“You kissed Heath Anders?” Jane almost screams the question.

“Shh…” I put a finger against my lips. I’ve been telling her to quiet down, but she just won’t do it.

We’re in our own living room, but the walls are thin and I know how shocking this news is.

Heath Anders used to be all about working hard and playing hard. And by that I mean there are pictures still circulating today of him snorting some white powder up his nose, with multiple girls hanging on his arms.

But that was the old Heath. He stopped his partying ways when he met the woman who would later become his ex-wife. And after the divorce, he just never got back to his old ways.

People are dying to hear some juicy personal news from Heath Anders. I’m sure there are gossip journalists out there who’d kill to learn about the hot kiss he gave me in his office today.

“He kissed me,” I correct Jane. “I didn’t do anything.”

“And by that you mean you kissed him back, right?” Jane looks at me with so much hope in her hazel eyes you’d think she was waiting to hear me announce her lottery number as the winner of some multi-million jackpot—or, since this is Jane we’re talking about, give her the insider info on the stocks Heath is personally holding.

“Yeah,” I admit.

“I knew it!” Jane exclaims with victory. “I told you he wants that ass.”

I let out a big sigh. I really have no idea how to feel about this whole thing. “I checked my bank account and the money’s already there.”

“Of course it is,” Jane says with the absolute conviction of a true fan. “If Heath Anders says it was going to be there, then it would be there. What, you think he doesn’t have $5,000 to spare? The financial papers say he made, like, seven million dollars on his last transaction.”

“No, I just… I don’t know. I keep thinking this must be just a dream, or a prank, or something… you know? Something other than an actual offer for me to have his baby.”

“I still can’t get over how bold of a move it is,” Jane says with more than just a hint of admiration in her voice. “That’s just like Heath Anders. He’s a ruthless shark.” She sighs with regret. “God, I wish I could tell someone about this.”

“I’ll kill you if you do,” I say quickly before she gets any ideas.

If people find out about this… I don’t even know what that’s going to do to my good name—not that people would remember and recognize my name if the news got out today… but one day, I will be a household name.

“You know, Kat, if this gets on the news, it could be a good thing for your romance career. You want to put your name out there, right?”

“Not like that.”

I’d rather not have a nasty scandal be my claim to fame.

I mean, look at Monica Lewinsky. It’s been more than twenty years since her thing with Bill Clinton, and that’s still the main thing people remember her for. We’re already on our third president since that scandal, for God’s sake.

No, a sex scandal doesn’t go away. And I want to be known for my writing.

Right now, I can’t even get people to read my book, much less like it and become fans of my work. Something’s missing and I know it’s not my writing. If I can just get my foot in the door, I know I can make it.

And then maybe Vera will stop treating me like shit, and maybe my dad will see how much I’ve grown and he’ll want to see me.

One can dream.

It’s been years since I last saw my dad—or my real mom, for that matter. According to Vera, my dad just showed up with me one day and admitted that I was his child with his mistress. I was four.

To her credit, Vera took me in and let me grow up with her kids. I was always aware that I was different—I always had to wash my own dishes and theirs too—but at least I had a home.

When I was fourteen, Dad left and that place stopped becoming a home. It became hell.

Vera blamed me for everything—for my dad’s infidelity, for looking so much like him, and even for the electricity being cut off (even though the whole reason that happened was because she hadn’t worked in months and we had no money in the bank to clear the check I’d mailed on time to the utilities company).

“Are you going to do it?” Jane asks, startling me back into reality.

“I don’t know,” I admit. “If I think about it, it’s not so different from what my mom did with me, right? She gave birth to me, and then gave me to my dad to take care of.”

“Plenty of people become surrogates these days, Kat,” Jane says. “Even Kim and Kanye are hiring one. It’s getting more and more common.”

“Really? I don’t know anybody doing that.”

“That’s because you don’t have rich friends,” Jane says plainly.

I shrug. That’s true, I guess, and it doesn't offend me one bit.

Most of my friends make enough to live on. They write for the paper, take photographs for travel magazines, and edit videos for advertising agencies. Those jobs come with a lot of perks, too, on top of the salaries, like free travel or backstage admission at concerts.

But Jane’s friends, who are investment bankers just like her, make the kind of money that would make relatives of the Saudi king jealous. Jane’s just starting out herself, but I have no doubt she’ll start making six figures in no time.

“A few of my colleagues have been talking about doing it. That’s why I know,” Jane says. “It’s a huge topic among the women in my office these days. They want to have families, but they don’t want to sacrifice their careers. Plenty of women have been demoted after taking their maternity leaves. Finance is a cut-throat industry.”

I nod along to Jane’s story. I like how different our worlds are, and I enjoy the occasional glimpse into hers.

“So, for these women, surrogacy is the perfect solution. It’s not cheap. The national average cost for it is between $98,000 and $140,000.” Jane looks right at me. “So that $500,000 Heath offers you is very generous. That’s between three and five times the national average.”

I can always count on Jane to give me the facts and figures.

She gives me an impish grin. “I guess the higher fee is because he wants to do it the old-fashioned way.”

I try to stop my body from reacting, but it’s too late. Before I know it, my whole face is burning. Damn it.

“Ooohhh… Someone’s looking forward to it,” Jane teases me.

“Shut up,” I say. I cup my cheeks with my hands in an attempt to bring the temperature down. I pause to think for a few moments and give Jane a serious look. “You really think I should do it?”

“I don’t see why not.” Jane shrugs. “You’ll get a lot of money. You’ll get a lot of time to write and polish your manuscript. You’ll get a book deal out of it—” Jane holds up her index finger before I can open my mouth “—and don’t even dare say that you may not find anyone to publish you because you will. You absolutely will.”

I stare at Jane. “So you think I should do it?”

“It’s your decision, Kat. If I were you, I’d do it.” Jane giggles. “But let’s be honest here. If I were you, I would’ve jumped his bones for free.”

“It’s about the baby, Jane. Not about the sex,” I say, even though I don’t buy that myself. How can I, when my body still thrums at the thought of the sizzling kiss he gave me at the office today?

“It’s about both, Kat. Face it. He wouldn’t have kissed you otherwise,” Jane insists. “But since you brought it up, I’m sure the baby will be in good care, too. I remember reading some magazine—this was when Heath was still married—about how he was looking forward to building a family.”

I can only nod along. I don’t keep up with updates from the real world because most of the time I’m busy with my own fantasy world.

Luckily, Jane reads everything: gossip tabloids, financial newspapers, political websites, women’s magazines, and even cooking blogs (although she doesn’t even cook). She keeps me up to date with the latest developments in the real world.

Jane continues, “And that’s why Heath stopped partying. He was ready to be a family man. Your baby won’t just grow up with material wealth, but also a good dad who’s present.”

“My baby,” I form the word on my tongue and sound it out.

It’s strange. But I don’t dislike it.

In my mind’s eye, I see tiny little fingers and toes, pink and perfect.

“It’s probably not a good idea to think of it as your baby. It’s Heath’s baby, really.” Jane gives me a stern look. “If you’re going to do this, you need to be careful not to get carried away and start thinking it’s a real relationship or a real family. Your hormones will try to convince you that it’s real, but you can’t listen to them.”

“I know,” I say.

Despite Heath’s obvious interest in my body, he doesn’t seem to expect any kind of personal involvement between us. This is going to be a business arrangement and nothing else.

“So…?” Jane asks, her eyes searching for clues in my face.

“I’ll do it.”