The Baby Offer_She wants a Baby he needs a Fake Fiance Read online

  “It’s because he’s male,” Hannah said matter-of-factly. “They have different genetic make-up than us, they don’t understand the need to settle and nest.”

  “I just think he’s scared,” Rebecca shrugged. “And I guess it’s fair enough, I mean it’s a big commitment living together.”

  “It sure is,” she agreed. “When I got home last night, I was so glad for my own space. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to share it with a man.”

  Hannah tried not to blush as she spoke the words out loud because she knew that wasn’t entirely true. She did love her own space, but she also knew how much she longed to share it with someone. It would be wonderful to get home to a bright smile and warm welcome each evening. It would be good to feel protected by someone stronger than her.

  “I know you’re lying,” Rebecca said sternly. “We’ve literally had this conversation a million times. You want a man. And you don’t just want a man… you want a family.”

  Hannah narrowed her eyes as a warning for Rebecca to quit it, and Rebecca burst into laughter.

  “Nothing gets past me, Han,” she grinned. “You’re just going to have to admit it, you’re not as tough as you like to appear.”

  Hannah stabbed at her plate with her fork and ignored the comment, but she still smirked. Rebecca did know her too well, and she had been in a similar position before she had met her boyfriend. She too had felt the fear.

  “So, anyway, changing the subject,” Hannah said confidently. “What are your plans for the weekend?”

  Rebecca looked off into the distance as if she were trying to remember, and then she rolled out her shoulders.

  “Nothing really,” she said with a yawn. “I mean, I would love for James to take me out somewhere nice for dinner, but now that we’re out of the dating phase, I guess I’ll have to settle for Chinese take-out.”

  Hannah smiled. What she wouldn’t give for that kind of comfort and stability.

  She sipped her water and nodded her head.

  “And you?” Rebecca asked.

  It briefly crossed Hannah’s mind for a moment that she could tell her friend all about her shopping plans, that had somehow morphed into a trip to her local fertility clinic, but she knew she would be met with the usual expressions of shock and horror, so she decided to keep it to herself. There was plenty of time for her to mull over her options and she didn’t even know anything about the process, so what was the point in bringing other people into it to become emotionally invested until she had more information to make an informed decision?

  “Nothing really,” Hannah glazed over. “I guess just chilling, shopping, reading, hitting the gym. You know, the usual.”

  “No hot dates planned?” Rebecca teased.

  “Literally never again,” Hannah laughed. “And yes, I one hundred percent blame you for my lack of enthusiasm. You never should have set me up on one of those sites. I knew it wasn’t going to be for me.”

  “Well, at least now you know,” Rebecca said. “At least now you can say, hey I gave it a go, but no thanks.”

  Hannah nodded with a wry smile, her friend always had a way of spinning something to make it sound as positive as it possibly could.

  “Yeah, at least now I can go back to being chatted up in real life rather than in the virtual world,” she laughed. “And then I can make the decision not to go before I have to go through the horror of having a painfully boring date with them.”

  “Savage,” Rebecca mouthed slowly.

  And Hannah grinned and nodded. The girls laughed as they continued their lunch, but Hannah’s mind kept wandering toward her recent idea. She was beginning to wonder if it was just a dumb fantasy, or whether it was something she could actually go through with.

  “You look deep in thought,” Rebecca said as she poured herself some more water. “Is your mind wandering back to your date last night? Have you decided to give him another go?” she laughed.

  “Very funny,” Hannah rolled her eyes. “No, I just have a lot going on with work, that’s all.”

  Rebecca looked concerned for around half a second, but then she diverted her eyes and started to scan the room.

  “Work is boring,” she said, dismissing the conversation. “We need to stay on topic. Finding you a man.”

  “Enough,” Hannah snapped. “You’re not going to play matchmaker again, I’ve told you, I’m done.”

  “Okay, okay,” Rebecca raised her hands in surrender and then she flashed Hannah a wicked smile. “But you know where I am if you need me. I am always happy to play Cupid.”

  Hannah rolled her eyes again and reached for her cellphone. She was dreading touching the screen and seeing a message from her date from the night before, but luckily, it seemed being “savage” as Rebecca had called it had worked. There were no crawling texts, and no pleas for a second date.

  “Hurrah,” she said, as she opened up her emails instead and started to scroll through them. “I’m so glad it’s the weekend.”

  “Me too,” Rebecca smiled. “I’m about ready to quit my job, I hate it that much.”

  “You’re insane,” Hannah laughed. “You’ve got it good there and you know it.”

  Rebecca shrugged.

  And it was true, both the girls had landed on their feet when it had come to their prospective careers. When Hannah had come to the city, fifteen years before, she had had no idea what to expect from the place, but she had settled in well and found herself replying to an ad for a roommate, only to have the door answered by Rebecca herself. The two girls hit it off instantly and had both begun working at the same design firm in administration before Hannah had moved on elsewhere. She had taken a roll at a rival firm, and had climbed the ranks quickly, where she had become the executive assistant to the Creative Director. When her boss had seen how talented she was and could tell how passionate she was about design and art, he was quick to sweep her out of the assistant’s chair and into the driving seat as a Junior Creative. And things just kept getting better and better. After a couple years, she was promoted again and again, and now she had found herself right at the top as one of the senior partners. She really had found her niche and she was thriving.

  “Well,” Hannah said as she lay down her serviette and reached for her purse. “This has been wonderful as always, but I really have to get going. I have a ton of emails to reply to, a huge to-do list, and two meetings to attend before the end of the day and I am just desperate to get myself home.”

  “Me too,” Rebecca said as she rose to her feet too and the two girls hugged. “Let me know if you hear from last night’s guy.”

  “Oh, yeah, I’m sure he’ll be beating a path to my door,” Hannah mused as she laughed and shook her head.

  The girls split the check and headed toward the doorway, and as they stepped out into the crisp Spring day, Hannah felt happy all over again.

  She said her goodbyes to Rebecca and began her short walk back to the office. It had been a crazy week, and now she only had a few hours left to get through before she was going to be well on her way to a blissfully quiet and unwinding weekend.

  As the clock began to creep toward six pm, Hannah looked out her office window and saw the skies begin to darken and the heavens burst open.

  “Shit,” she said as she dropped her pen to the table and looked out at the cracking storm that was unfolding right there across the city skyline. “Well, there goes Spring.”

  She leaned back in her chair and watched as the rain began to fall. It was hypnotic and enchanting, but it was also irritating. She had been looking forward to a few sunny days, and now it looked as if everything was going to be miserable and dull for a while longer. She had half been hoping to spend her Saturday morning having a jog through the park, but now it looked as if she would want to stay curled up in bed, nice and warm, and if she was going to force herself to do any exercise, it would be in the gym.

  She rose to her feet and wandered over to the window. The view from her office wa
s incredible and she loved being so high up. It was as if she were on top of the world.

  She reached down for her laptop and closed the lid before she slid it into her bag, and then she grabbed her coat from the stand in the corner. She slipped it on over her shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief when she caught sight of an umbrella resting against one of her filing cabinets.

  “Praise the Lord,” she mused as she grabbed it and held it tightly in her fist.

  She waved goodbye to her assistant as she stepped toward the elevator and braced herself for the weather outside. She had always secretly liked a bit of rain, but she was tired and weary, and she was so looking forward to getting home that she didn’t want to have the hassle of trying to keep herself dry.

  On the ground floor of the building, she watched the rain fall heavier and heavier, and she debated staying later at work, or heading into the bar next door for a drink to try and kill some time, but she knew it was pointless. One way or another, she had to get out of there, into a cab, and make her way across town to her apartment.

  She took a deep breath, rose the umbrella and darted out into the street. She raised her hand and called “Taxi! Taxi!” over and over again, only for the cabs to fly past her, sloshing and spraying her with water as she tried to keep her balance on her high, high heels.

  “Oh fuck,” she hissed as a bus came careering past her and splashed her right up one side with muddy street water. “You have got to be fucking kidding me!” she moaned.

  She stepped backward and let the umbrella fall down by her side. It didn’t matter if it was over her head or in the bin, it wasn’t going to keep her dry. Thanks to the bus, she was already completely soaked through and through.

  She sighed and was about to admit defeat and walk to the nearest bar, when a cab came hurtling toward her with its light proudly illuminated. She raised her hand to signal to it, not expecting to get much of a result, but luckily for her, this time, it swerved into the curb in front of her and screeched to a halt.

  “Thank you,” she sighed and said to no one in particular. And then, she opened the door and climbed into the back seat.

  When the taxi pulled up outside her building, she was still soaking wet and miserable. She paid the driver and thanked him, and then she carefully got out and slammed the door behind her. The rain was still battering down overhead, and she struggled to open the umbrella to make the short walk from the curbside toward the front door of her building.

  Every step seemed to feel heavier and heavier, and she realized she had had a tough week. She may have been able to take care of herself, but she still needed her rest, and she had been busy constantly since she had set foot out of the house on Monday morning. She could see her reflection in the windows of the building and she winced, she looked like a drowned rat. Her hair was straggly and wavy, and her mascara had run. Her pant suit was creased and wet all down one side and she was sure she was so cold she was actually limping to try and stop herself from shivering.

  She punched in the code onto the keypad and pushed the door to try and open it but was met with nothing. The door wouldn’t budge.

  “Oh, come on,” she sighed as she reached up and entered the code again.

  The buzzer that usually sounded to let her know the door was unlocked stayed silent and she rested her forehead against the glass and breathed in and out deeply. She reached out and punched in the numbers again, but she still wasn’t having any luck and she couldn’t help but let out a little scream of frustration.

  She slammed her free hand onto the doorframe and groaned, balancing her weight on the door and just willing for it to open.

  “Open, you fucker!” she said through gritted teeth and she pressed her palms against it, and then suddenly, as if her prayers had been answered, the door burst open and she went flying through it face first and into the arms of a total stranger.

  She felt them circle around her and stop her from falling flat on her face as she powered forward and fell through the doorway. Her feet caught up underneath her and she skidded along the wet and slippery tiles and she gasped and tried not to scream and lose her shit any more than she already had.

  “Woah!” a deep, gruff voice said as he balanced her and held her steady. “Are you trying to break in?”

  Hannah’s hair was covering her face and she was fully in a rage, so when she looked up and saw the most intense set of dark eyes looking back at her, she was caught off guard for a moment.

  The man who had opened the door and caught her was standing there looking at her as if she was clinically insane. She huffed and puffed as she wiped her wet and straggly hair out of her eyes and tried to straighten her suit jacket.

  “No, I’m not trying to break in,” she snapped. “I live here.”

  She eyeballed him suspiciously. She had never seen him before. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt and his big bulging arms were covered in ferocious tattoos. His jeans were dark and low slung, but they were held in place with a silver buckled belt, and he had a smattering of stubble that added to his edge. He looked rugged but well-groomed at the same time.

  His arms were still around her and her heart was beginning to beat faster. She was all a fluster and she could tell he was strong and in control. His hands were huge and when he moved them and they grazed against her skin, her spine tingled.

  “Are you the new handy man?” she asked with a raised brow.

  He laughed and dropped her so that she slumped back against the door before he turned his back on her and began to walk toward the elevator. The door he had been holding open for her started to close in her face, and she pushed it back open and stepped inside as she cast a look back over her shoulder at the keypad for the entry code.

  “What’s going on with the front door?” she asked him as she followed behind him.

  He didn’t answer her for a moment, but he pressed the button on the elevator and was skimming through a stack of mail.

  “The janitor changed it,” he said, without looking up at her. “Didn’t you get the email this morning? It was sent to everyone.”

  “No, I didn’t get an email,” she said after she had paused for a moment. She looked at him and tried to figure him out…

  Who the hell was this guy? And why was he such a jerk? His attitude was heavy, and he clearly had a high opinion of himself, but he was so out of place there it was confusing. Most of the people who lived in Hannah’s building were all executives and serious business people. This guy looked like he’d just fallen off the back of a Harley.

  “Well, I’m sure it’s there, maybe you just need to look harder.” This time, he brought his eyes up to meet hers and he smirked.

  She scowled.

  The elevator pinged and she waited for him to let her go inside first, but instead he surged forward and leaned against the back wall. He grinned back at her and Hannah didn’t try to hide her annoyance. She stormed in next to him and waited for him to push a button. When he didn’t, she sighed and leaned forward and pressed her floor.

  She crossed her arms and tutted, and he smiled to himself. He was loving every second of winding her up.

  “Are you staying with someone here?” she asked him. Unable to fathom why else he would be there.

  “I’ve just moved in,” he said as he stared straight ahead.

  “I didn’t realize any of the units were empty…” she said as she trailed off and tried to think if she had heard of anyone leaving. “Except for the…” She stopped mid-sentence and looked back at him.

  “The penthouse?” he finished her words for her and nodded his head. “Yeah, I moved in last week.”

  Hannah tried not to let her mouth fall open.

  This guy had the penthouse? The goddam penthouse?

  She brushed her hair behind her ear and the elevator stopped and the doors slid open.

  “Try not to trip,” he called after her as he stepped toward the control panel and hit the top button. “And if you have any trouble getting in your door… w
ell, try not to punch it this time.”

  He laughed, and it echoed after her down the hallway.

  What a jerk.

  She gritted her teeth and made her way toward her front door, the sound of the elevator disappearing behind her.

  It had been an irritating end to a rather stressful day, but it had also been an interesting one.

  Hannah had a new neighbor, and even though he was a complete jackass, she was also intrigued. She closed her door behind her and put on the chain and then she breathed a sigh of relief.

  Home sweet home.

  3.

  Hannah stretched as she opened her eyes and pushed her body down into the warm comfort of the mattress beneath her. She had had a good night’s sleep, however, her dreams had been plagued by the dark eyes of a man she couldn’t quite place.

  The second she sat up and tried to pull herself further into being awake, her mind wandered back to the previous evening and to what had happened when she had arrived back at her building. She had tried so hard not to think about it, but it was virtually impossible.

  That guy was hot, and she was having trouble shaking it.

  She chewed her lip and pouted, feeling rather annoyed at herself. She had been on countless dates, and she had been given attention by countless guys who had all left her feeling cold and uninspired, but this guy… the new neighbor, living above her in the penthouse, well, he seemed different.

  He wasn’t bothered by her beauty and her success, he seemed genuinely uninterested in anything to do with her. And it was infuriating.

  She tapped her toe on the floor as she looked in her closet and tried to focus on her day ahead. She had a lot going on and many ideas swimming about in her mind, but she could barely keep one thought together without it drifting back to the previous evening.

  To how it had felt when she had fallen into his arms.

  To how strong he had appeared, and the way it had turned her on… even though she would never truly admit it.