Page 24 of The Baby Bargain

Chase's blue eyes fill with concern.

It's familiar—he's been worried about me so many times—but it's different too.

This isn't anolder brothertask. It's not anolder brother's friendtask. It's not a small errand.

Sure, I'm not askinghimto get me pregnant—

Though…

"Can I think about it?" His eyes stay trained on me.

I try to read him. To figure out if this is a probably or a probably not. But I can't. I'm not good at reading people and Chase is a brick wall.

I guess I only have one choice.

I can tell him what I need. He can accept it or not. "Twenty-four hours."

"We're negotiating?"

"I only have four months. And I… I'll be fertile in twenty-one days."

A chuckle falls off his lips.

"What?"

"Nothing." His laugh gets louder. Bigger. Big enough to light up his eyes.

"Something."

"You're matter-of-fact."

"There's a short window. Six days. I need to find someone by the first of those. He needs to be available every day."

His smile spreads over his cheeks.

"What?"

"You're just… you're Ariel."

"Who else would I be?"

"It's perfect."

"So you'll—"

"Sleep on it." He offers me his hand.

I shake. "Twenty-four hours."

He nods. "Twenty-four hours."

* * *

Forest and Chasehave their private conversation. Return with their typicalI'm an impenetrable badassstares.

Wes teases me about my glasses. And my all black outfit. And my non-fiction book.

He even hints I'm too good for Chase, that I can do better than someone so brooding and miserable. (Ridiculous. Chase is crazy, stupid hot).