wasn’t at all surprised that Luke had ordered their dinner without consulting her or the menu. That was the type of man he was—a take charge kind of guy, who expected everyone to go along with whatever choices he saw fit to make.
“Did you enjoy your day off?” he asked conversationally, once the young waiter had placed their wine glasses in front of them, then silently moved away. “Were you able to give a significant amount of thought to my request?”
Leave it to him to bypass her need to respond to the small talk and get right to the sole reason they were having dinner together.
“I haven’t been able to think of anything else since you left my apartment yesterday afternoon,” she said truthfully. “You really gave me a lot to think about.”
“Have you reached a decision?”
She stared at his handsome face as she mentally readied herself to recite the list of demands she’d spent the day memorizing and knew would have him rescinding his proposition in less than a heartbeat. But being prepared for what she had to say didn’t make saying it any easier.
“Yesterday, when you asked me to consider doing this for you, I don’t recall you mentioning anything that would give me an incentive to help you,” she clarified, choosing her words carefully. “What would I get out of this besides gaining a significant amount of weight and a few stretch marks?”
“After I left your place, I gave that some thought,” he agreed, nodding. “And there’s no question that I would take care of all medical expenses, as well as give you as much time off from work as you’d like. With pay, of course.”
He made it sound so simple. Had he even considered the permanent changes her body would undergo or the possible risks if the pregnancy was problematic? And what about the emotional devastation she would endure when it came time to give him custody of her child?
“That isn’t nearly enough,” she declared, flatly. “I want more.” She shook her head. “No. That’s not correct. I want a lot more.”
His eyes narrowed and she could tell that he hadn’t anticipated her rejection. “What exactly is it you want, Haley?” he finally asked.
“I’m sure it’s a lot more than you’re willing to give,” she stated, taking a sip of wine.
“Name your price and we’ll see.” There was a challenge in his voice, indicating that he was about to go into serious negotiation mode.
“I never said I wanted money,” she offered, staring at him over the rim of her glass.
He cocked one dark eyebrow. “Then what do you want?”
Haley slowly placed her wine goblet on the table and took a deep breath. She was about to reveal the hopes and dreams she’d had since childhood to the man she quite possibly loved, then listen to him reject each and every one of them.
“I don’t expect you to understand how I feel about this, but I’m a traditionalist. When I have a baby, I have every intention of being a mother to my child. I’m going to be there to get her up each morning and tuck her into bed each night. I’ll be there to see her first steps and hear her first words.” She had to pause a moment to keep the emotion out of her voice as she finished. “And every minute of every single day, my child will have the comfort and security of knowing that she’s loved and cherished by her mother.”
A frown creased his forehead. “Is that it?”
“No.”
“There’s more?” The lines on his brow deepened and the tone of his voice indicated that he thought she was being extremely unreasonable.
Nodding, she stated the final demand, certain he’d find it completely unacceptable, giving up on her as his surrogate once and for all. “When I have a child, Luke, I intend for her to have a mother and father who are equally responsible for raising her, as well as living under the same roof and sharing the same last name.”
His intense stare was intended to intimidate, but as far as she was concerned, this was one issue that was nonnegotiable. He might as well get used to that fact.
“In other words, you want to get married,” he said after several uncomfortable moments of silence.
Their waiter chose that moment to bring their salads and she waited for him to leave before she answered. “When I have a baby, yes, I have every intention of being married and making a stable, loving home for my child to grow up in.”
“Anything else?”
Shaking her head, she reached for her fork with a trembling hand. “No, I think that just about covers the subject.”
Silence reigned over the table as they ate and she knew Luke was contemplating ways to change her mind. But that wasn’t going to happen and the sooner he realized it, the better off they’d both be. Then they could forget that he’d even brought up the subject and resume being an executive assistant and her workaholic boss.
“Did you find everything to your satisfaction?” the waiter asked while he removed their plates.
“As always, the meal was excellent,” Luke answered. Turning to her, he inquired, “Would you like something for dessert, Haley?”
“No, thank you. I’m positively stuffed.” Smiling, she looked up at the server and crossed her fingers beneath the table for the lie she was about to tell. “Everything was delicious.”
In truth, she couldn’t have said whether they’d had prime rib or a piece of shoe leather. She’d been far too preoccupied wondering when Luke would tell her that he found her requirements completely unacceptable and that he was officially deleting her from his short list of surrogacy candidates.
Nodding, Luke handed the waiter a credit card. “I think that will be it for this evening. Have the valet bring my car around to the front.”
Once Luke had taken care of the check and they walked out of the restaurant, they had very little to say to each other. The drive home was little better and Haley was more than relieved when he parked the car, walked her to her door and bid her a very quick, very platonic good-night.
Confident that he’d given up on the idea of her becoming the surrogate for his child, Haley felt her mood dip into sadness. When she’d told Luke what she wanted, she’d been revealing the dreams she’d carried for the past five years. And knowing there wasn’t a snowball’s chance on a hot July day that any of them would come true now, was almost enough to send her running to the freezer for the carton of triple fudge nut ice cream she kept on hand for just such depressing occasions. Instead, she opted to change into her nightshirt, pour herself a small glass of white wine and watch the nightly news on television before turning in for the evening.
But half an hour later, as she crawled beneath the sheets on her bed and reached to turn off her bedside lamp, the phone rang. The caller ID revealed Luke’s cell number and her heart skittered to a stop.
This is it, she thought, taking a deep fortifying breath. He was calling to tell her that he found her requirements totally unacceptable and he would be searching elsewhere for his surrogate.
“Hello, Luke.”
“Have
