A shit load of money, that’s what he’d said. Jaycee didn’t even want to believe it was a genuine chance. Dangling that before her was like inviting a starving person to take a seat outside a glass-fronted restaurant to witness the full house feast.
Jaycee had a couple of affluent clients, she knew what it was like to have her face pressed against the glass and she didn’t like it. In fact, it often made her sick to see how much money these people wasted while she scraped together every cent and stretched each one to its limit.
Guy riled her, he seemed like an arrogant kind of guy, too up his own ass to give a damn about anyone else. She couldn’t believe he was being altruistic or really trying to help her out.
So Jaycee ignored the offer.
For about twenty minutes.
Long ago, she’d made a promise to someone special that she would never get involved in anything illegal. She had always stuck to that vow. It wasn’t a difficult promise to make at the time. But she’d never realized how tough life could get.
Her life had never been tougher than it was right now. She had no home. No furniture. No boyfriend to offer emotional support. No car to get her around. The notion that she might be able to afford a vehicle was ridiculous, though she kind of wished she had one because at least then she would have a roof over her head and that wasn’t guaranteed every night these days. It was getting difficult to juggle requests, to figure out which friend she could call from those she’d already begged for help many times.
Truth be told, Jaycee had called in every favor she was owed. Outstayed her welcome at every friend’s house. People were starting to avoid her. She was getting desperate.
No, desperate had passed about four months ago, now she was getting to wretched. Working every hour meant income but exhaustion.
At this point, there was little she wouldn’t consider doing to take the pressure off herself. But did she trust Guy? What if she went to the warehouse in its isolated location and found it was a crack den full of pimps with women chained to beds? That wouldn’t make her any money. It would make her pimp money.
Guy seemed like a smart guy. He was witty, if annoying. Charming, but dry. And reliable, even if he was a bit lazy. He showed up for work every shift, stayed until after she did usually, and while he wasn’t known for really mucking in, he’d never watched a person struggle and ignored them… as far as she knew anyway.
Would he risk getting a colleague involved in running drugs or arms or whatever else he might be into? She could tell everyone at AD about his criminal connections. She could go to the cops. It wasn’t like Jaycee had left him in any doubt about her feelings toward him.
Her attitude wouldn’t have suggested to him that she was one of the giggling groupies who liked to try to charm the bouncers when they were looking for a buff man to carry them home afterhours.
Their brief encounter at the top of the AD stairs had ended after his comment about money. Drawing her eyes off him, Jaycee had been surprised and suspected him of making fun of her.
It had to be common knowledge among staff that she was short of cash and in need after being seen counting her tips and asking for advances more than once. No one would like to be known as destitute, it was embarrassing, but some things took precedence over dignity. She’d learned that the hard way.
After ignoring Guy’s offer for those twenty minutes, she’d obsessed about it. Forgotten about it for another twenty minutes. And then obsessed some more.
What was the worst that could happen?
Jaycee figured that the first thing she should really do was check if this warehouse even existed. Guy might be yanking her chain and if he was, she’d put him in his place fast the next time she saw him at work. Or she’d just feign ignorance like his offer was nothing to her and she’d forgotten all about it. Either way, she had to know how to play it.
A couple of days later, when she was finished with a client who happened to live near the spot Guy had mentioned, she found herself wandering toward the river. All she was going to do was check if the building was there. No harm in that.
It was there.
As far as she could tell, the redbrick structure was three stories high. All around it was a chain link fence that was obstructed on the inside by unkempt foliage and trees. She couldn’t see anything of the lowest floor, only the highest floor was obvious, but that had no windows at all, making it tough to judge what state the building was in. The brick itself was kind of shiny, but it had rained that morning, so its superior appearance for the area could be an illusion.
Jaycee was so busy trying to see that she almost didn’t notice the gate even as she approached it. Solid and double-wide, the gate for vehicles was locked by a keypad emitting a red light. Beside it was a single-gate leading to the sidewalk. Its similar lock had a red light too. Then, as she was looking at it, the red light flashed to green.
Green.
Did that mean go? Could she… go in? Should she?
When she glanced around, Jaycee couldn’t see anything that looked like a camera, so she guessed that maybe someone was about to come out. Tensing her shoulders, she considered her options. The light flashed again, went off for a second, then went green.
Guy had told her to come here. If she was caught trespassing, she could mention his name. Yeah, “Guy told me” would sound good.
Hmm.
But if there was the prospect of making money and actually putting a roof over her head again, she had to take the risk.
Grabbing the gate, she gave it a push and it popped open without any trouble. Well, she’d done it, she’d crawled into the rabbit hole, no point backing out now.
Going forward, Jaycee entered to find herself walking up a long black asphalt drive. It was so new that it shone without a speck of imperfection. Did drug dealers care about that sort of thing?
Maybe.
She doubted it.
The foliage to her right was a mess, all bare branches and exposed twigs, yeah, that was the time of year, but it was off-putting to have something so dirty and haphazard next to the sleek smooth lake of hard tar that was akin to a bed of glistening black ice.
When the building came into view, there was no obvious door. In fact, there was no door at all on the front, or on this side. Hardly any windows either, so Jaycee still didn’t know what she was walking in to.
Forging ahead, she saw that the tarmac stretched ahead of her until it met a sheer drop at the river edge where there was a dock, though she didn’t see a boat.
Turning to seek out a door, she found one in the nearest corner, and the glazed double-garage door beyond it was open. Past that was nothing but glass. What she’d assumed from the other side of the structure, was that the inside would be dark and oppressive, but it would actually be filled with brilliant light. Except with the way the sun was reflecting on the windows now, she couldn’t see anything of the inside from her angle.
Pondering whether she should knock on the actual door or just carry on to the open double door, Jaycee paused.
“Are you gonna stand out there all day? I heard it’s gonna rain.”
Was that Guy’s voice coming from inside? What the hell was he doing in a place like this? She hadn’t expected to actually find him here. She expected some shady operation that maybe he was affiliated with, she didn’t expect him to be the sponsor. What the hell was going on?
Hurrying forward, Jaycee went through the double door expecting to find a stinky, dirty car garage. Instead, she found a huge, well-furnished living space. There was a long dining table with about ten chairs around it stretching away from the garage door where she was standing, and a metal stairway running up the opposite wall.
And it was at the bottom of these stairs that she saw Guy, wiping his dirty hands on a rag. When he was done, he tucked it into the overalls that he was wearing over his legs, the arms of the garment were tied at his hips. The dark tee-shirt he wore was clean… ish, but there was something dirty swiped over the pants and on the skin of his arms.
Moving forward to get a better look, Jaycee stopped short when she noticed the vast kitchen laid out to her right. To her left was a massive living room, and she noticed the start of a hallway in the other corner of the room, perpendicular to the door under the stairs.
“Do you want coffee?” he asked and held up his hands. “If you do, I’ve gotta wash my hands properly.”
“What is that?” she asked, scowling at the black stuff smeared all over his hands.
“Oil,” he said and waved at her. “Or you can make the coffee.”
“I’ll make the coffee,” she said because she didn’t want him accidently poisoning her with that gloopy stuff.
It looked thicker than she thought oil was, but what did she know about cars? Although, she’d observed that there wasn’t a car in sight, so Jaycee had no idea what the hell he was doing with oil all over him.
Dumping her purse on the long dining table, she rounded the large wood top island with its black gloss cabinets and headed for the fancy looking coffee machine. Guy sat at the island, that had stools around two sides, and pointed to the cupboard above her, where she found everything she needed for the coffee.
“So are you going to tell me what this is about?” she asked after he said nothing.
“I’m still getting over the fact that you came… and how different you look in daylight.”
That was no kind of explanation. “What are you doing in a place like this?” she asked, pouring beans into the machine.
“Why did you come?”
“Idle curiosity,” she said. “Now if you’re gonna keep asking damn questions, at least answer one of mine.”
No argument. “Ok, what was your question?”
Nice to know he wasn’t paying attention. Although she tried to stay calm, she didn’t regret snapping at him. “Why am I here?” she asked and pressed the button to grind the coffee beans.
“I want you to have my baby.”
He’d just said the words as the machine roared to life, but she heard them clear as day and spun around to gape at the man who didn’t look like he was making a joke.
A coffee machine had never taken so long to grind beans and while it was screaming away, she wanted it to shut the hell up. Except after it did, and there was nothing but silence, she had nothing to say.
How did…
What the…
Oh, this was just perfect.
A burning kind of rage mixed with a manic hilarity inside her. She smiled before she shook a finger at him and let out a sharp laugh. “That…” Another laugh. “That has to be the worst pick-up line in history,” she said, abandoning the coffee machine.
“Jaycee—”
“Go to hell, Guy,” she said, storming toward him because she had to walk past him to get to the table where her purse was.
As she got within reach, he lunged out to grab her forearm. When they both looked at the contact, the first obvious thing they noticed were the black smudges he’d just put all over her skin.
Yelping, she yanked her arm away and he opened his hand in apology. “Listen, ok, I’m not kidding around, and I’m not hitting on you,” he said. “Sex couldn’t be further from what I want… I want to have a kid… but I can’t do that on my own… obviously.”
Jaycee didn’t know what to think. Surreal didn’t begin to cover this. This was a random guy she knew, a bouncer at a basement-bar who didn’t care about a damn thing. Except, he did. There wasn’t a chance in hell that she’d consider doing it, but that didn’t dampen her curiosity.
Remaining on the defensive, she wasn’t ready to relax and trust him yet, but she had to concede that he looked sincere. “You don’t want sex. But you want a kid… Why the hell would any woman… I don’t even know what you’re suggesting, but why would anyone do it?”
“Money, like I said to you at AD,” he said. “I’ll pay.”
The place was clean and the furniture was nice, but she’d never even seen him in a car let alone dressed in designer gear and spreading dough around. “How the fuck does someone like you pay as much as it would take for a woman to even think about going along with this? And what is it you’re actually suggesting?”
“Surrogacy,” he said and lifted a shoulder. “Sort of.”
Twisting to face her, he hooked both elbows on the kitchen island behind him and slouched, making him look even more like the regular Guy she knew, not the kind of man who’d be rich or want a child kicking around.
“Sort of?” she asked. “You want me to rent my body to you for nine months, but you don’t even know what’s involved.”
“I do know,” he said. “I’ve done research.”
Folding her arms, she had to sneer. “Into how babies are made?” she asked and shook her disapproving head at him. “You really are a pervert… Go to hell, Guy.”
“You keep saying that,” he said, rotating his stool to match her progress toward her purse. “But I’m serious.” Grabbing her purse, she started for the door. What a jerk! There was no way he was serious, just no way. This was some kind of prank and she was the punchline. “I know about your grandmother.” She stopped walking. “I know that’s why you work every minute of the day. I know you were evicted from your apartment because you couldn’t keep up with your bills… I know your grandmother’s medical bills are only going to get higher and higher the older she gets.”
How the hell…
Rage returned, but tears of… something, heated her eyes. Jaycee didn’t want this stranger knowing her deepest secrets. Didn’t want him prying into her business. Didn’t want him to know exactly how to hurt her like he just had.
“I’m managing,” she said.
“No, you’re not,” he said. “What are you going to do if she has another stroke? The care home is forty grand a year just for residency, her nursing costs are another ten grand on top of that and you haven’t even thought about what will happen if she needs to go into hospital for something… And you’re not taking care of yourself. How much use are you to her if you can’t eat? If you don’t have anywhere to sleep?”
Whirling around, Jaycee threw her purse onto the floor. “So I should consider… this? How dare you! My business is not your business! How the hell do you even know—”
“A few of us were talking at the club a few weeks ago. You always duck out early, so you missed the conversation,” he said. “Someone said something about how much you liked the idea of kids but would never have them, that got me curious.”
“Curious enough to investigate me?” she snapped. “You are unbelievable.”
“Maybe,” he said, pushing off his stool. “Your grandmother raised you, on her own. Your parents hated each other almost as much as they hated you.”
When she felt vulnerable, she lashed out. But he was giving her good reason to be mad. “What the hell is your problem?”
“I can’t have a kid on my own,” he said. “That’s my problem and I want you to help me.”
Exhaling, she shook her head. Could he really think that talking to her like this was the way to persuade her? “We don’t even know each other. Why would I even think about—”
“Because I can cover her medical costs,” he said. “Her care home costs, whatever you want… We’ll have an iron-clad contract that will spell out what we’re both liable for. You won’t be responsible for anything after the child is born. All you have to do is give me a year.”
“A year?”
He shrugged. “Less depending on how fast we conceive.”
Disbelief made her pant once. “This isn’t a real conversation,” she said and began to back away as he got closer. “There’s no way you can afford this and… why should I trust you to look after a child? My child?”
“He or she wouldn’t be your child,” he said. “You’d have no obligation to look after him or her.”
“And you could be a maniac who’s looking for an innocent soul to beat. You could be running a pedophile crime ring somewhere that—”
He stopped. “You’re right. Right now, as far as you’re concerned I could be… But before we do anything, you’ll learn more about who I am, and you’ll see that’s not the case. I want this, Jaycee. Look at how serious I am. Just forget your anger and your bias and look at me.”
She didn’t want to admit how adamant he looked, but he really did appear to be serious. Deadly serious. And there was something else in his eyes, something almost pained, no, not pain, it was… desperation. Just a glimmer, but it was there, and she knew something about living with that kind of despair.
“Why wouldn’t you just… I don’t know… go out there and get some girl pregnant?”
Tensing, his mood shifted a little and he folded his arms suggesting he might be creeping onto the defensive himself. “It’s not as easy as that.”
“Sure, it is. You’re not that bad to look at. You just…” Her words disappeared and clarity took over, which was enough to make her smile. “You and Petey… oh my god… you’re gay!”
Putting her hands to her face she actually felt… better. Oh thank fuck for that! Now she got it, now it made sense! The poor couple were desperate to have a family of their own and she’d laughed right in his face. What a bitch!
Going to him, Jaycee wrapped her arms around his waist because she couldn’t reach to get them all the way around his neck, her eyes only lined up with his chest. He opened his arms, but didn’t return the hug, probably because of the black stuff still drying into his forearms and hands.
“I’m not gay,” he said and she froze. “If you want to think I am, that works for me, I don’t care. But… I’m not.”
Pulling back, she frowned up at him. “Then why the hell would—”
“I don’t want a relationship. I don’t want a wife. I want a family I can take care of on my own. I want to be a father. That’s it.”
There were plenty of women out there who’d have a kid and split, especially if they were paid. There was something else and it was this “something” that increased her interest. Jaycee let her arms fall from his body to fold them.
“There’s something you’re not telling me, Guy.” The gradual slope of his brows told her that she was right, but he wasn’t filling in the blanks. “You want me to have your baby, but you won’t be upfront with me?”
“Tell me you’ll do it and I’ll tell you everything, Jayc.”
So that was it. She had to plunge into the tar pit before he’d tell her the truth? No way. “You can’t say that. What if I said yes and then you told me something so shocking that I wanted to back out?”
“What you don’t know isn’t negative… to most people. And I didn’t ask you to sign anything first. Just tell me you’ll do it and your word will be enough for me. Paperwork comes later.”
Shaking her head, she had to cede her curiosity. “I can’t do it, Guy… I’m sorry this is… tough for you and I wish you all the best with it, but…”
“You’re not the mother of my child,” he said with a kind of forlorn sigh that did actually make her feel guilty.
“I’m sorry,” she said, putting a hand to his face and offering a tight smile. “I’ll see you at work. I won’t… say anything about…”
Bobbing his head, he didn’t tell her to stay quiet or say anything else. Guy just took another breath and pulled her hand away from his face, leaving another black smudge on her wrist.
“Baby oil,” he said, focusing on the stain.
“What?”
“Baby oil will get rid of the paint.”
Paint? As he turned to lumber on back up the stairs, she looked at the marks on her skin and lifted her arm to smell it. Oil paint. It wasn’t engine oil that he had all over him. It was oil paint.
A loud metallic scraping at the top of the stairs made her look up. There was a breath of a pause and then another scrape followed by a bang so loud that it startled her. Guy was gone and she was…
Jaycee didn’t even know what she was.
This meeting wasn’t even close to what she’d been expecting, she’d thought he was going to bring her inside on some lucrative deal that could get her locked up in jail. She’d considered the idea of a prison sentence if she signed on, but pregnancy… Oh, boy, that hadn’t even flickered on the list of possibilities.