Secret Millionaire for the Surrogate

He got up from his chair and went to her. “Not like this. Not angry. We left last time with you being angry, and I don’t like it.”

“Why is that, do you think?” She tried to ignore the touch of his warm hands as he reached out for her fingers.

“Because people don’t generally say no to me?”

She couldn’t help the surprised smile at his honesty and insight. “Bingo. But you can’t fix this with your charm.”

“Nothing’s changed for me, really,” he said. “I still...”

But he didn’t finish. He didn’t need to. She knew he wasn’t the staying kind, and she also knew she couldn’t force someone to be who they weren’t.

“You’re really okay?” he asked.

“I will be. I just have a lot of things to figure out. I’m not happy, Drew. But no one can fix that but me. I certainly can’t rely on anyone else to fix it for me.”

She took her hands away from his. “And you. You’re opening up the store next week and Adele says another in the summer in British Columbia. You’re getting what you wanted.”

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

Funny, he didn’t seem overly excited about it.

“Well, that’s good, then.” She smiled. He needed to go. She hadn’t lied to him but she certainly hadn’t been 100 percent truthful. She still had her broken heart to worry about.

“I’d better go. I’m having dinner with Dan and Adele.”

“Yes, go. You won’t want to be late.”

She walked him to the door and held it open as he shrugged on his jacket. He was outside when he turned back and met her gaze.

“Will you come to the opening next week?”

Her heart lurched. “Oh, Drew. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Just think about it, okay?”

“Okay.” She’d think about it. And then find a reason not to go. The last time she’d set foot in that space, she’d had one of the best days of her life. She would be fine. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. A lot.

He turned and left, jogging to his rented truck. She shut the door before he got inside and rested her forehead against the door.

She had to sort things out soon. The status quo wasn’t doing her any favors, and seeing Drew only served to show her she wasn’t as over him as she thought.

* * *

Drew and Dan lingered over a cup of coffee after dinner while Adele took Isabelle for her bath. Dinner had been fine, but now that they were alone, Dan pressed.

“You went to see her, didn’t you?”

Drew let out a dry, humorless chuckle. “Is it that obvious?”

“To me it is. You’re a wreck. Was it bad?”

“Depends.” He took a deep drink of coffee. “She’s a strong woman, Dan. She’s going to be fine. Stubborn...”

Dan laughed a little. “She’s not like other women. She doesn’t let you get away with things.”

“Not even a little bit.”

They sat quietly for a few minutes, the sounds of Adele singing to the baby filtering out to the living room. It created an unfamiliar wistfulness around Drew’s heart. “Hey, Dan? Can I ask you something?”