I waited a day before deciding to start with negotiations. I’d spent that day looking at Lexi.

Having her in my house was different from catching her late at night at a McDonald’s restaurant. She’d showered and changed clothes, and her color looked slightly better. She didn’t look like she’d been crying, and she’d even tried to fix her hair up a little bit.

Maybe I should find some clothes for her, I mused to myself.

It was clear she hadn't left home with too much, and it was easy for me to see how self-conscious she was about how she was dressed. She’d keep fidgeting with her clothes, her hands tugging on her t-shirt, or wiping her palms down her thighs. I could have told her she didn’t need to be.

I was used to seeing women in the best designer clothes, and yet, most of them didn’t hold half the appeal she did in her old, tight jeans and a ratty t-shirt.

The next morning I put Edward in a car to take him to his grandma’s place, where he would stay for a week. I could tell the little guy didn’t want to go. He held on tightly to my shirt as I carried him over, looking at me with wide, pleading eyes that almost made me cave.

But, I was technically doing this for him.

“You’re just going to visit grandma, Eddie,” I said coaxingly. “You miss grandma, don’t you? She wants to see you, too, you know. Besides, you already promised you’d go.”

He pouted and tugged on my shirt. I sighed.

“You want me to go, too?”

He nodded.

“I can't, son. We have a guest, remember? I can't just leave her alone. But, I’ll tell you what, I’m going to have a nice surprise for you soon, okay? Do you trust daddy?”

He ducked his head down so I couldn’t see his eyes, but he nodded. I grinned.

“All right. I’ll see you in a week.”

He wrapped his arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. I returned the hug before leaving him to my bodyguard team. They were men I’d known long before Edward was born, so I trusted him with them. I would have loved to take him myself, but I needed to talk to Lexi, and we had to have an agreement before I let her spend too much time with my son.

Chances were, she would be leaving after the deal was done. It would be bad for Edward if he got used to her, only for her to leave.

I waited until the car was completely out of sight, then turned back to the house. My mom had a system much like my own set up so we could have video calls every night before Edward went to sleep. Hopefully, it would be enough to help him relax so he could have fun on his trip.

As I walked inside, I caught sight of Lexi walking down the stairs. She was in another pair of jeans, these just as skin-tight, but older than the other pair she’d had on. They had rips on both knees, and a hole lower down on one leg. I caught myself staring at the pale skin underneath, wanting to see more. She was running her hands through her hair, with a hair band on one wrist, so she probably wanted to put it up. I just barely held back the command to leave it down. She looked better that way.

“Is something going on?” she asked innocently.

I shook my head. “My son is just going on a trip. He’ll be staying with my mom for a week.”

I waited until she walked all the way down the stairs and stopped in front of me.

“I’d like to talk to you, in the library,” I said, heading that way, and she fell into step beside me. “I think it’s about time I tell you exactly what it is you’re here for.”

“Oh,” she murmured. “You mean the job you mentioned?”

I hummed. I pretended not to notice how she kept looking at me out the corner of her eye.

Inside the library, I led her over to my desk in the back. There was a separate area for sitting, but I liked working in the library sometimes, because it was so quiet and peaceful, even though I had a home office. The desk was hidden around some bookcases and wasn’t easy to notice from the doorway or the seating area, unless you walked around. Lexi had been in the library before, but she hadn't been here, the sound of surprise she made gave her away.

“I have a contract ready for you,” I said, walking around the desk and sitting down. The desk had drawers that opened by thumbprint, which was why I was usually comfortable leaving some of my things for work in here, instead of my more secure home office. “Please sit down and read through it. If there’s anything you’d like to discuss, let me know. Before you read the real contract, though, I need you to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Do you know what that is?”

She nodded slowly as she took the file I held out to her, then sat down opposite me.

“It means, I keep quiet about everything, or you can sue me.”

My lips quirked in a small smile. “More or less,” I agreed. “Everything is in there. Sign the contract on top first, that’s the NDA.”

I handed her a pen, which she also took. She read through the NDA, then signed it, and handed it back to me. I looked it over, nodded, and set it down. Then I turned to her expectantly. She was looking at me.

“Can I just ask what this is about first?” she asked. “I mean… I’m going to read through it, but it’s three pages long. So if I could have a summary…?”

I pressed my lips together tightly. I would have preferred if she just read it instead of me having to say it. I didn’t want to sound like a nut or a creepy old man. Not that there were that many years between us. But still.

“I’ll keep it simple, then,” I muttered. I took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh as I slumped back into my seat, crossing my legs and placing my folded hands on my thigh. “What I need most right now, Lexi, is a baby. A sibling for my son. I haven’t been able to find the right woman to carry him yet… at least until I met you. So basically, I’m asking you to carry a child for me.”

She spent a moment just staring at me, mouth slightly parted. I waited, my heart beating fast and hard in my chest, but the nerves I felt weren’t visible on the outside.

When she did break the silence, her words surprised me.

“Is this a joke?”

It wasn’t quite the reaction I’d expected. She hadn't even tried to fight against it. Instead of looking angry, or unsure, she was confused.

“No, it’s not,” I said.

She blinked and looked down at the contract. “Oh.”

I tilted my head a little to the side, frowning at this girl. ‘Oh’ wasn’t any better a reaction, but I didn’t think I’d be getting more from her.

“I’ve been looking for someone for a few months. But I don’t want just anyone. So far, you seem like the perfect candidate, for various reasons that I can tell you, if you want to know. Also, you look like you have nowhere to go. I’m not sure where you spent the past couple nights…”

She glanced up. “Um, I had some cash saved up. Not a lot, but enough to get me a couple of nights at a small motel not far from where the McDonald’s was. And the cab fare to get here after that. I’m… broke right now.”

“Ah.” I nodded. “That’s good then, that you were fine.” I leaned forward, bracing my elbows on the desk, then resting my chin on my folded hands. “Well, just go over the contract for now. You can let me know if you’ll be taking it on or not. If not… I won’t just toss you out; I’ll find you something else. If you are okay with it, however, we can start tonight.”

Lexi looked up at me with another blink. “I’m sorry, start what? Will we be going to a hospital, or…”

“Oh.” She must not have understood before. I took another bracing breath. “I might have neglected to mention the big catch. Though it’s all in the contract, you could just read it…”

“What do you mean?” she insists stubbornly, frowning.

I smiled. It was the most reaction I’d seen from her so far. “I mean, this baby is going to be conceived naturally.”

Her jaw dropped, eyes widening in a show of surprise, the reaction I’d been expecting. Her lips rounded in a silent ‘oh’ as she looked back down at the contract.

“How did you even know my full legal name?” she asked, frowning down at the documents in her hands. “I only introduced myself as Lexi when we met.”

I almost snorted at the question. It had been twenty-four hours already. I’d had to go on a quick trip, or I would have had her meet me today, but this was so much more convenient. Of course, I had everything on her with that kind of time.

“You didn’t give me much, but it was enough to hand over to an investigative team, and they did all the work. I have just the right people, and they do good work. I wouldn’t give this kind of offer to just anyone I met in McDonald’s without looking into them a little more.”

“And… you found nothing wrong with my background?” she asked slowly, glancing up at me.

I shook my head. “Nothing that bothered me. I still think you’re the perfect candidate.”

She nodded slowly, then looked down at the document again.

“Any more questions?” I asked.

She shook her head.

I pursed my lips, wishing she would look up or give me a verbal answer. What she’d displayed so far was hardly enough to go on, and I didn’t know if she would take on the job or not. I was hoping for a yes, but I knew well that could be asking for a miracle.

I didn’t want to bother her or lead her into the decision. It had to be hers, or we could both regret it in the months to come.

“Good,” I murmured, then got up to leave her in the library. I’d give her to the end of the day.

If she still didn’t have the answer by then… I’d give her another day.