Page 10 of Doctor Daddies

But it’s been a long time since I’ve allowed my mind to stray in that direction, and for good reason. No, it’s better for me to keep my head in the game, focused on what really matters here, than it is to get drawn into the what-ifs and maybes of how my life might have turned out if it hadn’t been for what happened to her.

The existence I’ve made for myself now is more than enough to make up for it. It’s more than I could ever have imagined laying claim to, at least in terms of wealth and influence. And yet…

And yet, sometimes, when I find myself lying alone here in bed, I can’t help but wonder if there’s a major part of life that I’m missing out on.

And just how I might go about filling that gap.

5

COLE

As I strideinto the office, I’m already running through every one of the protests Ross and James are going to hit me with when I tell them what I’ve done.

Because God knows there’s plenty of reason to second-guess this.

Even when I was up late last night, trawling through files and agencies and job postings, I knew that I was probably overstepping. Going after the woman the three of us were with all those years ago, in the hopes of convincing her to carry our child?

Yeah, even to me, that sounds pretty ridiculous.

But the thought has been nagging at my mind ever since the conversation we had at the bar. And I don’t know if it’s a good idea or not, but I want to get moving on this surrogacy thing. The sooner we can decide on someone who makes sense for it, the better.

And Millie is the closest we’ve come to agreeing on a woman before. God knows that Ross and I haven’t exactly been crazy inthe dating scene, but James has had his fair share of women, and not a single one of them would come close to doing the job. I want someone grounded, someone I like, someone I know I can get along with. And we might not know much about this woman, but we know that there’s something about her that all three of us like—and that might be the best we have to hang on to right now.

Ross and James are in the small meeting room at the end of the corridor, and I push open the door and step inside. They both look up from their coffees, and when they see the expression on my face, both of them raise their eyebrows expectantly.

I flick my tongue over my lips—no point holding back.

I put the papers down on the table before them. “I found her.”

“Found her?” James doesn’t even need to ask who it is I’m talking about. We all know—she’s the one woman who has permeated our entire relationship since the night we spent with her back in college.

I nod. “Millie. I found her.”

Ross pulls the papers toward him before I can say another word, his brow furrowing with obvious confusion. “How the hell did you do that?”

“I went through some temping agencies, figured that she might be doing work like that given that Matt mentioned she’s always going between jobs,” I point out. “And she’s signed up for one of them.” I tap the page before us, and both the guys lean in to get a better look.

Sure enough, there it is, a whole page dedicated to Millie—her smiling picture, an email, a phone number, and an agency formthrough which we could contact her if we wanted her for any kind of work.

“You shouldn’t have done this,” Ross tells me bluntly, looking back up at me and shaking his head. “This is invasive?—”

“The agency practically handed it out to me,” I reply, waving a hand. “I didn’t have to go digging that far to find it. She’s looking for work, she’s going to put herself out there any chance she gets, right?”

“Yeah, but this isn’t exactly the kind of work she put herself down for,” James mutters, as he squints down at her list of skills. “Doesn’t say a damn thing about surrogacy here, you know…”

“Yeah, well, we don’t have to figure that out now,” I reply. “I just wanted to let you know that I found her.”

“Yeah, and what would you have gone and found her for if it didn’t have anything to do with that conversation the other night?” Ross challenges me, practically daring me to contradict him and tell him that I don’t know what he’s talking about.

Truth is, of course, I know all too well what this means. The only reason she came up again between us was as a possible surrogate, and now here she is right in front of us. It’s far from coincidence, and even I can’t pretend otherwise.

“It looks as though she’s still searching for work,” I point out, sitting down opposite them. “We could reach out through the clinic, let her know that we’re a private agency looking for someone who would be willing to surrogate…”

“Oh, come on,” James replies, taking a sip of his coffee. “You realize how crazy this sounds, right? We haven’t spoken to this woman in years. And even if we had stayed in touch, it’s one hellof a leap from hooking up one time to asking her to carry our child…”

“Our children,” Ross corrects.

I look over at him in surprise. “What do you…?”