SURROGATE : Conception (+18) BOOK 1 (COMPLETE)

| 32 | The Land of No Return ||

She spent near the entire time that she was meant to be enjoying the greasy food, in her head trying to figure how the hell she was going to find the kind of money John wanted from her in 3 days. For some annoying reason her mind kept replaying Liam offering to help.

'Anything just ask.' He said. Did he really mean that?

NO! Her prideful ego shouted in her ear. The voice sounded an awful lot like her mother's. Asking for money was just not something she saw anyone in her family do and those that did were looked down upon. They were leeches living off the work of others.

Would asking for help make her a taker even if he offered? Maybe not, but he might ask what she needed the money for and then she'd drag him into this bullshit or worse have to lie to him. Not to mention the assistance he offered was for her business not this... whatever this was with John.

If Liam said no, what options would she have then? The same she had at the moment. She didn't have anything to give John at that point in time! It was like trying to get blood from a turnip.

She frowned.

She wasn't a goddamn turnip, but she could bleed and so could Phillip. She hated to admit it, in fact, it made her ill just thinking the thought, but Liam was the best chance she had. Him saying no was just not an option neither was him asking questions.

She frowned, sipping the lemonade from the large cup and setting it on the counter.

Was there a way to convince Liam with a higher probability of him agreeing?

She had no idea why this thought crossed her mind because she didn't think of herself as the seductive type, not even a little bit, but she'd been surprising herself up to this point.

NO WAY!

"Well what other choices do we have?" She asked out loud, startling herself.

She was spending too much time in her head. What she needed was clarity. To get that, a change of scenery was in order. She made her way upstairs to get her swimsuit so she could take a little swim to work off some of the meal and clear her mind.

Water always seemed to be the remedy to clear her mind. Thoughts seemed to flow clearer when she was putting in laps.

The cool water encouraged her to focus on it, the heaviness as it encircled her form and made her feel lighter. The goosebumps that raised up on her skin when the air touched the damp surface. She let her head sink under water.

Under the water, in the silence thoughts came. She could go down to the bank and take out a loan, personal or business loan. Her credit wasn't bad, not great but somewhere in the middle. She could also go to one of those god awful check cashing places, but would end up owing them more money after all the fees and interest. At least the terms were set. But would they be able to loan her as much as she needed? She could get a couple credit cards maybe get cash advances? No, no, she didn't have the time for that. Time was not on her side.

She wrapped a towel around her body tucking it in near her armpit before she headed for the door. She didn't have solid options, not the kind of certainty she needed. She would take off work in the morning and head to the bank. She smiled at that thought having a plan made her feel like she had some kind of control.

She grabbed her phone off the island counter and frowned when she saw she had a photo message from an unknown number.

She was confused, but only for a moment when she looked at the dark image, almost too dark to make out, but once she saw the image she knew who sent the message. It was her brother sleeping in his prison cell.