Signed, Sealed, Baby

I woke feeling shit. My eyes were dry, my head was heavy and hazy. It took me a moment to realise where I was. The bed was beyond comfortable, and my head sunk into my pillow. I never wanted to move.

I got too drunk last night, I couldn’t remember the last time I got that wasted.

I groaned as I rolled over to see a sleeping Preston. I propped myself up on my elbow and just admired him. His long, black lashes fanned out on his face, his thick, brown hair was messy with his natural waves showing.

I don’t think I had ever seen a man as handsome as him. Sure, I have a crush on him but still, he really was beautiful and if people didn’t agree than I am sorry… they must be blind.

I stretched up, my aching muscles reminding me of last night.

I don’t think we went any further than our little bit of intimacy in the living room, if we did, I didn’t remember it. Which would be a shame to not remember what it was like being with him.

I fell back into the bed, pulling the heavy duvet up round my chin as I lay and pondered over the evening, things were hazy but the more I tried to remember, the more my mind flashed with snippets of our evening.

I stripped Preston down to his perfect skin, then it was his turn to finish undressing me. Leading him into the running water his lips crashed into mine, his tongue sweeping through my mouth. He knew how to kiss. Our lips were locked, our kiss was heated and messy and so wet but my god, it was the best kiss I think I have ever had. That’s when things begin to get hazy again, there was definitely touching and groping but that’s as far as it went… I think.

“Morning baby,” his gruff voice made me turn my head to face him, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Morning,” I smiled, suddenly conscious of the way I looked. Did I have morning breath?

He leant across, my eyes widening as I turned my head to the side quickly. He placed a kiss on my temple. He was aiming for my lips but I couldn’t risk it. My hands were over my mouth.

“What are you doing?” he laughed, his thick brows pinching as his eyes scanned my face.

“I need to brush my teeth,” I blushed, I felt the crimson creep onto my cheeks.

“Oh, stop it, you do not need to brush your teeth,” he rolled his eyes, pulling my hands from my mouth. He hovered his lips over mine before turning his nose up in disgust. “On second thoughts…” he rushed out before he fell back in the bed and held his stomach, a roar of a laugh escaping him. He sounded like a child with his boyish laugh that filled the room.

“Oh my god,” I reached for the pillow that was behind my head and whacked him with it.

“Woah, woah,” he put his hands above his head to protect himself from my pillow attack. “I was joking!” he cried out before laughing again. He jumped up, grabbing my wrists and holding me in place. “You’re not playing fair,” he smirked as he lay over me.

“I don’t play fair,” I smirked back at him.

“We will see about that, now go brush them teeth and I’ll order breakfast.”

I swatted him once more, pushing him off of me.

“I don’t have a toothbrush…” I muttered as I stood.

“Use mine,” he winked, before running his tongue over his bottom lip.

I poked my tongue out in a childish manner, before spinning and walking towards the bathroom. A hot shower done me the world of good. I stepped towards the sink and brushed my teeth with his toothbrush, smiling as I did. Was it disgusting that I was using his toothbrush? I shook my head from side to side as if answering my own question. We have kissed, his tongue has literally been in my mouth and down my throat so no, using his toothbrush was not disgusting.

I felt so much better. I wrapped myself in a dressing gown and walked back into the bedroom where Preston was laying, one arm behind his head the other on his phone as he worked through what I was assuming was emails.

“How’s your breath?” he smirked as he dropped his phone into the duvet.

“Piss off,” I blushed. “Erm, I need some clothes, I don’t really feel like going home in a ball gown.”

“Already sorted it, the porter will be here soon with fresh clothes for you. I apologise, I have guessed your size but seeing as I got the dress size right, I think I’ll be okay,” he winked.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, breakfast is on route as well. I ordered loads of stuff off the menu as I didn’t know what you wanted. I hope that’s okay.”

“That’s perfect.”

I sat on the edge of the bed, I didn’t know what to do with myself.

“Come back to bed,” he patted the duvet next to him. Bouncing over to him I snuggled into him.

“I want to ask you something, but I thought maybe once we’ve had lunch a bit later I can talk to you. Does that work, or do you have plans?”

I shook my head from side to side.

“No plans.”

“Good, I look forward to it.”

Once the clothes had been dropped off, I got dressed in skinny jeans and a tee and pulled my hair into a ponytail. Slipping into the new trainers that Preston sorted out for me.

“You look lovely,” he smiled as he pulled a fitted white tee over his head.

I looked at myself in the reflection, I wouldn’t say I looked nice but I didn’t look bad either.

Smiling at him, I grabbed my bag from last night and checked my phone. I had a message from Harriet but decided I would answer her later once I was back home.

Slipping my phone back in my bag, I pulled it over my shoulder as I stood waiting for him. I knotted my fingers together.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he slipped his feet into his trainers.

“Yeah, just feel a little anxious and hungover,” I snorted.

“Don’t be anxious, you have nothing to be anxious about. And I feel hungover too, that would be the amount of bourbon we consumed.”

My stomach rolled with nausea.

“I don’t think I want to look at another glass of bourbon again,” I shook my head from side to side.

“You’ll be back drinking them next week,” he shrugged a jacket over the top of his tee. It seemed weird seeing him so casual. I had only ever seen him in suits.

“I don’t think I will,” I scrunched my nose up in disagreement.

Silence fell between us as he patted his pockets down and checked the room to make sure he had everything.

“Do you enjoy living in a hotel room?” I blurted out as he closed the door, locking it with a key card.

“Why wouldn’t I enjoy it?” he looked at me as we headed for the main elevator that served the rest of the hotel.

“I dunno,” I squeaked as I pushed the button, calling the lift.

“I get my beds made for me and changed, I get food on demand, and I can come and go as I please.” Stepping into the elevator, he held the doors for me to follow.

I pushed the ground floor button and watched the doors close.

“Makes sense.”

Silence again.

“What will you do when you have the baby?”

He looked at me as if I had two heads. His brows furrowed, causing a crease to form between them.

“Stay at the penthouse, obviously.” His attention faced forward, “Why?”

“Just don’t think it’s much of an environment to raise a baby… you’ve got no garden, you will be pent up in that apartment with a newborn…” I rubbed my lips into a thin line as the silence surrounded us.

“Have you actually thought about this Preston?”

He said nothing. Just stormed from the lift, not waiting for me. Brilliant. Had I crossed a line? Should I have kept my opinion to myself? Me and my big foot. Rolling my eyes I followed him like the fucking puppy dog I was and out onto the busy London street.

“Preston!” I called out as I tried my best to catch him up with my short legs.

He stopped, turning to face me. He waited, and when I was close, he reached out and grabbed my wrist as he dragged me next to him. He still kept quiet.

“If you’re going to sulk all afternoon, I would rather you take me home.”

He stilled in the middle of a busy pavement.

“I’m not sulking.” He groaned.

“No? Because from what I have just seen it definitely looks like you are sulking.” I pulled my hand from his and crossed my arms against my chest.

He rolled his eyes.

“Fine,” he snapped, “I was sulking, but only because you scared the shit out of me. I haven’t thought that far ahead, I haven’t actually sat there and thought about what I will do when the baby comes. Ideally, I would love to move out of the penthouse but realistically with my job, it makes sense to stay here.” He crossed his muscular arms across his chest, mimicking me. “Ideally I would like to still be with the baby’s mum so we both had the support of each other but life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns.”

I stifled my laugh, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip as I tried to wipe the smile off my face.

“Why the fuck are you laughing?” Damn he was defensive today.

“Just a weird use of words there. Rainbows and unicorns.”

“Well, life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, is it? Because if it was, it would be a pretty awesome world, wouldn’t it?”

“Mmhmm, it would.”

“Your voice is laced with sarcasm you piss taking fucker.” And I was gone.

I creased over as I laughed hard, my stomach hurting from the constant bubble of a laugh that escaped me.

When I finally calmed myself down, Preston was off marching in front again.

“Oh, my little rainbow lover come back!” I laughed as I walked quickly to catch him up.

“Skylar.”

“Yes, my little Pressie.”

“I’m done,” he slapped his hand down by his side, rolling his eyes and turning on his heel again.

“I’m sorry!” I called out as I began running to catch him up.

We sat at this little restaurant tucked away from the hustle and bustle of London and it was perfect.

As much as I was feeling rough, Preston convinced me to have a glass of wine. You know, hair of the dog and all that.

It was a delicious, crisp white. He ordered us both a prawn risotto; I wasn’t very adventurous when it came to food so I was glad to be with someone that had tried different stuff to me.

“So,” I said as I finished a mouthful of my wine, “what did you want to talk to me about?”

Preston wiped the corners of his mouth with his napkin before putting it on the table. He kept his eyes locked to mine as he took a mouthful of his wine.

Why was he delaying it? The longer he took, the more anxious I became.

“Well, I was thinking after the other night and telling you what needed to happen.”

I listened; my fingers wrapped tightly around the wine glass stem.

He was waiting for me to respond, but I said nothing.

“It got me thinking about whom I would want to do this journey with… yes, I have plenty of bachelorettes that would be desperate to give up their eggs for me, but I don’t want just a bachelorette. I want someone who I trust, who I know…” His eyes fell for a moment.

My heart skipped a beat or two, as much I wanted to scream out, I didn’t. I kept my breathing steady, even though I was panicking on the inside, I was calm and collected on the outside.

“I want to do this journey with you. As soon as my father told me what had to happen, you were the first person that came to my mind.”

My eyes widened.

“We don’t have to be romantically involved; we can do an insemination if you didn’t want to sleep with me… even though we sort of got a little busy last night.” He coughed, clearing his throat. “But I am serious, we don’t need to date if you didn’t want to. We can help each other out. You can grow my baby; I can help you financially and get you out of the hell hole where you live.”

I felt my back go up slightly at his words.

“Hell hole?” I snapped at him.

His eyes widened.

“It might not be a penthouse or a fucking mansion, but it is my home. I have saved and worked hard to have that hell hole as you call it. It’s not perfect, I have no heating and I am probably sharing it with more than a house plant but it’s my home. It’s made me who I am today and to remember that you don’t have to have money and a massive house to be happy.”

I felt my rage burning through me.

“And you’re happy are you?” he questioned, one of his brows sitting higher than the other. “You’re happy living in your one bed apartment and being an escort, because when I look at you, you’re smiling and have a glow to your skin…” he stopped for a moment to take a mouthful of wine before licking his lips. “I think that’s because of me.”

He was so fucking cocky.

“I guess you’ll never know,” I winked, sitting back to drink my own wine.

He rolled his eyes.

“Just think about it, honestly, what have you got to lose?”

The truth was, I had nothing to lose. He knew that, I knew that.

But did I really want to be tied to him forever?

“Look, take all the time you need…” he stopped for a moment, “but not too long, because you know, I am on a ticking time bomb. If you want to go ahead, you can either choose to be involved in the baby’s life, or once the baby is born, walk away. We can use an egg doner and my sperm that way you have no tie to it whatsoever. But then if you wanted to raise a child with me, and have the baby as half of me and half of you, I’ll be happy with that too.”

I contemplated his words for a moment, reaching for my wine glass as I took a mouthful. My mouth was dry, my throat felt tight.

“I’ll pay you five hundred thousand pounds,” he blurted out.

My eyes widened, as I inhaled the wine along with my breath. I coughed and spluttered as I hit the wine glass down on the table and grabbed a napkin.

“Shit, Sky, are you okay?” he asked, but I closed my eyes and held my finger up to silence him. It took me a moment or two to catch my breath once more.

“What?” I whispered.

He sat up tall in his chair, readjusting himself as he rested his elbows on the edge of the table, pressing his finger into the bottom of his chin.

“You heard me, five hundred grand, straight into your bank. Doesn’t matter if you just want to be a surrogate or whether you want to be involved, you will still get the money.”

“Yeah I need to think about this,” my hand was trembling now. It would solve all my money problems, and I could finally move out the hell hole as he calls it. But he wasn’t wrong. It was a hell hole.

I hated my apartment. I wanted nothing more than to move. Sure, I had enough saved up for a down payment but then I would be left with nothing and I really didn’t want to have to start all over again.

I sat and contemplated his offer; he didn’t take his eyes off of mine. I watched as he leant over, curling his finger for me to move closer to him.

“Can I take you back home?” his voice was low, his eyes ablaze as his eyes roamed from my eyes to my chest.

“And why is that?” I teased him, pressing my arms together so he could make out the cleavage in my tee.

He bit his bottom lip, smirking before his eyes dragged up to mine.

“Because, my little peach…” he trailed off, “I want to fuck you.”

I snorted, my cheeks reddening at his words.

“You had that chance last night…” I sat back, my tongue poking at the corner of my mouth and resting on my top lip.

“We were both pissed as farts, I want to remember everything about you.”

“I think it’s best we just go home, and you let me have some time to think over your proposal.”

He pouted, sitting back and sighing.

“Fine.”

I smirked, finishing my wine as we fell into light chatter and waited for the bill. I managed to beat him to the card machine, paying for lunch and praying the whole time that my card wouldn’t decline. Thankfully, it didn’t.

When we walked out, Preston’s driver was sitting kerbside waiting for us. He opened the door, letting me climb in.

“Hi Guy,” I chirped as I slid across the leather seats.

“Afternoon Skylar,” Guy smiled in the rear-view mirror.

Preston slipped in next to me, I was waiting for him to put his hand on my thigh like he normally does but he didn’t.

I didn’t say anything, just bit my tongue.

Pulling up outside my apartment, Preston climbed out before helping me out.

“Thank you for a lovely weekend.” I smiled, pushing my hands into my back pockets.

“No, thank you for a lovely weekend, it has been truly something special.” He wrapped his hand around my waist and pulled me close to him.

I was dying for him to kiss me, internally begging him to kiss me.

But he didn’t.

One of his hands cupped my face as he placed the softest kiss on my forehead, lingering for a moment. He let go and stepped away from me.

“I’ll speak to you soon, I’ll get a draft contract made up so you can look at it, then we can go from there.” He smiled but it quickly faltered as he slipped back into the car. I stood on the pavement and watched him drive away.

I needed to speak to Harriet.