One Night Stand: Accidental Surrogacy for the Billionaire

Jade's POV

I ought to have turned aside. That was as straightforward as it sounds.

Laughter and conversation abound in the room as Manhattan's finest gathered under sparkling chandeliers clinking drinks. My heart thundered in my chest, every pulse serving as a reminder of the careless choice I was poised on. Having just spent a month at the firm, here I was standing outside the ballroom with a man whose jaw had sharp angles and piercing eyes that suggested menace.

Alex callahan.

Every gossip I had heard about him-calculating, brutal, feared-seemed ridiculous as he stood inches away, staring at me with an intensity that fixed me to the place. Every idea I tried to suppress appeared to be seen by those silver-blue eyes.

His voice was low, just above a whisper, dragging me in even further, "you never answered my question." Why had you left the house?

Heat raced up my neck, my mind whirled at the residual smell of his perfume. I ought to have been professional. I was expected to behave wisely and sensibly, defensively. I had a job to retain. And yet here I was, totally helpless two feet apart from him.

I managed, my voice trembling, "needed air." "Desired...space."

His lips quenched at a corner. He moved in closer, the gleam in his eyes suggesting he understood all I was not mentioning.

Me too, he said, his eyes never straying from mine. He raised his hand, waited for a beat as though allowing me to back away, then brushed a stray strand of hair off my cheek. I stopped breathing.

He remarked gently, "maybe we both needed the same thing."

I passed over an opportunity to respond. Not sure whether I could either. The heat of that moment appeared to destroy all of my resolve, boundaries, rationality, etc. And before I knew it, his lips were on mine, claiming them with a sharp, pent-up yearning that left me utterly caught in him.

His eyes darkened and a breathless smile slid over his lips as he retreated. "Come along."

Though my feet were already following him out of the ballroom, down the hall, and into the empty elevator, my heart was screaming "no." As the doors closed, locking us in, my pulse surged and he turned, his eyes never leaving mine.

My universe was permanently divided between before Alex Callahan and later at that point.

I should have been in some wonder waking up in a hotel suite that seemed taken right from a billionaire's fantasy. Rather, terror tore up my throat as the events of yesterday night returned, each second more stunning than the next.

"Get it together, Jade," I said, pulling on my night-wear from the previous evening. Still rumpled, I glanced over my shoulder to the bed where Alex had fallen asleep only a few hours ago.

Not even could I glance at him. I was not sure if he was still asleep or whether he was already staring at me with his all-knowing glance. But my eyes let me down. When I glanced at him at last, his face was calm, strangely youthful, in a way that defied the guy I had encountered yesterday night.

One night, the guy who had ripped through every barricade I had meticulously erected around me was asleep.

Breathing shakily, I tiptoed to the door, one hand grasping my shoes ready to flee before he woke up. a tidy retreat. I was in need of that. Neither "I'll call you" that both of us knew nor any uncomfortable goodbyes.

But his voice broke through the quiet as my fingers reached the door handle.

"Leaving so quickly?"

My heart stopped in its own time. I turned, the blood flowing from my face meeting his eyes. He was completely awake, those sharp eyes examining me with a serenity only to make me more embarrassed.

"Uh... I, um... I stuttered, then forced a grin, not wanting to upset you.

Alex wrinkled a brow, laughter flaring in his gaze. " disturb me?" That's a fresh one.

Though his voice was soft, his eyes were relentless, seeking as though he could see every idea flying through my thoughts. There was a part of me that wanted to grin, to seem as though this was usual, that last night did not complicate matters as they already were.

I should go, I replied, trying to keep my voice consistent. "I... this was a mistake."

He raised himself, slanted back against the headboard, the covers gathering around his waist. "Is that how you actually feel?"

"It's how I have to feel," I said, my voice more pointed than I wanted. Though anxiety was flooding me, a tidal wave I could not control, I hadn't intended to sound so icy. We both know last night meant nothing. We are really strangers.

He was not flinching, but something clouded in his eye. So is it?

Indeed, I said, attempting to swallow the knot in my throat. That is exactly what I mean.

With my heels booming against the frigid, empty corridor, each step counted down until I could lay this evening behind me. I turned and rushed out.

As the doctor said, I started to get light headed.

Pregnant?

"Yes," she said, a little smile on her lips as she handed me the exam findings. "About eight weeks."

The earth appeared to disappear underfoot. Eight weekends. My head raced back to that evening, to Alex, to the rash, careless choices I had worked so hard to ignore.

"What... what do I do now?" The query was hardly a whisper, focused more on me than on everybody else. But even as I asked, the response was beginning to shape my mind-a small, delicate hope that this may be the start of something different.

Then, though, a darker idea started to enter. Alex here. Did he not deserve to know? But I was scared thinking about informing him. I had not even given him another thought, and suddenly... this?

I stumbled out of the clinic clutching my bag as though it contained some sort of lifeline. Though my entire universe had shifted, the metropolis outside hummed on, unconcerned with my inner struggle.

My helper outside would have a few raised eyebrows from the impatient loud knock on my office door. I stayed focused on the papers strewn across my desk instead of bothering to search.

come in.

When the door opened, I anticipated a journalist, a board member, maybe even one of my rivals at last making a show. For Jade, I was not ready.

"Jade," I murmured, keeping the astonishment under control in my voice. My memory flashed unbidden thoughts of that evening. Her face was pale and strained, but those eyes still carried the fire I could not forget. She looked different than I recalled.

"Alex". Her voice was tight, little above a whisper, but her look had a steeliness I had not seen before.

Folding my hands and pointing for her to sit, I replied, "Not that I mind," then "but I didn't expect to see you here."

She continued there, staring at me, and for the first time I felt a little tremor of discomfort. She was not saying something, and it was chewing at her, generating a tension in the atmosphere I could not overlook.

Her voice faltered as though each syllable had more weight than the next, "I... I have something to tell you."

Then go on. Though I kept my face straight, I leaned forward and became interested.

"It's about that evening." Her eyes flicked away from me, and her fingers were quivering. My own pulse appeared to miss a beat.

I made myself cool under pressure. Anything it was, I would manage it.

At last, her voice was nothing more than a whisper, "I'm pregnant."

The words cut through the air like a dagger, and for a second I felt sure I hadn't heard her properly.

"Pregnant? My voice betrayed too raw, too real incredulity.

Indeed. Her eyes locked with me, and one could not misinterpret the truth in them. Shock, wrath, uncertainty collided inside me in an odd mixture of feelings. But more than that, something considerably more perilous.

An agony. One that had nothing to do with the obligations ahead, one I couldn't understand.

But time ran out to consider it. Jade straightened, the fragile lady replaced by someone stronger, her eyes narrowing to show a fire I had not seen before.

Her voice low and unbroken, "If you think I'm here to beg for anything," she added, "you're wrong." I am informing you as you are entitled to know. With it in mind.

She turned and left with that, leaving me with just questions-and the unavoidable sense that my world was about to undergo permanent transformation.