Unexpected Turn Read online

  “You won’t,” he answers confidently.

  Too confident. I want to knock the cocky look off his face, but he’s right. I’m not going to turn him down, but it doesn’t mean I won’t make him work for it first. “I don’t know. I think you can do better than a bunch of fruit,” I tease.

  “Right you are,” he says before filling the space between us and kissing me deep. I’m shocked at first and I don’t react, but quickly I get over it and open my mouth to him. His kiss is just as cocky as he is as he transports me to another world. I stop questioning any of this insanity and just go with the flow as I circle my arms around his neck. Our tongues battle it out, but it’s all too clear he’s going to be the winner. I had already lost before he kissed me.

  Pulling back, he says in a husky voice, “Go to the ball with me?”

  “Yes,” I reply. All the fight in me has left. Besides, didn’t I say I was going to defy McHottie? As if my thoughts alone summons him, Grayson walks in, eyeing us both with his usual scowl on his face.

  “Jade, what are you still doing here?” he asks me, but it’s Tyson he’s looking at or is it our matching swollen lips?

  “Jade had some last minute work to do for me,” Tyson answers smoothly.

  “Are you finished?” Grayson asks with clenched teeth, finally turning to look at me. We get into an epic stare down where he tries to read my mind, making me feel like we’re playing the blinking game.

  “Yeah, I’m done,” I answer. My words have meaning and I hope McHottie is smart enough to catch on. I’m not a toy and I refuse to be fought over.

  “Let me help you take your fruit out to the car,” Tyson volunteers and I break the stare down with Grayson.

  “You don’t have to go to the trouble. I can help her,” Grayson interjects and Tyson immediately shakes his head.

  “I got it. I know you’re a busy man.” With those words, Tyson grabs the arrangement with one hand and holds his other for me to take. I do so as I give Grayson a pointed look. I’ve made my move, making it clear he’s not the king I’m protecting. The game is all about the queen and it’s me I’m looking out for.

  Once we get to the car, Tyson places the fruit arrangement in my passenger seat and even goes as far as to buckle it in. When he’s done, he walks over to the driver side and leans in. “You know, I can follow you home and help you bring it inside.”

  “I think I got it from here,” I say, patting myself on the back that I didn’t cave.

  He smirks before leaning over and kissing me lightly. “Be safe,” he says before closing the door and striding away. Oh man, I’m in big trouble. I don’t know what it’s like to be persuaded by Tyson Garfield, but what I do know is that by the end of this, I’ll be completely wrecked.

  Grayson

  “What do you expect to gain by messing with my surrogate?” I confront Tyson as soon as he strolls back in the office. I know he’s the one who sent Jade the fruit basket. It’s his MO. He’ll send women pretty little gifts here and there, go on a couple of dates until he gets what he wants. Then he’ll fuck them and leave them without another word. That isn’t what I want for Jade. She deserves better than that.

  “The question you should be asking is, why do you care? For someone who is just your surrogate, you’re awfully invested in her. Shouldn’t you be looking after your wife?” he asks, raising his brow.

  “I’m invested because she’s carrying my child, and I don’t need you stressing her out,” I yell. I’m glad everyone is gone home and it’s just him and I.

  “Are you sure that’s all it is? I’ve seen the way you look at her. The same way I look at her, like you can’t wait to ravish her.”

  “You’re delusional. I’ve already told you why I’m invested in Jade, and just like you said, I have a wife to look after. I don’t think Nichole will take it well that our surrogate lost our child from stress because you fucked her and threw her away like day old mail. That’s why Nichole wrote that no dating clause in our contract. To prevent shit like that from happening.”

  “Oh, I know all about your little contract,” he sneers.

  “What the hell does that mean?” I growl. I was starting to get even more pissed over his cocky attitude. Why can’t he just leave Jade alone? There’s plenty of fish that wouldn’t mind dipping in his pond.

  “Don’t you want to know why it took so long for me to pursue Jade?” he asks with a cheshire smile on his face, and I couldn’t help feeling like I’m walking into a trap.

  “Not particularly,” I lie.

  “Grayson, you make a fantastic lawyer, but I can tell when you’re lying. But fret not, I won’t leave you in the dark for long. You see, I was curious about your little arrangement, so I sent my people to investigate. Imagine my surprise when they came back reporting you’re not a client at the fertility clinic here in New York. I was even more surprised to learn that Jade isn’t even employed by them, that she didn’t pass the initial screening process.”

  “So? I never said we were using an agency. My wife met Jade, she liked her, and hired her, end of story,” I reply. I will not show weakness. Like all the lawyers here, Tyson is a shark and can smell blood in the water.

  “Are you still going with that? Since you’re not a client and Jade isn’t an employee, the people at the fertility clinic were real chatty, for the right price that is. I know what you and your wife asked for.” At his words, my skin grows cold as all the blood drains from my body. What the fuck? I’m going to sue the shit out of those assholes for breach of privacy.

  “You might want to cancel that thought. You can’t do shit to them. It’s not like they were under contract to protect your privacy, but rest assured, they are now. I rather not have Jade ruined by your mess.”

  “Why? Why do you even care? You still haven’t answered that.”

  “I have my reasons and none of them involve you, but if you get in my way, or detour Jade from me in any way, I will reveal your little secret and tell everyone just how that baby in Jade’s stomach was conceived.”

  “Do that and Jade will never forgive you,” I retort.

  “I’m betting on the fact that it won’t come to that. That even if you don’t care about your own reputation, you do, on the other hand, value your wife’s over anything else. I know it’s her that’s driving this bus, the one calling the shots.”

  He had me and he knows it. He’s also right. I don’t give a shit what people say about me, but Nichole is another story. She’s my Achilles heel. I don’t say shit else to the prick in fear I’d punch him in the face. Instead, I ball up my fist at my side, turn, and walk away. Halfway to my office, I hear him say, “Grayson, this isn’t an idle threat.” No shit Sherlock. I know it’s not.

  At my desk, I pull out my bottle of expensive scotch. Elbows on my table, I run my hands through my hair. This shit show Nichole has put me in is starting to go downhill fast, resembling more of a circus and I’m the dancing monkey. Slowly, I drink my drink as I ponder a way out of this mess. Truthfully the cards are all in Jade’s hands. She’s the one with all the power. Hopefully she’ll be able to see Tyson for the snake he is, or if not, be prepared because his bite is poison.

  14

  Nichole

  As I hurl my guts out into the toilet, I think to when I was healthy and whole. Most of my thoughts are of Grayson and how I stalked him in college. He always had girls following him around, enamored by his beauty. He was the total package; rich, good looking, and driven. You just knew he was going to be somebody, but unlike those girls, I knew Grayson Hastings well. We grew up in the same well-to-do circles, but he never saw me like he didn’t see them. All Grayson cared about was the end game. Graduating Harvard at the top of his class and landing a lucrative position into a leading law firm in New York. Only once he achieved those things would he turn his eyes on the opposite sex. Until then, no pussy would thwart him off his path. If I wanted to get his attention, I had to beat him at his own game.

  Taking a drastic lea
p of faith, I switched my studies from prosecuting law and took on the path of being a defender, and as it turned out, I was very good at it. In the beginning, I was only mediocre, stuck somewhere in the middle, but after a few months, I was one of the big dogs at the top, vying for the attention of the recruiters that came by looking for their golden ticket to bring into their fold. It took one debate for my dreams to come true. During the midterm debates, I went against the golden boy and annihilated him. After that, Grayson’s big grey eyes were wide open and they were focused on me.

  When I hear the beep of the alarm from the front door opening, I quickly flush the toilet, strip, and jump into the shower. Turning the water all the way to the hot side, the bathroom quickly fills with steam.

  “Nichole, are you in here?” I hear him call from the bedroom.

  When he comes into the bathroom, he pulls the curtain open and his grey gaze lands on my naked body. I’ve always been thin, but due to my sickness, I was even thinner. It never mattered how much I ate, I could never gain the weight I lost back. To me, I thought I resembled a skeleton with barely there breasts, and dried up insides. To my husband, I’m still the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on, no matter how much weight I lose. He tells me this everyday, but still I don’t believe him. I thought giving him to Jade would make him stop. Make him see just what he’s missing, but his loyalty to me is never ending and it annoys the hell out of me. I don’t want to be wanted. If so, I’ll be missed and the last thing I want to do is fill Grayson with grief after I die. He needs to be able to go on with his life without me in it. Just like he strived to work his ass off to have the dream life, those same high expectations didn’t stop at his chosen wife. I don’t want him to ever think he failed.

  I know, with the assistance of the steam, color has been added to my skin so now I don’t look as sickly as I did when I was puking my guts into the toilet. “Is there something wrong?” I ask.

  “Can’t I want to look at my wife?” he counters. Always the lawyer with this one, but just like in college, I will win this debate.

  “You can, but I can tell there’s something on your mind. Come on, Grayson, spill it,” I say as I turn the shower off. He steps aside so I can step out and hands me a towel. I take it, grateful, wrapping it around my thin body.

  He sighs loudly before speaking. “Fine, you’re right, there is something on my mind.”

  “Okay,” I prod.

  “It’s Tyson; he’s going to be a problem.”

  “Garfield’s son again. I thought we went through this. Jade kindly told him about the clause in the contract she signed; he should be leaving her alone.”

  “Well, he isn’t. He sent her this huge fruit basket at work and probably asked her to the ball that’s coming up.”

  “Then kindly tell him that’s out of the question. Jade is pregnant now. She doesn’t need the added stress of Tyson Garfield and his groupies. They will be on her like killer red ants on honey once they find out Jade isn’t high society.”

  “It’s not that simple; he knows,” he says and my brain stops.

  “What do you mean he knows? What does he know? Who told him? Jade?” My mind is filled with a barrage of questions.

  “No, turns out he’s been biding his time, paying people to find out just the right information to stop us in our tracks. He threatened to expose us if I deter Jade from him.”

  “Now that is a problem. We should have known better after the fertility clinic easily handed over Jade’s records. We were careless and now we’re paying for it.”

  “I don’t care what he says about me, but it’s you I’m worried about.”

  “What about Jade? If he really cares for her, why would he want to expose her? The sharks will crucify her like a bunch of heretics. You both will lose your jobs and her reputation will be ruined.”

  “I don’t think he cares for her. This is all a game to him. One he doesn’t plan to stop playing until he wins his prize,” Grayson tells me and I know he’s right. Jade is probably the only woman to ever tell Tyson no and not fall into his lap. He won’t stop until he breaks her for daring to turn him down and throw her out with the trash. I hate that it’s our fault we even put her on his radar. We should have found her a job somewhere else, but I wanted her within Grayson’s reach at all times. Now I’m paying for my selfishness.

  “What can we do?” I ask.

  “There’s nothing we can do. The ball is entirely in Jade’s court. We can only hope those street smarts of hers kick in and she sees Tyson for the snake he is.”

  “And if she doesn’t?” I question.

  “Then be prepared to get bitten,” he answers solemnly.

  What a mess. Leaving Grayson in the bathroom, I change into my sleeping gown and go downstairs to my reading nook. Pulling out one of the books on the shelf, I take a pill from the bottle I have hidden there. Since the incident in the bathroom where Grayson questioned the pill bottle in my hand, I have since hidden my meds. I can’t risk him catching me taking them. I don’t even need water anymore as I swallow the tablet down. Curling up in my favorite chair, I wait for the pill to take effect before dozing off. Before the night is over, Grayson will find me and carry me back to bed, but until then, I’ll let the drug do its job as I bliss out in peace.

  15

  Jade

  Work has been tense and that’s putting it mildly. Grayson has magically reverted back to not speaking to me, even going as far as to avoid me if he sees me in the halls. He’s even forgotten how to use the standard pleasantries driven into him from his uppity upbringing as he says nothing to me when he comes in, in the mornings or when he leaves in the evenings. I also haven’t heard a peep out of Nichole, which in itself is strange. No phone call, no random gift left at my door, no invitations to lunch, nothing. The line has long gone cold as I wait on hold. Are they both really that mad about Tyson? I thought after the day the fruit arrangement showed up, I’d find Grayson at my doorstep to lecture me. Giving me another spiel of how I’m his and to tell Tyson to fuck off. That didn’t happen and I hate to admit I’m a little disappointed. Apparently, it wasn’t hard to shuck the toy away to the bottom of the toy box when it wasn’t as shiny to him anymore. I feel just like Buzz and Woody when Andy outgrew them.

  Tyson, on the other hand, has been McHottie’s total opposite. He finds ways to touch me every chance he gets or just comes to speak to me for no reason. Each day, a new gift arrives, more expensive than the previous, like he’s trying to up his own gift giving. They were all starting to get a bit ridiculous and I wanted to tell him to stop, but I knew he wouldn’t listen to me if I did. Also, every night he’s here, he’ll escort me to my car leaving me with a soft kiss goodbye. Nothing like the intense one we shared in the office, but still nice. I've even been to lunch with him a couple of times, and can I say, nothing turns heads like a woman on Tyson Garfield’s arm. I even saw my pic in a gossip mag, if you can believe that, as the new love in his life. Someone needs to tell TMZ that this is lust. Tyson is incapable of love, and well, I’m lonely. Having a man like him pay me attention is flattering.

  McHottie isn’t the only one giving me the cold shoulder, so is Robert. I should have known him saying he'd wait on me was complete bullshit. It’s not like we are a thang or had any commitments to one another, but he could have had the decency to tell me he changed his mind. I get it. I’m not exactly prime real estate and I come with a shit load of complications. Men don’t do complicated. It was probably for the best anyways; he did have a gym bunny stalker after him. My side still has a phantom ache everytime I think about her. To let him off the hook, I’ve changed my trainer like Grayson wanted. Tonight, I will be working with someone new.

  “Hey, gorgeous, how about dinner tonight?” Tyson says, strolling over with his usual confident gait.

  “Can’t, I have plans,” I tell him vaguely.

  “Plans doing what and with whom?” he asks, losing the smile on his face.

  “Why, Tyson, I do be
lieve you’re jealous,” I tease, putting on a strong Southern Scarlet O’Hera, accent.

  “I’m not jealous. Can’t I wonder who my girl is spending her nights with?”

  “I’m not your girl,” I counter.

  “Ah, but according to TMZ and US Weekly you are.”

  “Who even believes that trash? It’s false news,” I scoff.

  “False or not, it’s still headlining news, which makes it believable. Now quit stalling and tell me who I need to kill.”

  “No one, you dope. I have a session tonight at the gym with my personal trainer. I work out three nights a week, sometimes more. It all depends on how I feel.”

  “Interesting. Is that part of your obligations to the Hastings as well?”

  “Yeah. I guess they don’t want a fatty for a surrogate. Why?” I ask curious.

  “No reason,” he answers quickly, which makes me even more suspicious.

  “You never ask anything without reason. Spit it out, what are you hiding?”

  "You think you know me so well, baby girl.”

  “How many nicknames do you have for me? Pick one and leave it at that,” I huff momentarily getting sidetracked, but when I realize my mistake, I narrow my eyes on him. “Spill,” I demand.

  “So pushy. Are you this way in bed too? Do I need to worry about you tying me up and having your wicked way with me?”

  “Tyson,” I growl.

  “Yes, buttercup.”

  “Tyson,” I shout loud enough for those in the waiting area to give me a dirty look until they see Tyson and they quickly recover from their holier-than-thou rudeness.

  “Fine, baby girl, you win. Don’t you find all these stipulations the Hastings have odd? I mean, I know nothing about the comings and goings of surrogates, but I do know contracts and you seem to have one doozy of one.”