Bought by a Millionaire

He considered that for a moment, but she could tell by the glint in his eye that the thought amused him.

“Deal.”

The appetizers arrived, and as they picked at their food, she answered the first three questions he’d posed.

“My favorite color is green,” she told him. “Any shade, from mint to khaki. My favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip, but rocky road comes in a very close second. And my first crush was Tommy Scottoline, in the second grade. He broke my heart when he started spending recess with Lucinda Merriweather.” She shot him a teasing grin. “Lucy climbed the monkey bars every day in a dress and let Tommy follow along on the ground in case she fell.”

“Ah.” One corner of Burke’s mouth quirked upward with humor.

“Your turn,” she prompted.

“Should I answer the same questions, or do you want to ask me something else?”

“Same questions.”

“Okay. I guess my favorite color would be black. I don’t really like ice cream, but if I had to choose, I’d probably say vanilla. And I’ve never had a broken heart.”

Surprised, Shannon paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. She lowered it slowly before saying, “Never?”

“Nope.” Burke continued eating, unmoved by their topic of conversation.

“Why not?” She knew she should mind her own business rather than pry into his personal life, but she was genuinely curious.

His color and ice-cream preferences didn’t surprise her; she’d seen his office, all black and glass, and he seemed much too button-down to like a dessert as pedestrian as tutti-frutti. How, though, could anyone get through life without having his heart and soul, if not broken, at least battered a bit? Even if it was only a case of puppy love in early childhood, most people had experienced some form of romantic disillusionment.

His shoulder lifted in a shrug. “It’s hard to get your heart broken when you’ve never been in love. I don’t have time for such trivial pursuits.”

Shannon’s muted laughter was a mix of both amusement and disbelief. “How can you say love is trivial? Isn’t that what makes the world go ’round?”

“The almighty dollar is what makes the world go ’round,” he answered shortly. “And love is highly overrated.”

Eyes wide, Shannon said, “That’s a rather cynical view of life. Money can’t buy everything, you know.”

His lips twitched. “When you’ve got as much of it as I do, it can. And I prefer to think of myself as realistic.”

She supposed he was right. He was already planning to use a portion of his millions to buy a mother for his child, and if he had the means to accomplish that, he likely had the means to accomplish almost anything.

But it saddened Shannon to think his life had been so barren that he didn’t even believe in love, when she knew just how powerful a sentiment it could be. There were all kinds of love—romantic, familial, the love between close friends… She wasn’t sure Burke had ever experienced any of them, but suspected his feelings on the subject would change dramatically the minute he held his very own child in his arms—regardless of who the baby’s mother was. On that day, if not sooner, he would discover the meaning of true, unconditional love.

“I’d think you would be glad I tend to put sound financial judgment above anything as mercurial as human emotion. It’s about to make you a very wealthy woman.”

Shannon’s dinner sank like a lead ball to the bottom of her stomach. She swallowed hard and set her silverware aside before attempting to speak. “Does that mean you’ve made your decision?” she asked, twisting the linen napkin on her lap nervously between her fingers.

“I made my decision before you even left my office this morning. You’re the woman I want to be a surrogate for my child. Congratulations, Mommy.”

Two

Several weeks passed after Burke’s life-altering announcement that Shannon was to be the surrogate mother of his child. She saw him very infrequently during that time, and only for brief intervals. Although his secretary did call more than once to invite her to dinner on his behalf.

Anxious enough about her immediate future, she declined all of Burke’s offers and was relieved when he didn’t press the point in person.

To be honest, Shannon didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary with Burke Bishop. At least not alone, in a social setting.

There was too much at risk. Her mother’s health and well-being, the money he had promised her in exchange for carrying his child…maybe not her heart, but definitely her good sense.

Quite frankly, Burke Ellison Bishop was too handsome for his own good. And for hers. She wasn’t supposed to be attracted to him.

And she wasn’t, darn it. She wasn’t!

But Burke had made their one dinner together feel more like a date than a business meeting. It was easy to see why the newspapers and tabloids considered him to be one of Chicago’s most eligible bachelors. Charm and charisma seeped from his every pore.

If she wasn’t careful, that charm may even begin to work on her, and that would be a bad thing.

The contract she’d signed to become a surrogate for Burke’s child very clearly divested her of all rights connected to the baby she was expected to produce. She understood the need for such tight clauses and fully agreed with them.

She’d done a lot of soul-searching well beforehand and knew giving up custody of a tiny life that had grown inside her body for nine months would be one of the hardest things she’d ever have to do. To be honest, she wasn’t sure she’d ever truly recover. But knowing Burke would be a good father and that her child would have the best of everything helped.

Of course, if she let her hormones get carried away by Burke’s chivalry and good looks, it would be that much harder to cut all ties later on.

With a sigh, she readjusted the paper-thin hospital gown that kept slipping off her shoulder, and the equally thin sheet covering the lower half of her body. She was perched on the edge of an exam table, waiting for the clinic’s fertility specialist to bring in a vial of Burke’s, um, little swimmers and attempt to impregnate her. The doctors had warned them that the fertilization process wasn’t always successful on the first try, but Burke didn’t seem overly concerned. Since money wasn’t an issue for him, he could afford to have the procedure repeated as many times as necessary to reach his goal.

Shannon, meanwhile, had never particularly enjoyed her annual visits to the gynecologist. Those trips were simple compared to the poking and prodding she’d endured these past few months, and if she never again saw a stirrup table, it would be too soon.

Just as she considered jumping down and bolting, the door of the exam room opened and the doctor entered.

“Good morning, Miss Moriarty. Are you ready for the big moment?”

She took a deep breath, tamping down on the shiver of nervousness that accosted her every time she thought about being inseminated and carrying a child to term for a virtual stranger. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose,” she answered with a forced smile.

But the smile died on her lips the minute she lifted her head and saw Burke enter the room directly after the doctor and his nurse. He wore a charcoal-gray suit and striped tie, with a black, lightweight overcoat slung over one arm.

Immediately, her muscles tensed and her thighs clamped together. She was uncomfortable enough about the entire process, baring herself to a professional who wasn’t her usual physician. How in heaven’s name was she supposed to go through with this with Burke in the room?

He eyed her cautiously, his glance gentle and reassuring as he draped his coat over the back of an available chair. “I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to be here for the procedure.” A beat of near silence passed while he studied her expression. “Is it all right if I stay?”

Beads of sweat broke out on her upper lip and between her breasts. At another time, in a completely different situation, she would be highly attracted to him on a simple man-woman level. There probably wasn’t a single female in the state of Illinois who wouldn’t be.

Not that she would act on that attraction, though. She was an overworked, overstressed student, and Burke was a wealthy, high-powered entrepreneur who would never look twice at someone like her. But to be attracted to him and to have this business relationship with him only made things more difficult.

Yet she couldn’t find it in her heart to ask him to leave the room when all he wanted was to be present while his child was conceived.

She didn’t think her throat would work to form words, so she merely nodded her permission for him to stay.

At the foot of the table, the nurse assisted the doctor in readying his instruments and getting Shannon’s legs adjusted in the stirrups. She knew her face had to be six shades of red, but was thankful Burke remained standing near her head while the doctor worked.

Long minutes later, with barely a word being spoken, the doctor sat back and sighed. “All done. With any luck, we’ll have success this time around and you won’t have to come back.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Burke stepped forward to shake the doctor’s hand as soon as he’d removed and disposed of his latex gloves.