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“So you don’t think he’s overly honest either?”
“The guy made his money selling penny stocks,” he said pointedly. “You must have heard how jaded that lot can be. In fact, I even heard that one of his employees was skimming off of investments not too long ago. Archer got hauled into court over it, in fact, but I guess his mother must have fixed things since he didn’t get any jail time over it.”
“Well, did Archer know his broker was skimming?”
“No, that’s just the thing,” he said. “He normally would have fired anyone he even thought might be doing it on the spot, but this guy was really good. They threw him into jail for five years, but they didn’t do much more than slap Archer on the wrist and tell him to hire better lackeys in the future. But that’s the way big business works, I guess.”
“I see,” said Kady slowly, all her nerves rushing back in a big ball that settled squarely in the pit of her stomach.
“Well, here we are, miss,” said Daryl with another small smile, this time conspiratorial. “Head on in there and get that job. Hold your head up high, smile, and act like it’s already yours.”
“Yeah, sure. Thanks. I will,” she responded weakly, even though she was seriously thinking she didn’t even want to walk in the door.
Kady’s knees began to buckle as she stepped up and found a sign on the front door, written in perfect cursive script, saying that the surrogate mother candidates should go around back and walk in the open door. She felt weird creeping around in the back yard of what amounted to a mansion, and besides that, who knew how many back doors she was likely to find in the back of such a huge place?
If she thought her legs were trembling before, she was seriously mistaken. She barely made it past the gate before she felt a full-blown panic attack coming on. Breathe, just breathe, she whispered it to herself like a mantra as she crept past hedges of impeccably manicured hydrangea and brightly colored zinnias that seemed to mock her, their cheery petals fluttering in the soft breeze like they were shaking with laughter. At her.
Really? She hadn’t panicked like that in years. She completely owned her body. She was in control. She was like magic out on the stage. So now here, in the middle of some stranger’s back yard and inches from finding the solution to all of her mounting problems, she was going to panic?
“Get ahold of yourself!” she hissed, making sure her subconscious brain heeded her command. “That’s enough out of you. I need food on the table and a roof over my head, and that’s all there is to it. I deserve a lot better than this, but this is all there is. Now get in t
here.”
Finally, steeling herself against whatever unknown situation would greet her inside, she stepped up to the door and raised her hand to knock.
Chapter 5
When Kady went to knock on the door, a butler swiftly opened it before she had the chance, as if he was waiting for her. He looked her over with an assessing, slightly condescending, air before he inquired, “Are you here for the surrogate mother position, miss?”
“Um, yes,” she answered, unable to continue looking the man in the eye.
“Oh, that’ll never do, miss,” he replied, his eyes softening with a hint of kindness at her obvious discomfort. “If you can’t even look me in the eye, you’re not going to last five minutes with Mr. Archer. He’ll eat you alive, make no mistake.”
“I really need to do this, though,” she pleaded, not sure who she was trying to convince more, the butler or herself.
“I won’t ask you why, but I will say this. Mr. Archer will definitely find you attractive, and that’s half the battle right there. If you still have the courage, go ahead and join him and the other women in the salon. It’s through that door right there. And good luck, my dear. I think you’re the nicest one who has come through that door today as well as the prettiest. If he does pick you, it will be my pleasure to serve you during your stay.”
“Stay?” she repeated. “Then he means for the mother to stay here? Not in an apartment or something?”
“Yes, of course,” he commented. “He’ll want to make certain you are properly cared for, after all.”
Kady nodded, for a brief moment, letting herself indulge in the fantasy of living in this gorgeous mansion rather than the park bench that she had been envisioning for days. She stared at the door, taking a deep, calming breath, the panic that had erupted in her chest just outside still fluttered like a hundred butterflies trapped beneath her ribcage, instead of the million that she had experienced earlier.
“Are you going to go in there, my dear?” the butler asked then. “I know that this is a huge decision for you to make, and I have to wonder why a girl like you would even be here. Surely you could easily find a better way to make money. But like I said, I’m not going to pry.”
“Th-thanks for asking, really,” she said shyly. “It’s just that I’ve got no place to go, and I just can’t seem to make enough money to get a decent place to live. I was saving my money, but my rotten roommate stole all of it and spent it on drugs, and I’m just—I’m just so tired of nothing I deserve coming my way. Maybe this—well, maybe I could get on my feet this way, right? I mean, I’m certainly not in a position to lose much right now, since all I even have is one small storage rental unit to my name. Everything I’ve ever owned is in there, though, so I really don’t want to let it go.”
“I hear you,” he agreed with a nod. “So, if you’re sure, there’s the door.”
Kady stared for only a few more moments before she resolutely walked up and grabbed the knob, giving it a twist. She could hear voices on the other side of the door, mostly female, and when she walked in she found three other women sitting on sofas there.
The sofas themselves were probably the most expensive-looking furniture she’d ever seen. When she sat primly down on one of them, she thought she was being cushioned by a cloud. She couldn’t help but get comfortable on it.
The other three women were all beautiful. Two were white and one was an Asian, and they all stared at her for a moment as if waiting for her to speak, causing her to sit up straighter and offer a nervous introduction.
“Um, hello? I’m Kady. Are you all here about the surrogate job too?”
The Asian girl giggled and patted Kady on the head. Actually on the head. Like a dog that had done something amusing for its owner. It made Kady’s hackles rise in instant dislike, and that feeling only grew as the condescending stranger continued in a high pitched voice. “Oh, you are so adorable! We are here because we know Archer must hope to settle down at last, or why else would he wish to become a father?”
