Surrogate and Wife. Emily McKay

      “It’s Amazing.”

      He looked back at her belly when the baby once again moved against his hand.

      “Yes.” She nearly choked on the words. “It is amazing.”

      It truly was amazing. Not just the sensation of the baby moving inside her, but the way he’d looked at her.

      No one had ever looked at her like that before. As if she was amazing. And she’d never in her whole life felt closer to another person.

      She felt part of something far bigger and more important than any of the other things in her life—duty, honor, justice. Things she’d always thought of as so hugely important, but that seemed dwarfed by this baby and the connection it created between her and Jake.

      It nearly broke her heart to think that this was all just an illusion. The connection she felt was not just frail. It was false.

      Because the baby wasn’t hers. And neither was Jake.

      Surrogate and Wife

      Emily McKay

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      EMILY MCKAY

      has been reading romance novels since she was eleven years old. Her first Harlequin Romance novel came free in a box of Hefty garbage bags. She has been reading and loving romance novels ever since. She lives in Texas with her husband, her newborn daughter and too many pets. Her books have finaled in RWA’s Golden Heart, the Write Touch Readers’ Award and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Her debut novel, Baby, Be Mine was a RITA^® Award finalist for Best First Book and Best Short Contemporary. To learn more, visit her Web site at www.EmilyMcKay.com.

      To my wonderful sister, Robin, who dealt so bravely with her own fertility issues and who counseled me so wisely when I encountered problems of my own. Robin, I’m glad I didn’t need to be a surrogate for you, but I would have done it in a second!

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter Eighteen

      One

      “We’re pregnant.”

      Kate Bennet did her best not to roll her eyes at the absurdity of her sister’s remark. “Yeah. I know.”

      As a surrogate mother for her sister, Beth, and her brother-in-law, Stewart, Kate knew all too well that “they” were pregnant. Her hand drifted to her belly where the baby was just beginning to show. Her stomach seemed to flip over, making her curse the first trimester nausea that had yet to fade. She picked up the mug of hot peppermint tea Beth had made for her.

      Beth reached across the kitchen table and put her hand on Kate’s wrist. Kate paused, mug halfway to her mouth. “What?”

      “We’re pregnant. Stew and I.”

      Kate lowered the mug, struggling to make sense of the words. “You and Stew?”

      “Yes.”

      “Pregnant?”

      Beth nodded, her smile so beatifically maternal her face all but glowed. Her eyes sparkled with happiness.

      Kate’s stomach did another flip, the nausea building now. She pressed her palm to her belly. “With another baby? In addition to the baby I’m carrying for you?”

      “Yes.”

      Kate bolted from the chair and dashed to the hallway bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet bowl before emptying the remnants of her breakfast.

      She knelt there for a long time on the bathroom floor, leaning against the cabinet, eyes pressed closed, until her stomach stilled and tile bruised her knees. Only the sound of Beth knocking on the door roused her from her stupor.

      “Kate? Are you okay?”

      Was she okay? Well, she felt as if her world had just been turned inside out—along with her stomach. Other than that, she was just ducky.

      She hoisted herself to her feet to wash her hands and rinse out her mouth before opening the bathroom door. Resting her shoulder against the doorjamb, she stared at her sister. “How is this possible?”

      Beth grasped her elbow and guided her away from the door and down the hallway. “Come back to the kitchen. I’ll make you a fresh cup of tea.”

      Kate let herself be pushed gently into the Windsor chair and watched as Beth bustled around the simple, homey kitchen.

      “We were as surprised as you,” Beth said.

      “But you and Stewart can’t have children. It’s impossible. Isn’t it?”

      “Highly improbable. But not impossible.”

      In fact, their chances were viewed as so slim, the doctor had recommended not using Stew’s sperm to inseminate Kate. Instead, Stew had asked his best friend, Jake, to be a sperm donor.

      Still reeling, Kate said, “I thought you said there was only a 0.2% chance of you getting pregnant on your own.”

      “We were just very lucky.” Beth set a mug of steaming water in front of Kate and held out a bowl of tea-bags. “Peppermint or chamomile?”

      “How can you be so calm?” Kate felt hysteria rising up inside her as the full implication of Beth’s pregnancy began to sink in. Kate snatched one of the offered packages, ripped it open and dunked the teabag rapidly in and out of the water.

      “I guess, because I’ve had more time to get used to the idea.”

      Kate’s hand instantly stilled and her eyes sought Beth’s face. “How long have you known?”

      “A week. I suspected for longer, but I didn’t dare hope. My periods have always been so irregular—and after so many years of trying—well, I’d trained myself not to hope, even when I missed a period. Or four.”

      “Four? How far along are you?”

      “Eighteen weeks.”

      “Eighteen weeks? That’s a full month further along than I am. A full month.” The very thought made her mind whirl and she sank back against the chair. “So all those sympathetic pregnancy symptoms you’ve been going through that I thought were so charming weren’t sympathetic ones at all. They were real.”

      Beth smiled wryly. “I hadn’t thought of that.” She reached for Kate’s hand. “Look, I know this makes everything very complicated, but ultimately Stew and I just really want to be parents.”

      Kate sat forward. “You still want this baby, right?”

      Beth gave her another beatific smile. “Well, Stew and I talked about it and agreed that decision should be up to you and Jake.”

      “Up to me and Jake? What’s that supposed to mean?”

      “Technically,