Secret Millionaire for the Surrogate

“I know. I know I said no in March. And I’m not looking for a wild and torrid affair. But I don’t want to pretend I’m not attracted to you, Drew. I know you’re leaving. It’s okay.”

“Damn,” he murmured, lifting his hand and placing it along her cheek. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I’m not asking for anything. I’m saying when your business in town is done, you’re walking away and I’m fine with it. Maybe I have been trying too hard to be invisible. You see me, and it makes me...a little bit brave.”

Her heart was pounding from the vulnerability in that admission. But then his fingers grazed her jaw and his eyes darkened as they looked deeply into hers.

“Let’s go inside,” he said, his voice low and rough. “Because if I kiss you, I want to do it right, and not in view of your neighbours.”

Her body got a little thrill from those dark and promising words, and she stood up from the swing, her knees shaking a little. She led the way inside, her insides quaking with nervousness and anticipation.

She got three steps inside the hallway when he reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her. His gaze caught hers, dark and full of purpose in the early evening light. He took a step closer, and another, while an army of butterflies took flight in her belly. Her tongue snuck out to wet her lips...oh Lord, had he just noticed that? One more step and his body was so close to hers that she took a step back and found herself against the wall. The screen door was barely a meter away. Moments ago they’d been mere friends. If he kissed her now—and surely he was going to—it would change everything.

He stepped closer still, so her back was pressed against the wall and his chest and hips lightly grazed her denim skirt and blouse. Her breath came short and fast, her lips parted. And still he held her gaze, darkly, deeply, until his mouth was only a few inches from hers and her lashes fluttered closed.

Like this afternoon, he kissed the side of her mouth first, a feather-soft graze of warm lips to tender skin. She let out a breath and tried hard not to moan in response, but kept her eyes closed, enjoying the kiss with all her other senses. He ran his lips to her jaw, then below her ear, causing a shiver that ran straight down her spine. Then the corner of her eyebrow, the tip of her nose, the delicate dip above her frenulum. “Drew,” she breathed, realizing that her arms hung limply at her sides. She wasn’t able to do anything right now but feel.

But her plea did the trick. He placed his hands on the wall on either side of her head and leaned in, covering her mouth with his, a full kiss that had her body responding automatically with a whimper and her arms lifting to coil around his torso.

Subtle head movements, dips and nips and low sounds of encouragement kept the kiss going for a long, long time. It had been years since Harper had been kissed this thoroughly, if ever. Drew’s fit body pressed against hers, all muscled chest and lean hips that translated his desire. But still he kept everything at the kissing stage. It didn’t matter. When one was an expert, there was no need to rush to the next level.

“You taste good,” he murmured, running his lips over to her ear again. She gasped and he chuckled, low and sexy, by her ear. “Told you I wanted to do it right.”

She ran her hand over his shoulder. “You really are an overachiever.”

“Thank you.” His tongue skimmed along to the curve of her neck and she really wondered how far they could go tonight.

His hand left the wall and skimmed down her neck, two fingertips tracing a trail to her collarbone.

He kissed her again, this time with more urgency, and their bodies responded in kind. When it was clear they either had to stop or take things to a whole other level, Drew backed away, breathing heavily.

“You definitely did it right,” she said, her voice low with pleasure. “My whole body is humming right now.”

“Be careful saying things like that. I’m likely to ask you to show me where your bedroom is.”

“And I’m tempted to take you there.”

“But we shouldn’t.”

“We shouldn’t.”

A long moment held between them, as if each was deliberating the pros and cons.

“You,” he said quietly, “are a very tempting woman, and whoever made you feel otherwise is a damned fool.”

“Fools,” she corrected, but smiled at him, still feeling rather boneless. “And I might have a hard time believing you, but I believe that you mean it, so that’s something.”

“You’re so confident about everything else. I don’t know why you’re so sure you’re unexceptional. But I have a week or so to try to convince you you’re amazing.”

And then he did something so unexpected that she didn’t know what to say or do. He stepped forward and placed his palm on her abdomen. “This is amazing. I mean, the sheer biology of it alone is miraculous but that you would do this for another person...you have a huge, wonderful heart, Harper. You do. Don’t let anyone make you feel small.”

He kissed her again, a small, tender kiss, with his hand still on her stomach.

“You struck me as such a player,” she finally murmured. “But you’re not. You’re an observant, considerate man with a lot of integrity behind all that charm. In another time or place...”

“We might have fallen in love?”

Love. Her heart jolted at even the mention of the word and she took a mental step backward. “Maybe. But not now. Now we...” She couldn’t come up with the right words.