I Only Have Eyes For You (11 page)

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.”

“I’m not going to marry you, Jake,” she said, and then with a confused shake of her head, “Of all the people in the world, I wouldn’t have expected this from you.”

How could she not understand that his upbringing was exactly why being a part of his child’s life would be so important to him? Just because she was pregnant with a kid he hadn’t planned on ever having didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t going to let that child grow up without knowing his father.

“You’re pregnant with my kid.” He reached for her, putting his hands on her shoulders before she could get any farther from him. This was his chance to finally claim everything he’d ever wanted. Not just Sophie, but a family. “
My
kid, Sophie. You can’t keep it from me.”

“No,” she said, tense beneath his grip, “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“It’s exactly what you’re threatening.”

She shook her head, but she didn’t try to pull out of his arms. “I’m not. I swear I’m not. I’m just trying to let you off the hook.”

“Fuck being let off the hook.”

She flinched at his foul language and Jake nearly cursed again as the thought of losing Sophie already tore his guts to shreds. But losing his child too?

Not a chance.

Jake’s desperation to keep them both took precedence over everything else.

“One week.”

“What?”

“I want one week to convince you to marry me.”

“You seriously think you can convince me to marry you in seven days? You must be the most arrogant, self-absorbed—” She stopped mid-insult, clearly trying to regain control. She took a deep breath. “Look, if you want to be a part of your child’s life, I’m not going to keep him or her from you. But you and I both know we don’t have to get married to be involved parents. I don’t understand why you’re acting like this...or how you could possibly think I'm going to agree to your demands.”

Because just a handful of hours with you in my arms made it so I can hardly remember what my life was like before you. I only know it wasn’t any good.

Growing up, Jake’s neighborhood had been rough enough that he’d quickly learned to do whatever he had to do to make sure he walked away in one piece. Right, wrong, none of that mattered when your life was on the line.

This time, three lives were on the line—his, Sophie’s, and their child’s—and he’d fight as dirty as he had to for them.

“You’re the one who came to my house in Napa and took your clothes off.” He let his reminder of who seduced whom sink in before saying, “You owe me at least seven days.”

Sophie stared at him for a long moment, long enough that he knew he had her right where he wanted her. Finally.

“If I say yes, at the end of the week you’ll agree to do this my way?”

No. He’d never be able to do that, could never in a million years not claim his baby or the mother of his child.
But it wouldn’t help his cause if she knew that going in.

Knowing he needed the week to work his magic, he nodded, just one more lie to add on top of the pile. But he wasn’t done playing dirty yet, not when he knew using their sexual connection was his best chance to get her to change her mind. Even if he burned in hell for it.

“The bed is part of the deal, Sophie. It’s non-negotiable.”

“Obviously,” she replied, shocking the hell out of him, yet again. “We’ll have a bunch of sex for a week and then you’ll leave again and I’ll deal with the rest of my life.” She shrugged as if she couldn’t have cared less about it either way.

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.

“Yeah,” he said, “it was crazy knowing that running McCann’s was entirely up to me. Win or lose, I was the guy to blame, but that’s not where I learned to cook. I was ten. My dad was working the taps. I would hang out in the back, wash dishes for quarters. The cook was too drunk to fry up the orders. He passed out in the back and the customers were giving my father trouble. He told me to cook.” Jake transferred the vegetables to a plate, then sliced the pork roast he’d heated up on the plate beside it. “So I cooked.”

How long had she wanted to know something like this about Jake’s life? How long had she dreamed of being close enough to him to actually hear stories of his childhood? Now that the moment had finally come, she was so mad at him. Too mad—and too tired—to really appreciate it.

He slid the plate in front of her and it smelled wonderful. “Standard Irish fare.” There was a hint of defensiveness in his tone. “It’s what I do best.”

That, she knew, was where he was wrong. The food looked amazing, but she already knew what he did best. And while it involved plenty of heat, the kitchen wasn’t the preferred location...and there were a heck of a lot less clothes involved.

“The bed is non-negotiable.”

Over and over his earlier words played in her head, thrumming through her body, making every cell come completely alive, alert with wanting, despite how exhausted she was. She’d already accepted that seven days in close proximity with Jake would make it impossible to guard her hormones. Especially when she now knew
exactly
how good he could make her feel.

Only this time, she was smart enough to know she needed to guard her heart. No matter what.

Fortunately, the growling of her stomach stole her attention back from how close his bed had to be. She reached for the knife and fork. “Thanks for dinner.”

It wasn’t the most grateful she’d ever sounded, but it was the best she could do for now. Jake would just have to deal with it. But when she took a bite, she couldn’t stop the moan of appreciation coming from her lips.

“You like it?”

He was smiling at her and when she looked up at him, when she saw those dark eyes on her like that, looking so pleased with pleasing her, she lost hold of every thought...lost hold of anything but the sudden, desperate need to feel his mouth on hers again, taking her, possessing her the way he had during their one beautiful night together.

It didn’t help when his smile changed, shifting to an intense look of desire that she was sure mirrored hers exactly.

Somehow she managed to pull herself together enough to say, “It’s great.” She took another bite, hoping that if she kept her mouth stuffed full, she could keep her lips focused on something other than feeling Jake’s pressing against them.

“Good. There’s more if you need it.”

She frowned. “Wait, aren’t you having some?”

He shook his head. “I ate earlier.”

“Oh.” He really had done all of this for her. No man had ever cooked for her before.

Then again, no man had ever knocked her up, either. She supposed rustling up a meal was the least he could do.

Sophie was hungry enough not to care that he was just sitting there watching her eat. She’d never been one of those girls who picked at her food. Her hips and breasts were evidence of that, despite the laps she swam every day. Lori was quite a bit leaner, given her intense dance and choreography schedule.