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“Because,” he replied, “you are Pierce’s surrogate. There is no place for you at these meetings.”
“But I’m bored,” I complained.
“I am sure a woman such as yourself can find a way to occupy your time.”
I bristled. “A woman such as myself? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Tristan’s demeanor immediately softened. He put a hand on my arm and said, “I meant a woman who is intelligent and independent. That was not intended as an insult. Now, if you will excuse me…”
I watched the suave man walk down the hall and outside, where a helicopter was hovering as it prepared to land. Two men in suits walked out.
I turned on my heel and stormed back to my room. On the way, I passed the gym. Through the window I saw Pierce lying prone on an exercise bench, unracking a barbell from a rack and beginning a set of bench press.
“Your first visitors are here,” I said.
“Thank you, I’m aware,” he said without slowing. The veins in his arms bulged from the effort of the weight. I didn’t know how much he was benching, but the plates on the barbell were large, and there were more than one on each side.
“You’ve been awake for two hours, and you’re just now exercising? Right when they arrive?”
Pierce finished his last set and racked the barbell, then sat up. He was wearing a green Dri-fit tank top that fit snugly across his chest. The muscles in his shoulders and chest stood out in definition from the morning sunlight streaming through the exterior windows. He was wearing designer sweatpants, tight enough to hug every contour in his thighs.
“Everything surrounding these visits is a carefully choreographed ballet,” he explained calmly. “I’ll discuss it with you later.”
“You mean in two days? When you can squeeze me into your schedule?”
“Sure. If I have time. There may be follow-up meetings.”
Pierce laid back and began another set. I stared daggers at him, but I couldn’t take my eyes away. There was something so alluring about a man that was exercising, something primal that stirred within me…
Behind me, Andrew cleared his throat. “I don’t want to sound like a dick, but we’ve got visitors arriving in less than a minute.”
I tore my eyes away from Pierce’s bulging arms. “Yeah, no problem. I’ll get out of the way. Wouldn’t want the investors to know I’ve been hired to sit around and wait for Pierce to put a baby in me.”
Andrew winced at the words, which gave me a momentary sense of satisfaction as I walked back to my room. But then I felt bad. It wasn’t Andrew’s fault any of this was happening. He just worked for Pierce.
I took a long bath and thought about why I felt so annoyed. A week ago, I had been content to relax and coast for six months without being legally required to do anything. But I was a type-A woman, and there was only so much relaxing I could enjoy. I wanted to do something. I wanted Pierce to at least try to woo me, if for no other reason than it would allow me to rebuke his advances.
The water in the bath was the perfect temperature, allowing all the tension to leave my body. It also allowed me to analyze myself a little better.
I had always wanted kids. They were a beacon to look forward to in the future, when I had an established career and had found the one. And not just the end result of having a baby: I was actually excited about being pregnant. Growing another human inside of me; it was the closest thing I could get to a super power. I wanted to see my belly grow rounder, and feel the baby kicking inside of me, and to feel a level of connection and emotion that was truly rare in this world.
Signing with the surrogacy agency had brought all of those desires to the forefront of my focus. So had signing the contract with Pierce, despite its unusual context. I wanted to be pregnant. I was ready. It would be a fun adventure for a year, a taste of what things would be like when I had my own children, and then I could use the money to focus on my career a little longer.
And to find the one. That was important, too.
But after signing the contract eleven days ago, nothing had happened. Pierce wasn’t outright rude to me… but he was hardly friendly, either. He kept me at arm’s length, treating me with the tact one might offer a plumber that was temporarily in their home. Polite, but nowhere close to warm.
Did he want to impregnate me, or not?
After my bath, I changed into a bathing suit and went to lay out by the pool. The island—which Andrew told me was jokingly referred to as Bennington—was hot and humid, but a constant breeze off the ocean made it feel pleasant. There were also very few bugs around the mansion, although I could hear their constant chirps and drones out in the jungle. I wondered what kind of technology they used to keep them away from the pool.
At one point while tanning my back, I wondered if Pierce was playing hard-to-get. A little reverse psychology to get me to want to sleep with him. If that were true, it was working. Or at least, it wasn’t not working.
But I didn’t think he was playing any games. The helicopter came and went all day—two helicopters, I realized—ferrying men and women in expensive suits to and from San Jose. I caught glimpses of them throughout the day. Each of them was friendly with Pierce, laughing and shaking hands and telling jokes. Everyone wanted to be best friends with the billionaire entrepreneur.
And Pierce was charming and charismatic right back to them. He met the investors in different parts of the mansion: once in the gym, the next time in his study, then on the terrace overlooking the pool after that. When they were close enough for me to observe, it became obvious that the visitors weren’t pretending to like Pierce. They genuinely did like him. Even people who were obviously meeting him for the first time acted like they were his best friend by the time they departed on the helicopter and another group took their place.
All of it reminded me, strangely, of high school. I used to have a crush on James Hofstra, the captain of the football team. He was popular with everyone, able to get along with jocks and geeks alike. I wasn’t unpopular back then, but I was still outside of James’s circle. I found myself watching him from afar, laughing and being friendly with everyone he came across, and wondered if he would ever give someone like me a chance.
