Secret Millionaire for the Surrogate

“Family’s important,” he said simply. “I haven’t seen mine as much as I might have wanted to over the past few

years.”

“Dan says you two have always been close.”

Harper had been smiling at him, but he dragged his gaze away to look at Adele again. “I’m the baby of the family, but I was the first to leave the Brimicombe family fold. I’d like to be around more, you know?” And look for opportunities. He was always keeping his eyes open. Being sharp was what kept him at the top of his game.

He turned his gaze to Harper. “What about you, Harper? Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Their wedding banter hadn’t covered much in the way of personal subjects.

She smiled a little and shook her head. “An only child, I’m afraid. My parents live in Caicos.”

“Caicos? Wow. What’s in Caicos?”

She grinned. “An air charter service. My dad’s a pilot.”

“It’s a beautiful island.”

“You’ve been?”

He nodded. He’d traveled extensively and didn’t have any plans of stopping. Stay in one place too long and he got itchy feet. Luckily, Aspen Outfitters had done well and he could indulge his wanderlust.

Adele’s cell rang and she excused herself, leaving Drew and Harper alone. He looked over at her and wondered what was different. Granted, at the wedding she’d been dressed in lovely clothes with her hair and makeup done to perfection, understated but incredibly lovely. Now she was in shorts and a T-shirt with her hair in a simple reddish-brown tail. It was more than what she was wearing, though. There was something about her that drew him in and her skin glowed like she was lit from the inside. And it wasn’t the summer heat. The air-conditioning made sure of that.

“You look good,” he said, then realized how awful that must sound. “I mean, well.”

She laughed a little. “Thanks. I think. I’ve been busy, but trying to take a little time off for me. It’s wedding season, though. I’m booked every weekend from now until Thanksgiving.”

“No summer vacations for you then, huh.”

“Not really. Weddings really take up an entire weekend, with the rehearsal on the Friday and sometimes a family event on the day following the ceremony. And sometimes couples want engagement pictures, or have an engagement party, bridal shower...”

“They hire photographers for that?”

She waggled her delicate brows a little. “If there’s money? Oh, yeah.”

“Do you only do weddings?”

She unfolded her legs. “No. I mean, I do things like special occasions, engagement parties, graduations, anniversaries, that sort of thing. I even had a few gigs as prom photographer for a few different schools.”

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “It doesn’t leave a lot of time for your nature stuff, does it?”

She shook her head, the tips of her ponytail touching her shoulders. “Not as much as I’d like. I try to get out of the studio a few times a week and take landscapes and candids.”

“Like your mama and cubs photo.”

She smiled then, a genuine, happy smile that lit up her eyes. “You remember that piece.”

“Of course I do. How you got such clarity with the sun coming up and the little bit of mist on the grass... I don’t know how you did it.”

She took a sip of her lemonade, then nodded. “The scenery here is so beautiful, and I like experimenting with different filters and lenses. I sell some of my prints, but it’s not enough to make a living and pay the rent on the studio. Weddings help me keep the lights on. But that means I don’t have as much time as I’d like to explore the other stuff.”

Her eyes lit up when she talked about her work. He could relate. There was nothing he enjoyed more than setting up a new store from the ground up. “But as you said, weddings are on weekends. Surely you have time during the week? More than a day or two?”

She laughed, a sound as light as sunbeams. “You mean when I’m not looking after the business side of things, and editing photos? You wouldn’t believe how long editing takes.”

“I never thought of that.”

She smiled. “I try to get out as much as I can, but lately I...”