sank like a lead ball to the bottom of her stomach. She swallowed hard and set her silverware aside before attempting to speak. “Does that mean you’ve made your decision?” she asked, twisting the linen napkin on her lap nervously between her fingers.
“I made my decision before you even left my office this morning. You’re the woman I want to be a surrogate for my child. Congratulations, Mommy.”
Two
Several weeks passed after Burke’s life-altering announcement that Shannon was to be the surrogate mother of his child. She saw him very infrequently during that time, and only for brief intervals. Although his secretary did call more than once to invite her to dinner on his behalf.
Anxious enough about her immediate future, she declined all of Burke’s offers and was relieved when he didn’t press the point in person.
To be honest, Shannon didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary with Burke Bishop. At least not alone, in a social setting.
There was too much at risk. Her mother’s health and well-being, the money he had promised her in exchange for carrying his child…maybe not her heart, but definitely her good sense.
Quite frankly, Burke Ellison Bishop was too handsome for his own good. And for hers. She wasn’t supposed to be attracted to him.
And she wasn’t, darn it. She wasn’t!
But Burke had made their one dinner together feel more like a date than a business meeting. It was easy to see why the newspapers and tabloids considered him to be one of Chicago’s most eligible bachelors. Charm and charisma seeped from his every pore.
If she wasn’t careful, that charm may even begin to work on her, and that would be a bad thing.
The contract she’d signed to become a surrogate for Burke’s child very clearly divested her of all rights connected to the baby she was expected to produce. She understood the need for such tight clauses and fully agreed with them.
She’d done a lot of soul-searching well beforehand and knew giving up custody of a tiny life that had grown inside her body for nine months would be one of the hardest things she’d ever have to do. To be honest, she wasn’t sure she’d ever truly recover. But knowing Burke would be a good father and that her child would have the best of everything helped.
Of course, if she let her hormones get carried away by Burke’s chivalry and good looks, it would be that much harder to cut all ties later on.
With a sigh, she readjusted the paper-thin hospital gown that kept slipping off her shoulder, and the equally thin sheet covering the lower half of her body. She was perched on the edge of an exam table, waiting for the clinic’s fertility specialist to bring in a vial of Burke’s, um, little swimmers and attempt to impregnate her. The doctors had warned them that the fertilization process wasn’t always successful on the first try, but Burke didn’t seem overly concerned. Since money wasn’t an issue for him, he could afford to have the procedure repeated as many times as necessary to reach his goal.
Shannon, meanwhile, had never particularly enjoyed her annual visits to the gynecologist. Those trips were simple compared to the poking and prodding she’d endured these past few months, and if she never again saw a stirrup table, it would be too soon.
Just as she considered jumping down and bolting, the door of the exam room opened and the doctor entered.
“Good morning, Miss Moriarty. Are you ready for the big moment?”
She took a deep breath, tamping down on the shiver of nervousness that accosted her every time she thought about being inseminated and carrying a child to term for a virtual stranger. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose,” she answered with a forced smile.
But the smile died on her lips the minute she lifted her head and saw Burke enter the room directly after the doctor and his nurse. He wore a charcoal-gray suit and striped tie, with a black, lightweight overcoat slung over one arm.
Immediately, her muscles tensed and her thighs clamped together. She was uncomfortable enough about the entire process, baring herself to a professional who wasn’t her usual physician. How in heaven’s name was she supposed to go through with this with Burke in the room?
He eyed her cautiously, his glance gentle and reassuring as he draped his coat over the back of an available chair. “I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to be here for the procedure.” A beat of near silence passed while he studied her expression. “Is it all right if I stay?”
Beads of sweat broke out on her upper lip and between her breasts. At another time, in a completely different situation, she would be highly attracted to him on a simple man-woman level. There probably wasn’t a single female in the state of Illinois who wouldn’t be.
Not that she would act on that attraction, though. She was an overworked, overstressed student, and Burke was a wealthy, high-powered entrepreneur who would never look twice at someone like her. But to be attracted to him and to have this business relationship with him only made things more difficult.
Yet she couldn’t find it in her heart to ask him to leave the room when all he wanted was to be present while his child was conceived.
She didn’t think her throat would work to form words, so she merely nodded her permission for him to stay.
At the foot of the table, the nurse assisted the doctor in readying his instruments and getting Shannon’s legs adjusted in the stirrups. She knew her face had to be six shades of red, but was thankful Burke remained standing near her head while the doctor worked.
Long minutes later, with barely a word being spoken, the doctor sat back and sighed. “All done. With any luck, we’ll have success this time around and you won’t have to come back.”
“Thank you, Doctor.” Burke stepped forward to shake the doctor’s hand as soon as he’d removed and disposed of his latex gloves.
He gave them a few further instructions, but basically they just had to be patient and let nature take its course. Her first return appointment was in a month—the earliest they could repeat the procedure if the first one failed. Until then, she needed to take it easy, but could otherwise go on with her life as usual.
Burke accompanied her out of the clinic and into the parking lot, where his car and driver waited.
“I hope I didn’t make you too uncomfortable in there,” he commented.
Buttoning the autumn plaid of her wool coat up to her neck, she shrugged a shoulder and refused to meet his eyes. “I don’t think that type of appointment can ever be comfortable, no matter who’s in the room. Besides, this is your child.” Her hand went automatically to her abdomen, even though they both knew it was too soon to know whether or not she was actually pregnant.
“Maybe,” she added with a wry twist to her lips. “You had a right to be there during the procedure.”
“That may be true, but thank you, anyway.” He stopped beside the spotless black sedan, ignoring the chauffeur who stood ready to open the door at Burke’s signal. “You’ve been very gracious throughout this entire process.”
For the first time since leaving the doctor’s office, Shannon lifted her head to look into his light charcoal eyes. As always, when she met Burke’s dark,
