***
How crass. Melanie could not believe Sloane Quest actually said what he did. She’d better get to work? He’d made it sound like she was some kind of lady of the night. She shuddered at the thought.
But now that she was home and thinking about it, as he’d so rudely ordered her to do, try as she might she just could not come up with an alternative. When she pondered and pondered and still could not identify another suitable but less demanding donor, she thought of ditching the whole idea. But then where would that leave her? Miles away from her goal, and her thirty-fourth birthday fast approaching. That was not giving her much time to give birth before age thirty-five.
But Sloane Quest's ultimatum had not sat well with her and she wished she could tell him to just go to hell. But she couldn’t. Not when there was a chance, no matter how slim, that he would say yes.
She wished she had a close friend to talk to, someone she could run to for advice. It was a sad thing when, at age thirty-three, the person you talked with the most was your mom. Good grief. She needed a life.
But that was how she’d always been. Approachable and pleasant to everyone but never forming deep friendships. She’d always been a loner and she guessed that would never change.
And as had been the case all her life, Melanie would end up coming to a decision all on her own. And, as always, her decision would be a practical one. Because that was who she was.
Maybe she should consider his counter proposal. After all, Sloane Quest was a highly attractive man. Even if he didn’t have a cent to his name women would still be falling all over him. With his height and dark good looks, what warm-blooded woman would not find him attractive? She most certainly did – and had felt that way from the tender age of fourteen.
Yes, she’d fallen in love the day she walked into the school cafeteria and saw Sloane across the room, his steel-gray eyes trained on her. She’d immediately dropped her eyes, scared that he’d caught her staring, but then he’d turned back to the girl he was with and then they both got up and left. And, as usual, Melanie felt herself fade into the background, an insignificant little fly who hadn’t even sparked a mote of interest.
All that year she’d paid keen interest in Sloane’s activities around campus, even attending a couple of his games although she hated sports and would rather bury herself in the library. Had he even noticed she was there? Highly unlikely. And that was exactly how she’d wanted it…to watch and admire in private.
And even after he graduated she did not forget him. And through the rest of her high school years, on those rare occasions when she wished she had a boyfriend, he was the one who popped into her mind. Talk about puppy love…
And then she’d gone on to college and grad school and the years had flown by and she used other things to fill her void. She’d thrown herself one hundred percent into building her father’s company, filling her days with strategic planning meetings and taking the work home at nights. And on the weekends when she craved companionship there was always her mom, her sister and her cute little nephews.
There’d been a couple of relationships along the way but at the age of twenty-eight, after two heartbreaks, she’d sworn off men, at least for a while. She’d been busy with the business, anyway. The last thing she needed was the distraction of a man and the issues that usually came with having one in your life.
She’d been so busy being CEO that before she knew what was happening the years had flown by and she woke up one day to find herself thirty-three years old, husbandless and childless. The husband, she would have to do without – maybe that just wasn’t her destiny – but not having a child? That, she would not accept. Not without a darned good fight. And so, when she’d started thinking about who she could approach with her bold scheme, the first – and only – man that popped into her mind was Sloane Quest.
And so she’d made her audacious proposal. And then he’d gone and spoiled it with his insensitive demand.
Melanie sucked in her breath and stared at the phone. He’d not been as gentlemanly about it as she’d expected but at least he hadn’t said no. Now it was up to her to proceed or not.
She lifted her clasped hands to her lips as she thought about it some more. Finally, she expelled her breath and reached for the phone. It was probably the craziest move she'd made in her life but, she decided, she would do it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Sloane was just stepping out of the shower when he heard his cell phone ringing. Not bothering to dry off, he walked into the bedroom and grabbed the phone from the nightstand. It was Melanie Parker.
Immediately, he clicked the answer button. “Yes?”
“Hello…Sloane.” Her voice was tentative and soft. “I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time?”
The question made Sloane’s eyes involuntarily slide down his body, still slick and wet from his shower. Well, if you call being caught with your clothes off a good time… “No, you’re good,” he said. “Go ahead.”
“I…wondered if I could invite you to have dinner with me…so we can talk.”
So we can talk. Was she actually considering what he’d said? Sloane didn’t respond immediately, the possibilities racing through his mind. He, a father? He’d never really given it serious thought. Until now.
“Sloane, are you there?”
“Uh, yes.” He shook his head as her voice brought him back to the present. God, this woman had him thinking all kinds of insane thoughts.
“Dinner?” she pressed. “Would you like to go out with me?”
“Sure. When?”
“I was thinking this Saturday night, at Toque. Could we meet there at seven? That is…if you’re not busy?”
“Nope. As luck would have it, I’m free that night.” He threw that in there just to tease her. She was probably thinking of his reputation as a ladies' man for her to sound so nervous about asking him out. Might as well rub it in a little.
“Well, okay,” she said on a sigh. “I guess I’ll see you Saturday night then.”