More Than a Millionaire / The Untamed Sheikh. Emilie Rose

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СКАЧАТЬ support I offered the surrogate I’d hired.”

      Taken aback, she blinked. “You hired a surrogate?”

      Why would a guy who looked like him need to pay someone to have his baby? Women should be lining up around the block and begging for the privilege.

      “A well-qualified, carefully screened surrogate.”

      She bristled at his implication that she might be less than qualified to carry his child. For the second time this morning she forced herself to read something she didn’t want to and picked up the contract.

      Shocked, she looked up from the document that had her name typed in all the appropriate places. “You want to buy my baby?”

      Duh. That’s what surrogacy is, Nicole. But seeing it in black and white rattled her.

      “It’s a service contract. You provide a product and a service. I pay you for your time and the use of your body,” he replied as coolly as if they were haggling over the price of an airplane.

      A product? Revulsion slammed her chest a split second before an unexpected surge of possessiveness swelled within her. She wrapped her arms around her middle. Until now she’d been ready to hand over her baby to Beth and Patrick. With dignity. Without a fight. But she’d be damned if she’d sell it to this stranger.

      “You are out of your mind, Mr. Patrick.”

      “It’s my child.”

      “It’s mine, too. My egg. My body. My time.”

      “My terms are quite generous.”

      She tossed the document back at him. He made no effort to catch it. The pages fluttered to the desk. “I don’t care about your terms. Go back to your surrogate.”

      “And forget I’ve already fathered one child?”

      “Yes. You have no emotional investment here and no financial obligation. You can have another baby much easier than I can. I will carry this child for nine months. Your contribution only took seconds.”

      “You’re only eight weeks pregnant. You haven’t had time to bond.”

      Her mouth dropped open. She snapped it closed. “Spoken like a man who doesn’t have a clue. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

      She’d begun bonding from the first moment she’d noticed her taste buds had gone crazy—just days after conception and even before the positive pregnancy test. She remembered the exact moment she’d realized she was pregnant with Patrick’s baby.

      According to him it wasn’t Patrick’s baby.

       He might be wrong. Please, please let him be wrong.

      “I’m sorry. I’m not going to believe your story without proof.”

      “You have it.” He indicated the letter by dipping his chin.

      “This is not enough.” She’d go through the clinic’s records personally, if need be. And if that didn’t work…there was always DNA testing. How soon could that be done? And was it safe for the baby? She jotted down the questions to ask her doctor.

      Her visitor’s jawline hardened. “You’re only twenty-eight. You have time to have other children.”

      Unlikely, since her heart was already taken. “You’re not exactly ancient.”

      “I’m thirty-five.”

      “Women have a shorter window of opportunity for reproducing than men. You can keep fathering children for another fifty years.”

      His lips thinned in irritation. “I want a child now, and I’m not walking away and leaving the door open for you to sue me for child support.”

      The jerk’s personality did not improve with exposure. Usually she could find something to like about even the most difficult person. Not so here. Other than his physical packaging which was prime.

      She took a deep breath and reminded herself that any problem could be solved with patience, politeness and perseverance. Her three P’s never let her down.

      “I would never do that, Mr. Patrick. I don’t want or expect anything from you.”

      His eyebrows lowered. “You expect me to take the word of a stranger?”

      She was too busy reeling over the possibility that she might be carrying a stranger’s baby to care what he thought.

      “I’m not interested in your money, and I’m willing to have my attorney draft a document stating that fact and relieving you of all responsibility.”

      “That would be useless. You’d have eighteen years to change your mind.”

      She wanted to smack him. “Mr. Patrick, I couldn’t give you this child even if I wanted to—which I don’t.”

      She pressed her fingertips to her stomach and gathered the words that had become her mantra since she’d committed to this plan. “This baby is not mine. I’m carrying it for my sister and brother-in-law.”

      Who might not want the baby if it wasn’t Patrick’s.

       Oh my God.

      Panic tightened her chest. A cold sweat seeped through her pores. What was she going to do? She certainly wasn’t handing her baby to this knuckle-dragging Neanderthal who acted as if giving up her child would be as easy as giving a panhandler the change from her pocket.

      “You’re acting as a surrogate for someone else?”

      His clipped words interrupted her chaotic thoughts. “Yes. Patrick Ryan is my brother-in-law.”

      “How much is he paying you?”

      Appalled, she reared back. “Nothing. This is a gift.”

      “I’m offering a hundred thousand, plus expenses. You’re going to give up the kid. Why not to me? You can have his kid next year.”

      His cavalier attitude winded her. “I’m not a broodmare.”

      She’d geared herself up to do this once. She didn’t think she could handle giving a baby away a second time.

      “I’ll make it worth your while.”

      “No, thank you. I gave my word.” For once she wanted to come through for Beth instead of having Beth make all the sacrifices for her. She owed her sister a huge debt.

      And she wanted to give Patrick something Beth couldn’t.

       Not nice, Nicole.

      “Tell her you changed your mind. If the egg is yours, then the child is in no way hers or her husband’s.”

      She flinched and wished he’d quit reminding her of that.

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