Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26739 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26739 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 134(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Kim looked confused.
“What does her son have to do with this?”
I shrugged.
“Adella Rogers has a grown son that was an employee of mine. I caught him red-handed embezzling from my company. The monetary amount was enough for a lifetime in jail, but Adella begged for leniency. She promised that she’d make it up to me somehow, and actually, I turned her down. But evidently, she thought that procuring a sweet, willing female would be sufficient as payment. Obviously, she forgot the willing part,” I add wryly.
Kim still looks confused.
“But why would she even think that you want a woman?”
I shrug and grin.
“What single man doesn’t? Maybe I mentioned my mom’s hankering for grandkids, and maybe I described my ideal woman to her once or twice. But I’m not sure, and to be honest, I didn’t think she was serious about delivering a woman to be doorstep.”
Kim visibly relaxed a bit, and the sight calmed me down as well.
“While I don’t agree with how Adella tricked you into coming here, you are exactly what I have been looking for. If you’d be interested in staying, I’d be more than happy to make it worth your while.”
Kim stares at me.
“You’re letting me go?”
I shrug.
“Again, forcing women is not my thing, and I understand that you feel you’ve been blackmailed into this situation, either by me or Adella Rogers. But that’s not what I want. What I want is a sweet, willing woman who wants to be mine. For a price, if that’s what it takes.”
Kim looks at me suspiciously.
“But what price?”
I shrug.
“It’s up to you, sweetheart. Is there anything you really want?”
She thinks for a moment, growing quiet and when she eventually spoke, it surprised me.
“Why do you want me, specifically? You’re Adam Jackson; you have money, you run a line of popular restaurants, and you obviously have the looks. So why me? I’m nothing special. I’m just a high school girl who’s been caught in a web.”
I admired her nuanced reply. She didn’t outright answer me, but instead sought information. I could work with that.
“Truthfully, I mentioned to Adella once that I was looking for a woman who was smart, beautiful and had a zest for life that could make raising a child with her a pleasure. As of yet, the women I’ve met have been less than stellar and definitely not who I would want raising my child. You meet all of the criteria and more. As for your age? That isn’t a downside, it just means you’ll be able to keep up with me.”
She flushed at the obvious double meaning to my words. Most women would jump on the chance to have a child with me because the money alone was enough. But Kim was different and that made her very intriguing to me.
She shot me a puzzled look.
“Why do you want a kid so bad? Wouldn’t it make more sense to wait until you love someone and then let things progress naturally?” The question made me grimace. It was only fair she asked such things but that didn’t mean I liked discussing them.
“My reason for wanting a child is part practical and part emotional. My mother wants grandchildren, as well as an heir to the company. She’s a lioness and when I say she drops “subtle hints,” I mean she’s dropping subtle hints like they’re ten ton pianos. But it’s been finding the right woman that’s been tricky.”
Kim’s face shut down, the sudden change startling me. Her words were clipped and ice cold, immediately making me steel myself.
“So your mother is the one that wants a child? Would she be the one raising it then?”
Alarm flared through me as I corrected her assumption.
“No, I would be raising them because I’m his or her father.”
If anything, Kim’s gaze grew even steelier.
“And what about the mother?”
I could sense we were on dangerous territory.
“And what about her?”
She almost spit the words at me.
“Would the mother be shunned from the baby’s life?”
I shook my head.
“No definitely not. I’d prefer a woman who wants to be a mother to her child. I’m not looking for a surrogate. That, I could easily find just by paying a lot of money. I’m looking for the real thing.”
Kim blew air out of her mouth in a small stream.
“Honestly, I’m so confused right now. You want a baby, but can’t find the right woman. Then, it turns out that it’s actually your mother that wants the baby, but you’ll be raising it. Then, you also want the mother of the child to be involved. Which is it?”
I smile at her.
“All of the above. Trust me, it’s not easy to explain because nothing having to do with children is. But Adella Rogers somehow latched onto the idea that if she provided me with a babymama, then her son would be off the hook.”