Surrogate and Wife Read Free Page B

You’re bound to get bored of playing house.”
    â€œI’m not—”
    â€œI didn’t mean that as an insult,” she reassured him. “We’re talking about half a year of giving up your spare time to coddle a pregnant woman. You’d have to be a saint to do that. And, let’s face it, you’re no saint.”
    â€œYou have no idea,” he said, unable to shake from his consciousness all the sinful things he’d like to do to her.
    He knew this discussion was affecting her as much as it did him, because her voice sounded brusque when she replied, “Which only proves my point. Do you really think you’re going to want to spend your time off doing my laundry when you could be out on a date? Right now, all this pregnancy stuff may seem fascinating, but, trust me, the novelty will wear off.”
    â€œAnd you think I won’t stick around after the novelty wears off.”
    â€œI’m not about to start depending on you now, only to find out you won’t.”
    He leaned back in his seat and stretched his arm across the back of the booth. “You don’t have a very high opinion of me, do you?”
    â€œDon’t take it personally. There aren’t a lot of people I do have a high opinion of.”
    â€œThat’s a pretty cynical attitude.”
    â€œNot cynical. Realistic. Every day at work, I see people at their absolute worst. I know what men—and women—are capable of. How they can hurt and betray the people they claim to love the most. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after four years on the bench, it’s that the only person you can really trust is yourself.”
    â€œWhat about Beth and Stew?”
    â€œOf course I trust them. But I certainly don’t expect them to take care of me. Especially not now that they’ve got their own baby on the way. I’ll be fine on my own. Just like I’ve always been.”
    And with that she grabbed her purse, dropped a twenty on the table and scooted out of the booth. She left the restaurant without even a backward glance.
    He stared at the money for a minute before the ironysank in. This was the biggest commitment he’d ever tried to make to a woman and she hadn’t even let him buy her dinner.
    After he dropped his own twenty on the table, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Stew.
    â€œYou were right,” he said as soon as Stew answered.
    â€œI told you she wouldn’t go for it.”
    â€œShe sounded insulted.”
    Stew chuckled. “Of course she was insulted. Basically, you told a grown woman you thought she couldn’t take care of herself. Not just any grown woman, either. This is Kate we’re talking about here. She’s been on her own a long time and she’s always prided herself on her competence. Which you just questioned.”
    â€œNot exactly.” At least, he didn’t think he had. “I think she doesn’t like me.”
    â€œNo, she probably doesn’t. You haven’t made a very good impression on her.”
    Great. Of all the women he’d known in his life, and gotten along with just fine, the one who didn’t like him at all was the one carrying his baby.
    He’d been eight years younger and stupider when they first met. Too young to know that some women found charm suspicious. It hadn’t helped that she’d been so much fun to tease. She’d never gotten past that first impression of him and he’d never made the effort to convince her he wasn’t a total jerk.
    â€œWhat’re you going to do now?” Stew asked.
    â€œNot much I can do. The ball’s in her court. If she can’t see the logic of my offer, there’s nothing I can do about it.” Then he muttered, “Why couldn’t she be more like Beth? Beth would have said yes.”
    Stew chuckled. “Because Beth is a one-of-a-kind woman.”
    So was Kate, Jake couldn’t