The CEO’s Hired Surrogate

“I mean, this will be so much more fun if I don’t do it alone,” Kayla shrugged, happy with the way her voice sounded. Unlike her soul, it was smooth and settled, so sure of itself.

The corners of his lips tugged as he shook his head and headed straight to the boxes. She watched as the muscles of his back tensed while opening them with his keys.

“This is really pretty!” He complimented, holding the lamp piece Kayla had bought. It was a beautiful piece that resembled a chandelier with hanging moons and stars. The moons were at different phases, painted with a shiny yellow color that was to radiate as soon as you turned on the lamp. The pieces were fluorescent as well; ready to entertain the kid if he woke up in the middle of the night.

“Yeah. It reminded me of the one I had. Of course, I was much cooler, ended up having it throughout my teen years as well.” Kayla chuckled, remembering how her mother never actually took off the decorations she had put up during her childhood. Of course, that was years ago, a different time. A time when she’d had a father, and a healthy mother. After her father’s death, they’d had to move to a cheaper and smaller apartment. Leaving behind all the memories that would forever play at the back of her mind.

“You think that’s bad? At least that wasn’t your choice. I had to sleep with Mr. Snuggles until I was sixteen.”

“You chose to sleep with your bear until you were sixteen?”

“Nope. It was my ninja turtle figurine.” That was it, she could no longer contain her laugh, thinking of Ryan holding onto a toy.

“Why in the world would you name an action toy Mr. Snuggles?” she asked in exasperation, unable to find an answer to the ironic question.

“You’ll have to ask five-year-old me,” he said, pointing his finger towards her.

For the next couple of minutes, they continued placing the toys they’d gotten, and the ivory veil that was meant to be attached to the bed. Everything was coming together beautifully. After a while Kayla gave up and sat in the armchair by the window, munching on a bag of chips she’d found in one of the kitchen cupboards.

She liked watching him work, the way his tongue licked the corner of his lips whenever he contemplated something or the way he looked at her with worry as she inspected his work. It somehow warmed her heart to see him put so much effort into it. She knew he must be frightened, but he had a way of hiding it.

“I’m starving,” Ryan finally said once he’d emptied the last box. At that, Kayla hid the bag of chips behind her back, as if he hadn’t noticed it by then and said “Me too.”

Ryan rolled his eyes and laughed, looking at her with a playful, disappointed look.

“I am more than sure that you are not supposed to eat this much so early into the pregnancy.” Kayla squinted her eyes and got out of the chair with a sole task in mind.

Kick his ass.

“What are you—” He started asking after seeing her grab onto one of the pillows from the kid’s bed. With wide eyes, he watched her approach, cowering against the wall.

“This is for making fun of me!” She hit him across the chest, the fluffy yellow pillow in her hand, tickling him more than anything. “And this is for—“” before she could hit him another time, he grabbed onto her wrists, pinning her against the wall with a swift move.

That was the exact moment when everything went silent, the sound of their breaths the only thing hovering around them. The oxygen around them was suddenly non-existent, the air becoming heavy and thick. Kayla’s lips parted as she gazed into those pools of blue. They were suddenly a shade she hadn’t seen before. The color of a stormy sky. She could imagine a sky haunted by hovering grey clouds, threatening to stain its horizons.

But that storm didn’t scare her. Instead, it made her dizzy, her knees feeling week and wobbly. She wanted to feel that storm, the wrath of the thunder and gusts of wind. The skin on her arms rose in anticipation as she waited for the hurricane that was to come.

But as much as she anticipated the storm, as much as she would have loved to allow herself to get carried away by the gusts of wind that were to come, she couldn’t allow herself to do that. She knew that she was sure to enjoy the ecstasy that was to come with the danger of those clouds, but she also knew of the damage that she would witness once the storm was gone. She knew that nothing good could come of it. So instead of leaning in and welcoming the passionately determined storm she pulled away, looking away, afraid that she wouldn’t have clear judgment for long.

“How about we go make dinner?” Her voice betrayed her, low and dripping with various emotions. She expected him to pull away. She expected his eyes to gain a spark once again. But his reaction was certainly not what she expected. Instead of pulling away, taken aback by her subtle and certainly not desired rejection, he slipped a finger beneath her chin, making his eyes meet hers once again.

And that was exactly what it took to make her lose her sanity. She wasn’t one to easily get carried away, but the electric pull that was between their beating chests was too much.

“God help me!” she heard him huskily whisper beneath his breath, she was more than sure that she wasn’t meant to hear it, before his lips came crashing down onto hers.

*****

Ryan was as surprised as she was by his courage. He didn’t know what had him so captivated. But through some twisted life event, he felt more attracted to those hazel eyes that he had ever been to any bare body. He felt pulled, dragged into two pools of ultimate desire, and he didn’t care about the payment of the sin he was about to commit. That didn’t matter at the moment.