Page 9 of The Baby Bargain
It's fucking perfect on you.
Her eyes bore into mine. "A favor. But you have to promise not to tell anyone."
I try to find a no. Or better yetI really like you, Ariel, but I don't think this is appropriate for our relationship.
Instead, I stare back into her eyes. "Shoot."
Chapter Three
Ariel
Will you help me get pregnant?
No. That's too obvious. And it's not what I'm asking either.
Chase is a good guy. He's tall—like ridiculously tall. Like our hypothetical kids would be basketball players.
Heisa basketball player.
God, the day he and Forest celebrated over making the varsity team, and Chase had too much cheap vodka, and he hugged me like he wanted me, like he loved me—
That's exactly why Chase isn't an option.
Sure, I'm a grown woman. I'm over my schoolgirl crush. But he's so handsome. And sweet.
Maybe sweet isn't the right word. Chase is like… he's like the ice princess inFrozen. He has a supernatural ability to push people away or cut them down with his stare.
"Ariel?" Chase's blue eyes fix on me. They're deep and clear. They're beautiful.
Mom had blue eyes.
Maybe I carry the recessive gene.
Maybe our daughter would have blue eyes. And I'd be as evil as Mom and name her after ice princess Elsa.
The ocean princess and the ice princess.
It's kind of adorable.
Ahem.
I like Chase. A lot. So much that I want him to continue breathing. If Forest found out Chase and I slept together, that Chase got me pregnant—
My baby daddy would be dead before he hit the ground.
I'm already thinkingbaby daddy. How ridiculous.
"Remember when you were a kid?" His voice lifts to some tone I can't place. (Which is normal. I'm terrible at placing tones).
"What specifically?" I suck another sip of Moscow Mule from my straw. Spicy ginger, crisp vodka, tart lime, sweet liquor.
"The birthday where Holden bought you aLittle Mermaidcostume?"
I stick my tongue out. Before Mom got sick, my family enjoyed how much I hated my name. They teased. Constantly.
Chase chuckles. "He convinced you to put it on."
"Mom's smile convinced me to put it on." It did a bunch of times. She loved when I dressed asthatAriel. The Halloween before she died—
