Jake belatedly realized his misstep. At the end of the week, Sophie was going to use all the great sex they were bound to have to prove that’s all there was between them. He’d never had to prove the opposite to a woman, had never wanted to.
It was one heck of a situation. Especially considering, he knew now, that it didn’t matter how hard he tried not to touch her. He was barely going to make it another seven minutes, let alone seven days, without making love to her again.
“So we’re agreed?”
“Fine.” The one word from her mouth held a world of irritation. “I’ll give you seven days, but you can’t tell anyone in my family about us. About the baby.”
It made sense that none of them knew. Because if they did, her brothers would already have hunted him down. And killed him.
“Does anyone know apart from the two of us?”
“Only Lori. She wanted to do terrible things to you when she found out. Still does, actually.”
It would definitely be easier for him to win her over in seven days if her family wasn’t constantly interfering in their business, especially if her brothers put him in a full body cast. But Sophie’s keeping something so big, so important from the family that meant everything to her, didn’t sit right with Jake.
“You look different.” Glowing. “Your mother will take one look at you and know.”
Her face went white again. “Oh God, you’re right. I won’t see her.” He could see her trying to convince herself that what she was doing was okay. “It’s just a week.”
The seven days she’d promised him started ticking like a time bomb, laughing at him as he tried to figure out a way to turn it off before it detonated. They’d talk about her family later. Right now he had the mother of his child to win over.
“Have you eaten?”
“This morning.”
It was late, way past when she should have eaten dinner. “You’ve got to think about more than yourself now.”
“Are you accusing me of doing something to harm—”
He cut her off. “No. I just want to make sure you eat. Sit down,” he said, pointing to one of his bar stools. “I’ll make you dinner.”
“I thought you were needed at the pub,” she said, throwing his earlier words back in his face. She turned and headed for the front door.
Jake didn’t think before reaching out and pulling her against him. He knew being held by him was the very last thing she wanted, but she belonged in his arms.
“Seven days starts now.”
Chapter Eleven
Some things were way too weird for Sophie to get her head around. Like the fact that after all these years of wishing and hoping and dreaming, she was finally sitting in Jake’s kitchen.
Where he was cooking her dinner.
While she was pregnant.
With his baby.
No doubt about it, she had been sucked into the Twilight Zone.
The city lights from his third-floor loft, in what used to be the industrial part of the city, were spectacular. But she couldn’t take her eyes off Jake.
He had a surprisingly full fridge for a bachelor and he certainly looked like he knew what he was doing with the carrots, potatoes and onions. She was still angry with him for his Neanderthalish demands, but she needed to eat. And she was perfectly fine with letting someone else feed her on a day that had been more trying than any other she could remember.
Of course, just because big, dangerous Jake McCann looked impossibly cute cooking her dinner, Sophie knew not to read too much into what he was doing, or to confuse his concern for the baby’s welfare with concern for her.
Now that he knew he was going to be a father, she could tell all he wanted was a healthy kid. She had no doubt he wouldn’t blink twice at taking drastic measures to meet his goals, like tying her up and force-feeding her healthy meals.
If only the tying-her-up part didn’t still sound so good...
“Are you too hot? Too cold?”
“I’m fine,” she said in a clipped voice.
“Have you been—”
The most self-assured man she’d ever known suddenly looked like he didn’t know what to say. Darn it, Sophie told herself, it wasn’t the least bit adorable.
“Have you been sick?”
“No. Mostly I’ve just been tired.” But I thought that was because every time I tried to fall asleep I ended up thinking about you instead. “That’s why I didn’t realize I was pregnant until today.”
“Good,” he said in a gruff voice as he refilled her half-empty glass of water and slid a plate of warm soda bread with butter melting on it toward her before moving behind the stove. “I’m glad you’ve felt okay.”
It was hard to remember he didn’t really care about her at all, when he was being so sweet. How on earth was she going to keep her guard up for seven days?
And how the heck had he even gotten her to agree to a week in the first place?
Sophie still wasn’t sure, although she didn’t think she’d ever forget the expression on his face when she’d told him she didn’t want anything from him and would deal with the baby all by herself without ever naming him as the father.
Jake had looked momentarily lost. Then angry. Then determined.
Maybe she should have come more prepared for his reaction, but she hadn’t expected him to want a baby. Especially not hers. And, frankly, she still didn’t understand why he did want it. Jake was the ultimate bachelor. His night-driven life didn’t lend itself to family dynamics.
Tomorrow, after a good eight hours of sleep, she’d make herself face him down again and demand an answer. Tonight, however, she wasn’t even sure how she was going to stay awake through this meal.
“I can’t believe you know how to cook.” The simple statement came out with such a bite, more than she even knew she had in her. Sophie couldn’t understand how she could love and hate him at the same time...just that she did.
He gave her a half-smile, not quite the smirk she was so used to. There was something in this smile that was different, almost as if he was a little embarrassed to be caught out at something that didn’t scream womanizing male.
“I had to learn when the cook was sick and no one else was around to do it.”
“I never thought about how hard it must have been to have your own restaurant,” she said, assuming he was talking about buying and operating the first McCann’s Irish Pub.