The Best Laid Plans. Sarah Mayberry

all other options? That she was taking some kind of expedient shortcut to motherhood?

      She started working on the buttons on her shirt.

      Stupid, but she felt betrayed. She’d always respected him and valued his opinion. He was smart and funny and generous with his time and he never, ever patronized her or treated her as less than an equal the way some of the older partners did. Even on the racquetball court he never gave her quarter. And now—

      A knock sounded at the door. “Alex.”

      She tensed. She could hear the determined note in Ethan’s voice even through an inch of varnished wood.

      “Go away.”

      The door swung open and she gave a squawk of outrage, clutching the gaping neckline of her shirt together to keep herself decent.

      “Do you mind?”

      His suit was dark at the shoulders and trouser cuffs and he dismissed her modesty with an impatient wave of his hand.

      “I’m sorry, okay? What I said before … you have every right to be angry with me. I just … I don’t want you to regret this.”

      There was so much sincerity and concern in his voice and his deep blue eyes that the angry words in her throat dissolved. She stared at him for a long moment, then turned away to rebutton her damp shirt.

      “I want a child,” she said, her voice very low. “Am I supposed to miss out because the music has stopped and all the chairs are full?”

      “No.”

      She turned to face him again, arms crossed over her chest defensively. “Then you tell me what I’m supposed to do, Ethan. Join a dating site and trawl for a man who’s looking for commitment and not just sex? How long do you think it’s going to take to find one of those? And if I do, when do you suggest I bring up the subject of children with him? First date? Second? Sixteenth? And if he says yes, sure, I’d love kids, how long should we wait before we start trying? A week? A month? A year?” She could hear her voice becoming strident and she made an effort to remain calm. “Do you honestly think that’s any less desperate and compromised than me going to a sperm bank? Really?”

      He looked away, then ran a hand over his damp hair. “There’s no easy answer.”

      “No, there isn’t.”

      A line of water trickled down the side of his face and she passed him the towel. She couldn’t help noticing that he looked as good wet as he did dry. She didn’t need a mirror to tell her she looked like a drowned rat.

      “Maybe you can’t understand this because you’re a man, but this is something I’ve wanted since I was a little girl,” she said. “To be a mother. To love unconditionally. To watch a new person find their way in the world. Not very revolutionary or daring by today’s standards, but it’s what I want. And I think I’d be a decent mother.”

      Ethan loosened the knot on his tie and unbuttoned his top shirt button. “I’m not questioning your ability to be a mother, Alex. I think you’d make a great mom. But you spoke to your doctor last night and today I find you printing off information on sperm donors. It’s a pretty big leap, you’ve got to admit.”

      “I’m researching, not placing an order.”

      “You’re panicking. You ran into your ex and you’re freaking out.”

      She seriously considered kicking him in the shin. Wasn’t he listening to her? Hadn’t he heard a thing she’d said?

      “I’m facing facts. Time is running out for me. And yes, in a perfect world I would want my child to know his father. But this is what’s on the table and I’m not too proud or precious to take it.”

      There was a rap on her office door before it opened and Fran entered.

      “I had trouble finding your car. Thank God for these beepy door-open things,” she said.

      She stopped in her tracks when she saw Ethan, glancing between the two of them.

      “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

      “You didn’t. Ethan was leaving.” Alex gave him a meaningful look.

      “I see you got caught in the rain, as well,” Fran said, running a disapproving eye over Ethan’s wet suit. “Do you want me to try to do something with that jacket?”

      “Thanks, but I’m sure it will dry out okay.”

      “Well, don’t let us keep you,” Alex said pointedly. “Wouldn’t want you to catch a chill or anything.”

      Ethan gave her a dry look. “I’ll see you later, Alex.” He managed to make it sound like both a threat and a promise as he exited.

      Fran closed the door after him. “I hope I didn’t walk into the middle of something.”

      As fishing expeditions went, it was far from subtle.

      “You didn’t. We were discussing something that came up over lunch.”

      “I see.”

      Alex could see the older woman didn’t believe her. Great. That was all she needed—her assistant thinking there was something going on between her and Ethan, the office sex god. That would get the jungle drums pounding.