Page 9 of The Alpha's Surrogate

“Josie,” he said, walking forward. “Hi…”

“Hi, Callahan,” she said. He took a little comfort in the fact that she looked just as shocked to see him as he was to see her. Her normally pale skin was almost as white as snow, and she looked transfixed. “What…what are you doing here?”

I could ask you the same thing, Callahan thought. “I have an…appointment. You?”

“Oh,” she said. “I have one too.” The look on her face showed that she had arrived at the same conclusion as Callahan. She was the surrogate. She was his surrogate. Callahan fought down the urge to laugh at the bitter irony.

Of all the women in the world, it just had to be you, Josie. Didn’t it?

He looked her over, taking her in. If she had been beautiful before, she was something entirely different now. She was older and her face had hardened with age. Her features were sharp, with high cheekbones and ice-cold blue eyes.

Her straight blonde hair flowed down over her shoulders and back, and as he watched, she tucked a lock behind her ear. The gesture was enough to make his heart skip in his chest.

Her turtleneck sweatshirt hugged her body tightly, showing her lean curves and perfectly toned body. She’d always looked like a model. She was born to grace billboards and magazine covers. Callahan blushed as he remembered how often he had said those exact words to her, and how she’d always smiled fondly at him when he did.

It ached to see her again. Memories flooded his mind, and he fought the vertigo that came with the memories. There was no point remembering any of that. This meeting was an unfortunate coincidence, but that was all there was to it.

A part of him longed and raged for what could have been with Josie. His friends were right. He’d loved Josie too much to let anyone else in. When they broke up, a part of him had died. He could feel that dead part of him stirring to life again.

He blinked. They were standing only inches away from each other. He had no idea when he’d crossed the space to her. He could smell the mountain on her, the clean smell of fresh snow and pine trees. She still looked cold, her mouth drawn in a line, eyes without emotion.

“It’s nice to see you again, Josie,” he said. “It’s been…it’s been too long.”

Josie nodded. “It’s nice to see you too, Callahan. How have you been?”

Before he could answer, Dr. Stephanie stepped out of her office and approached them, a big smile on her face. “Ah, that’s good. You’ve met each other. Alpha Callahan, this is Josie Ray. She is the woman who will carry your child. Josie, this is Callahan Finn, our client.”

While he had been suspecting this, hearing the doctor confirm it out loud made Callahan shiver. It felt real, but he still couldn’t believe this was happening. He smiled and stretched out a hand.

Josie returned his smile with a slight one, and took his hand, shaking it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Callahan.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Josie.” He held her hand longer than he had intended to, and a slight moment of awkwardness blossomed almost immediately.

“Wonderful,” the doctor said, rubbing her hands together excitedly. “Well, right this way please. Let’s get you two better acquainted with each other.” She led the way through the same door she had come through, leading them down a well-lit corridor with doors on either side of the hallway.

“Josie, I trust your journey went smoothly?” Stephanie asked over her shoulder. “Considering the distance and how short notice this meeting was, I was half expecting you to send me a text asking to reschedule. Thanks for making the time to come.”

“Yeah, my journey went smoothly,” Josie replied quietly. “And you’re welcome. It wasn’t that big a deal, really. From our call, it sounded pretty urgent.”

Dr. Stephanie opened the door that led to her office and gestured for Callahan and Josie to enter. Callahan had met the doctor here a few days ago, when he had signed up for surrogacy. Both he and Josie fell silent, following behind the doctor like a pair of strangers.

“Here we are,” the doctor said in her cheerful voice. “Josie, Callahan, please have a seat. I’ll be giving you both a moment to talk and get to know each other a little bit. Ten minutes should be enough, don’t you think?” She smiled and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Josie stared straight ahead, looking at the line of trees beyond the office. Callahan drummed on the tabletop with his fingers, watching her. He wished he’d told the doctor that he’d known Josie in the past. Maybe they could have skipped this awkwardness.

A few minutes passed and the silence grew thick around them. Josie shifted in her seat, but she refused to take her eyes away from the window.

Callahan’s feelings raged inside him, but he took a deep breath to settle himself. This was where they were now. Josie was only here to fulfill a contract. It was nothing personal, just business. He needed to make an effort to put the awkwardness behind them, if this was going to work at all.

“So,” he said. “How have you been, Josie?” The silence that surrounded them cracked like thin ice, shattering into a million tiny shards.

Josie turned to look at him, then blinked slowly. “I’ve been well, thank you. Yourself? You look…great.”

His smile was forced. “Thanks. You look great too.” He fell silent again and cursed himself inside. The silence gathered around them once more like a thick fog. Their attempt at conversation was forced, and he couldn’t think of anything he could say to keep it going.

Josie turned back toward the window and Callahan slumped in his seat. Why was this so hard? This was a woman he used to love. He knew her. Well, he had known her, or whatever version she’d allowed him see then, at least. Now, they were worse than a pair of strangers.

“How’s your dad and grandpa?” he blurted out, trying again.

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