“Don’t be a jerk.” I pushed around him to my door. “Go home. Loitering isn’t allowed, even in shitholes.”
“Has someone told that to the drug dealer in the parking lot?”
I shot him a look as I unlocked the door. “Go away Bran. My life is a dumpster fire already. I don’t need you throwing gasoline on it.”
His stupid smirk fell.
Did he feel bad for being a jerk? I doubt it.
He wanted something from me. No doubt a way to get to Harper.
“I’m serious. You’ll want to hear my offer.”
“If your offer is to leave me alone, I’ll take it.” I stepped into my apartment.
“The offer is ten million dollars.”
My jaw dropped. I stared at Bran in disbelief.
Ten million for what?
Probably to stay away from Harper. Or to spy on her. Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t real.
“Stop screwing with me.” I slammed the door in his face and locked it.
“You should consider my proposal, Anne.” His voice came through the door.
“No.”
It was quiet for a moment and then I heard scratching at the bottom of the door. The tip of a large envelope peeked from underneath it. I wondered how much higher my energy bill was from that gap underneath my door. No wonder I couldn’t afford the bill.
“I’m going now. But consider my offer, Anne. You’ll get what your father and brother have denied you. You’ll get back your life.”
I let out an exasperated breath. Tears pierced my eyes as his words sank deep into my heart.
You’ll get back your life.
In a moment of weakness, I opened the envelope instead of throwing it away like I’d initially intended.
My gaze immediately read the ten million dollars. It was a lot of money. Well, not for Bran. He and Harper were crazy rich. For all of Bran’s character flaws, of which there were many, he was very good in business. Ten million was barely a drop in the bucket for him.
What was the catch?
I read through and again my jaw dropped. He wanted me to carry his child.
I couldn’t decide what shocked me the most; that he wanted to be a father, or that he wanted me to be his surrogate. Maybe I should have Harper reach out to him because, clearly, he’d lost his mind.
I read through the paper again. Ten million dollars to have his child and walk away without any parental rights. I knew surrogacy was a thing. I’d often wondered about the generosity of women who would carry a child for someone else and hand it over after birth.
That couldn’t be easy to do. Yet they did it to provide a family with a child who might not otherwise be able to have one. Or, in the case of celebrities, a woman who didn’t want to mess up her figure.
But could I do that?
Crap, was I considering it? No.
Maybe for someone else, but not for Bran Erickson. Sure, he’d raised Harper during her teenage years, but he was too demanding and controlling. He’d be even more so with his own child.
I crumpled up the paper and was heading to the kitchen to toss it when the power went out.
“No!” I was sure I had one more week before the power company cut off my electricity. I was only two months late on the bill.
I looked at the crumpled offer from Bran. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, right?
How did he see this playing out? Would we have sex? It was really scary how much my body liked that idea.
But sex with Bran? No.
There were a million reasons why that couldn’t happen starting with I didn’t like him, he didn’t like me, and Harper’s head would explode.
I threw Bran’s offer away and pulled out some candles. I’d go talk to my brother. I hated that idea too, but it was better than letting Bran plant his seed in me and be tethered to him for nine months.