When her brother laughed, she just grinned. “Good,” West said. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t even answer your phone.”

“I can’t promise that,” she said. “But I’ll try.”

“I didn’t know you were going to take the day off,” Jamie said.

“I thought it’d be nice. Maybe we can go get some brunch. I’m hungry.”

“Sure,” he said. “Where do you want to go?”

“The biggest busiest restaurant you can find,” she said, grinning.

“Seriously?” he asked.

They went to his SUV. “Yep,” she said. “And we are going to walk in holding hands. Be ready.”

“Don’t do this for me,” he said.

“I’m doing it for me,” she said. “If it helps you, then it does.”

He smiled and then leaned down to kiss her knowing that anyone could be watching and he couldn’t have cared less.

Just as it’d been said not that long ago. Not everyone signed up for this life and they had the right to choose when they were ready, or if they were, to let themselves be in the spotlight too.

31

A PAID SURROGATE

Laken hadn’t planned on doing what she had, but after seeing how nervous Jamie was next to her brother she realized she was being a wuss.

It wasn’t that big of a deal.

She didn’t want him to think that she was embarrassed about being his girlfriend. Maybe in the beginning she didn’t want to be like the other women linked to him.

Then she realized that wasn’t the case.

If he was willing to let her into his daughter’s life, then this wasn’t a passing thing.

He wanted to be enough for someone and she needed to make sure he was aware that he was.

That meant doing the one thing she didn’t want in the beginning.

The most important people in her life knew and that should be enough.

But it wasn’t.

By doing this now, it would blow over soon.

“Are you sure about this?” Jamie asked.

“Positive,” she said. “I’m sure there is going to be confusion over who I am. Some might even think I’m Penelope’s mother. Are you okay with that? I should have asked that first.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “People are going to be looking into who her mother could be. We are probably going to have to make an official release that you’re not Penelope’s mother.”

“Do you want to do that?” she asked.

“I’m okay with it.”

“But by doing that, people are going to be searching. I’m going to assume her birth certificate is sealed.”