She's Having the Boss's Baby - By Kate Carlisle Page 0,13
on the island. If they expected her to leave, how could Aidan expect anything different?
That settled it. He had weighed all the options and there was only one clear way forward. Serena and Marianne were right. Aidan couldn’t take the chance that Ellie would realize she’d need to leave the island once she was raising her child on her own. He had to take action. He’d been tossing ideas around for the last three days and it was driving him crazy. But after hearing what those women had said, he knew there was only one solution.
Now he just had to convince Ellie.
*
“No. No way. Absolutely not,” Ellie said as she jumped up from her chair and faced him. “Are you crazy?”
Maybe he was, Aidan thought. When this same thought had occurred to him a few days ago, he’d dismissed it out of hand as a sure sign he was losing his mind. But after he’d overheard that conversation yesterday, he’d reconsidered and now this seemed the most logical solution to his problem. He could give Ellie a baby. They could do it the old-fashioned way. One problem solved.
“More importantly,” he continued, ignoring her protests. “I could support the child and you. You wouldn’t have to worry about being a single mother. It’s the best possible solution to the problem.”
“I don’t have a problem,” she countered.
“Not yet, maybe. But look at what this would mean in the short run. You wouldn’t have to travel back and forth and worry about getting jet lag, you know, in your ovaries.”
She whipped around. “Seriously, Aidan? Jet lag in my ovaries?”
“Hey, I’m just repeating what you said.” He shook his head, knowing he sounded ridiculous. But it was too late to turn back now. “And another thing. On the off chance that the injections don’t take the first few times, you wouldn’t have to drag yourself back and forth from Atlanta.”
She didn’t say anything in response, but he could tell she was thinking about that one.
“Plus, you can stay here on the island,” he pointed out reasonably, “as you said you’d prefer to do. Plus, I’m right here to support you through it all.”
“Uh-huh,” she said softly.
“I did some reading,” he continued. “There’s often a lot of anxiety attached to this whole process. You need to be careful or you could sabotage yourself. You know, you could make yourself infertile or something.”
“First, you’re nuts,” she said, counting off with her fingers. “And second, you did some reading? That’s so sweet.”
He shrugged. “I’m your friend. I’m concerned.”
“You’re my boss. You don’t want me to go.”
“That’s secondary,” he insisted so strongly he almost convinced himself. “Your health and well-being are my main concern.”
She rolled her eyes. “Right. Look, I appreciate it and everything, but your idea would never work.”
He leaned closer. “Why, Ellie?”
She gazed back at him intently. “Because you don’t want a child.”
“But you do.”
“Yes, and I have a perfectly sensible and practical way to make it happen. And it doesn’t have anything to do with you.”
He drew a breath and changed tactics. “We’ve known each other a long time, right? We get along great. And hey, we’re in the same vicinity. So if you were, you know, ovulating and, you know, the time was right, all you’d have to do is call me and I’d be there for you.”
“You make it sound so romantic,” she said, patting her heart wryly.
“What? A turkey baster in some clinic is more romantic?” He chuckled. “Besides, this isn’t about romance, right? It’s about the baby you want. And it’s about your child knowing who his father is. Don’t you want that for him?”
“Him?”
“Ellie,” he said, “just think about it. This makes a lot of sense. I can have our lawyers write up a contract that spells out the terms for child support and whatever else you want it to say.”
She blinked at that. After a moment, she said, “I’m not sure I want you obligated to support my child.”
He’d never met a woman who didn’t want his money, but Ellie wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever known. He was still determined to provide support, though, but right now the exact terms didn’t matter. What mattered was that she would have the baby she wanted. And she would stay and continue to work for Sutherland, which Aidan wanted. And the deal would be done.
Just to be sure they were on the same page, he said, “I would want a clause that says you and the baby will stay and