Her Fill-In Fiancé (8 page)

“He said we had to keep our relationship a secret.”
Just for now…until I find the right moment to tell my family,
he'd promised, staring into her eyes with such sincerity, such caring. And she'd been such a fool. “And I bought it. I even thought the talk about his
girlfriend
in Arizona was just that—talk. To keep from raising his parents' suspicions about us.”

Months later, humiliation still stung inside Sophia as she recalled how wrong she'd been. How she'd foolishly thought Todd might be happy about the baby. After all, they could finally come clean and open up about their relationship. No more waiting. No more secrets. Instead Todd had been furious. His girlfriend had been anything but pretend. She was perfect…beautiful, rich, one of his
kind.

Sophia's hand moved to her stomach as if she could protect the baby from the echo of his harsh words and accusations. Sophia was nobody. Nothing but trouble. Out to ruin
his life. Two days later, the Dunworthys let her go with a severance package intended to make sure she and her child stayed nobodies.

“I still can't believe I fell for some of the oldest lines in the book. I was so stupid.”

“No, you weren't. Todd took advantage at a time when you were vulnerable.”

Sophia had to give Jake credit for having the grace to at least look uncomfortable with her words. She'd rather run naked through the town than tell him she was far more vulnerable to him than she'd ever been to Todd Dunworthy.

With Todd, she should have recognized from the start the impossibility of any relationship. The maid and an heir to the Dunworthy fortune? That was something straight out of a fairy tale. But with Jake, everything had seemed so real, so full of possibility…until their relationship turned out to be more of a lie than happily-ever-after.

“Not to worry, Jake. I've learned my lesson.”

About trusting the wrong man at least. About wanting the wrong man?

Different story,
Sophia thought as he stepped even closer. His T-shirt molded to his torso, defining his broad shoulders, muscled chest and flat abs. Sophia swallowed, wanting nothing more than to press her body against his with the same skin-tight fit.

Jake flinched at the unspoken comparison, but a flicker of annoyance followed, warning Sophia he was getting tired of defending himself. “I know you think I'm no better than Todd, but I'm telling the truth now. When I held you, when I kissed you, that was not part of the job.”

His voice lowered as he spoke, the sudden undercurrent of desire revealing a different frustration. When his gaze fell, her lips seemed to pulse with the memory of his kiss and the need for more than just a memory.

“How am I supposed to believe that,” she asked, her voice softer and more pleading than she would have liked, “when everything about our relationship was based on a lie? A lie you ended up using as—as a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

He scowled. “What are you talking about?”

“Face it, Jake, you only let me get close because you already had a way out. An escape clause at the ready.”

And one he hadn't hesitated to use the moment he discovered she was carrying another man's child.

 

“I don't believe it,” Sophia muttered as she climbed from Jake's rental and stared at the empty space where her car had been parked. “My car's gone.”

Jake rounded the front of the car to stand at her side. “Are you sure this is where you left it?”

Sophia shot him a glance and gestured to the less-than-crowded street. “I think I'd be able to find it.”

Jake stared at the empty parking space as if he expected her little red compact to suddenly appear. “You're saying someone
stole
your car?”

He looked completely baffled by the entire idea—like a kid going to Disneyland and discovering Mickey Mouse was some guy in a costume. And Sophia couldn't help but take pity on him. “It was Sam.”

“Sam? Your brother Sam? Your brother stole your car?”

“Not exactly,” she sighed. “Come on. Let's go.”

“Where?”

“To Sam's shop.”

Still looking slightly befuddled, Jake turned back to his rental and opened the passenger door for her. Sophia reminded herself not to be touched by the gentlemanly gesture. Just like she shouldn't find his obviously puzzled expression so adorable. Or the memory of his kisses so unforgettable. Or—

Giving up, Sophia sank into the seat with a sigh.

She gave directions to Sam's garage on the edge of town. As Jake turned his rental into the small parking lot, she spotted her brother. Dressed in dark-gray coveralls, Sam looked up from beneath the hood of a late-model sedan as she climbed from the passenger's side and slammed the door.

“You took my car?”

Without looking the least bit repentant, he wiped the dip-stick on the side of his grease-streaked coveralls. “Yep.” Glancing at Jake over her shoulder, Sam said, “Fifi was always locking herself out of her car until I finally got her a hide-a-key.”

Embarrassed by the reminder, she insisted, “I haven't locked myself out of my car in years.”

“But you've still got the hide-a-key.”

“Not so you can take my car whenever you please! I had a tune-up before I left Chicago to go to Theresa's,” she pointed out, wanting both her brother and Jake to know she wasn't the same screwup teenager she'd once been.

“You might have had a mechanic check things out, but that mechanic wasn't me,” Sam countered.

“Sam, you aren't the
only
mechanic qualified to perform simple maintenance on my car!”

“Nope. But I'm the only mechanic who's also your brother. I'll take a look as soon as I'm finished here with Kayla's car,” he said with a nod to the young woman standing in the shade against the side of the building.

Realizing the other woman had witnessed the argument between her and Sam, Sophia forced a smile. “Sorry. I didn't see you there.”

Locking on the tiny, pink bundle the blonde held against her shoulder, Sophia's voice faded away. Were all babies so tiny? So
fragile?
Kayla's hand covered the baby's diapered bottom. Bird-like legs kicked out in an awkward rhythm that
had already worked a pink and white sock halfway off one small foot.

Sophia's stomach tumbled in a spin cycle of panic and anticipation of the day when she would hold her own baby against her heart.

With his upper body once more swallowed by the open car hood, Sam performed a quick introduction. “Kayla, this is my sister, Sophia, and her boyfriend, Jake Cameron.”

Sophia had always liked kids, had done her share of babysitting as a teenager, and was always willing to gather around baby pictures to admire red, wrinkly faces. But this was different, maybe because this was the first baby she'd seen up close since discovering she was pregnant.

The tiny, waving arms seemed to beckon to her. Before Sophia knew it, she was standing at the young woman's side, hoping for a glimpse of the baby's face.

“It's nice to meet you,” Kayla said with a smile that looked a little ragged around the edges.

“Kayla moved into the Walker place on the edge of town. She inherited the farmhouse when her grandfather died,” Sam said as he backed out from beneath the hood. “It's the fuel pump, all right. There are some hoses that I'd just as soon replace while I'm at it, too.”

As Sam went on about the various repairs, more and more color drained from Kayla's face. “I don't think I can afford all that,” she whispered.

“Hey, don't worry about it,” Sam said with his trademark easygoing grin. “We'll work something out.”

As much as Sophia loved her brother, she'd be the first to admit Sam's talents lay far more with engines than with emotions. But he truly was one of the good guys, willing to help a young mother in need.

Instinctively, Sophia's hand moved to her stomach.

She didn't know anyone like Sam in Chicago.

Sophia didn't need to look at Jake to know what he was thinking. But she did it anyway. He was leaning against the door to his rental car, arms folded over his chest, looking so sexy, so strong, so certain. That he was right, and once again, she was wrong. But despite his investigation, he didn't know
everything.

“I can get the work done today, but it'll take a few hours. Let me see if I can get one of the other mechanics to take you home.”

“Oh, I can give you ride,” Sophia offered. She still hadn't had the chance to see the baby's face, cradled like she was against her mother's shoulder, but Sophia had carefully noted the way Kayla cupped one hand beneath the baby's bottom while patting her back with the other. How she rocked the baby from side to side in a gentle swaying motion. How she made a quiet shushing sound when the baby gave a soft, protesting cry.

It was all supposed to come naturally, but nothing from the past few years had been easy for Sophia, and this was too important to leave to chance and hope her maternal instincts would kick in as soon as the baby was born.

She could use all the help she could get and wondered if she could possibly learn everything in a single afternoon.

“Sorry, sis. I'd already put your car up on the lift before Kayla came in. I was in the middle of rotating the tires.”

Later Sophia would worry about her instant reaction, but at that moment, she turned to Jake without a second thought. As if he really was her boyfriend—someone she trusted, someone she could count on when she needed him.

And having already anticipated what she was going to ask, Jake had pushed away from the car. Keys in hand, he said, “We can take my car.”

“I really appreciate this,” Kayla said.

“It's no problem. We're glad to help.”

“I'll need the baby seat from my car, though.”

“Oh, right.” Embarrassment heated Sophia's face. Lesson number one—don't forget the car seat. “I'll get it.”

Five minutes later, Sophia was still struggling with the car seat. Sweat beaded along her hairline as frustration and panic started creeping in. She'd pulled the seat from the back of Kayla's car easily enough, but getting it situated in Jake's rental was another story. She'd tried securing the middle seatbelt every way she could think of, but the car seat didn't seem sturdy enough to withstand a sharp turn, let alone offer the protection it was designed to provide.

“I'm sorry,” Kayla repeated. “The seat was, um, a donation from the hospital and one of the orderlies secured it for me.”

“It's okay,” Sophia insisted, even though that was far from how she was feeling. If she couldn't do something
this
simple—

A warm hand curved over her shoulder. Her first thought was that it was Sam, but her body knew better. Hot and cold chills radiated out from his touch, and Sophia looked over her shoulder to meet Jake's knowing gaze.

“Here, let me.”

He filled the open doorway, and Sophia wondered if maybe he did know everything after all. She wanted to insist she could figure this out on her own, but the baby—Annabel—was starting to fuss. The longer it took to get them home, the longer it would be before Annabel was fed and put down for her nap.

“All right.” Sophia reluctantly eased around to the other side of the car seat and watched Jake work.

His hands had fascinated her from the first time they met. He'd scraped his hands when he made a diving tackle to stop the man who'd stolen her purse, and Sophia had taken him back to Theresa's apartment to bandage the cuts.

His palms were rough with calluses, his knuckles rock hard beneath tanned skin, and his fingers straight and long. Despite the obvious signs of strength, all Sophia had been able to think of was the gentle touch on her arm when he asked if she was all right.

Watching him now, she grudgingly admired the competence and confidence as he wrestled the car seat into place and secured the belt with a decisively snap. “There you go.”

“But I already tried that,” Sophia's words cut off as she reached out and attempted to jiggle the car seat that was now locked in place. “How did you—”

Jake turned away before she had a chance to finish her question. Annabel had moved beyond fussing to a full-lunged protest, but instead of scrambling out of the back seat and giving the young mother and crying baby wide berth, Jake held out his hands. Sophia couldn't see Kayla's expression as she handed over her daughter, but she got her first glimpse of Annabel's adorable face.

Big brown eyes gazed out above chubby, tear-streaked cheeks. Her bottom lip trembled, and Sophia cringed, anticipating an ear-piercing wail. But the second Jake cradled the baby in his big hands—his confident, capable, caring hands—Annabel stopped crying. The trembling ceased, and her bow-shaped lips curved into an adorable, toothless smile.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Jake murmured as he laid the baby in the car seat and easily buckled her in, “wanna go for a drive?”

It was the same question he'd asked of Sophia earlier that morning. As Annabel blinked up at Jake, her chocolate-dark eyes seemed to melt at the sound of his voice. And when he brushed a kiss against a small waving fist, Sophia felt her will to resist Jake Cameron do the same.

T
he Walker farmhouse had seen better days—mismatched shingles showed where the roof had been repaired, paint peeled off the siding in differing layers to reveal the various colors the house had been over the years, the front porch sagged in the center in front of a door that—

“Sticks,” Kayla explained as she turned the handle and kicked the lower right corner to pop the door free.

As Sophia followed the other woman inside, though, she barely paid attention to her surroundings, her gaze locked on the baby in her arms. She'd offered to help Kayla by carrying Annabel in from the car. Sophia had paid special attention to how the buckles crisscrossed the baby's chest before releasing the catch and lifting the child from the seat. Annabel slept through the entire exchange, but Sophia figured that had more to do with how tired she was than because of any ease or skill on her part.

“She is so sweet,” Sophia murmured as she sat on the
somewhat lumpy couch, studying the baby's every dimple and eyelash. Annabel had fair skin and light-brown hair, but Sophia had no trouble imagining an infant with her own features. Dark hair, dark eyes. She didn't really want to think about her baby looking—

“Just like her father.”

Sophia blinked at Kayla. “What did you say?”

“Annabel. She looks just like her father.”

The other woman reached into her purse for her wallet and flipped it open. Half a dozen photos unfolded. “See? That's Devon. Annabel has his eyes and his chin and long graceful fingers like his. He's a musician.”

She passed the pictures to Sophia, but she barely spared a glance at the bleach-blond, tattooed guy in the photos once Jake leaned close. He stood behind the couch but rested his hand on her shoulder to get a better look. Her entire body felt energized by his touch, and she was surprised Annabel didn't wake from the sudden jolt. “What does he play?”

“Guitar. Maybe Annabel will get some of that talent from Devon since it's not like she'd gonna get anything else. He pretty much bailed when I found out I was pregnant.” As Kayla took the photos back, she tossed her head defiantly. “We're better off without him.”

Boy, did she know, Sophia thought, even though holding Annabel made it that much harder for her to understand how a man could walk away from his flesh and blood so easily. From the moment she learned she was pregnant, Sophia had vowed to do all she could to love and protect her child. She couldn't wait to hold her baby.

“I'll be happy if I never see him again.”

The words were right, but Kayla's actions spoke louder than words as she took a last long look at the photos before she tucked them back into her purse. Love and heartbreak were written in her eyes.

At least that was one thing she and Kayla
didn't
have in common. Todd's betrayal had destroyed Sophia's feelings for him so completely, so thoroughly, so…
easily.
She'd been hurt by his insults and accusations, but not nearly as heartbroken as she should have been if she'd loved him—the way Kayla clearly still loved Devon.

Sophia sighed as she stroked Annabel's sandy curls. Her baby might not have been conceived in love, she admitted, swallowing the jagged lump of guilt at that realization, but her child would be raised in love. She would never let her daughter or son feel unwanted or discarded as Todd had left her feeling.

Sophia didn't want to overload the new mother with questions, but it wasn't hard to keep the conversation focused on Annabel as Sophia tried to learn all she could. How did Kayla know how much to feed Annabel? When to put her down for a nap? How to tell a tired cry from a hungry cry from a something's-really-wrong cry?

Sophia sensed the young woman was still somewhat overwhelmed by the mysteries of being a good mother herself and when she'd asked Kayla how she was handling it all? The girl's answer had done nothing to put Sophia at ease.

“I'm just lucky to live in a small town like Clearville. Moving back here has been the best thing to happen since Devon left. I really think my grandfather was giving me one last gift by leaving me this farm. I know it doesn't look like much—” Kayla shook her head wryly as she gestured to the living room with its worn hardwood floors, mismatched furniture and bare walls. “Heck, when I first saw the place, I nearly broke down, but it's come a long way already.

“I don't know what I'd do without people like your family. I mean, you heard Sam earlier. Who else would do all that work on my car without expecting payment up front? When I first gave birth to Annabel, your mother brought over
enough frozen casseroles to last until she's in kindergarten. And then Drew sent some men over to help with repairs I needed done around the farm to get it ready to sell.” Kayla laughed. “Would you believe Nick even came over to set some traps to relocate some raccoons that had moved into the attic?”

Sophia could believe it—all of it. Using their time and talent to help out a new mother in need was exactly the kind of thing her family would do. She was proud of them all, and she needed to know someday they'd feel that way about her, too.

“They've all been so kind to me. You, too, for giving me a ride home. And I've been such a poor hostess. Let me get you both something to drink.” Promising to return with freshly brewed iced tea, Kayla disappeared through a swinging doorway to the kitchen.

Leaving Sophia alone with the sleeping Annabel and a far too observant Jake.

He might not have said anything during Kayla's glowing comments about the town and her family, but Sophia had felt his gaze the entire time. “You okay?”

The deep murmur of his voice seemed to reach inside her chest and tug at all the emotions tangled up inside her, urging her to let them all out. As if he might ease those worries. As if he might shoulder some of her concerns as easily as he'd lifted Annabel.

But would he? Or would Jake turn her fears against her and use them as another point in his argument to keep her in Clearville?

 

“You never did answer me earlier,” Jake said as he and Sophia drove back toward town. The more Kayla had talked about how wonderful the Pirellis were, the more Sophia had
withdrawn from the conversation to stare intently into her iced tea.

“I'm fine. I was just thinking about Kayla and how much she misses Devon.”

That wasn't the answer he'd expected, and he glanced over at her profile with a frown. “The boyfriend she swore not fifteen minutes ago she never wanted to see again?” he asked. “That Devon?”

Glancing over with her eyebrows raised in question, she said, “You didn't really buy all that, did you?”

And that was his problem, he thought. He
had
bought it all. Just now with Kayla…and for three years with Mollie.

Jake didn't know how many times he heard Mollie say how glad she was that her ex-husband was out of her life, how divorcing him had been the best decision she'd made since saying “I do.”

Mollie's announcement that she was getting back together with her ex had been a blow, but her decision to cut Jake out of Josh's life had left a gaping hole he didn't think he would ever fill. For three years, he'd thought of the little boy as his own son. He'd loved him like a son. But as Mollie pointed out, he
wasn't
Josh's father.

Getting back together with Roger is the right thing to do,
Mollie had told him.
The right thing for me and for Josh. It's a chance for us to be a real family.

A real family. Jake supposed he couldn't blame Mollie for excluding him from that concept. It wasn't like he had much experience, not after a childhood where his stepfather made it clear Jake wasn't his son.

And yet that was why he'd tried so hard to be a father to Josh. No way in hell was he going to follow in his stepfather's footsteps. So he'd opened his heart to the dark-haired, curly-headed boy only to have it ripped out because in three years
with Mollie, he hadn't seen whatever Sophia had instantly picked up on in Kayla.

“She'd take him back in a heartbeat,” Sophia was saying.

“Would
she?
” he asked.

Sophia sighed. “There are definitely still some feelings there. All those pictures she still carries around? And just hearing her say his name. I could tell how much she loves him.”

Was Kayla the woman in love or was Sophia seeing in Kayla what she didn't want to admit about herself? Was Sophia the one hoping the father of her child would come after her so she could take him back in a heartbeat?

The thought of Sophia back with an SOB like Todd Dunworthy had Jake's hands strangling the wheel. Losing Mollie had been a blow he'd never seen coming, but with that past experience, Jake didn't dare close his eyes to the possibility of Sophia going back to Todd—no matter what she said.

He could feel the curiosity in Sophia's gaze, but he kept his own focused on the windshield as if he was darting in and out of L.A. traffic instead of the only car on a two-lane country road.

“You were pretty good with that car seat…and with Annabel.”

He heard the question behind her words, and part of him wanted to tell Sophia everything—about Mollie, about Josh, even about his own less than ideal childhood so she'd realize how lucky her child would be to grow up surrounded by a family like hers.

But his feelings of failure—as a son, as a wannabe father—clogged his throat with regret and made it impossible for Jake to tell Sophia anything close to the truth.

Instead, he shrugged and said, “Must be beginner's luck.”

A tension-filled silence followed until he sensed Sophia
shift away to stare out the side window. “Yeah, that must be it.”

Disappointment filled her voice, and Jake wished he could believe it was only his lack of an answer that had let her down.

 

Standing on the Pirellis' back porch, Jake breathed in a combination of clean, crisp air and freshly brewed coffee drifting from the open kitchen window. Vanessa Pirelli was inside fixing breakfast. He'd insisted a cup of coffee was all he needed, but she'd scolded him with a frown. “Coffee is a beverage, not a breakfast. What would you like? Any favorites I could make for you?”

A long-ago memory surfaced. His mother standing at a tiny, dingy stove in their tiny, dingy apartment making slightly burned pancakes in abstract shapes.

What do you see, Jake?
she'd ask as she set a plate in front of him with a smile.
A dog? A lion? A bear?

He'd come up with the craziest animal he could think of in response, and his mother would tease,
You must be the luckiest boy in the world to have aardvark for breakfast.

But the weekend ritual—and Jake's boyhood luck—came to an abrupt end once his mother remarried. Cold cereal and colder conversation in a formal dining room replaced pancakes and laughter.

Being surrounded by Pirellis made comparisons to his own life inevitable, but he'd learned his lesson when it came to family. Truth was, he was much better off without ties. Ties were all too painful when cut.

But with Vanessa waiting for an answer, he couldn't tell her his idea of breakfast was an energy bar eaten in the car on the way to work, and that was just the way he liked it. He wasn't sure what he was going to say until he suddenly blurted out, “French toast.”

He knew exactly where the answer came from as the combination of flavors—the vanilla and cinnamon taste of Sophia's kiss—burst to sensual life against his tongue.

After their second date spent at a local church fair, Sophia confessed a craving for something sweet. They'd found an all night diner where she'd pored over the desserts before admitting what she really wanted was on the breakfast menu.

He should have picked up on her hesitation as Sophia had explained away her choice as a sudden craving. But he hadn't thought anything about it at the time, and once Sophia let out a sigh of pleasure, he hadn't been thinking at all. When she offered him a bite, he'd ignored the fork she held out, tasting the sweet syrup and powdered sugar topping straight from her lips.

“Is that your favorite?” Vanessa had asked, snapping him back to reality.

His answer was the same as the one he'd given when Sophia asked, desire bringing a flush to her cheeks and darkening her eyes. “It is now.”

He wasn't sure how he was going to sit across from her parents, making any sort of intelligent conversation, when he knew at the first bite he'd want to haul Sophia into his arms the same way he had the second they left the diner.

Maybe he was subconsciously torturing himself for lying to Sophia, he thought wryly. And it
would
be torture. To sit so close, to breathe in the scent of her skin, to taste the memory of her kiss in each bite of French toast, knowing memory could never compare with the real woman at his side…

The sudden ring of his cell phone jarred Jake out of his thoughts. The sound seemed so out of place, belonging with the traffic, smog and pressures of L.A. Problem was, so did Jake—a fact he was having a hard time remembering the longer he spent with Sophia in her small hometown.

He pulled the phone from his pocket and answered with a gruff, “Yeah?”

“Guess that answers my first question,” the wry voice coming over the phone belonged to Connor McClane, and Jake forced himself to relax.

As a friend and fellow investigator, Connor would pick up and hound Jake over any problem he was having, and he'd given too much away already. “Hey, Connor. How was the honeymoon?”

He and Connor had met while working opposite sides of a nasty divorce. After the case was over, they'd met for drinks, shaking their heads at discovering
both
spouses were cheating on each other and toasting their single status—a toast Connor could no longer make after his recent marriage to Kelsey Wilson.