“I always wanted to play football,” Malcolm said.
“Why didn't you?”
“Didn't have time. I started working for my dad when I was fifteen, and I was expected to work every day, after school,” he said. “No exceptions.”
“That sounds awful.”
He shrugged, chewing on a French fry. “I always knew it would be my company one day, and I took every opportunity to learn from him,” I said. “But yeah, at times I felt like I'd missed out. Greg got to go on dates, played sports, went to parties – and I worked. A lot. And that was it.”
Malcolm sighed, then looked down at the rest of his burger.
“What's wrong?”
“It's just – well, when I was younger, I feel like I gave up everything to work for my dad. I gave up my childhood for him. And then, he throws this curveball at me? Give him a grandchild or else the company goes to his other son – my half-brother, Adam – who only popped up in our lives a couple years ago.”
I reached out and squeezed his hand. “We're going to give you a baby, Malcolm.”
He turned toward me, and there was that warm, sweet smile again. He put his food down and wiped his fingers off on a napkin before cupping my face in his hands. He stared at me, long and hard, and at first, I thought he was going to kiss me – some small part of me hoped he would.
Instead, he said, “Thank you, Casey,” he said, his voice soft and gentle. “You're utterly amazing, and I'm so glad I met you.”
“Yeah, me too,” I said.
Those weren't exactly the words I wanted to hear from him, but it was the best I was going to get. Malcolm kissed my forehead before returning to his food.
Malcolm added, “You know, I'm so glad we've had this opportunity to talk,” he said. “I'd like to get to know you better.”
“Do you think that's a good idea?”
“Why not?”
“I mean, Terrance said – ”
I couldn't really tell him what Terrance said. I wasn't sure why I was protecting him, but I couldn't bring myself to say the words he'd spoken to me. Words that had hurt me.
“Just that, we need to keep things professional,” I finished. “For your sake.”
“Terrance needs to learn his place,” Malcolm said. “He's worked with my family for so long that sometimes, he thinks he's part of it. He thinks he knows what's best for everyone. I should have hired another lawyer, but he's on retainer and it was easy. I'm sorry he talked to you the way he did. It was wrong.”
“You know, if you keep talking like that and buying me food, I might actually start liking you,” I said, grinning from ear-to-ear.
“Oh, would that be so bad now?” He winked at me
Yeah, it would be very bad. Very, very bad, I thought to myself. No use bringing it up, though. Like I'd told the lawyer, I knew my place. I knew what I was to Malcolm.
His surrogate. Nothing more.
Why did knowing that leave such an empty feeling inside of me?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MALCOLM
My mother had called a family meeting. Said it was vital t
hat I showed up. A few days had gone by since Casey and I had slept together, and while I knew it was too early for pregnancy tests to come back positive, I was constantly checking my messages, hoping to hear something from her. I wasn't sure if I'd tell my parents right away or not, just in case something went wrong. But, having something to report would be better than nothing, right?
Instead, I was going to show up to the meeting with no actual news to share.