She's Having the Boss's Baby

Now he just had to convince Ellie.

“No. No way. Absolutely not,” Ellie said as she jumped up from her chair and faced him. “Are you crazy?”

Maybe he was, Aidan thought. When this same thought had occurred to him a few days ago, he’d dismissed it out of hand as a sure sign he was losing his mind. But after he’d overheard that conversation yesterday, he’d reconsidered and now this seemed the most logical solution to his problem. He could give Ellie a baby. They could do it the old-fashioned way. One problem solved.

“More importantly,” he continued, ignoring her protests. “I could support the child and you. You wouldn’t have to worry about being a single mother. It’s the best possible solution to the problem.”

“I don’t have a problem,” she countered.

“Not yet, maybe. But look at what this would mean in the short run. You wouldn’t have to travel back and forth and worry about getting jet lag, you know, in your ovaries.”

She whipped around. “Seriously, Aidan? Jet lag in my ovaries?”

“Hey, I’m just repeating what you said.” He shook his head, knowing he sounded ridiculous. But it was too late to turn back now. “And another thing. On the off chance that the injections don’t take the first few times, you wouldn’t have to drag yourself back and forth from Atlanta.”

She didn’t say anything in response, but he could tell she was thinking about that one.

“Plus, you can stay here on the island,” he pointed out reasonably, “as you said you’d prefer to do. Plus, I’m right here to support you through it all.”

“Uh-huh,” she said softly.

“I did some reading,” he continued. “There’s often a lot of anxiety attached to this whole process. You need to be careful or you could sabotage yourself. You know, you could make yourself infertile or something.”

“First, you’re nuts,” she said, counting off with her fingers. “And second, you did some reading? That’s so sweet.”

He shrugged. “I’m your friend. I’m concerned.”

“You’re my boss. You don’t want me to go.”

“That’s secondary,” he insisted so strongly he almost convinced himself. “Your health and well-being are my main concern.”

She rolled her eyes. “Right. Look, I appreciate it and everything, but your idea would never work.”

He leaned closer. “Why, Ellie?”

She gazed back at him intently. “Because you don’t want a child.”

“But you do.”

“Yes, and I have a perfectly sensible and practical way to make it happen. And it doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

He drew a breath and changed tactics. “We’ve known each other a long time, right? We get along great. And hey, we’re in the same vicinity. So if you were, you know, ovulating and, you know, the time was right, all you’d have to do is call me and I’d be there for you.”

“You make it sound so romantic,” she said, patting her heart wryly.

“What? A turkey baster in some clinic is more romantic?” He chuckled. “Besides, this isn’t about romance, right? It’s about the baby you want. And it’s about your child knowing who his father is. Don’t you want that for him?”

“Him?”

“Ellie,” he said, “just think about it. This makes a lot of sense. I can have our lawyers write up a contract that spells out the terms for child support and whatever else you want it to say.”

She blinked at that. After a moment, she said, “I’m not sure I want you obligated to support my child.”

He’d never met a woman who didn’t want his money, but Ellie wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever known. He was still determined to provide support, though, but right now the exact terms didn’t matter. What mattered was that she would have the baby she wanted. And she would stay and continue to work for Sutherland, which Aidan wanted. And the deal would be done.

Just to be sure they were on the same page, he said, “I would want a clause that says you and the baby will stay and live on Alleria.”

“I always planned to do that.”

“But you might change your mind after the baby’s born.”

She shook her head. “I won’t.”

“You never know,” he argued. “You might want to get married someday.”

“I have no intention of getting married,” she insisted.

“You never know,” he said with a shrug. “And if you changed your mind, how would you meet a man around here? Let’s face it, most men who come to Alleria are only looking for short-term action.”

She gave him a suspicious look and he wondered if her girlfriends had already mentioned that point to her. Didn’t matter. The more points he racked up for his side, the better.

As she sat back down in the chair opposite his desk, she nibbled at her lower lip, clearly nervous. Instantly, his groin strained with arousal and all he knew was that if she kept biting those lush lips of hers, he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.

He was getting more and more fond of this whole idea by the minute.

“I’m pretty sure this is a bad idea,” she said.

He adjusted himself before leaning forward and resting his arms on his desk. “It’s actually a really good idea, Ellie. Unless…” He frowned at her. “Here I’ve been assuming all this time that you found me attractive enough to go through with it. Maybe I was wrong.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” she grumbled. “Of course I find you attractive. You’re the most…Oh, never mind. You’re just fishing for compliments. I refuse to feed your ego.”

“Too late.” Aidan couldn’t help grinning.

“Look,” she said after taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “This has nothing to do with whether I think you look like a troll or whatever.”

“A troll? Thank you.”

“I’m kidding. You’re not a troll and you know it.” Her smile turned sober. “It’s just that I find the whole idea a little awkward, that’s all.”

“Awkward?”

“Well, yeah, Aidan. To do this, we’d have to be naked.” She blew out a breath. “We work together. Seeing each other, you know…that’s awkward.”

Naked. Okay, maybe he was just being a guy here, but the only thing he found awkward about this situation was that she wasn’t naked now. Still…he sat back and thought about what she’d said for a moment. Basically, she felt awkward and it was all his fault. Hell, if he could kick his own ass, he would do it. “Damn, Ellie. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Now she looked contrite. “It’s okay. I know you didn’t set out to embarrass me or anything. It’s not in your nature to be mean. But you have to admit the idea’s a little…bizarre.”

He took a careful sip of coffee and wondered if his desperation was starting to show. He had overplayed his hand and she was about to turn him down. A woman. Turning him down. Was there an apocalypse about to happen that no one had told him about? Logan would laugh his ass off if he ever found out about this conversation.