“A condition,” she said, obviously skeptical.
“Yep,” he announced. “No more clandestine stuff.”
Her frown was instant. “What?”
“I have a few months left of this semester. You agree to help me get through that. I agree to make it worth your while in bed. But in public, we’re friends.”
She bit her lip, a deer-in-the-headlights look in her eye. “Lane…”
“It won’t be real and we can go our separate ways when the agreement comes to an end. But I’ve spent years being women’s secret. It’s too exhausting to be yours, too, especially if we’re going to be seeing each other a lot.”
Elle shifted off his lap and sat next to him on the bed, her eyes wary. “I can’t do that.”
“Sure you can. People know you’re human. They won’t be that shocked that you made a friend.”
She shook her head, her entire posture closing. “You don’t get it. It’s just—people will talk—and my reputation at the hospital and—”
Elle never stumbled with words, so the way she stopped and started put a chill in his chest that spread out wider the longer she babbled. There were reasons mixed up in her speech and explanations and lots of you-wouldn’t-understands.
But Lane understood. He understood exactly.
He felt his own shields going up, his gates locking in place. He lifted a hand to cut her off. “I get it, Elle.”
She let out a relieved breath. “Oh, good.”
“The surrogate is good enough for your bed in private, but we couldn’t have people of importance thinking you’re slumming it with someone below your pay grade. Got it.” He reached for his jeans.
She stiffened at that. “That’s not—”
“I’ve got to go.”
She grabbed his arm. “Please, don’t. Come on. What I’m saying isn’t coming out right. I didn’t spend time with Donovan publicly either. It has nothing to do with you. I just—you’re part of that social world at work. I’m not. I don’t want to be. This saves us both the awkwardness.”
His fingers paused while buttoning his fly. “You think I give a fuck about awkwardness?”
He turned to find her eyes pleading—a sight he never thought he’d see outside of sex. “Please. Don’t go. We’re both exhausted. I’m not explaining myself well. Can we just go to bed and talk about in the morning? It’s almost four.”
He stared down at her, his anger still roiling but exhaustion waging a battle as well. He didn’t get where she was coming from but for some reason, he sensed that it really wasn’t about him. This was much more about her.
He didn’t know if it would be a deal breaker for him, but suddenly he felt too tired to decide. Getting a few hours’ sleep and talking about it in the morning wouldn’t hurt anything. With a groan, he tugged off his jeans, walked to the other side of the bed, and slid beneath the covers.
Elle shrugged out of her robe and settled into the spot next to him, turning on her side to face him. “Thank you.”
The words were quiet in the dark. Sincere.
He closed his eyes, wondering what in the hell he’d gotten himself into.
Chapter 13
The knock on the back door came way too early and way too loudly. Elle startled
at the sound and almost spilled coffee on herself. She muttered a curse and glanced at the clock on the microwave. Just past seven. Who the hell would show up at this hour on a Saturday morning?
She set the steaming carafe down on the kitchen counter and wiped her hands on a dishtowel before heading to the door. But when she peeked past the curtain and saw who it was, every part of her went icy. Oh, hell no.
The knock came again. “Ellie, I know you’re in there. I saw the curtains move.”
Ellie. No one dared call her that these days. No one but her mother and…Nina.