Page 16 of Doctor Daddies

“Holy shit,” Cole mutters, and he springs to his feet. “Holy shit, Millie. You mean that?”

“Yes, I mean that,” she replies, managing another smile, though this one looks a little less strained than the one before. “I know it might sound crazy, but…” She shakes her head. “That money would make everything better,” she confesses. “And if I could earn it while I helped you guys make yourselves a family, even better, right?”

James is on his feet now too, and he goes around the table to embrace her.

For my part, all I can do is sit here as I try to take it in. Holy fucking hell. This is actually happening. I didn’t believe, in a million years, that she would even consider saying yes. But here she is, sitting in front of us, telling us that she wants to go through with it. I can hardly believe what I’m hearing.

I’m going to be a father.

It hits me like a ton of bricks in the best way possible, the shock of that revelation. It’s something I’ve wanted for so long, something I’ve never even really allowed myself to contend with the possibility of. But here I am, sitting opposite the woman who has just agreed to carry my children.

And as she looks up at me from under James’s arm, I can see a look of slight concern on her face—clearly waiting for some kind of reaction, something to confirm that I’m as on board with this as the rest of them.

I get up and go to her, and pull her into my arms. And as I breathe in the scent of her, I realize that this is exactly what I wanted. What I hardly even allowed myself to think might be a possibility, it’s now unfolding right here in front of me.

With the woman who has been living rent-free in my mind for the better part of the last decade.

8

MILLIE

As the trainrumbles below me, carrying me across the city and back to my apartment, I pull out the contracts and cast one more look over them.

I still can’t believe I’m doing this. It feels like it might be happening to someone else entirely, with how distant this feels from my own experience. I can’t believe I’ve actually gone and done it, gone and accepted the offer, signed the contracts to put this whole thing in motion.

Especially knowing that it’sthem.The three of them making this offer, as ridiculous as I know that is. Because how in the name of God could they have tracked me down and decided that I’m the one they want to carry their children?

I guess with the amount of money and influence and power they have in this city, they could have had anyone they wanted, but what was it that James said? That there weren’t many women they could agree on, but I was one of them…?

God, that does things to me I’d rather not admit to. There’s something about knowing the desire they have for me, knowingthe attraction that still lingers there after all these years, that makes it hard for me to make good decisions.

And I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t an influencing factor in my choice to sign these papers, even though I can see what an abjectly crazy idea such a thing would be. Because I don’t want to be apart from them again so soon, not when I’ve just found them—and I’m willing to do just about anything to make sure that happens.

Plus…the money.

A million dollars will be put into my bank account the month after this contract is signed, which means that I will soon be a whole lot richer. My heart skips a beat at the thought. I don’t want to seem superficial, but God, this is the most exciting part of it for me. Knowing that I’ll be able to provide for Lewis…

I don’t know how I’m going to break the news to him as to what exactly I’m doing with my life right now, but honestly, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. All that matters is that I’ll be able to get him in with any specialist I want, and make sure he gets the treatment he so obviously needs.

The guys have tried to convince me that Matt will be alright with this, but I’m not entirely convinced by that yet. I mean, at the end of the day, he’s still my brother, and no matter how they try and convince me that he’ll see sense and understand that this is nothing more than a business transaction, I doubt he’s going to take it well. My brother is open-minded in a lot of ways, but he’s still crazy-protective about me and Lewis, and I don’t know if that will extend to protesting what I’m about to do here.

But at the end of the day, this is my body. I can choose to do with it anything I want to.

I run through everything they said to me, telling me how I’ll have the very best medical treatment available, that I’ll be cared for in every way they are capable of. I might not know them well, but there was a sincerity to that part of the conversation that convinced me they must be telling the truth.

And besides…it’s not like I haven’t trusted these men with my body before.

I cross and uncross my legs, shifting on my seat among the commuters as I think about the way Ross hugged me before I signed the contracts. Sure, I know that he’s excited at the prospect of being a father, but there seemed to be something more to it than that. Like he was breathing in the scent of me, reminding himself of just how much he enjoys being close to me.

Wishful thinking, no doubt.

Though, by the sounds of it, all of them are single. Which brings a few more questions to mind—like how three handsome, rich, successful men in their thirties in New York haven’t found a single woman to settle down with. It could have just be that they’ve been so focused on their careers that they never had time for their personal lives, or maybe they’re just defective in some profound way that I haven’t figured out yet.

Or maybe, like me, they have never been able to match the sheer, seething thrill of that night we spent together.

But there is something that came from that night. Something that I have not discussed with them yet, but that I know will have to come up at some point. The fact that I’ve already been pregnant—and that the child is one of theirs.

There’s some reckless part of me that hopes it all comes out during this process. Which I know is stupid, but then—thiswhole thing is a huge ask, right? And I’m going to be using this money for my son anyway. If it puts him in contact with his biological father, then that has to be good in the long run.