”
“You know you don’t have to. I can handle it. It’s a big
night for you.”
“I hired good people.” She shrugged. “They can handle it.
I know I don’t have to, but I want to. I wouldn’t want to miss
tucking my baby in.” She nuzzled against Olivia’s cheek
before whispering in my ear, “And don’t worry. I’ll be tucking
you in, too.”
She shot me a wink as we walked out the door. As we
drove home, I wondered if it was too soon to start talking her
into baby number two. I had convinced her to do it once. I felt
pretty good about my chances to sell her on it a second time.

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KNOCKED UP BY THE
BOSS
A SECRET BABY ROMANCE
 1
MADELINE

“D
on’t be obvious, but that guy over there is
checking you out.”
I looked over discreetly and saw who Eve
was talking about. There was a tall man, dark black hair with
bright blue eyes staring back at me from the bar. He didn’t
look like he was where he should be. His coat was made of a
fine fabric and his shoes were probably more expensive than
the bar itself. I was intrigued and from the way he was staring
me down, he was as well.
I waved Eve off and told her that I wasn’t interested in
talking to men tonight. The last thing I wanted to do was get
involved with someone I met here. The guy was cute, really
cute, but I was trying hard to stay away from complications.
“You’ve said that for the last six years while you’ve gotten
your degree. Eventually you’re going to have to live a little bit,
Madeline. If I were you, I would want to start with that hunk
over there.”
Anastasia heard the conversation and agreed with Eve.
Soon, all four friends that I had taken with me to the
graduation celebration were pushing me towards the guy at the
bar. It was getting loud and instead of them embarrassing me
further, I just got up so that they would leave me alone about
it. All I had to do was talk to him for a few minutes and
hopefully that would be enough for them.
There were some catcalls behind me, and I gave my
friends a dirty look. Of course, they were acting like they were
twelve and the humiliation I was feeling was starting to grow
exponentially.
I went over to the bar and took the stool next to him. I
wasn’t usually shy, but with this guy, I felt a little breathy.
“Hi. I noticed that you were looking my way, and I thought
I would come over and say hello.”
His voice was deep, and he returned the solitary word. His
eyes were the brightest blue I’d ever seen, extreme blue came
to mind. Everything about the guy was extreme. He had a
square jaw and the perfect cleft in the middle of his chin. The
man smelled like the woods, and his hands looked rough and
well-used.
“What are you doing here?”
He chuckled. “What do you mean? I’m just here having a
drink, same as you.”
“You are not the same as me. I have a feeling that you
could own a hundred of these bars if you wanted to. I don’t
think anyone in this club could say the same thing.”
He shrugged. “Maybe, but I still have to get a drink like
everybody else.”
The bartender came over after the guy motioned him over
and had asked me what I was drinking. I told him that I was
drinking a bloody sunrise, and he ordered another round for
both of us. I looked back at the table of women that I had left,
and they were all looking at us giggling.
 “I’m sorry about them. They kind of sent me over here and
if I don’t stay for a few minutes, then I’m never going to hear
the end of it. You don’t mind company for a few minutes, do
you?”
He frowned. “Is that the only reason that you came over to
see me? Now I am hurt.”
I felt bad for a moment, before he smiled, and he
introduced himself as Chris. I hadn’t even taken the time to
tell him my name. I had just been overwhelmed with his
presence really.
I took his outstretched hand and shook it. “My name is
Madeline Crenshaw. It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Madeline. I’m starting to think
that I came to just the right place.”
I found myself giggling, which was so unlike me. I wasn’t
usually so bubbly, and I tried to rein it in.
“If you are in Hartville, this is the only place to drink. Did
you get lost on your way back from the city?”
I knew that was where he was from. His kind of money
wasn’t in Hartville, and anybody that had any decent amount,
would not stay for very long. I was on my way out of this town
tomorrow. Now that I had graduated, there was nothing
stopping me.
“Something like that. Although, I have to say that I am
really liking the local fare here.”
I looked around the room and tried to see what he saw. The
lot of us probably looked like country bumpkins to him. He
was sophisticated and wearing impeccable clothing. The rest
of us, though, were just getting off work, and half of the
patrons of the bars still had their work clothes on. There was a
whole lot of jeans and plaid.
“Yeah, I can see why you would like it. Me, personally, I
can’t wait to get out of this town. It has never brought much
good to my life, and I know that it has to be better away from
here.”
“Where are you going to go?”
I was a little surprised by the question because I didn’t
expect it. Why would he care after all? He didn’t even know
me.
“To the big city, of course. That’s where everybody goes.
Hopefully, I will find a company to work for there, and I can
look at Hartville from the rearview mirror.”
“Come on, it can’t be that bad.”
I shrugged. “I guess it’s not. This is where I grew up after
all, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’ll be glad to go. I’m
actually here celebrating and this weekend, I’ll be leaving for
good.”
He congratulated me and asked me what I was celebrating.
When I’d been conned into coming over here and talking to
him, I hadn’t imagined baring my soul in the first few minutes.
“I just got my master’s degree, and this is the celebration
for getting it over with.”
“Wow, beautiful and smart. That is one hell of a
combination.”
I just kind of waved him off because that was just
something that people said. As slick as this guy looked, I’m
sure that he knew exactly what to say and when. Guys like
Chris were from another ballfield. He was way out of my
league, and I knew it as soon as I saw him. Being next to him,
soaking up his presence, there was a draw to him, but I still
knew that it wasn’t an equal situation.
“Well, thank you for the drink, but I think I’m going to go
back to my table now.”
Two of my friends had left to dance with guys and Eve
was one of them. I really didn’t want to go back to the table. I
rather liked the conversation that I was having with Chris, but
it was the best thing to do. This guy was way over my head,
and I had been out of the game for a very long time. He was
not someone to cut my teeth with.
Chris surprised me again by putting his hand on mine.
“Do you really have to go?”
“Do you want me to stay?”
“Truthfully, I want you to come out back to my limo and
show me the difference between a small-town girl and a city
girl. But that’s probably too much.”
It just came out of his mouth fast, like something that he
would say to any girl, and I just kind of shook my head. There
was no way that I was going to do anything like that. Sure, I
definitely thought about it immediately when I realized he was
checking me out, but I had just graduated from college. I was a
bit too old for that sort of thing. I was supposed to know better.
“Do city girls just go with you to your limo when you say
things like that?”
Chris agreed that they did, and I actually believed him. I
had a feeling that Chris pretty much got whatever he wanted.
He was gorgeous, and had money and confidence that was a
mile high. Women ate that sort of thing up.
 “Well, I guess you get to figure out the first difference
right now. You have to work a little harder for country girls.”

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