She fisted her hips. “Then why are you even here? I thought you were part of a forward advance to begin negotiations.”
“I’m here to warn you off from trying again with him. He’s pretty persuadable and once he gets over the initial shock, he might come around.”
She folded her arms over the Lakeshore University logo on her sweatshirt. It pushed up her breasts, though I had to imagine what they might look like under all that thicker fabric. For a brief moment, I was taken back to my teen years when this woman’s chest fascinated me.
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, really. You’ll start blinding him with logic when really you can’t apply facts and figures and scientific method to this. We’re talking about a baby.”
“Is that what we’re talking about?” Said in her droll “you’re an idiot” voice. God, she was the worst.
“You can’t treat this like a science experiment.”
She snorted. “You know nothing about it. Neither do you need to worry about your precious brother. I heard him the first time, and I won’t be bothering him about it again. I’ll just move on to the next candidate.”
“You mean you don’t even care who you get this donation from?”
“Oh, I care greatly. That’s why I’ve created a list of viable candidates with pros and cons. Scientific, but not an experiment, okay? This is real life, a real baby, and I want to give him or her the best possible start in life. That starts with researching likely donors and doing my due diligence.”
A list? And Sean was a top contender? Not saying my brother wasn’t a good option, but surely Franky could call on any number of academic types. People who viewed the business of having a baby as an intellectual exercise rather than an instinctive one.
Now who’s tarring a whole group with the same brush?
“How many other people have you asked?”
“Sean was the first, but now I realize I need a script. Something to keep me on track so I don’t get flustered.”
Never mind that, though her blunt honesty was refreshing. “Who else is on this list?”
Her mouth ticked up at the corner. Not so humorless after all.
“Wondering if there are any … hockey players on it?”
I was now.
Franky might be a brainiac, but she also had connections in the hockey world. She knew all the players and their families and could likely produce a list of contenders at the drop of a hat.
If she could get over the fact they were all idiots.
“Are there?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
I shrugged, though my shoulder felt stiff. “Don’t care, really.”
“Well, there are. But if I go that route, I’ll need to snag one before he gets scooped up. Lars would have been ideal, but now he’s with Adeline …” She trailed off, musing on missed opportunities. “There are issues with using a pro-athlete’s sperm, though. The older ones have often been hit with paternity suits and tend to be more cautious about this kind of thing. The younger ones—well, I have concerns about choosing someone too young. The ick factor as well as their underdeveloped brains. That would be taking advantage. So the candidates need to be thirty plus, with a healthy history, and of course, willing.”
She looked up, appearing somewhat surprised that I was still here. She had gone off into her own world as she outlined her criteria. I suspected her monologue had less to do with providing me with the details and more to do with her need to work it all out in her head. “I’d say I have eight candidates from the hockey world and seven from other areas. Academics and colleagues.”
Fifteen saps who had no idea what was coming.
“You already have this list?”
“Of course.” Pausing a moment, she studied me. “You’re on it.”
And here we are. I wondered why she had even stuck around to talk to me. There was no good reason for her to listen to a word I said, but if she wanted something that only a man could provide …
“Right.”
