Secret Millionaire for the Surrogate

He laughed. “Don’t act so surprised. I’m staying in a hotel. I have to eat most of my meals out or suck up to Dan and Adele.” He leaned over a bit, enough that she could smell his shampoo, something outdoorsy and fresh. “Little secret. I’m a decent cook. I can even help.”

“Well, all right, then.” She grinned and pushed on her knees, getting up from the swing. “How do you feel about pad thai?”

“I have very warm feelings about it, actually.”

She grinned and led the way inside, taking her glass with her, and he followed, bringing his own nearly gone and now-warm lemonade. She got them new glasses and poured them each a glass of water, then stood across from him at the kitchen island. “So. Do you want to chop vegetables or tofu?”

* * *

Drew slid the knife through the carrots and stole a glance at Harper, who was dropping cubes of tofu into a pan with hot oil. It sizzled and spattered a little, and she slid the pan on the burner to stir the cubes. Water was boiling for the rice noodles, and he watched her move around the kitchen, gathering ingredients for the sauce.

He couldn’t believe she ever thought herself invisible. And absolutely couldn’t believe that some guy hadn’t snapped her up already. Maybe she wasn’t the flashiest woman around, and maybe she didn’t turn heads on the street. Not because she wasn’t beautiful but because...

He suddenly smiled. Because she was a chameleon. He didn’t know why, but she blended in with her environment no matter where she was.

“How are the carrots and onions?”

He gave a few more chops and finished up the carrot. “Good. Is this fine enough?” He angled the cutting board for her approval.

“Perfect.” She took the board from him and slid the vegetables into the pan with the now-crispy tofu, then went back to work whisking ingredients together for the sauce.

It was a domestic type of scene he was unused to. His “dates” usually consisted of restaurants and plus-one type of events. Definitely not comfy home-cooked meals and lemonade on a swing.

It had been different—once. A few years ago he’d fallen in love but she wanted the kind of life he didn’t, and the type of commitment he couldn’t give. In the end he’d hurt her, badly, even though breaking it off had been the right thing to do. These days he didn’t make promises he couldn’t keep. Being with Harper sometimes made him forget that, and he had to keep his guard up when he started feeling too comfortable.

She had him crush peanuts courtesy of two pieces of parchment paper and a rolling pin. In no time at all she’d fixed two bowls, sprinkled his crushed peanuts on top and led the way to the dining table, which was little more than a café table with two chairs in the somewhat small kitchen.

He carried their water glasses, and before long they were seated across from each other and sharing the meal.

She told him about working with Juny and her plans to have her take over more jobs; he shared his ideas for the store and then they both threw around ideas for renovation. He ate the spicy noodles and marveled at the way her eyes shone when she grew animated, or waved her fork around—empty, of course—when she talked with her hands. He refilled water glasses and laughed when

she cracked a joke about pregnant womens’ bladder capacity. They finished and he helped her load the dishwasher and then wash up the few pots and pans. When he was drying the last dish, her phone buzzed, vibrating loudly against the countertop.

“I’ll finish this,” Drew said, wiping his hands on the dish towel. “Go ahead and answer it.”

She picked up the phone. “Oh, hi, Adele. No, I’m not busy.” She looked over at Drew and rolled her eyes, and he laughed.

But then the humor faded from her face. “Oh. Oh, I see. Okay. Well, if you’re ready, of course.” She took a deep breath and met Drew’s gaze. “Hey, we knew you were going to start telling people eventually. You must be so excited.”

There was a long pause where Adele had to be speaking, and Harper smiled a little, and then said, “Don’t worry about me. And don’t worry about what anyone else thinks, either, okay? Remember how quickly Drew was on board. And you can message me later. Good luck.”

She hung up the phone. “Dan and Adele are telling your family tonight and wanted to give me the heads-up.”

“Oh. Are you okay with that?”

She shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I be? I mean, it was their decision and their baby and it’s Dan’s family.”

“Except you think they’ll be skeptical, as I was?”

She laughed a little and leaned back against the counter. “That lasted all of about five minutes. If your family is like you, it’ll be fine.”

“You’re right.”

“Do you want some tea?”

It appeared as if she was letting it go, but he could tell she was still a little anxious. He seriously didn’t know what to say.

They were halfway through their tea when his phone buzzed. And in the space of two breaths, it went off twice more.