Secret Millionaire for the Surrogate

Harper looked over at him. “You should probably check it. You’re still waiting for news, remember?”

Funny how he’d nearly forgotten about the real estate offer. His jaw tightened as he reached for his phone. Instead of the agent, it was messages from his two sisters. At least they seemed excited, with a side order of “OMG can you believe they did this?”

Then came the message from his mother, and it wasn’t quite so generous.

His parents were of a more traditional variety, and his mother had tons of questions about “this Harper woman” and what she was after. He fired back a quick response, but he’d honestly hoped for better. His mother, especially, had always been accepting and kind. He understood she was being a protective mom, but he reminded her that she was going to be a grandmother again and that Harper was Adele’s best friend and not some stranger.

But it sat wrong with him.

“Your family?” she asked quietly.

“There’s no sense lying, is there?”

She shook her head, her gaze steady. “Not a bit.”

“It’ll be fine. My parents are more traditional, I suppose. It’s a generation-gap kind of thing.”

“That was the last text, wasn’t it?” Her lips tightened, and he was truly angry at his mother for being anything less than supportive.

“Do they think what you thought that first night?” she asked, standing perfectly still in the middle of her tiny kitchen. “That I’m in it for something? That I’m after money or...” She swallowed again.

“I don’t know.” He figured not telling her would be worse than being honest. “Listen, all she said was to ask if I’d known about this and did I actually think it was a good idea.” She’d also asked what kind of woman would agree to carry someone else’s baby. He’d bet fifty bucks that her solution would have been to adopt or get a dog, not go through a bunch of medical testing or a uterus-for-rent.

He softened his expression and went to her. “Hey, listen, it’s okay. Mom’s in shock. No one knew Dan and Adele were even considering such a thing, you know? And the girls...they’ll be super supportive. They have kids of their own.” He took her hands in his and gave them a little shake.

“Supportive of Dan and Adele. Who knows what they think of me?”

“Within two minutes of talking to you, they’ll think exactly as I do. That you’re a wonderful, generous, loving person. Mom and Dad will, too. They’re good and fair people.”

Harper let out a breath. “Okay.”

“And besides, you’re not doing this for them. You’re doing it for Adele.”

“Yeah,” she said, and she tried a wobbly smile.

“Forget my family,” he said sternly. “Who do you want to tell? Who do you want to share this news with?”

Her eyes widened. “Oh. Uh. Well, Juny. It’s been horrible keeping this from her when she’s at the studio all the time.”

“Then you should call her. Or invite her over. Who else?”

The tears came back in her eyes and one leaked over her lashes and down her cheek. “My mom. I’m adopted, you see. She’ll understand how Adele’s feeling and how I’m feeling. It’s been so hard doing this without telling my mom.”

He led her into the living room and what appeared to be her most comfortable chair. Then he gave her her phone and went back to the kitchen to retrieve her tea. “Here. Have your tea and call your mom.” He got a light blanket off the sofa and put it over her legs. “Curl up and be comfortable and celebrate what you’re doing, sweetheart. It’s a wonderful thing. Don’t let anyone take it away from you.”

She looked up at him with wide, luminous eyes. “Don’t go.”

He knew he should, but he nodded. “I won’t. I’ll go out on the porch and give you some privacy and see where we’re at with the building purchase. Okay?”

She nodded. He smiled and started for the hall, when her voice stopped him.

“Drew?”

He turned around.

“Thank you. For this, and for the support, and for being my friend today.”

He’d kissed her. Just now he’d called her sweetheart by mistake. He was feeling far more than friendly toward her but this situation called for support and not seduction.