Free The Contingency Plan (The Lonely Heart Series) by Latrivia Nelson Page A

hundred pe r cent with you, right now.”
    She knew that, and she wished that she could be a hundred percent with him but it would cost her everything.  Biting her lip, she tried to stay on the subject at hand and not on old feelings.  “And you would be raising this child alone?”  She wiped her eyes quickly. 
    “That’s the whole point.  I want my own family.”
    “You’ll have a nurse?” She sniffled a little. 
    “I’ll have a wet nurse and a nanny. I’ll have tons of resources.”  He tried to wipe her face, but she quickly coiled away from him.
    “If you don’t have time for the baby, why make one?” she continued to interrogate him. 
    “I’ll have all the time in the world.  My father passed away about a month ago.  I’ll have my inhe r itance soon, and I plan to resign from the DLC at the end of this year.  The baby will have my full, undivi d ed attention,” he promised. 
    She sank further in her chair.  “Oh my goodness, Sully.  I didn’t know about your father. I’m so sorry,” she said, hurting for him.  His mother had left him so early until all he had ever known was his father, now he was stripped of that.  No wonder he felt so alone.
    Sully nodded.  “It’s okay.  Look, I wouldn’t ask you this if I wasn’t sure that this was not what I wanted or with whom I wanted.”
    Charlie took a deep breath of his cologne and nearly gave in right there.  She had to admit that she wanted him – every inch of him-but sanity crept in again, reminding her that beyond his irresistible exterior there was a pretty selfish human being lurking below.
    “I don’t think that there is a question of if you want me to do this.  The question that I now have is do I want to do this .”  She sat back up and looked him directly in his eyes. “And as much as I want to make you happy, there is nothing about this…arrangement…that seems beneficial to me or that helps me have closure.”  Finding her strength, she slapped her hands on her jeans and heaved a sigh. 
    “Haven’t you ever had a dream, Charlie?  This is my one and only dream now.  I want a family.”  He pleaded again, more than he had ever pleaded with a woman.  He was two seconds from getting on his knees. 
    “I believe that.  And I want you to have one too.  I just don’t want to go through some painful process that I would have to explain to my fiancé so you can see this dream come to fruition.  It’s not fair.  It’s not logical for me.”
    “It’s pretty painless. You’ll go under, they will e x tract the eggs from your ovaries and then you’ll go home,” he said, not giving up. “No one will know.”
    “And then what, Sully? Huh?  What happens then?”
    “Angela or Diane will carry the child.  The IVF process is tried and true. And isn’t that what Sophie’s Choice is partly about, supporting the entire woman including her reproductive choices whether they be pro-choice or pro-life?”  Without any other options, he brought her job into it. 
    “I don’t know if this falls under either.”  She sat back in her chair.  “Sully, I really want to help you but…”
    “Don’t say no.  I can see that face. You’re prepa r ing to curl your lips into a No.  Don’t do that.  Just think about it for a couple of days…please.  I’ll be here in the city for about a week. If you change your mind, then please stop by the doctor’s office.”  He reached in his back pocket, pulled out his black wallet and found the crisp white card.  “His name is Sean Berg.  I’ve told him all about you.”
    Charlie took the card and shook her head.  “Su l ly…”
    “Don’t say no.”  He willed her with his sultry eyes.  “Just sleep on it.”
    “There isn’t much to sleep on…” she said with d e cisiveness. 
    As she was about to turn him down completely, there was a sudden, urgent knock at her door.  They both looked up surprised.  No one knew that she was here.  Then again, if she