The Billionaire’s Surrogate Baby - Lauren Wood Page 0,1

to make me burst out into a roar of laughter. I got so caught up in the screen that I didn’t notice Joey had been woken up by the messages and was staring me down.

He cleared his throat, startling me into rapt attention. I chucked the phone back down to the carpet like a kid that had just been caught red-handed stealing from the cookie jar.

“Something funny?” he asked, stretching out his perfectly sculpted arms, making my mouth water.

“It was nothing!” I smiled innocently, with maybe a little too much guilty desperation.

He jumped out of bed and grabbed his boxers. “I’m going to hop in the shower. Want me to call you a cab?”

My heart sank. It wasn’t like I expected anything to come out of our hook up. I was a big girl and understood the concept of a one-night stand, even if it was with someone who played such an integral role in my closest group of friends.

Joey had come to Cherry Falls, North Carolina, with his real estate partners, Nick, Damon, and Ben. When our little small town became the newest up and coming destination, they couldn’t resist relocating from New York to get a piece of the pie. They wanted to be big fish in a small pond, rather than face all the competition back in the Big Apple. It had proven to be a smart move for them, and not just for the sake of their business. Nick had coupled off with my best friend, Del, almost instantly. They had since gotten married and had a kid. Then it was Damon and my other best friend, Lizzy, who paired off and were now expecting their own baby.

It was only a matter of time before one of the guys got together with me, the last remaining single member of my girlfriends. Ben and Joey were the only two left, but I only had eyes for Joey. I had finally found my way into his bed, and now he was in a rush to get in the shower and send me off on the walk of shame.

“Angel? Did you hear me?” he asked, popping his head around the corner of his bedroom door with a towel thrown over his shoulder. Those gorgeous brown eyes and kissable lips made me ache inside—all things of the past for me now. “Sorry, I’ve got to get into the office. I have a meeting at two. Did you want me to call you a car?”

I did my best to hide the hurt expression on my face. “No, that’s okay,” I answered finally. “I don’t live far. I’ll walk. I could use the…” Joey had already nodded and slipped off into the bathroom with apparently no interest in what I could use. “Fresh air,” I mumbled to myself.

I sat up in bed, looking around the room. My stupid phone was still blowing up on the floor. I didn’t have the heart to tell Del and Lizzy how unceremoniously I was being dismissed from Joey’s bed. A happily ever after like what they found was not exactly what I hoped to get out of this. But morning sex? Breakfast? Was that too much to ask? The excitement I felt when I first texted them had already dwindled into nothing but the glaring symptoms of my hangover.

I hadn’t felt this cheap since my random drunk hookup phase in college. I found myself feeling angry as I crawled out of bed and scrambled to find my clothes. I wasn’t a prude by any means, but I was still a small-town girl and didn’t think having casual sex meant that there was no room for a little chivalry. I guess Joey had other ideas.

With all of my clothes back on and the contents of my purse put back where they belonged, I headed for the front door. I paused by the bathroom, where steam was billowing. I could hear the water running inside and see Joey’s silhouette through the curtain.

My lips parted to yell over the sound of the gushing water to let him know that I was leaving, but I stopped myself. He obviously didn’t care, and I was not about to chase him around like a lost puppy. All of my giddiness over the night before was yanked right out from under me and replaced with a scornful rage.

With my fists clenched, I spun on my heels and marched right out the door, making a point to slam it loudly behind me. It wasn’t