Noah stared in utter disbelief. "You’re hiring someone to
what?"
Sami erupted from her chair. Why did he look so shocked? He said he’d
been hired by her mother, that Babe knew about the ad. So why the sudden
outrage? "To father my baby, of course. Isn’t that what we’ve been
discussing all this time?"
"It may have been what you were discussing, but—"
She attempted to walk off some of her agitation, the chatter of her
bracelets drowning out his words. "Don’t you understand? I chose this method
because a clinic is so...so clinical. It’s impersonal. I think
that’s terrible! Having a baby shouldn’t be a clinical process. And it
shouldn’t be impersonal." She helped herself to another square of chocolate,
savoring the creamy texture as it melted on her tongue. She instantly felt
calmer. She held out the box. "Would you like one?"
"No. What I’d like is an explanation."
"You don’t know what you’re missing." Clearly the man had no appreciation
for the finer epicurean treats in life. "I want to know all about the man
who will father my son or daughter. I want to know what sort of genes will
be combining with mine. What he looks like, what he thinks about, whether he
has more than two brain cells rattling around in his skull."
"Whoa! Time out." He added something beneath his breath, a ferocious slew
of words she was better off not attempting to decipher.
She planted her hands on her hips and swiveled to face him. "What’s
wrong?"
"Is that what all those men in the hallway are for?"
"Of course."
"You’re looking for someone to father your baby?"
Her frown deepened. "Maybe I should also schedule a psychological exam,
just to play it safe."
"I suggest you schedule one for yourself, as well."
He climbed to his feet, towering over her. Maybe it was his penchant for
wearing black she found intimidating. Really, couldn’t he have softened the
effect with a bit of lemony-yellow or peachy-coral? Or perhaps it wasn’t the
intense black at all, but the way his shirt stretched over impressively
broad shoulders and clung to powerful thighs. Or maybe it was the manner in
which he fixed those piercing gray eyes on her. It took every ounce of
self-possession not to squirm like a schoolgirl. She hadn’t felt this way
since... Since... Well, good grief. Come to think of it, she’d never
felt this way.
"Have you lost your mind?" he demanded.
As far as she was concerned, there was no question about it. She scowled.
"I suspect I have. Maybe if you moved all—" She gestured at the muscular
wall of black blocking her path. "All that further away, I
could think straight."
His eyebrow—his black eyebrow—shot upward. Amusement dimmed
the anger glittering in his gaze. "Am I standing too close?" he asked
blandly.
"Yes. To be honest, I’m typically one of those people with little to no
sense of personal space. But with you..." She shook her head. "I may have to
install a buffer zone."
He took a deliberate step backward. "Better?"
"Much thanks."
"Good. Now perhaps you can answer my questions. You put an ad in the
newspaper for sperm donors?"
"Yes. Though I worded it a bit more politely than that."
"How politely?"
She swept to the coffee table by the chairs, bracelets jangling in
agitation, and picked up a scrap of newspaper. "Didn’t Babe show this to
you?"
He took the ad from her and removed his reading glasses from his shirt
pocket. Another frown lined his brow, but Sami suspected this one came from
his need for the glasses. She was willing to bet he despised them because
they gave visible expression to an irritating weakness. A man like Noah
might make allowances for weaknesses in others, but she doubted he tolerated
them in himself. Propping the half-glasses on his nose, he read the ad
aloud.
"Man between the ages of 25 and 40 needed to contribute his all in
a brief romantic encounter. Will be well-paid for his efforts. Required to
produce positive fruit from aforementioned labor. Must sign contract that
any and all results will be the exclusive property of recipient."
He carefully removed his glasses and pocketed them. "Have you lost your
mind?" he asked with impressive calm.
