The CEO’s Hired Surrogate

“Hand him?” Ryan frowned, forgetting for a second the true nature of the relationship between them. For a fraction of a second, he’d forgotten he’d paid Kayla, that his mother had hired her. And that fragment of a second made him understand what he actually wanted.

His hand went to cup her face, his eyes boring into hers.

“No Kayla. You’re not handing this baby to me.” Frowning, Kayla opened her mouth and closed it again, obviously confused by what he was saying.

“What do you mean?”

“Kayla, you make me feel things I never knew existed. I think about you when I’m at work when I’m in bed, when I’m asleep. You make me crazy, question everything I ever knew. During that month when I buried myself in work, I realized just how much you mean to me.

You were the first person to actually care about me, and not my money. To actually listen to what I have to say.” Ryan smiled as he remembered where it had all started, as he remembered the first time she’d left him speechless.

“Remember that day when you forbade me from having my midnight alcoholic drink?” They both laughed as they remembered, reliving that scene for a brief second. “Well, that was the minute where it all started. That was where I realized you were different. My point is, I want us to try to be more Kayla. I want us to try and be actual parents to this child. And not just because I want my child to have a mother, but because I think I love her.”

*****

Everything was silent around them now, she had no idea what to say. She felt the same. Ryan was the only man to ever manage to break through her walls. He’d been the only man to ever manage to make her risk things. And risking was her way of showing how much she cared. He made her feel special when the world around her was crumbling. He sat there when she had no one, holding her hand as she cried and kissing her lips when she least expected.

Indeed, their relationship was weird. It started like no other relationship. She came to know him because she was desperate for money. Just like everyone in his life, she came to be by his side because he had the power to save her from the poverty that ate her mother and her alive. But they had both overcome that. They’d come to love and care for each other beyond their initial goals.

“I think I love you too.” The words were simple but they held a weight beyond anything imaginable. Without another thought, he gently kissed her lips. And stood up, holding his hand so he could help her stand up.

“Come on, let’s head back to the hotel.”

As soon as she entered through the door, Kayla was left speechless, she could barely breathe as she walked over the rose petals and into the middle of the room, her eyes glistening under the warm rays of light emitted by the candles scattered around the room. She felt like crying when she saw the bouquet of roses on the bed. The roses were set beside two pairs of baby shoes, a blue, and a pink pair. She went to touch them and smell the flowers, trying to remind herself she needed oxygen.

“The purpose of this trip was to thank you, Kayla.”

“Wh—what for?” She was crying now, watching as he came to hold her hand and touch her face gently.

“You made this experience special for me. You truly made me feel like a father expecting the fruit of his love.” How could he thank her when he was the one who made her feel special, when he was the one making her question everything.

No, the man was too much. He was making her go insane, crazy with passion. No word could describe her feelings, so instead she kissed him roughly.

She meant the entire situation as a whole.