Dazzle: The Billionaire's Secret Surrogate (Contemporary BWWM Romance) (4 page)

“Very well, ladies,” Archer directed. “If you will follow me, I’d like to show you around the place. That way we can all talk a bit along the way, and maybe I could find out more about you.”

“That’s a great idea, Archer!” said the Asian woman, who had introduced herself as Mia. She practically grabbed his arm and staked her claim as they walked, but Archer did nothing to stop her. Kady wondered if he was being polite, as she suspected, or if he actually liked the attention.

It was a bit odd how annoyed she became by the other woman’s proximity to a man she had only just met and who had no intentions of claiming anything but her body for the duration of a pregnancy, and yet Kady felt decidedly jealous. How was she supposed to get a chance to tell Archer anything significant with her around? And why hadn’t she already bolted for the door, anyway? Did she really want to give up her virginity to some guy she didn’t even know?

Judging by the surge of heat and wetness between her legs, her body seemed to think the idea had merit. Who would have thought it would take a situation like this to catch her interest?

And the worst of it was, it probably wouldn’t matter anyway with the three other women around. He was bound to choose one of them since they all flocked around him like a bunch of brooding hens or something, and they looked like they all already belonged in his world with their designer outfits and obviously wealthy backgrounds. He wasn’t very likely to have a chance to learn much about her, and that would lead to her sleeping on a park bench. She might as well prepare for the backache right now at this rate.

But that wasn’t what she wanted. Maybe part of the reason she kept failing was that she didn’t take the initiative to succeed. Hadn’t she left the interview yesterday just because there were so many other people in the room? What made any of them more likely to get the job? It wasn’t their superior qualifications or their better looks or talents, but the fact that they hadn’t left before they’d even been interviewed. Was she going to let this opportunity slide from her grasp the same way?

No, she decided. It was time to take some action. She’d been hanging toward the back of the group as Archer had shown them the billiards room, movie room, and wet bar. However, as they entered the gate to the swimming pool, she stepped in front of them all to get a better look at the unusual shape.

“Is this an arrow, Archer?” she chuckled. “You must have had the thing made to order, huh?”

“Yeah, I did,” he smirked. “So, do you like swimming, Kady?”

“Sure I do,” she answered. “I have to keep my body toned up somehow. I like it better than some of the more strenuous exercises since I don’t want to form muscle mass. Who wants to see a girl on the runway who looks more like a bodybuilder than a lady?”

“Oh, you’re a model?” he questioned, glancing at her body appreciatively. “I might have known.”

“Well, yeah, I do a bit of modeling, even though that wasn’t my major or anything. I actually went to college for computer science, but I have a special interest in fashion. I always thought it would be great to come up with my own designs someday.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a lot of ideas about how you want your future to go for you,” he smiled. “Let me guess:  you’re having a tough time getting there from where you are right now?”

“I’ve recently been dealing with housing issues thanks to my roommate,” she admitted, although that was putting it mildly. “She didn’t pay her half of the bills, so things have gotten really tough really fast.”

“You’re more worried about a roof over your head right now than the money, aren’t you, Kady?” he inquired softly in her ear so the others wouldn’t hear.

“You could say that,” she admitted quietly, the feel of his breath brushing down the side of her neck made her own catch as tingles of awareness spread throughout her body.

Archer nodded as he gave her shoulder a little squeeze before stepping back. Kady wasn’t sure if she was relieved to have a little more breathing room, or regretted the end to the closeness of his well muscled body. She could still feel the warmth of his touch on her shoulder like an echo.

“Well ladies, I had intended to go for a bit of a swim before getting down to business, but I just don’t think lending any of you my swimming trunks would be at all helpful,” he teased. “So, since you’ve seen pretty much every part of the house, I suppose we could return to the study and begin our interviews.”

“Oh, but Archer!” complained Mia. “It’s so hot out today, a nice swim would have been perfect!”

“Miss, I’m not in the habit of allowing my decisions to be questioned,” he told her sternly, his eyes suddenly shuttered for a moment, before returning to normal. “Now, come along everyone, we’ll get the interviews started and perhaps we’ll have a bite to eat at the same time. Kady? I’d like very much to talk with you first.”

“She’s not so great,” Mia smirked as she spoke to her friends. “I bet he just wants to get her out of the way so he can choose one of us.”

Archer’s hand was still on Kady’s elbow when he heard the other girl’s words. She felt rather than saw him tense up, but when she turned to look at his face, he wore the same mellow mask he’d been affecting the entire time. Only a slight downturn of his lips gave away any indication at all that he was displeased.

His hand came down and took Kady’s as they continued to walk. The gentle touch left her feeling butterflies all over her body.

Damn, she needed to stop that. He probably wasn’t going to pick her, so all that would happen if she kept wanting him so much would be that she’d find herself alone on the park bench and not even able to deal with the needs he had stirred to life. Well, unless she wanted to get arrested for trying and thrown in jail with a bunch of women who would be more than willing to help her out instead. Not!

But the feel of his large, masculine hand encompassing hers felt so right, so natural. It was like they had done just that a hundred times before. A thousand. And it made the ache that had been on a slow burn since she had first seen him earlier throb to life as she imagined what it would feel like to have his hands on other parts of her body.
Knock it off!
She mentally chastised herself, trying to dispel the image of their bodies twined together.

“This way,” motioned Archer, interrupting her thoughts as they all headed back the way they had come. When they reached the dining room, he paused. “You three remain here. I’ll send someone for you when it’s time.”

Archer did not surrender Kady’s hand once they left the other women behind. In fact, he drew her slightly closer to his side as they continued on their journey. He smiled down at her and she shyly looked away, suddenly overwhelmed by his magnetic presence as it was focused solely on her. There was no one else there to buffer the affect he had on her, and now, walking alone with him through the empty hallway, those butterflies in her chest started beating their wings again. She had to swallow against her growing nerves, the tension evident in the stiff line of her shoulders.

“Tell me why you’re here, Kady,” he inquired softly, obviously trying to put her at ease with his gentle tone. “I want to hear the whole story. I want to hear
your
whole story.”

“There’s not a whole lot to tell, unfortunately,” she replied, letting out a sigh of frustration as she dredged up memories of the unfortunate last few years. “I finished college around the same time my mother decided to marry a complete jerk who said I was too old to come home, so a high school friend and I got a place, and I started taking all kinds of modeling jobs while still trying to find work in computers, since that’s what I have a degree in. Then she decided to get heavy into the drug scene and failed to pay her rent. I never thought that she would steal from me, but now my nest egg went missing and she ran off with two guys and left me to clean out the apartment alone. I just gave back the key yesterday and slept in some seedy motel for the night. But now I have nowhere left to go, and I saw that flyer, so I figured I would try coming here. Just to see. Maybe this would give me the time I need to land a real job or make a few designs or something. I could get back on my feet again.”

“And have a baby that would remain here with me?” he reminded her gently of the one thing about the position that had her heart breaking a little every time she thought of it.

“Yeah, and that, too,” she agreed, with a shaky sigh.

“That’s not to say I wouldn’t be willing to share, though,” he pointed out. “We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other and make that decision before it’s done.”

“I guess we would, huh?” Kady said, the thought of sleeping every night in the same house as this charismatic man made her pulse start to pound faster, heavier.

“Of course we would,” he said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, although its effect was just to make her heart race faster, rather than calm her at all.

“It’s just that I—I need you to know something important, but it’s kind of embarrassing,” she stammered, thinking of the caveat he had mentioned earlier. His, uh, preferred method of getting whomever he chose pregnant.

“Talk to me,” he encouraged her, sensing her sudden spike in nerves.

“Well, I—I haven’t ever actually had sex before,” she managed to say, flushing bright red at the admission.

“What?” he asked, surprise and a flicker of something else, something darker, more masculine, and decidedly satisfied shone from his eyes. “A beautiful girl like you?”

“I guess I was just too busy with college, and then with making ends meet, to even try to find someone to be with, you know?” she admitted. Kady knew it was odd for someone her age to still be a virgin in this day and age, but she was never one to party, and she hated the idea of hooking up with a random stranger. It had just never appealed to her.

“Well, if that’s true, then I suppose I won’t have to be worried that I’m paying dividends on somebody else’s investment,” he pointed out, a touch of humor in his deep voice.

“Oh, that’s such a terrible way to put it!” Kady protested, unable to hold back a scandalized chuckle.

“Maybe, but true nevertheless,” he said. They had reached the door to his office now, and he released her hand so he could open it.

“You know what, I—” Kady blurted out as she stopped, staring at the giant hard wood  door, glistening with age, use, and polish. Its intricate scrollwork and expensive looking heirloom doorknob in complete opposition to her own state of dress, not to mention the state of her life. Where that door could take an earthquake and keep standing, she was caught in a current and felt like she was swiftly getting pulled under.  “I really think this was a dumb idea. I should just—I should just go now. I’m sorry if I’ve wasted your time.”

“Kady, wait—”

“I’m sure that you can pick one of the other girls, and they’re probably all really good at having sex and all that,” she continued, not listening to him as she started backing away from the door, him, and this whole mad idea.

“Kady!” he said firmly, taking both her hands and giving her a little shake, forcing her gaze to meet his own, struck by the sincerity in his eyes.

“Wh-what?” she asked, looking up at him.

“The other girls have already left,” he told her then.

“They—what?”

“I’ve already chosen,” he explained, and she stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“But—but I didn’t even agree to do it yet!” she gasped. “I didn’t know how I was going to feel about this when I came in here. I didn’t know you’d want the—the intimacy as well as the outcome.”

“Kady, you are the only girl I want for the job,” he commented, and she could see the truth of his statement shining in his eyes. “And so I had the others sent away. That means if you leave as well, I’ll have to start all over again. Are you going to make me start all over again?”

“I—well—hey, it’s not that hard for you to find another girl,” she said, looking down at her feet. “I have a driver outside who was waiting for me anyway.  I could just go—”

“And where exactly did you intend to go, sweetheart?” he wanted to know, his voice kind even though the words cut her deeply. “You just said that you didn’t even have a destination. Besides, your driver was already sent away along with the other women.”

“He was?” she gasped.

“I’ll tell you what:  stay here tonight and think about things. And then if tomorrow you want to leave, I’ll have you taken to anyplace you want to go. Deal?”

“I-I guess we could do that,” she said, mentally acknowledging that she really didn’t have anywhere else to go, and this sure beat that run-down motel.

Archer stepped forward and tilted up her chin, sensation erupting from the point where his fingers brushed her skin with a feather light touch. “Good. Then I shall do my very best this evening to make you want to stay.”

“W-want to—want to stay?” she stammered, closing her eyes to block out his enigmatically mesmerizing gaze, missing the way his dark gaze swept tenderly over her features, finally settling on her lush mouth. “How are you going to—hey, what are you--?”

Archer kissed her softly on her lips, making her eyes pop open again. But he didn’t try anything else, the startling kiss over as soon as it had begun, and he released his grasp.

“Come on then, I’ll show you to the room you could have and you can get some rest,” he said. “I’ll have the maid let you know when dinner is finished, which shouldn’t be for at least a couple of hours. Okay?”

Speechless now, Kady was barely able even to nod.