More Than He Expected

Alex’s glance darted to her left hand as it rested on the swell of her stomach. “I guess I assumed since you were having some guy’s baby that he might mind me groping you. I know I’d probably be crazy with jealousy if someone put the moves on the mother of my child.”

That was one thing Gwen certainly didn’t have to worry about. “I assure you that Robert isn’t really concerned with what I do or with whom.”

In an instant, a touch of Alex’s previous anger returned, and a dark pink colored the outer shell of his ears. His hazel gaze pinned her on the spot. “Robert who? Tell me the bastard’s name.”

Gwen’s eyes widened in shock. She wasn’t quite sure if it was because Alex looked as though he was ready to punch the baby’s father in the face, or because he cared enough to go to the trouble. She thought she was just another notch in the proverbial bedpost. Certainly it wouldn’t warrant such a protective response from him. “What does it matter? What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going to sit him down and make sure he does right by you and his child.”

“Good lord.” Gwen laughed. “You sound like my Paw-Paw. Are you going to take your shotgun, too?”

“If I had one. I might go buy a gun just for the occasion.”

Gwen’s lower back was beginning to throb from standing in one place for too long. It was just one of the joys the second trimester had brought, along with insatiable hunger and an aching, expanding belly. A fair trade for the end of morning sickness, she supposed. She moved over to the bed to sit at the edge. “I appreciate the offer, but that won’t be necessary. The situation is complicated and will take more than a few minutes to explain. But trust me when I tell you Robert is a perfectly wonderful husband and will be just as good a father.”

“He’s married? Jesus, Gwen. Maybe you need a talking-to as well.”

Gwen sighed and patted the mattress beside her. “Sit down, Alex.”

He hesitated for a moment, then settled down beside her. He maintained what he probably thought was the proper distance from a mother-to-be, but she could still feel the warmth of him, and the scent of his cologne hovered in the air she breathed. It took everything she had not to close her eyes and imagine being in his arms again. Not that she ever would be. Even if he had been interested initially, there was nothing quite like a surprise pregnancy to kill the mood.

“Listen, you’ve got the wrong idea about all of this. The father hasn’t done anything wrong. In fact, his wife knows about everything and approves. Robert and Susan are good people who suffered a horrible tragedy that no one should ever have to face. I had the power to help them, so I did.”

Alex watched her speak, visibly struggling to see where she was going with this. She understood the confusion. Her own mother hadn’t approved, even when she had all the details. Especially when she had all the details. Only Adrienne, who knew Gwen was a marshmallow underneath her hard candy shell, could see why she had to do this for people who were practically strangers.

She took a deep breath. “I told you this wasn’t your baby, but I didn’t tell you the whole story. The truth is this isn’t my baby, either.”

Two

“I’m a surrogate.”

Alex fully understood the meaning of the term, but somehow he couldn’t connect it in his brain where Gwen was concerned. “This isn’t your baby?”

“No. Someone else’s bun is baking in my oven. I’m just a rental. This is Robert and Susan’s baby biologically, and as soon as the adoption paperwork is filed, it will be theirs legally as well.”

This was certainly unexpected. The pendulum of his emotions had swung wildly from one side to the other and back over the last few minutes. First, he was a father. Then he wasn’t. Now she wasn’t even a mother. He’d never anticipated that procreation could be this complicated. “Why would you agree to do something like that?”

Gwen shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I? It wasn’t like I was in a serious relationship or had other plans that would interfere. I spend a lot of my time at the hospital, and that’s where I met them. Susan was a patient on my floor for several weeks after being in a severe car wreck in the Lincoln Tunnel. She was seven months pregnant at the time. Not only did she lose the baby, but she isn’t able to carry another child. They were such a sweet couple, going through so much pain. How could I turn down the opportunity to help them?”

“You’re being compensated, right?”

Gwen frowned, her nose wrinkling delicately. “Of course not. You sound like my mother. They’re paying my medical expenses, but that’s it. I didn’t do this for the money, and frankly, they aren’t in a position to pay even if it wasn’t illegal. This isn’t some fancy workaround for a rich, thin society woman who doesn’t want to ruin her figure with pregnancy.”

Alex wasn’t quite sure what to say. She was a damn saint and probably the only woman on his roster who could come close to qualifying. He wasn’t used to being around women like that. “Are you getting anything out of this other than a warm, fuzzy feeling?”

“Some distance,” she said. “When I volunteered to do this, I decided I would use the time to take a break from relationships.”

“So, what, you’ve sworn off men?”

Gwen smiled. “Yes, for now.”

He wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. He lived in a world where people of means indulged in whatever, whenever they wanted. Alex let his gaze drop to Gwen’s hand as it rested on the soft swell of her stomach. Around her wrist was a silver charm bracelet with a heart-shaped lock charm. The one he’d bought her at Tiffany during their previous time together. “You’re wearing your bracelet,” he said.

Gwen smiled and held out her wrist to look at it. “I’ve worn it every day since you bought it for me.”

Alex shook his head. He’d practically had to force the gift on Gwen. She’d finally chosen the bracelet under the threat of not leaving the store until she picked something. She’d refused diamond earrings. The roses and wine had been a complete failure. But at least she liked the bracelet.

“It’s my chastity bracelet.”

“What?” Alex nearly choked. “Like a chastity belt?”

“Slightly less medieval, but the same basic idea. I wear it as a reminder.”

“You’re using my gift as a reminder to avoid men? The irony is rich.”

Gwen shrugged. “It was perfect timing. You insisted I buy something. I saw the lock charm in the case, and I knew it was the perfect symbol of the new journey I was starting on. A subtle reminder to stay on track, as if being pregnant wouldn’t do that for me already. I mean, who’d want me like this? It was the perfect time to quit dating.”

Alex was about to tell her that he, for one, would still want her, when Adrienne’s voice in the kitchen caught their attention. “Gwen?” she called.

“You’d better go,” Gwen said, standing quickly. She picked up the roses and wine from the dresser and thrust them back at him. “Take these with you. I don’t want to explain where they came from.”

Alex wasn’t quite ready to leave, but he wasn’t ready to explain to Adrienne why he was alone with Gwen, either. Jumping up, he stuck his head out the doorway toward the kitchen, then dashed off in the other direction. He rounded the corner into the living room unseen and opted to head back to his room to finish unpacking. Or at least, to decompress. He’d had too big a shock in the last few minutes to go out onto the patio and be the life of the party just yet.

Talk about a game changer! For the most part, Alex thought he had women figured out. Between his mother and the list of ladies who had drifted in and out over his lifetime, he had a pretty solid understanding of the female of the species.

The exception was Gwen.

Somehow she took all his expectations and tossed them out the window. She was a genuinely good person. The first moment he’d laid eyes on her, she had been running herself ragged to make Will and Adrienne’s wedding special. Later, he’d discovered she spent her working hours taking care of the sick, and from the looks of things now, she sacrificed her precious personal time for others, too. He couldn’t imagine even one of the women he’d dated over the last ten years agreeing to anything like that. The majority of them were looking for some hedonistic pleasure or a sugar daddy. Either way, it was all about them. Selfish and spoiled, every last one of them. It was no wonder he never wanted to keep them around for long.

But Gwen … having a stranger’s baby and asking for nothing in return? To subject her body to the ravages of childbearing without the benefit of having her own child when she was done? That wasn’t exactly like loaning your neighbor a cup of sugar or donating an old coat to the homeless shelter. She was taking charity to a whole new level.

Alex slipped into his bedroom and shut the door behind him to block out the rest of the world. It wasn’t until his weight sank down into the soft mattress that the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins finally seemed to subside.

Gwen was a remarkable woman. Smart, funny, caring, but saint or no, Alex had to admit he was still relieved to find that wasn’t his child. There were worse women in Manhattan to be bound to through the bonds of shared custody, but that had been close. Too close.

Since he’d started his heated pursuit of women, Alex had been nearly religious about using protection. It was the only way to shield himself. Not only from disease but from the women out there who would like nothing better than to have his child and a permanent connection to his bank accounts. The Stanton Steel company had made a fortune during the race to build railroads across the United States. The generations since then had done well investing it. And Alex was the sole heir to it all.

By necessity, his record with women was flawless. To the dismay of women everywhere, no one had conceived Alex Stanton’s child. And for that, he was eternally grateful. He wasn’t interested in the emotional, physical and financial entanglements. If his parents had taught him nothing else, they had shown him that marriage for the sake of a child made everyone miserable in the end. He had no intention of becoming a workaholic who bought his son’s affections, like his father, or an emotionally abusive recluse like his mother, who blamed her son for her own wretched existence.

If he died single and childless, Alex would consider that a victory. He’d rather donate his fortune to charity just to hear the collective sound of the hearts of every ambitious socialite in Manhattan breaking.

And yet … for half a heartbeat when he’d thought Gwen was having his baby … there’d been this feeling he hadn’t anticipated. Sure, he was angry with her for keeping it from him and sort of freaked out in general, but he’d also had a touch of excitement. He’d told himself after their weeks together that his thoughts of Gwen would fade. Continuing in any kind of real relationship with her would just lead to expectations he couldn’t fulfill.

But in that moment, fate had very nearly made the decision for him. If that child was his, then perhaps Gwen could be, too. Not just a holiday fling, but something beyond that. Maybe they wouldn’t have the kind of family pictured on Christmas cards, but there could be more than what they’d had. And he’d wanted it. The thought had flashed through his mind almost as quickly as his heart had raced in his chest.

And then it was gone.

Alex would never tell another living soul about his moment of weakness. Nor would he admit that, when she’d said the baby wasn’t his, he’d felt a pang of regret and jealousy mingled in with the rush of relief.