Love Child (2 page)

A
bel Lockwood
. He’d been my top pick. Then he walked into the room, and now I was having second thoughts.

Not because he held a certain air of confidence or carried himself like he didn’t know insecurities. Not even because of the expensive suit that hugged his body instead of hanging off it like suits seemed to on other men. Not because he had no issue looking me, a mere stranger for all intents and purposes, straight in the eye. Not because he was a giant compared to me and the thought of what else might be just as giant crossed my mind, making me blush right there in front of him.

No, the reason I was having second thoughts as he slid into the seat across from me, his stare refusing to tame itself, was because I felt that dangerous awareness known as attraction.

In my experience, attraction that cropped up out of nowhere—that instant chemistry that came from one look—was risky. Those kinds of feelings were red flags meant to be handled with extreme caution. On the rare occasion I’d felt them before, the man making my heart malfunction could just as easily have been a serial killer as a humanitarian. Attraction birthed from nothing more than a look couldn’t be trusted, and even though I knew all about Abel Lockwood from the file I’d reviewed, he was still a stranger.

I shouldn’t have these kinds of feelings for the man I was going to help make a father. This situation was complicated enough without harboring some secret crush.

My cheeks flamed again when I thought about how much more awkward crawling into bed with him would be when I felt how I did. Would it be humiliating when he found out? It wasn’t exactly like I could hide my arousal, wet between my legs. Would it be the apex of humiliating if during the actual sex, I wasn’t able to control my body and came with him? It wasn’t exactly like the woman’s orgasm had much to do with the conception process like the man’s did.

Just thinking about how awkward being intimate with a man who could excite me with a look would be was enough to make me move Abel Lockwood to the last pick position.

Mrs. Reynolds had closed the door after she’d left, and Mr. Lockwood’s and my attorney, appointed by Love Child, were pulling files from their briefcases. I was ever aware of Mr. Lockwood’s penetrating stare aimed at me. Typically I’d have challenged him with a stare of my own, but he unsettled me in a way I wasn’t used to. If I locked eyes with him again, I’d blush. If he saw me blush, he’d know.

I couldn’t let him know that though my heart was telling me this was the man I wanted to make a father, my head was warning me against it.

As the attorneys exchanged a few documents, I noticed Mr. Lockwood lean toward me. “I want you to be the mother of my child, Miss Matthews. I’m willing to make you whatever offer you have in mind.”

My heart thudded in my ears at the sound of his voice again. Deep, authoritative, with just the right amount of rumble. It made me think of the way he’d sound and the words he’d say as we created his baby.

I shifted in my seat, realizing I shouldn’t have worn a dress. The wetness saturating my underwear was rubbing onto my inner thighs.

Before I could say anything, his attorney leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Mr. Lockwood waved it off.

“I’m meeting with five other potential fathers this week, Mr. Lockwood. If I feel the same way about wanting to mother your child, I will be sure to let you know.” My voice was surprisingly calm, but I didn’t miss the shadow that crested his expression when I mentioned the other men I’d be meeting with. “And please call me Adeline. This is already formal enough without addressing each other by our last names.”

My lawyer, Julie McDonald, leaned toward me. “Let me handle this for you. That’s what I’m here for.”

“Fine,
Adeline.
” The way he said it made chills spill down my spine. “But you can continue to call me Mr. Lockwood because until you agree to become the mother of my child, I would like to keep things as formal as possible.”

My eyes locked on his. Finally. A rush of anger would do that. “Please, do tell,
Abel,
why you are so certain I’m the perfect candidate to mother your child?”

When Julie leaned in again, I waved her off the way Abel was continuing to do with his attorney.

“Because I know. Because I trust what my gut and my head tell me. They’ve served me well in the past, and I know they’re steering me right here.” Abel clasped his hands in front of him on the table. He had big hands, the kind that looked like they knew what they were doing. I wondered if I’d ever get a chance to find out if they were just as skilled as they looked. “’Please, do tell,’ why are you not yet certain I’ll be the one you choose at the end of all of your interviews?”

My eyebrow lifted. “Because I haven’t met with anyone else besides you.”

“You don’t need to meet with anyone else besides me.”

He had no shortage of confidence, I had to give him that. I wondered if he had the evidence to support it or if it was contrived; like most of the male confidence I’d come across.

“What do you want, Adeline? Tell me. You want my offer doubled? Done.” Abel already had his hand lifted toward his attorney. “You want an alimony package for the rest of your life? You have it. Just name what you want so we can sign the papers, get out of here, and start working on bringing my child into this world.”

Anger hit me—that he would just assume money would make up my mind for me—then I reminded myself that money was a factor in all this. I’d walk away with enough money to take care of my family for years. I’d signed on with Love Child because I believed in what they did, but the hefty sum I’d make doing this was nothing to take lightly.

Leaning forward, I made sure he was looking at me before I spoke. Not that he had stopped looking at me from the moment he entered the room. “None of this is about the money. It’s about finding the right father. If that person happens to only be able to pay a nickel, so be it, but money will not play a deciding factor in who I decide to create a life with. Please make that a point to understand right now, Mr. Lockwood.”

He didn’t say anything at first. He just sat there, his piercing stare fastened on me, a shadow of a smirk playing with his mouth. “Then lucky for you, Miss Matthews, you won’t find anyone else this week, or in this life, who would make a better father than the man sitting across from you right now. The same man who can pay you a hell of a lot more than a nickel for your efforts.”

Okay, so he wasn’t just confident—he was downright cocky. My blood heated. “How can you say that? You don’t know the men I’m planning on meeting. You don’t know the men I could possibly meet during the course of my life.”

“No”—his head shook—“but I do know the man I am. I do know how badly I want this child. I do know how far I will go to make its life happy and safe.” That was when I saw something in his eyes I hadn’t gotten a glimpse of yet. “And I do know you are the woman I want to create that child with. I don’t need to meet any other women through this process or in this life to be certain of that.” He gave me a moment to consider all that he’d said. “So? Are you certain of me yet? Or shall I continue my efforts to make you so?”

I took a minute after that. He let me have it uninterrupted. Both of the attorneys in the room had given up trying to say their piece a while ago. I knew I had all of the time in the world to make my decision, but I didn’t need another moment.

My whole reason for doing this was to give the gift of fatherhood to a deserving man unable to experience that joy any other way. I was looking at that man. Despite my attraction and regardless of the awkwardness that would likely result from it, Abel Lockwood was deserving of the baby we’d create together. Like him, I went with my gut in life, and right now, it was screaming at me that this was the man I’d let fill me with his child.

Abel Lockwood would be the father of the child I’d conceive for Love Child.

Running my hands down my dress, I imagined what my stomach would look like straining through the material. What it would feel like heavy with Abel’s child. After today, I wouldn’t have to wonder for long.

“Why don’t we agree on the terms so we can get the paperwork signed, Mr. Lockwood?”

The breath he was taking came up short. The darkness in his eyes ignited as his fingers curled around the edge of the table almost like he was bracing himself. “Call me Abel.”

This time when he looked at me, I felt as though he were regarding me less with appraisal and more with possession. It made the area between my legs that much more slippery.

“After all, you’re going to be the mother of my child.”

M
y damn cock
was so hard I was afraid it would break off if I moved wrong. She’d agreed. My god, she’d actually agreed. I might have been one arrogant son of a bitch, but not even all of my confidence had led me to the assumption that Adeline Matthews would agree to mother my child less than five minutes into our meeting.

I wondered why she had. Did it have something to do with my speech? I’d meant every word of it, so I hoped it at least had something to do with it. Could she have, like me, made up her mind about who she’d select before the actual meeting? Or did it, perhaps, have to do with something else? Some other reason I couldn’t pinpoint?

She certainly didn’t look at me like she thought much of me. At least not like she thought much of my looks. Not that I cared, because I didn’t want the mother of my child to choose me based on my looks but instead on everything behind that, but most woman didn’t exactly miss my looks. It was part of the reason I’d had such a difficult time trying to find a suitable wife and mother the traditional way.

Superficiality was a quality I was not seeking in a mate.

Adeline’s attorney was whispering something to her, but Adeline shook her head.

“If we can get to the terms, we can all get out of here soon,” I said, having more than one reason why I wanted to hurry. Her rethinking her decision to have my child was my main concern, but getting her into my bed was also on my mind.

Adeline’s attorney sighed as she scanned my list of terms and her client’s. “Given you two have different requests for most of the terms, I don’t think anyone will be hurrying out of here today.”

I knew my terms—just like I knew Adeline’s. I’d come prepared to negotiate until I’d gotten my way on them all, but something had changed since seeing her. Some points seemed of less concern, whereas others seemed of utmost concern now.

“Some of my terms have changed,” I said, not needing to review the document Tom slid in front of me. I’d memorized my list of terms as I filled them in.

Julia lifted an eyebrow. “What terms?”

My gaze wandered to Adeline. She was watching me, her chest rising and falling beneath her pretty floral dress, giving away that something was making her uncomfortable. I hoped it wasn’t me. Although, I supposed if she could have read my thoughts, she’d have had plenty of reasons to breathe harder.

“Instead of Miss Matthews living in a residence of her choice during the pregnancy, I insist upon her living in my residence.”

Julia scribbled something on her legal pad, but it was Adeline I was watching. Her eyes went wide for a moment before a lovely shade of pink flamed up her neck, bleeding into her cheeks.

“Anything else?” Julia’s pen paused.

Wetting my lips, I clasped my hands on the table. “I’d like to move the planned conception date up a month. Now that Miss Matthews has agreed to have my child, I see no reason to wait to do just that.”

Julia flipped through a couple of pages, her finger scanning the terms until she found what she was looking for. “According to Adeline’s doctor, the fifteenth of the month is her most likely date of conception. The terms read one month from the date of signature. And you’d like to move that up?”

“Yes.”

Julia flashed me a tight smile. “What did you have in mind, Mr. Lockwood?”

I didn’t blink as my eyes landed on Adeline. “Tomorrow’s the fifteenth. I see no point wasting a month when we’ve agreed to this.”

I didn’t miss the way Adeline shifted in her chair. I didn’t miss the way her lips parted and a rush of air drained from her mouth when the reality of what I was suggesting hit her.

“You’re talking like we’ve already agreed to everything.” Julia tapped her pen on the paperwork.

“We will,” I said with a nod. I wouldn’t let anything get in the way of Adeline mothering my child. Even the terms of agreement I’d been so stringent with.

Julia’s pen fell from her hand before she leaned back into her chair. “Let me get this straight, Mr. Lockwood. In addition to the lengthy list of conditions you’ve made, you are now requesting that Miss Matthews move in with you during the duration of her pregnancy, plus the few months of aftercare post birth,
and
you’d like to move the conception date up a month?”

“Six months,” I corrected, Tom having long checked out from this conversation. He was used to me taking the reins in a negotiation. “Not a few months of aftercare. Six months of aftercare.” I waited for an objection. In this kind of an arrangement, one month was standard. Six months was unheard of. “And yes, I insist on Miss Matthews moving in with me, and I also insist on moving the conception date up a month.” Tomorrow night . . . thinking about it made me dizzy with desire. The likelihood of putting my baby in Adeline in a little more than twenty-four hours made my zipper feel like it was about to burst. “If Miss Matthews feels strongly about any or all of the other terms I’ve made, I am amenable to negotiating and adjusting them.”

As Julia leaned toward Adeline, I turned my head to give them a measure of privacy. I’d made no shortage of requests under the terms, but having met Adeline now, none of them seemed as important as they had. The most important thing was her being my child’s mother. The terms were important, yes, but having looked her in the eyes, I found myself trusting Adeline Matthews. If she thought she had a better doctor in mind than the one I’d selected, then I’d concede. If she thought her birth plan was stronger than the one I’d drawn up, fine. If she believed eight hours of sleep a night was sufficient instead of the nine I’d researched, good. I’d agree to whatever it was she wanted so long as she just agreed to be the mother of my baby.

When Julia leaned away from Adeline, her lips pursed. “Miss Matthews would be willing to agree to your new terms depending on your agreement to visitation.”

Adeline’s hands folded over her stomach as she bit her lip. For a moment, she almost looked sad. But it passed before I had a chance to confirm it.

“What kind of visitation is Miss Matthews requesting?” Tom spoke up.

I stayed quiet, studying Adeline.

“She’d like the opportunity to play a role in the child’s life, to see it at least once a quarter.”

My head tipped as my eyes lingered on Adeline. This was an unusual request. Most of the mothers didn’t want any kind of connection with the child after the first month or two of aftercare. Mostly because it was too hard for a mother to develop a “maternal” role in her child’s life while knowing that child belonged to someone else. It opened up a mess of problems, and that was why it was unheard of for a mother to request to be a part of the child’s life. Most went on to bear a baby for a different client or moved on to have families of their own.

“What kind of role are you hoping to play in the child’s life?” I asked Adeline.

Her eyes lifted to mine. “You wouldn’t have to tell it I was the mother or anything. You wouldn’t have to say anything more than I was an old friend of yours . . . ”—her thumbs brushed her stomach—“but I would like to somehow be involved in this child’s life. I’d like to see it grow. To see the person it becomes.”

Tom and I were silent, him waiting for me to set the tone for how to settle this. Before meeting her, visitation wouldn’t have been my preferred option. But now . . . I couldn’t imagine her not being a part of our child’s life.

“Adeline?”

When I said her name, the breath she was taking stopped.

“You are going to be the mother of this child. You
should
be a part of its life. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Her mouth twitched with what I guessed was a smile trying to form. When her eyes lifted back to mine, the innocence in them was veiled by a heat that made my throat run dry and my cock twitch in anticipation.

I wondered what kinds of sounds she’d make when I made love to her. I wondered what her heavy breasts would feel like in my hands. I wondered if she’d be as shy and demure in bed as she was in the conference room or if she was hiding some inner deviant behind that feminine exterior. God help me, I even wondered what her pussy would feel like stroking my cock.

I should not have been having such filthy thoughts about her. I shouldn’t have been fantasizing the things I was, the ways I was picturing taking her, the things I was imagining doing to her.

Adeline Matthews was going to be the mother of my child. Adeline Matthews also just happened to fulfill my every sexual fantasy as well.

Given our arrangement, maybe this sort of desire wasn’t the most ideal of situations . . . but I’d always considered myself a man who made the most of any situation.

Rising from my seat, I didn’t move to adjust myself. Adeline made no attempts to adjust her gaze when it landed on the mass pressing through my pants.
That’s right, angel. Familiarize yourself with him. Before he spends the next week familiarizing himself with your sweet pussy.

“If the attorneys would like to finish hammering out the legal business . . .” I cleared my throat to tame the desire thickening it. Then my gaze moved to Adeline’s, whose eyes were still fixed on my belt region. “Miss Matthews and I can sign the paperwork today and start working on making a baby tomorrow.”