“Yes,” she said softly. “That’s exactly what I’m here to talk to you about.”

Jake didn’t trust himself around her. Just as he’d expected—if he saw her again, one look would be all it took for him to be gripped with a fierce urge to drag her off and chain her to his bed.

God, he was sick, thinking even now about all the ways he could corrupt her.

Nice.

He had to remember she was nice...rather than the innately sensual woman who had writhed and cried out beneath him, desperate for pleasure when it turned out that beneath her sweet, innocent, nice facade was a naughty woman who—

“I don’t have time for this tonight.” The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but if she stayed, if she let him touch her again, he’d only end up hurting her more. “I’ve got to get back to the pub.”

“Too bad,” she said, “because you and I need to talk. Now.”

She shoved past him, a fierce Sophie Sullivan he hadn’t known existed until now.

As he shut the door and turned to face her, Jake was wholly focused on tamping down his reaction to how beautiful she was, how good she smelled, how much he wanted to pull her against him. He was so focused on hanging on to his almost nonexistent control, that he nearly missed her next words.

“I’m pregnant.”

The earth actually stopped spinning, nearly pitching him off the edge. His brain tried to hold on to what she’d just said, but he couldn’t wrap his head around it. Couldn’t believe he’d heard what he thought he’d just heard.

He stared at her stomach, her sweater and skirt tight enough at the waist for him to see that it was still flat.

“I probably won’t start showing for another month.”

Panic gripped him at the thought of being a father. He’d never planned on having kids. Had made damn sure something like this would never happen.

“You’re sure it’s mine?”

She looked like he'd hauled off and nailed her with a fist to her jaw, rather than asking her a question. “The wedding was two and a half months ago.” She worked visibly to calm down. “You are the only man I’ve slept with in—” She paused. “—a long time. It couldn't have been anyone else.”

Panic and shock still clawed at his guts, but it couldn’t override the purely primitive male instinct to claim her and his kid that instant.

Relief swept through Jake at knowing she was his.

Only his.

She took a deep, shaky breath. “I came here to tell you what...what happened. You deserve to know, not to always wonder if my little girl or boy is yours.”

Her words, and the image they conjured up, nearly brought him to his knees.

A little girl. Or boy.

His daughter or son.

“When?” he asked in a voice that was still too harsh.

“I think I’m somewhere between twelve to fourteen weeks, so…fall.”

Jake had never marked time by anything other than business trips and vacations...and beatings when he was a kid. “Have you seen a doctor yet?” Again, the words were rough as he couldn't manage to temper the primitive instinct to claim her and the baby as his. Now.

Forever.

She looked surprised by his question. “I have an appointment for tomorrow.”

“Good,” he said, needing to get closer to her, her glow pulling him in the way it always had. Only he couldn’t remember how to fight it anymore. “I’m coming with you.”

“Wait.” She shook her head, took a step back from him, widening the gap he’d just been closing. “I didn’t just come here to tell you I’m pregnant. I also came to tell you that I don’t want anything from you. And that no one needs to know you’re the father.”

“Like hell.”

She looked shocked by his reaction. But despite her shock, she didn’t budge an inch, even as he continued to close the distance between them.

“Why are you saying that?” she asked. “I thought you’d be happy to hear that I don’t want anything from you. That way you can keep your free lifestyle.”

The word free twisted on her lips until it sounded like a curse.

“I’m not going to let you walk away, Sophie. And I’m not going to let you tell your family, your friends, that some random guy did this to you.” He pointed his index finger at his chest. “It was me.”

Sixty seconds ago, he’d been trying to get her to admit it wasn’t. But now the truth came out: He was desperate to claim this kid as his.

And her, too, a mocking voice in his head told him. Finally you can have everything you’ve ever wanted. Even though you don’t deserve any of it.

“I know you’ve probably forgotten what happened that night, but I haven’t.” Sophie’s frustration had morphed into full-on anger. It was another side to her that he’d never known existed. “You were gone as soon as you could sneak away, probably wishing for an escape hatch long before you actually left. We both know you have absolutely zero interest whatsoever in being with me. The fact that I’m pregnant doesn’t change any of that. For so long, I wanted you to notice me. To see me. And you did, for one night. But then I realized that even though I got what I thought I wanted, it didn’t mean anything.” She shook her head. “It was great sex, but I want more than lust. I want undying love. I want that look that Chase gave Chloe when he promised to be hers forever.”

He hated the way she was looking at him, with none of the hero worship, none of the undisguised admiration she used to have for him.

Jake had never felt like a hero. But in one person’s eyes, at least, he hadn’t been complete scum.

Until now.

Hurt spilled from every word she’d said. But he couldn’t deal with that now, not when there were more important things to settle. He’d never had a mother and would probably have been far better off if he hadn’t had a father, either. Kids weren’t supposed to have ever been in the cards for him, but since he was just starting to realize that he wasn’t in control of nearly as much as he liked to think he was, one thing was for sure.

He wasn’t going to let his kid miss out on having a mother and a father.

“Now that you’re having my kid, we’re getting married.”

Her mouth fell open. “Didn’t you hear anything I just said?”

Yes, he’d heard her. Every brave, courageous word intended to push him out of her life.

“We can be in Vegas in a couple of hours, just get it done.”