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ONE
SARA
Sara looked herself over in the mirror.
She was nervous, and part of her wasn’t sure if she should even go through with this. What if she said she was sick? Or she just canceled altogether?
“No, stop it. You want this, and that’s why you signed up for it,” she muttered to her reflection. “Be brave. If it doesn’t work out, then it doesn’t work out. But don’t be a chicken-shit.”
Sara spun slowly, doubting the best outfit she had.
The skirt of the dress fell just below her knees, fitting like a true summer dress. She classed it up by adding a silver draping necklace to match her sterling earrings with the same design. The lilac color of the fabric complimented her creamy skin tone but also helped her blue eyes pop against her auburn hair.
It helped that the material was flowy, except on her hips and breasts, which she thought were her best assets.
She usually allowed her loose curls to run wild, but tonight she’d pinned them up in a messy bun with a few tendrils hanging free. She felt like she looked good. It didn’t help her nerves, though.
She’d never met this Xavier character. He was a wolf-shifter and the alpha of his pack, which was intimidating enough. He had picked the restaurant where they would be meeting this evening …a fancy, high-end place that would certainly max out her credit card. He had to be well off to afford that kind of establishment. But that was all Sara knew about him.
The Reproductive Services Placement agency had said Sara was the perfect surrogate for his purposes. The whole point of this “meet and greet” was to confirm that.
He wanted an heir. Sara wanted a baby. She was tired of failed relationships and douchebags who said one thing and did another, and she didn’t need a man by her side all the time to do that. This seemed like the best opportunity for her to carry a child of her own without the added drama of a relationship.
Sara had her doubts about this whole thing, but she needed to follow through. She couldn’t complain about things if she wasn’t willing to step out of her comfort zone, even when it ventured into the unknown.
She glanced at her watch.
“Shit!”
She grabbed her purse, locked the front door, and headed to her car. She wanted to be earlier than her date. Mainly so she didn’t have to go through the embarrassment of introducing herself to the wrong person.
No, thank you. She had enough to worry about as it was.
* * *
Though Sara had never beento Maurice’s, the designated restaurant, she’d heard of it. But when she pulled up, she just about freaked out at how high-class and ritzy it really was. The mandatory valet parking was just the beginning.
The sun shone through the glass building with black-and-gold embellishments and sparkled in the majestic water fountain out front. Inside the entrance, glass teardrop chandeliers hung from vaulted ceilings, glowing like sunlight.
When her eyes finally floated to the host standing with his head tilted, waiting for her attention, she almost blushed.
“Sorry,” she squeaked, then cleared her throat. “Sara Michaelson. I’m here to meet with Mr. …”
“Yes, Mr. D’Point. Please, right this way, Ms. Michaelson. You’re early, but I will sit you at his usual table.”
His usual table? Good God, who can afford to come here that often?she mused as she tried to keep her jaw from dropping as she looked around the vast dining area filled with sparkling, jewelry-clad women and sniffed the expensive colognes. And this wasn’t even dinnertime.
Her anxiety and uncertainty ramped up so quickly she could throw up.
This Mr. D’Point was obviously wealthy. Why would he choose someone like her to be a surrogate for his child? Why not some model from Paris? Obviously, he could afford anyone he wanted. She wondered if something was wrong with him. Would this affect her child?
Sara pushed her negativity to the backseat as the maître d’ pulled out her seat at a cozy little two-top against the window.
“Would you like a glass of wine while you wait?”
Sara wanted to say yes, but she also didn’t want to calm her nerves by becoming sloshed before Xavier even arrived. “Oh, no. Thank you. Water will be fine.”
He smiled and returned to his station, nose in the air.
