The Cowboy's Baby: A BWWM Billionaire Cowboy Pregnancy Romance (3 page)

But it was the man who really caught her attention.

Daniel Hartsford was a household name. He had single-handedly revolutionized the beef business over the past fifteen years and every five star restaurant in the country ordered from his ranch personally. Of course, his company doled out lesser piece of meat as well, but what the man was really known for was the way he pampered his cows; almost akin to the way Kobe cows were spoiled in Japan.

Esme had heard the man had brought in several Japanese zoologists who knew the secrets of the Kobe cows to implement them on his own steers, but she had no idea if the rumors were true. All she knew was that the few times she’d had the privilege of tasting the premium cuts of Hartsford beef, she thought she’d died and gone to heaven.

Esme didn’t think she’d ever really gotten a good look at the man. The few times she’d seen him on TV, she’d gotten the distinct impression that he was avoiding the spotlight.

The young woman had absolutely no idea why. The man had to be coming up on his fortieth birthday and he easily looked ten years younger. He cut an amazingly striking figure – at over six and a half feet tall, with skin tanned by hours spent in the sunlight. The man wore a blanket of dirty blonde stubble with aplomb, the prickly hairs framing his full mouth beneath a nose that looked as if it had been in its share of fights. Surprisingly, its slight bend only enhanced the masculinity of his features – large, piercing blue eyes and blonde-brown hair swept back from his brow and secured with an impeccable Stetson.

The man’s broad shoulders stretched at the seams of a dark blue chambray shirt tucked into khakis that accentuated slender hips and long legs. Of course, the man wore cowboy boots as well, but they didn’t look polished or expensive. Rather, they were quite beat up and dusty in comparison to the rest of his clean-cut outfit. A navy blazer – no doubt tailored to fit his long-armed form – finished the ensemble; and when put together, it was enough to make Esme’s mouth dry slightly.

She’d never been one for country boys.

Hailing from the West Coast, originally, she’d always been more interested in surfers and socialites – those who had stories to tell. But
this
country boy, she reminded herself, was one of the most successful businessmen in the world. No doubt he certainly had his fair share of stories to tell.

“Ahem.”

Esme was forced back to reality by Alyssa poignantly clearing her throat, gazing at the young woman with an expression that could only be described as toxic. Esme quickly dropped her eyes from the imposing cowboy’s before her, shaking his hand quickly and trying to ignore the electric shock of arousal that shot up her spine. He smelled like leather, spice and the outdoors; an altogether alluring scent she’d never encountered before.

She couldn’t, however, dwell on such things – and quickly moved to shake Alyssa’s hand as well. When the dark-eyed beauty grasped her hand with perfectly manicured fingers, Esme could have sworn she was trying to break it. She squeezed hard enough to cut off the circulation to Esme’s fingers, making the young woman wince. All the while, the saccharine sweet smile on her face warned Esme what would happen if she was caught staring at Daniel again. “So pleased to meet you.”

Alyssa’s sharp tone suggested she was anything
but
pleased.

“Let’s all have a seat” With a serene smile, Carmen gestured for them all to sit in a group of plush chairs. Once they were all settled, with the facilitator in the middle, Carmen continued. “So, Esme, Daniel and Alyssa have decided that they’re ready to become parents. They’ve been trying for some time…but have found themselves unable to conceive.”

“…well, perhaps not trying as much as we could have.” Daniel’s words were uttered in a baritone growl infused with the twang of one born and raised in the deep south. The timbre had a surprising effect on Esme, making her thighs clench in unexpected arousal. The man sounded bitter and a bit embarrassed at the same time to be present in a surrogate clinic.

Alyssa, however, only waved him off with a sigh. “He’s been pressuring me. You know, I have biological issues. The doctors said they didn’t know if I’d be able to conceive, so I figured…instead of putting all the strain on my body, why not use someone elses? I mean, it’s my egg, and his sperm, right? Just put inside her?”

She directed the question at Carmen, almost as if Esme wasn’t even present, and the young woman swallowed the answering irritation that welled in her chest. This woman didn’t know her from Adam and was already objectifying her. One would think she’d have more respect for the individual potentially bearing her child.

“Something like that, Ms. Stamos. Your egg would be implanted into Esme’s womb and fertilized with Daniel’s seed, yes. Then she would carry the baby to term.”

“But Danny isn’t having sex with her, right?” The animosity in the woman’s tone was plain as she glared at Esme, and it was all that the young woman could do not to reach over and claw her eyes out.

It’s a paycheck, Esme
, she reminded herself;
Just a paycheck.

“It doesn’t have to be done that way, no.” Carmen replied slowly, attempting to remain diplomatic. “Everything can be done by our doctors here.”

“Good. Well, I’m on board, as long as it’s not my body being thrown out of whack.”

“
Alyssa
, darin’…” Daniel shot his partner a pained look to which she merely glared back at him.

“
What
, Danny? I thought we already discussed this? You want a kid, so we’re having a kid. I’ve got nine months to prepare, right? She does all the work until then?”

Esme knew that it wasn’t her place to be in this couple’s personal affairs – and she wouldn’t say a thing. What she would
silently
ponder was how a child was supposed to fix the obvious issues between these two. Alyssa was obviously straight from the pages of the most recent desperate housewives catalogue. Daniel, however – the billionaire beef baron – seemed overwhelmed by his arm candy.

There had to be something he saw in her, right? Maybe the prospect of having a child had her on edge – or maybe she was just nervous to be meeting the person who’d be carrying her DNA inside of them.

Maybe she was just a bitch.

Either way, it was none of Esme’s affair. If this couple wanted to have a baby, she was just the vessel. Even so…she couldn’t help but feel sorry for Daniel. It was obvious that he was the one who really wanted the child – Alyssa was just going along with things to keep him happy. Well, relatively happy.

“Well, there will be doctors’ visits involved.” Carmen responded to Alyssa’s latest proclamation with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. “I’m sure you two will want to check up on Esme’s progress as she goes through her pregnancy. She’ll be visiting the clinic every two weeks or so for ultrasounds, to check on her nutrition, to make sure the baby is healthy-”

“Yeah, alright. We’ve got it. Responsibilities. We’ll do our best to make it.” Alyssa waved the facilitator off as if she were no more important than a buzzing fly. “Where do we sign? And how much is the check?”

Esme hid her grimace, trying to tell herself that this was Hartsford’s problem and not hers. At the very least, the kid would come out a peach. His parents were both gorgeous.

“We
will
make it.” Daniel leaned forward, locking eyes with Esme so she stiffened in her seat. “You can be certain of that. Every appointment. And we’ll be taking your contact information to keep in touch with you.” He extracted a gleaming silver business card from his pocket to lay on the table before her. Esme’s gaze flicked over it briefly – just long enough to scan the information engraved there.

DANIEL HARTSFORD

PRESIDENT and CEO

HARTSFORD BEEF HOLDINGS

ENID, SOUTH DAKOTA

(342) 881-0978

“That’s my personal number.” Her gaze rose to his once more and she flushed under the intensity off their cerulean stare. “If you need anything, anything at
all
, don’t hesitate to call. We’ll need to speak again as soon as you’ve conceived, of course, to go over the health plan, nutrition and the doctor’s appointment schedule.”

When he spoke of his hypothetical child, the man was articulate and very serious, his expression earnest. Whatever interest that Alyssa didn’t seem to have in her potential son or daughter, Daniel had in spades. It was evident in the softness of his eyes and the excitement in his accented baritone that a child was what he wanted more than anything else in the world.

And Esme found that endearing.

How many men wanted to have children? Desired them so badly that even the thought galvanized them into enthusiastic promises – into commitments with women it might be better to think twice about?

Once again, not her business.

Esme allowed herself, for a brief moment, to get lost in the warmth of Daniel’s gaze. Slowly, she nodded, taking the card from where he’d lain it on the table. “Of course.”

Alyssa had mentioned something about this gorgeous man “pressuring” her to try for a baby. If someone who looked like Daniel Hartsford asked to knock her up, Esme would be sprinting for the bedroom. For the love of God, the man was massive. He must be hung like a horse…able to throw a woman around in whatever way he pleased…

“Well, if we’re officially decided,” Carmen cut the awkward silence with a smooth interjection. She looked from Daniel and a scowling Alyssa to Esme and then back again. “We can get the paperwork all settled. Once everything is signed and the legal procedures have been seen to, we can go through the implanting and fertilization process with Esme by the end of this week.” She withdrew a thick sheaf of papers, which she divided in half before giving the first portion to Esme and the second to Daniel. “These will be the terms you agreed on, Daniel and Alyssa. If you’ll just look them over, Esme?”

Oh, she was looking them over alright. Looking them over and trying to keep her eyes from popping out of her head. The terms set in the contract before her were nothing like what she’d expected. Of course, she’d known all her medical expenses would be paid for – all the doctor’s visits and hospital fees. There was an extra stipend to buy what would be required in her nutrition plan, but in addition to that, Hartsford was putting forth five thousand dollars a month for each of the nine months of her pregnancy for “additional expenses”.

That was ten times the amount of her rent – and more than she could ever spend. To be completely honest, the young woman felt a bit uncomfortable with the amount, and before she signed the paper, she voiced her concern.

“Mr. Hartsford…I think this is a bit much. Five thousand a month…I don’t need anywhere near that.” As much as she wanted to be comfortable, she wasn’t going to take someone else’s money just because she could. The comfort she sought would be of her own making – and not ill-procured.

“Please, take it.” The man’s gaze pleaded with her as his pen hovered over the line requiring his signature. “It’s pittance to me, and I want to make sure that the mother of my child has every possible comfort. For the baby’s sake.”

Alyssa glared at the man, her eyes narrow enough to cut steel. “
I’m
the mother of your child.”

The immense rancher cast a wry glance her way. “Honey, you already have all the comforts you need and more. As you said, you’re body’s not going to be
thrown out of wack
. Esme’s,” he nodded in the young woman’s direction, making her blush. “Is. It’s just for the health of the baby, sweetheart.” The last part was added sweetly – so sweetly, in fact, that the thinly veiled jab might have been invisible to anyone else listening to the conversation.

But Esme read it loud and clear. She was already wary of the tension between Alyssa and Daniel, and the jibe fell perfectly into the pattern. In any event, Alyssa certainly got the message. Eyes blazing, she shot to her feet. “You’re barely giving her enough to buy a Louis. Why the fuck should I care?” With that, she stormed off, leaving the three remaining occupants sitting around the small table staring after her.

The moment he recovered, Daniel turned back to Carmen and Esme, his expression apologetic. “Forgive her. She’s just a bit on edge. It’s our first child.” Esme watched in awe as he scratched his name effortlessly on the document that would award her more money than she’d ever made in her entire life. The man appeared to relax somewhat in the absence of his partner, leaning back in the chair before his lips curved up into a smile that made Esme’s knees weak. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that we’re able to work with you. To be chosen out of one hundred applicants…that’s really something.”

Esme’s eyes widened in shock a moment before her gaze shot to Carmen. “A
hundred
. A hundred people wanted me as their surrogate?”

“Well, your health record is flawless.” Carmen grinned, obviously amused by her surprise. “You’re young. High IQ. Attractive…”

“Very attractive.” Esme looked back over to Daniel, her expression incredulous. Had he just said what she thought he’d said? That he thought she was…attractive? The moment her eyes locked with his, the man’s face reddened slightly and he looked away. “I mean, in respect to your genes. It will be good for the baby.”