The Surrogate

You can read The Surrogate free below.

Blurb:

A surrogate pregnancy, millionaire, interracial romance book. Esther has always loved her life of independence and never wanted to rely on others for help. But now that she’s run out of money, she must find a way to make ends meet for and her teenage daughter… And that solution is to become a millionaire’s surrogate!

When Archie is signing up to a find a surrogate mother, he never expected to come across his high school sweetheart, Esther. And their reunion sparks an undeniable romance, as if they never parted ways.

Yet, as secrets from the past resurface and intertwine with their present, Esther and Archie stand at a crossroads… Will they seize this opportunity for a passionate relationship, rekindling the flames of their past? Or will the weight of their secrets and the stress of the pregnancy tear them apart once more? Find out in this surrogate BWWM, romance story by Kendra Brown.

Chapter 1

The marble floors gleamed as she stared down at the freshly polished surface. Past her scuffed ankle boots, her mocha-colored face and natural curls reflected back at her. Under the light of the antique chandelier, the white shimmering stone reminded her of an ice-skating rink. Esther remembered loving skating as a young girl, going to Rockefeller center and fighting off crowds to take it all in. She remembered the pain of blisters and laughter like they were still on her skin. She remembered the warmth of a familiar hand she always skated beside. Even though she had lived only in Westchester, Manhattan visits were a rare treat.

Now, in the Manhattan brownstone Esther realized that the island had lost that shimmering allure. Her two-bedroom out near Prospect Park in Brooklyn was a poor comparison to the old house on the tree-lined street. However, the mansion she was inside put all of that real estate to shame. Meticulously restored to its original glory, the ruby red silken wallpaper hinted at elegant printing of fanciful patterns. The gold framed paintings of regal ancestors looked down with their bemused expressions. The leather bench she sat on now was the same shade of drown as the desk in the coat closet being repurposed as a secretary’s space. It was not as nearly as bad as it seemed though. Esther’s kitchen was smaller than that closet.

The chatty secretary’s low antiquated heels clicked on the marble as the elevator let her off. She brushed back her silver hair, typing away in her tablet. Searching for Esther through her thick cat-eye glasses, the busybody returned to the little makeshift office as she called out to Esther.

“Mr. MacArthur is free to speak with you now. Take the elevator to floor three, Miss.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Petrolla.” Esther waved, noticing the old woman did not recognize her. “May I leave my coat here?”

The woman nodded, still oblivious.

Esther did not blame her. It had been over two decades since they had spoken. Back then, Lucia Petrolla worked as the head secretary for Archie’s father, James Archibald MacArthur, III. Esther had also been thirteen, and wore braces and a school uniform. Her hair was wild, and she wore no makeup but a little bubblegum lip gloss. Her skin was not as well moisturized, and so her ashen elbows were not a dead giveaway anymore. So much time had passed for Esther, but not for Mrs. Petrolla. The aging woman seemed to be a preserved antique much like the portraits and chandelier, but the technology in her hands was indeed new.

Taking the right down the small hall, Esther found the golden elevator was slowly drifting down again to the main level. Esther’s eyes wandered as she waited patiently. She recognized photographs of the MacArthur family. Their austerity of Mr. James MacArthur, III and his wife Nora. Aunt Nora, Esther had called her when she was tiny. The laughter in her captured eyes was just as Esther remembered.

The ding and small light came as the doors slid open. An architect was still getting his bag together as he stepped out. She let the architect man pass with his blueprints and a distant expression. The look in his eye meant that Archie’s insisting nature and charisma had left that man with much more work to do and in need of a stiff drink.

“Same old Archie,” Esther muttered to herself as she stepped inside the little dark elevator.

As the lift rose upward, so did Esther’s chest. The reminder brought back the memory of the meeting two months before in the waning summer days when she met her new client at the high-end restaurant in Carroll Gardens. He insisted he had been wanting an excuse to go there after reading a review in the Times. He had sipped a cocktail with Rhubarb, and she tried not to faint.

It was as if he was saying to her again. The scene of the past played like a film for her eyes only.

“Esther when I saw you on the registry of possible surrogates… well, it seemed like fate. You looked as lovely as you ever did in that photograph, and I had forgotten how perfect your smile was.”

“I have a gap in my teeth.” She shook her head.

“It is a perfect imperfection.” He grinned, showing the same impish twist of his lips he had used when concocting schemes to terrorize his nannies. “I always enjoyed it.”

“You teased me about it,” she said, sipping her water. “You wanted to shove your antique coins into my mouth like a slot once.”

“Just so you would share your bubblegum.” Archie laughed. “And those memories are fading for me. Your youth may be alive and well, but my best days are behind me. I have been searching for the last two years for someone to be my surrogate. One I selected, but it… did not end up being successful. When I saw that smile again, I knew that if I tried with you it would have to work.”

Esther looked over the menu absent-mindedly as she retorted, “Have you not tried the old-fashioned way? You could find yourself a nice girl and settle down.”

“Are you offering?” Archie raised his eyebrows with curiosity.

“Um, no. We tried that a long time ago.”

“We were teenagers. It was one winter break.”

“It was enough,” Esther replied, remembering all too well.

Archie shook his head in return. “Essie, that is why I will not be able to start a family ‘the old-fashioned way’ as you call it. I cannot seem to keep a woman for more than a few months. I suffer from being married to my company much like the James Archibald MacArthur men before me. I have offered double your price, and you know you can be involved in the child’s life as much or as little as you want.”

Esther had been on the brink of saying no again, but temptation had her teetering back and forth. She was desperate for the money. She had others to think about. While it was also the twenty-first century, snobs and prejudiced people still existed. Her child could be outcasted as a black child born from a surrogate in Archie’s wealthy social circles. Even if the child ever went to meet Esther’s cousins in New Orleans, the south would have plenty to say about the baby.

A million reasons to say no raced through her mind, but her old friend knew exactly how to quiet them. Archie took her hand, and looked at her with his soft blue eyes that were the color of a pristine pond. Esther wondered how many women swam in those eyes.

“Archie , I…” Esther began to shake her head as her old friend took her hand.

It took her back to winters with Archie. It took her back to ice skating.

It took her to the elevator she now exited as her mind shifted to the present. As the golden doors opened, Esther stepped into a timeless room set ablaze by the setting sun.

The wide windows were open to see the backyard below, and the turning fall leaves looked like fire. The ivory striped walls and gold trim matched the decadence of the main floor, but the marble was replaced with a sumptuously plush carpet the color of vanilla ice cream. Esther imagined spilling a cone or two on this carpet, and wiping it up with none the wiser.

However, her heart skipped a beat when her eyes fell onto the focused man pouring over some document at his grand mahogany desk. The small laptop beside him hummed with soft French music, his tastes still proving to be eclectic after all their years apart.

“I hope this is not a bad time,” Esther said in a hushed tone, hoping not to startle the gentleman.

His eyes shot up, and Archie instantly set his pen down.