Bought by a Millionaire Read online

  Shaking her head, she took a backward step. “The restaurant is just a couple blocks from here. I’ll be fine.” Before he could try again, she turned and started in the opposite direction at a quick pace.

  She’d only gone about ten feet when his raised voice reached her ears. “I’ll call you. Soon.”

  She waved over her shoulder in acknowledgment without turning around, but thought to herself, I’ll bet you will.

  Burke marched anxiously along the narrow length of space between his desk and the wall of glass overlooking the street. When he reached the last window to his right, he checked his watch, did an about-face and continued to stalk.

  He should have heard from the doctor twenty minutes ago. Didn’t Shannon have a two o’clock appointment with Dr. Cox? Hadn’t the physician promised to have the test results less than an hour later?

  Yet, here it was, 3:11 p.m., and Burke’s phone had yet to ring.

  Bad enough that he’d cancelled all of his afternoon meetings in order to be available when the call came in, but Burke was far from being a patient man. He was too used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it. He didn’t appreciate being made to wait. The only reason he hadn’t shown up at this appointment the same as he had at the last one was to spare Shannon any additional discomfort.

  But a man could only take so much. This was his child they were talking about—if Shannon was, indeed, pregnant. He should be there while the tests were run.

  Fed up, he stopped mid-stride and picked up the phone, hitting the button that would dial Dr. Cox’s office directly. “This is Burke Bishop. Get Cox on the phone,” he ordered, ignoring the receptionist’s pleasant greeting.

  The woman didn’t argue, didn’t so much as ask why he was calling. She merely put him on hold while she buzzed the doctor.

  “Burke,” John Cox’s voice acknowledged affably.

  He began to say more, but Burke cut him off. “What the hell is taking so long?” he demanded. “You said you’d have the results by three. It is now three-fourteen.”

  “Calm down, Burke. We just had a minor setback.”

  “Setback? What kind of setback?”

  “If you’d give me a chance to answer, I could explain.” He said it with the confidence of a man who had known Burke Bishop for more years than either of them could count. A man who knew that, deep down, Burke’s bark was much worse than his bite.

  “Fine,” Burke answered in a stony, abrupt tone. “Explain.”

  “Miss Moriarty had a minor accident and was late for her appointment. Because of that, things are running a bit behind. She’s waiting out front, and if you hadn’t interrupted, we would probably be done by now. You’re postponing your own test results, Burke. So do you want to—”

  At the first mention of Shannon being hurt, Burke tensed. “What kind of accident?”

  “Nothing serious,” the doctor assured. “Just a few bumps and maybe a bruise by morning.”

  “What the hell happened?” He wanted details, and he wanted them now.

  “She didn’t tell me the whole story, but from what I gathered, she was hit by an inline skater.”

  “A what?”

  “An inline skater. You know, they’re like roller skates only—”

  “I know what they are,” he snapped.

  “Well, she was on campus, walking home after a morning class, when someone on Rollerblades crashed into her.”

  Burke muttered a rather rude expletive under his breath. “Is she all right?” he asked.

  “Fit as a fiddle. A little nervous, but I guess that’s to be expected.”

  “Nervous? The jerk didn’t hit her that hard, did he?” His hand moved toward the intercom button, ready to have his secretary call the police and hunt this guy down, if necessary.

  “Not about the accident, Burke. She’s nervous about the test.”

  The test. In his concern for Shannon, he’d nearly forgotten his reason for calling.

  “But she’s all right?” he asked again, needing to hear the doctor’s reassurances one more time.

  “She’s fine. And she’s waiting. So if you’re finished chastising me for my tardiness, I’d like to get back to my patient.”

  “Is she staying for the results?” Burke asked.

  “I think she mentioned waiting around, but I’m not sure. Why?”

  “I’m on my way over. Tell her not to leave.”

  “I’m not going to hold her hostage, Burke,” John said, a trace of humor in his voice. “But if you hurry, she should still be here.”

  Knowing that it took a good fifteen minutes to get to Cox’s clinic in downtown traffic, Burke hung up without another word and strode out of his office. He instructed his assistant to call for the limo, then took the elevator to the basement level. He tapped his foot against the concrete as his driver brought the car to the front of the underground parking garage, impatient to find out whether he was about to become a father.

  Faint traces of humiliation still warmed Shannon’s face, her brow, her neck, even her fingertips. So far today, she’d been dizzy and nauseated, run over by a skating classmate, stuck in the arm with a hollow needle, peed in a cup, and had a most delightful pelvic exam. Life just didn’t get any better than this.

  The heavy sarcasm of her thoughts paled the crimson of her cheeks a bit and kept her mind off the fact that her embarrassment wasn’t over yet.

  Just then, the doctor gave her leg a pat and told her to sit up. “You can get dressed now. As soon as I have the test results, I’ll let you know. Until then, you’re welcome to wait in the reception area.”

  Gathering her clothes and purse, she dressed and made her way out of the examination room and back down the carpeted hall. The waiting room was filled with other patients, at least a dozen women in all. Some tall and thin, some a little plumper, and some obviously in the late stages of pregnancy.

  She swallowed, another small wave of nausea washing over her at the thought of reaching that point on her own one day. Possibly one day very, very soon.

  Shannon considered leaving. Going home and letting the doctor call to let her know the test results. But he’d said it would only be a few minutes, so she might as well stick around to see whether her life was about to change irrevocably.

  Digging into her bag, she removed one of her textbooks and a writing tablet, and began making notes for the next day’s class. She’d been reading for several minutes when she noticed a strange hush fall over the room. Except for the mumbled voices of the television mounted to the wall, all chitchat had come to a stop. Not even the flutter of magazine pages marred the near perfect silence.

  She raised her head and glanced around, wondering what had caused such an odd reaction from the other women.

  And then she saw him.

  Standing at the check-in window, Burke was leaning forward, speaking to the receptionist in a low voice. She would recognize him anywhere, even in the long, black overcoat, with only his polished shoes and ebony hair visible from the back.

  A second later, he turned and his gaze zeroed in on her like a heat-seeking missile. And suddenly, she understood why everyone had grown stone quiet. She found herself falling speechless around him, too.

  Even if his picture hadn’t been on the covers of countless papers and magazines over the past few years, he still would have stopped traffic. He was just so…imposing.

  As he crossed the room in her direction, she swallowed hard and the book on her lap slid from her limp fingers to the floor. She started to bend forward to retrieve it, but Burke reached down first, the muscles in his arms and thighs rippling with the movement.

  “I think you dropped this.”

  “Thank you,” she said, licking her lips and forcing herself to meet his eyes.

  He pointed to the space beside her on the narrow, padded bench, ignoring the curious stares he was getting from the other women. Obviously, he was used to being watched.

  “Do you mind?”

  “Not at all.” Sh
e couldn’t possibly refuse him, so she shifted more to the side and moved her oversize purse to the floor.

  “How are you feeling?”

  His question caught her off guard, and as she raised her head to look at him, she wondered if Dr. Cox had told him about her little dizzy spell earlier.

  “Fine,” she answered, even as she felt a warm flush creep over her cheekbones.

  “No broken bones, I hear.”

  Shannon frowned in confusion. And then her slight blush turned into a full-blown bush fire. Apparently, the doctor had filled him in on more than just her recent health concerns. He’d also told Burke about her run-in—literally—with the inline skater.

  “No. No broken bones,” she admitted, suppressing her self-consciousness. “Just a bruised ego. Besides, it never would have happened if I’d moved all the way off the sidewalk to be sick.”

  In a blink, he had turned to face her. His big hands, with their tanned fingers and neatly trimmed nails, gripped her shoulders. Not tightly, but securely. And his dark brows were drawn together in concern. “You were sick?”

  Oops. Maybe Dr. Cox hadn’t told him everything about her day.

  “Only for a few minutes. It passed, I’m fine now.”

  “Did you tell the doctor? What did he say?”

  If possible, she was becoming even more nervous than usual in his presence. It wasn’t only the serious, almost worried, expression on his face. Or the fact that he had every right to know the details of how she was feeling and what the cause might be.

  No, the quiver in her stomach and clamminess of her skin were caused entirely by the heat of his hands still cupping her shoulders, seeping through the light knit of her butternut-yellow sweater to her skin.

  How was it possible to be sexually attracted to the man who had hired her to be a surrogate mother for his child? And why in heaven’s name couldn’t she have met Chicago’s most eligible bachelor at a different time, under different circumstances? At least then, she might be able to follow through on these feelings and fireworks coursing through her system without guilt or the risk of violating a legal and binding contract.

  Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to pull away, to break his almost mesmerizing hold on her.

  “I told Dr. Cox. He didn’t seem to think it was a big deal.”

  “It’s a very big deal.” His tone was sharp, his lips thinned in annoyance. “Especially under the current circumstances.”

  With a sigh, he straightened and then relaxed against the spindled back of the bench. “Maybe you should tell me everything that happened. From the beginning.”

  “It’s not the most flattering moment of my life,” she began, resigned to sharing the details of her day before he would let the subject drop. “On the way here after classes, I started feeling a little light-headed and nauseous. The only thing I could think of was to put my head between my knees until it passed.” Her mouth twisted in a self-deprecating grin. “Next time, I’ll remember to sit down first.”

  One of Burke’s slate-gray eyes narrowed while the other widened, the brow quirking amusingly. “You mean to say you pretty much doubled over in the middle of the sidewalk.”

  That darn heat and color sensation began to fill her cheeks again. “Pretty much.”

  He lifted his hand to cover a cough, and she got the distinct impression he was trying not to laugh.

  It was funny, when she thought about it. Especially the part where the young man on Rollerblades—wearing black spandex shorts, a white helmet, and a bulky jacket made up of neon yellow, pink, green, purple and blue—ran into her. He’d gone flying, she’d gone sprawling, and half a dozen other students had burst into laughter at what must have looked like part of a circus act.

  “But you weren’t hurt?” Burke wanted to know. “No scrapes or scratches or broken bones?”

  “No. Surprisingly enough, I escaped completely unscathed. I’m not sure about the skater, though. He may be scarred for life.”

  He chuckled. Actually chuckled. The sound startled her so much, she jumped.

  She’d never heard him laugh before. Had barely seen him crack a smile. He was always so serious and businesslike. But she liked it when his lips curved upwards, when something struck him as funny and amusement rumbled out deep and masculine.

  She might even like it, she mused, too much.

  When the nurse came out and called her name, Shannon breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness for an interruption to her wayward thoughts.

  Grabbing her purse from the floor, she started across the room. Burke rose with her, following with a hand at the small of her back.

  Little shock waves of awareness rippled out from where his fingers rested. Her heart sped up, her breathing slowed and she was mortified to realize that her nipples were beginning to bead.

  Oh, Lord.

  Dr. Cox ushered them into his office, waved them toward two chairs in front of his desk and then took a seat himself.

  The sexual attraction of a moment ago slipped away as she watched the doctor’s face. Suspense built, winding around every bone and muscle until her entire body was as taut as a piano wire.

  “Are you ready to hear the test results?” Cox asked.

  Burke’s grip tightened on the arms of his chair, the skin around his nails turning white. She almost expected to hear a growl work its way up from his throat. Her own hands were clammy where they clutched the thick black wool of her skirt.

  When Burke spoke, it was in a low, menacing voice that proved to Shannon exactly why he was so successful in the boardroom. “Tell me. Now.”

  But Dr. Cox didn’t seem the least bit intimidated. He only grinned, making a great show of opening her file and shuffling the pages. To draw out the moment and put her even more on edge, she was sure.

  “John…” Burke growled.

  “All right, all right,” Cox acquiesced.

  Her entire body was so tense, her breathing so shallow, that she nearly yelped when she felt Burke’s long fingers reach out and wrap around her own. As it was, she jerked like a snake-bite victim and had to consciously return her pulse rate to normal. Staring straight ahead at Dr. Cox, he either ignored or didn’t notice her reaction, keeping her hand wrapped securely within his own.

  “Shannon. Burke,” the doctor said slowly. “Congratulations, you’re pregnant.”

  Three

  If Shannon hadn’t been sitting, she would have fallen to the floor. This was the news they’d been waiting for, the news they’d expected, and yet she found it hard to believe it was true. That there was actually a child now growing inside of her.

  Burke Bishop’s child.

  She tilted her head and saw that he was positively glowing—if a man could be described in such a way. His straight white teeth flashed an ear-to-ear smile, his eyes gleamed with undiluted pleasure.

  “That explains the dizziness and nausea,” she commented softly.

  “Yes,” Dr. Cox said. “The levels of morning sickness vary. Some women begin feeling sick almost from the day of conception right up through delivery. Others barely suffer at all. When you described your symptoms, I suspected the tests would come back positive, but I wanted to run them anyway to be sure.” One side of his mouth lifted in a wry grin. “I also knew Burke would want absolute proof and not just a hunch based on my twenty-five years of experience. There’s no doubt about it, you’re definitely pregnant.

  “You’re also very lucky,” he continued. “Insemination doesn’t always take on the first try. But you’re young, in perfect health and probably very fertile.”

  “I knew I picked the right woman.” Burke pulled her arm toward him and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. “Now what?” he asked.

  “Now,” the doctor said, “you go home. Shannon, you should take it easy until your next appointment in three weeks. You can still participate in all your regular activities, but if you start to feel faint or nauseous, lie down. Those sorts of symptoms are typical in the first trimester. Try some cr
ackers and hot tea—decaffeinated, of course—if you experience morning sickness. And you’ll likely be more tired than usual, so don’t press yourself. Go to bed early and take naps whenever the mood strikes. Understand?”

  She nodded, still reeling. And the worst part was that she couldn’t decide which shocked her more—Dr. Cox’s news or the fact that Burke’s warm, soft lips had just brushed against her skin.

  “I’m going to prescribe prenatal vitamins, but that’s no excuse not to eat well. Lots of fruits, vegetables and dairy products, especially milk.” He smiled. “And I realize you do plenty of walking to classes and such, but I’m still going to have the nurse give you a list of exercises you can do at home. Any questions?”

  Shannon thought, but her brain didn’t seem to function. Her mind was still spinning, and her stomach felt queasy—more from nerves, this time, than her newfound pregnancy.

  “I can’t think of anything,” she replied with a shake of her head. She’d checked out several books about pregnancy from the library, which would help, and she could always call Dr. Cox’s office if she needed to know anything before her next visit.

  “What about you, Burke? Any questions?”

  His brain was obviously functioning much better than hers. He responded so quickly he’d obviously been waiting his turn. “When is the baby due?”

  Dr. Cox smiled. “June fifteenth. There’s always a chance the child could come a little early or a little late, but since we know the exact date of conception, the timing should be fairly accurate.”

  “June fifteenth,” Burke repeated in a hushed voice. “Father’s Day.”

  Burke strode into his apartment, grinning like an idiot. He shrugged out of his overcoat and suit jacket, tossing them over the back of the sofa as he stepped into the sunken living room.

  She was pregnant. Shannon was carrying his child, and he hadn’t stopped smiling since the doctor told them. Not even when Shannon had refused to let him see her home, opting to take the El instead. Not even when he’d leaned over and pressed a big, wet kiss on the doorman’s cheek, only to have the fellow stare at him as though he’d just been released from a mental institution.