Her arm felt lovely in mine, soft and small with a hint of strength. She walked smoothly, her hips swaying delightfully as she moved, an enticing pendulum beneath her trim, narrow waist. From a purely genetic standpoint, she was perfect, and I probably would have considered her even if her personality was utterly unpleasant; the fact that she was smart and easy to talk to made her utterly irresistible.

“Tell me about your family,” I said. “I’m curious to know the circumstances which created someone as intriguing as yourself.”

She blushed and bit her lip briefly, the same gesture which had caught my attention back at the office. The urge to make her bite it in the throes of passion thumped through my veins. I filed the image away, intending to return to it in the privacy of my own quarters.

“My mother is Greek,” she told me. “And my father is Scandinavian. My mom came to the States when she was sixteen years old, with the dream of becoming a famous actress.

“My dad lived in California. That’s where they met. She was running to audition after audition, and he was driving a taxi. They met that way several times before they started dating. Love, marriage, and so on…and then I came along. They moved out here not long after. Well, not here, exactly. A small town downstate.

“Once my mom’s plans to become an actress fell through, she became homesick and depressed. She fought through it until I was thirteen, but something happened. I don’t know what, exactly, but she and my father fought for two straight weeks. After that, she left, back home to Greece. She still writes me letters, and we talk on the phone…she’s a lot happier now. She’s like a whole new person.”

“Does your father still live in Illinois?” I asked.

“He doesn’t live anywhere,” she said softly. “He passed away eighteen months ago. That’s why I moved here. Once I’d handled everything there was to handle, I couldn’t bear to stay, even though I probably should have. The house is paid for in full, and it’s a sturdy little cottage. I had it sealed against weather and vermin. I can’t bring myself to live in it, but the thought of selling it breaks my heart. So it’s just…sitting there, until I can muster up the courage to do something with it.”

“Living in it would be the practical solution to your problem,” I said. “If you were able to live there, you would be able to spend your money on a child instead.”

She laughed, a surprisingly musical sound.

“You say that as if I’m in the market to purchase a child,” she said, her face alight with mirth. “But I understand what you’re saying. It is the practical decision; I just can’t seem to make it. It’s a sad house, I think. At least that’s how I felt when I left it. Maybe in another year or two I’ll find the strength to go back and try. Until then, I’ll keep paying the taxes and leave it in limbo.”

Limbo, I thought. So many things in limbo, floating in the air. My company, for one. I could see the pieces of the solution fall into place, and I examined them from every imaginable angle. If I managed this just right, I could solve everything.

I brought her up onto the hill which overlooked the gardens and the house, and turned her toward the latter. She inhaled sharply—a sound which I would add to the growing fantasy file in my mind—and covered her mouth with one hand.

“Is that your house?” she asked.

“Yes, it is,” I said, my chest filling with warmth and pride. “That is Dane Park. Ballrooms, bedrooms, a veritable museum of AllGood toys dating back to my great-grandfather’s time. I can’t say with absolute certainty that I have seen every room. Not to mention the hidden chambers and attics…I would spend hours exploring them when I was a child, and I never failed to get tired before reaching the end.

“Floor after floor of heirlooms, room after room of toys and technology, endless yards of tapestries intricately woven to capture your attention for hours. Two libraries, one on each end. The rooms seem to go on forever…at least they did when I was a child. It’s smaller to me now, but not by much. When I walk those hallways, I see potential. I see generations living together, as family. The place is certainly large enough, though my family has a bit of a single-child tradition.”

“You could have a dozen and never run out of room,” she said, her eyes shining. “You could play hide and seek on rainy days and actually have some fun. Oh, and parties! Dinner parties and Christmas parties, masked balls and Halloween parties…I see what you mean. Endless potential.”

I warmed to Kaley even more than I already had, enjoying the opportunity to see my home through her eyes. She gazed at the house with a hazy smile and dreamy eyes, no doubt imagining raising her own gaggle of children within those walls.

“You could have that, you know,” I told her softly.

Startled, she looked up at me.

“What?”

“The mansion, the children, the rainy days playing. All of that could be yours.”

She swallowed hard and edged slightly away from me. I let her go.

“What do you mean?” she asked nervously.

“A proposal,” I said, all business. “A mutually beneficial arrangement. You and my executives all seem to agree that the only way for me to change my image is to first change my life. The most direct path is to find a warm, loving woman—one who wants nothing more than to be a mother, one who has that spark—and start a family with her. I propose that we meet each other’s needs. You are the perfect candidate for me, and I believe that all of this…” I gestured to the acres surrounding us, “makes me an ideal candidate for you.”

“I… What? I’m sorry, I can’t seem to put together what you’re saying.” She had gone pale, and her hand trembled.

I put my hand over hers, offering her strength to hear and understand what I needed to express.

“If you agree to have my child, and appear before the media as my partner, then I will ensure that you and the child are taken care of.

“I understand,” I interrupted as she opened her mouth to speak, “that it isn’t exactly what you envisioned. Unfortunately, even a man with my considerable power cannot always meet every desire. It wouldn’t be traditional. It wouldn’t be a fairy tale. What it would be is an opportunity for you to become the mother you know yourself to be, to live in safety and security, to never worry about a dime or a dollar ever again. I can honestly see no better way to solve both of our problems.”

Having made my case more clumsily than I had intended to, I lapsed into silence and gave Kaley the space to consider what I had just said. Her face was a kaleidoscope of emotions, shifting seamlessly from morose to excited, from anxiety to a quick flash of fury.

I watched her pace the hilltop, appreciating her hourglass figure and the way the light from the setting sun ignited her curls in highlights of red and orange. She was careful to avoid treading on flowers and sprouts, her shapely legs crossing this way and that to step around the foliage.

“It’s not a small decision,” she pointed out after a long moment. “You and I would be legally and biologically bound for the rest of our lives. We barely know one another, apart from our reputations. You really want me to have your baby?”

“Yes,” I said confidently. “I want you to have my baby.”

“I…I need to think it over,” she said. That nervousness was back on her face, that shock of fear that she may have displeased me one too many times in a single day.

My frustration at that expression nearly refused to be suppressed, and I had to turn away from her. I’m no monster. I’m just a man. A powerful man, certainly, but a man nonetheless. What was she so afraid of? That I would be so callous, so immature, as to fire or otherwise harm someone who simply asked for basic, reasonable consideration?

It wasn’t her fault, I reminded myself. My reputation preceded me, and it wasn’t pretty.

“Yes, think about it,” I said, turning back to her with a smile. “Take all the time you need. Just keep in mind that your future children are unlikely to find themselves in a more secure situation.”

“I will,” she said coolly. “How should I let you know when I’ve made a decision?”

“Don’t worry about it,” I told her, retreating behind my CEO shield. “When the time is right, I will come to you.”