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“Because it is!” I insisted. “Men see a perfect bundle of joy and have to put their own name on it. You’ll never see a baby named Melinda Junior.”
“You know what? Just for that, I am naming her Melinda Junior,” Pierce said happily. “If it’s a girl.”
“Absolutely not!”
“You have no say in the matter,” he pointed out. “I can name him or her whatever dumb thing my heart desires.”
“You have good taste. You would never do that.”
He narrowed his green eyes at me. “Deflecting with a compliment. You’re cunning.”
“I still can’t help but notice you’ve avoided the question.”
Pierce sighed, swirled his wine around, and said, “I haven’t settled on any names yet. But I will tell you, without any joking, that I won’t name a boy Pierce Junior.”
“Whew. Can I ask you something else?”
“Only if it doesn’t involve baby names.”
“The other day, when you met with Rodrigo Robles, I told you about the loophole in the contract. And you said it was by design. What did you mean by that?”
He smirked. “I was wondering when you would bring that up again. Are you sure you want to know?”
“Well now I definitely do.”
Pierce stared off at the wall for a few seconds. “Three years ago, I dated a woman named Victoria.”
“Victoria Ashford,” I interjected. “The supermodel.” A small pang of jealousy blossomed inside of me. I wasn’t sure what this had to do with the loophole in his contract, but I waited for him to go on.
He nodded. “Early on, we both knew that we wanted children, so we began trying. We weren’t in a hurry. We figured it would happen when it was meant to happen. Except after two years, that moment never came. She never got pregnant, despite our best efforts. Eventually we broke up for unrelated reasons, but it bothered me that it didn’t happen. I’m afraid…” He shrugged. “I wonder if I’m infertile.”
“Have you gotten tested?” I asked gently.
“Honestly, I’m afraid to,” he admitted. “I’m scared of the answer. I’d rather not know for sure.”
I signed a contract to be his surrogate, and he might not be able to have kids? The information was overwhelming, but Pierce had shown a lot of vulnerability, so I squeezed his hand. “Maybe the problem was Victoria? Not you?”
Pierce smiled wryly. “She got married recently. They’re already pregnant. So if there was an issue…”
Normally, I would react to a situation like this logically. Calmly discussing it like an intellectual topic. But I felt an overpowering need to comfort Pierce, so I said, “There could be plenty of other explanations. Maybe it took a while once she went off birth control. I’ve heard of that being the case sometimes. Or maybe she secretly stayed on the pill and only told you she wanted kids.”
“I’ve considered that. I don’t think it’s likely. I’m fairly certain she was honest with me. Not one hundred percent positive, but certain enough.”
“Ah.”
Pierce turned to me. “I want a child, Melinda. It’s the one thing missing in my life. If it’s not mine genetically… that’s okay. I don’t have to know, and neither does the child. Being a father is so much more than genetics. When the child is here, and I’m watching them grow older and learn to talk and take their first steps, I won’t care about blood. If I have to lie to myself… well, that’s a sacrifice I’m prepared to make.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “All of that makes sense. But what I don’t understand is why you intentionally put that loophole in the contract. Did you expect me to sleep with, like, the chef or something?”
“Alejandro?” Pierce smiled. “He’s seventy-five, has nine children, and twenty-two grandchildren. Some great-grandchildren too, I think. Not saying you can’t sleep with him, but…”
“Okay, maybe not the chef. But you know the point I’m trying to make,” I insisted. “What was your plan? Were you going to get me drunk and let a bunch of servants have their way with me?”
Pierce put the wine glass down and twisted to face me in bed. “God no, Melinda. Nothing like that. From the start, I’ve wanted you to be comfortable with every aspect of this contract, right?”
“Right.”
“That’s the truth. I’m not trying to trick you into anything. There isn’t some sinister plan. I just figured that if it turned out I cannot father a child, we could discuss other options. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was hoping we wouldn’t need to discuss this for several months.”
