Authors: Mia Caldwell
“I don’t know.” I slid my hands away from his. “I didn’t see myself becoming a mother until I was at least in my thirties. Having a baby is a big responsibility that I’m not sure I’m ready for.”
“You won’t be doing this alone. The bulk of the responsibility will be mine. Well, after the baby is born anyway,” he chuckled. “I don’t mean to minimize what you’ll go through during the forty weeks of pregnancy.”
Three million dollars for forty weeks of work. My student loans would be a distant memory after receiving just the first installment. I wouldn’t have to keep stressing out about when NKL would lift the hiring freeze. Hell, if I invested the three million dollars right, I wouldn’t have to worry about working ever again.
But living a life of leisure for the rest of my days didn’t interest me. I loved working as a chemical engineer and hoped I’d eventually find a job that would allow me to do so. Could I do it and be a mother? While there were plenty of single working mothers in the world, this situation somehow seemed different.
I began cracking my knuckles, something I only did when my nerves got the best of me. “You promise I can be in the child’s life. He or she will know I’m the mother?”
Andrew reached over and covered my jittery hands with his own. “I promise you that our child will know us both as its parents.”
“What if you change your mind, hire a nanny, and kick me to the curb?”
“I wouldn’t do that.” He looked me straight in the eye. “We don’t know each other that well yet, but this arrangement is going to require a great deal of trust on both of our parts. You’ll have to believe I’m doing to do right by you and our child. Just like I’ll have to believe you’ll follow through on your end of the bargain and not take off once you get the first million in your bank account.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” I said, echoing his words. “I won’t lie, I can really used the money you’re going to pay me. However, it’s your child I’m going to conceive and carry. I wouldn’t take him or her away from you, especially knowing how badly you want this.”
“So, we have a deal then?” Andrew stuck out his hand.
“We have a deal,” I told him, shaking his hand and wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into.
Things moved very quickly after Andrew and I reached our handshake agreement. Within a week, I’d met with his lawyers, signed the contracts, and received the first million dollar payment. I still couldn’t believe I possessed a bank account with that many zeroes.
My first order of business had been to move out and find my own place. But those plans changed after I mentioned to Andrew that I’d have to find a two bedroom apartment so there would be room for a nursery.
“Apartment?” He frowned. “Actually, what I thought we could do for now is to have you stay at my estate outside the city. Living under the same roof would give us a chance to get to know each other better.”
In theory, that sounded like a good idea, but I didn’t want to give up that much of my independence. As if he sensed my hesitation, Andrew added, “The main house on my estate is over twenty thousand square feet. You’ll have your own space, and I won’t intrude on your privacy.”
“Maybe I can take a look around before saying yes or no,” I suggested, and let out a silent sigh of relief when he agreed.
I got Natalie to drive me in her car to Andrew’s place. He had to give us specific instructions to put into the GPS, or otherwise we never would have found it. While only about ten minutes outside of Philadelphia, it seemed like Natalie and I had entered another world as we drove up the long, winding tree strewn road on his property.
After driving for what must have been miles and miles, we came across a small wooden shack painted white and trimmed in green. A man in a security uniform signaled for us to stop. “What the hell?” Natalie asked after he took our ID’s and disappeared back into the shack.
“When you’re a billionaire, you can’t be too careful, I guess,” I told her, though the unfamiliar surroundings and mean looking security guard unnerved me too.
“You sure you want to go through with this, Ry?” she said, the first time she’d voiced any doubts about this scheme. I’d signed a nondisclosure agreement agreeing not to tell anyone about any part of our arrangement. However, Andrew had given me special permission to talk to Natalie about it.
“She was there when we met and she knows that you followed up with me afterwards,” I’d told him after he initially expressed his fears that Natalie would run to the press if I confided in her. “If I suddenly show up pregnant, it won’t be that hard for her to put two and two together. Besides, I can’t imagine going through nine months of pregnancy without my best friend’s support.”
Natalie had been stunned when I first told her how the meeting with Andrew had gone and what he wanted me to do. But she quickly got over the shock and encouraged me to accept the proposal. “Three million dollars for one pregnancy? You’d be a fool to turn that down.”
Yet, she didn’t sound quite as excited now, as the security guard returned our ID’s and we started driving again. “It’s so isolated out here, Ry. Why can’t you continue to live in the city?”
“Andrew wants us to live together while we conceive and during my pregnancy. This way, we can get to know each other and bond before the baby is born.”
“Sounds like he’s trying to control you.”
I opened my mouth to disagree with her, but a gorgeous, three story Georgian mansion suddenly came into view and I forgot what I’d been about to say. As Natalie drove around the circular driveway, Andrew opened the door and exited the house before the car had even come to a complete stop.
“You made it!” He beamed as I climbed out of the car. “Owen let me know you were on the way.”
“Yes, we followed your directions and ─” Andrew wrapped his arms around me in a big bear hug that drowned out the rest of what I had to say. The warmth of his embrace felt nice and temporarily silenced the growing chorus of doubts that had begun to echo in my head.
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and whispered, “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” I said, meaning it. Being in his arms filled me with a certainty I couldn’t explain, except that I knew everything would be all right as long as we were together.
I’d almost forgotten Natalie was there until she cleared her throat, reminding me of her presence. I reluctantly disengaged from Andrew’s embrace and said, “This is my best friend, Natalie. She was there the day we met, but you probably don’t remember her.”
Andrew looked apologetic as he walked toward her with his hand extended. “It’s nice to meet you, Natalie. I’m sorry but I don’t remember much about that day except Ryanna and realizing she’d saved my life.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said in a quiet voice, appearing shyer than I’d ever seen her. Normally, Natalie took the attitude of ‘a stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet,’ greeting people with boisterous affection. Now, she acted like I usually did with strangers, shy and withdrawn.
Not that I blamed Natalie. Even without knowing he was a billionaire CEO, Andrew’s height and stunning good looks made him an intimidating presence. As if he realized this, Andrew looked her in the eye and said, “Thank you for bringing Ryanna here today. I know how important you are to her, and that makes you important to me as well.”
Natalie’s face brightened and I breathed a sigh of relief as well, knowing he’d gotten her seal of approval. We all entered the house, which was even more impressive on the inside. The modern, sleek furniture looked like it came straight from the pages of
Elle Décor
. The liberal and strategic placement of various antiques created a unique atmosphere. While all very beautiful, it didn’t look like a place where I could make myself at home.
Andrew appeared to read my mind, because he said, “These front rooms are where I do most of my entertaining. But come, let me show you where I spend most of my time, where I’m most comfortable.”
We walked along the hallway, passing what felt like at least a dozen more rooms, before we came to a small wood paneled den with exposed beams and a rumpled decor of comfort. “Your man cave?” I asked in a teasing tone.
“Yep.” He collapsed onto a leather couch, and I couldn’t help but notice how toned and muscular his body looked as he sprawled out. “This room is usually off limits to any and everyone. But I wanted to share this with you because I didn’t want you to think those front rooms represented the entire place.”
“That’s good because they weren’t very child friendly,” I said. I’d been doing that more and more, thinking in terms of how something would affect or impact a baby. Andrew and I hadn’t even had sex yet, and I already acted like the baby would be coming any day now.
“Where is Ryanna going to stay?” Natalie asked.
I looked at Andrew, whose lips curled into a mischievous grin. “I thought we’d have some lunch before I showed Ryanna to her wing.”
My wing?
Natalie and I exchanged impressed looks. If my “wing” was anything like what I’d seen so far, I’d be living in luxury and splendor for the next few months.
Natalie made an exaggerated show of pulling her phone out of her purse. “Would you look at the time? I have an appointment back in the city, so I’d better get going. It took longer to get out here than I thought it would.”
I knew she was making up an excuse to give me and Andrew privacy. “Oh, come on, Nat, you drove me all this way. The least I owe you is a little lunch.”
“Seriously, Ry, I need to go. Training at the bank has been moved up to next week, and there are a million things I need to do before I start working there.” She hugged me and whispered in my ear, “You’re in good hands. I wouldn’t leave you here if you weren’t.”
I hugged her back, grateful for the encouragement and support. “I’ll talk to you later.”
After Natalie left, Andrew led me to his kitchen, where a chef was putting the finishing touches on our lunch. There were probably some three star Michelin rated restaurants whose kitchens weren’t as big as this one. However, as we sat at a small round table in the kitchen nook, the enormous room became cozy and intimate.
The chef placed the dishes in front of us, roasted slices of prime rib with asparagus, mushrooms, and onions on the side. It smelled delicious and tasted even better. “This is, hands down, one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time,” I said.
“I’ll give Henri your compliments.” Andrew winked. “Since he’s going to be preparing all of the meals while you’re here, I’m glad you like him.”
“With food like this, I’ll probably want to stay here barefoot and pregnant forever.” As soon as I’d uttered the words, I wanted to snatch them back, realizing how crass they sounded. “I’m sorry, Andrew. This isn’t a joking matter. I didn’t mean ─”
He covered my hand with his own to silence me. “Ryanna, it’s okay. Actually, I’m glad you’re showing me your sense of humor. It means you’re feeling more comfortable around me. This is a new situation for the both of us, so a sense of humor will come in handy.”
I nodded in agreement and sighed with relief at the same time. “I crack dumb jokes when I’m nervous, but I know having a baby is a serious thing.”
“I’m a little nervous too.” He squeezed my hand tighter. “But I want a child very much, and I know you’ll make a great mother. We’ll get through this together.”
How do you know I’ll be a great mother?
I wanted to ask, but didn’t want to make the mood any heavier than it already was. Hard questions could be answered later, not over a light getting-to-know-you lunch.
Hard questions should be answered now before you make a baby
, my subconscious insisted. I pushed the warning voice to the back of my mind. Contracts had been signed, so it was too late to back out now, even if I wanted to.
After we finished our lunch, Andrew led me up an elaborate staircase, complete with wrought iron railings, to my “wing,” where I’d be staying.
“It’s actually more like a suite of rooms,” he explained. “Of course, you have the run of the house, and I hope you take the time to explore it. But for now, I thought you’d feel more comfortable if you had a space to call your own.”
I silently agreed. Andrew had gone out of his way to make me feel at home, but we were, in fact, still strangers. Having my own set of rooms would help me adjust.
However, Andrew’s taking my hand in his as we walked down yet another long corridor felt like the most natural thing in the world. The warmth created by the touching of our palms reassured me. Perhaps this arrangement, though weird, could actually work.
We finally arrived and Andrew opened the door to one of the most gorgeous rooms I’d ever seen. In contrast to the distinctly masculine feel of his man cave, this room had a more modern touch that was feminine without being too precious. Huge French windows let in lots of light that created an airy aura.
My feet seemed to sink into the plush carpeting as we entered. The cushions of the mauve sofa were the softest I’d ever touched. The room seemed more appropriate for visiting royalty than a random chick Andrew wanted to knock up.
“It’s so beautiful,” I said, my voice full of emotion.
“I’m glad you like it.” Andrew interlocked the fingers of his hand with mine. “This is just one of your rooms. Come, let me show you the others.”
The rest of the rooms were just as exquisitely decorated and furnished as the first. I couldn’t imagine who I would entertain at the cherry wood dining table that easily seated ten, but I liked looking at it all the same.
We reached the bedroom at last. A huge sleigh bed covered with fluffy pillows that matched the gray and blue palette decor immediately caught my attention. “That looks like a bed made for LeBron James,” I joked.
“It’s a deluxe king,” Andrew said with a touch of defensiveness. “The interior decorator assured me this bed was the best and that’s what I wanted you to have. The best.”
“Thank you.” I squeezed his hand as best I could because we were already holding hands pretty tightly. “You didn’t have to go to so much trouble. I’m working for you, remember? Besides, I have very simple tastes.”
“You’re not working for me.” Andrew’s expression suddenly turned intense. He let go of my hand and placed both of his on my shoulders. “We’re in this together. We’re going to conceive a child and parent it together.”
“But you are paying me. It’s sort of hard to forget that point.”
“The money is a trivial matter. What’s important is that you realize how important you are to me because we’re about to embark on this incredible journey together. If that requires buying a LeBron James bed, then so be it.”
I started to laughingly protest, but Andrew’s kiss cut me off. Though unexpected, it wasn’t unwelcome. His lips were soft and warm, exerting a gentle pressure on my mouth so that my own lips parted. As the kiss deepened, he pulled me closer and held me tighter, as if afraid I would run away. He need not have worried because I didn’t plan to go anywhere. I was right where I wanted to be.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, flattening my chest against his in the process. Andrew moaned and broke our kiss. “I’m sorry, I know I’m moving too fast. It’s just that I’ve been thinking about doing this almost since the moment we met.”
I could see his sincerity but I still let out a little giggle. “You mean while you were on the sidewalk having just narrowly escaped the jaws of death, you were thinking about kissing me?”
He nodded as he twined his index finger though a lock of my hair. “I know it sounds crazy, but I swear I’m telling you the truth. Once I’d gotten over the initial shock, I couldn’t believe I’d been rescued by such a gorgeous angel.”
I felt my cheeks turn hot. No one had ever called me gorgeous before, especially not a man who actually fit the description of the word. “You’re just saying that because I’m the future mother of your child.”
“I’m grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to become a father.” Andrew kissed my forehead and the tip of my nose before he continued. “But that has nothing to do with what I’m telling you now. You’re beautiful on the inside and out.”
“You are too.” I stood on the tips of my toes to try and replicate his kissing my forehead and nose. However, he was too tall, and I only made it as far as his upper lip.
I might have failed in the attempt, but I still got the result I wanted. Andrew took me in his arms and kissed me again, this time his touch sent sparks through me that touched my very core. I’d never been kissed like this before. This wasn’t some slobbery, awkward, fumbling meeting of the mouths. As his tongue caressed my lips, tracing an outline around them, I could tell Andrew knew exactly what he was doing.
I leaned into him, letting my hands fall from his neck down his back, enjoying the feel of every hard muscle along the way. The soft cotton of his button down shirt couldn’t keep me from imagining what it would be like to actually touch his flesh, to run my hands over every ridge and crevice of his physique.
His most powerful muscle of all nudged against my crotch. My body responded before my brain could, with my legs spreading a little so that he’d have more room to press against me. The sparks kept on coming, with my entire body now on high alert. A moist heat began to form between my legs.
Andrew abruptly pulled away, bringing me back to the real world instead of the passionate one I’d just started getting used to. I missed the incredible warmth of his touch almost immediately. “I apologize, Ryanna, I got carried away. I don’t mean to push you.”
“Um, in case you couldn’t tell, I was just as carried away and pushing right back.”
Andrew smiled tenderly. “I swear this isn’t why I brought you up here. This was supposed to be a perfectly innocent tour of your rooms.”
“When did you plan for us to uh. . .” Andrew’s nearness, especially with his hand caressing the small of my back, made me unable to come up with anything except one word ─
fuck
. But I didn’t want to appear crude in front of the future father of my child.
He nodded, as if he understood my problem and couldn’t come up with a more elegant, classier way to say
fuck
either. “I didn’t want to push you or rush things. The last thing I wanted was for you to feel coerced or pressured.”
I caressed his cheek and traced the outline of his square jaw with my fingertip. “Does it look like I feel coerced or pressured?”
“What you feel is amazing.” He pulled the bottom of my shirt out of my jeans and gently massaged my lower back. “So soft, like silk.”
The touch of his skin on mine made my heart race. While I wanted nothing more to feel his hands all over my body, it occurred to me that we were doing this in broad daylight.
I’d only had sex with one other guy, a fellow chemical engineering student. We’d only done it twice, and both times had been very disappointing. I hadn’t gotten wet then, like now with Andrew. And Karl’s dick felt nowhere near as big or as hard as Andrew’s, who hadn’t even taken off his pants yet.
Karl and I had sex under the protective cloak of darkness. That way, he couldn’t see the slight pouch of my belly ─ too many candy bars from the vending machine while waiting on lab results ─ or my three inch appendectomy scar. At the rate Andrew and I were going, he would see all of this and more.
I dropped my hands to my sides and he did the same. “Too fast?” he asked.
“No, I like what we’re doing as well as the pace we’re going. A lot.”
Andrew grinned and wrapped his arms around my waist. “So why did we stop?”
“Um, you think we can pull the curtains? Make it a little darker in here?” I didn’t think closing the drapes would make the room totally dark. However, they looked heavy enough to dim the lighting so that my physical flaws weren’t quite so obvious.
“Honey, I assure you, no one can see us, even with the curtains pulled back. I had a special tinting put on the windows so that no one can see inside even though you can still see outside.”
Peeping Toms didn’t scare me nearly as much as Andrew’s turning away from me in disgust. “Can we just close them anyway? I’d feel better if it wasn’t so bright in here.”
Awareness sparked in his eyes. He gripped my waist tighter and buried his lips in my hair. “I want to see you, Ryanna.
All
of you.”
“And if you don’t like what you see?”
“I will,” he said, in a voice full of confidence that I didn’t feel. “Here, let me show you something.”
He began to unbutton his shirt and a wave of disappointment swept over me. I’d been looking forward to unwrapping that particular present myself. Oh, well, there were still his pants to consider.
Andrew dropped the shirt to the floor and took a step back, pointing to his lower torso. While he had an extremely impressive six-pack, his fingers directed my attention to a four inch scar. The puckered and twisted section of skin marred his otherwise his perfect stomach.
“I got mugged during my senior year of college,” he explained. “When I wouldn’t give up my wallet or my mountain bike, the punk stabbed me. Fortunately, some sorority girls were on their way back from a party and found me almost immediately after it happened. The doctors said it if wasn’t for them, I would have bled out for sure.”
Drawn to it almost like a magnet, I stepped forward and gently touched his stomach, tracing the coarse path of the healed wound. Andrew took a deep breath before he continued.
“That what spurred me on to start my own business. Before then, I’d been polishing my resume and kissing all the tech recruiters’ asses, hoping they’d hire me. After I got out the hospital, I realized life was too short to work for someone else and decided to strike out on my own.”
He tucked his fingers under my chin and lifted up my head so that our eyes met again. “I’m not perfect and I’m not expecting you to be either. If you can handle my imperfections, I know I can handle yours.”
Andrew’s candor and honesty gave me the courage I needed to expose myself. I pulled my shirt over my head ─ his brief look of disappointment mirrored mine from earlier, like he’d wanted to undress me himself ─ and pointed to my own scar.
“This isn’t quite as dramatic as yours. It’s just the result of an ordinary appendectomy.”
“Oh, there’s absolutely nothing ordinary about you, Ryanna.” We began kissing again, this time made more intense by the fact both our upper bodies were bare except for my bra. Andrew’s fingers fumbled with its clasp while our tongues tangled and dueled for control. I finally reached behind and loosened it, pulling my arms out of the straps and dropping the bra to the floor, all without losing contact with Andrew’s mouth.
His hands immediately cupped my breasts, and his thumbs caressed my nipples, making them instantly erect. Before I knew it, he’d edged me to the bed and laid me down on it. He hovered over me, his green eyes dark with desire.
“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted any woman as much as I want you right now,” he said in a hoarse voice.
“I
know
I’ve never anyone as much as I want you.” I ran my hands through his thick, dark hair. “I want you, Andrew, and you’re not pressuring or coercing me. I want you to make love to me.”
Apparently, he didn’t need any more convincing. He bent down to kiss my breasts, one after the other. I gasped in surprised delight as he licked my nipples, his tongue making small concentric circles around them. Though already erect, my nipples pebbled into fine points under the ministrations of his skilled tongue.
The tingling between my legs intensified as he paid more attention to my breasts than anyone had before. The gentle pressure he exerted on them went straight to my core, heating me up to a point where I thought I’d need an immediate release. I wanted to do nothing more than slip my hand between my legs and give my bud the fulfillment it craved and demanded.
As if he anticipated my next move, Andrew interlocked the fingers of his hand with mine. “What’s the rush? We’re just getting started.”
Maybe he was just getting started, but the cauldron between my legs wanted satisfaction
now
. Curious to see if he was a close as I was, I slid my other hand down between his legs. Although still contained in his pants, I could feel the massive muscle twitch beneath my touch. Andrew’s loud groan further confirmed that, yeah, he was as near to his release as I was.
I fumbled with his belt and zipper until I felt the sticky skin of his pulsing cock. “Looks like you’re in a rush too,” I teased. “Or at least part of you is.”
“Can you blame me? You’re driving me crazy.”
“Same here.” I moaned as Andrew’s hot tongue licked the valley between my breasts. He kissed his way down my stomach until his lips reached the waistband of my jeans. I lifted up my hips as he unbuttoned, unzipped and pulled them off of me. The only article of clothing I had left were my white cotton bikini panties, which were completely soaked.
Andrew grabbed one of the oversized pillows on the bed and shoved it under my ass so that my crotch perfectly angled towards his mouth. He kissed me through the wet panel of my panties, making me wriggle in pleasure. While I couldn’t wait to feel his tongue on the hottest part of my flesh, his panties-cloaked kisses still sent jolts of electricity all over my body.