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He stepped closer, invaded her personal space. “Is it his?”
She knew what was coming. “No.”
His voice softened. “Is it mine?” Fathomless blue eyes watched her, intense and…hopeful?
Jane was tempted to lie. But she didn’t. Couldn’t. “Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“The timing fits.”
His jaw tightened. “How long have you known?”
She mirrored his expression and firmed her voice. “Six weeks.”
Rafe closed his eyes and breathed deep, and Jane was tempted to rest her hand on his broad chest, to feel the life, the warmth that radiated off him. To reassure him somehow that everything would be all right.
An absurd thought considering how verynotall right she was currently feeling.
Stupid hormones.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She scoffed at the accusation in his voice. “Tell you? I’ve been trying to tell you since I found out. I’ve called. I’ve left messages. I even went to your office and spoke to that horrible assistant of yours. I told her I needed to speak with you urgently, but she said you were in court and would get back to me when it was more convenient. So tell me, Rafe, would now be a good time? Is itconvenientfor you yet?”
To his credit, Rafe’s face was a twisted combination of horror and shame. “I didn’t think—” He shoved his hands through his hair as he paced back and forth across the room. “I thought—”
“What did you think, Rafael? That if you ignored me for long enough, I’d just give up and go away? That is what you wanted, isn’t it? For me to leave you alone once and for all?”
His reply was barely more than a whisper. “Yes.”
Jane sat on the foot of the bed, her back ramrod straight, and folded one leg over the other. “Congratulations. Now you get exactly what you wanted. You needn’t worry about a thing, Rafe. I don’t expect anything from you. You don’t even have to acknowledge the kid is yours if you don’t want to. In fact, it’s probably preferable if you don’t.”
He visibly straightened, his face twisting with hurt. “What did you say?”
“I was just left at the altar by a conman who used my wedding day as a distraction so he could steal my life savings and fly off into the sunset with another woman. I think I’ve suffered enough humiliation for one day, don’t you? Having the town discover the baby I’m carrying doesn’t even belong to the man I was going to marry? No. Just… no.”
Rafe shoved his hands through his hair and paced across the room, his agitation as obvious as his distress. “If I’d answered the phone when you called, if I’d known about the baby…. Fuck.” He stopped and stared at her, his dark blue eyes clouded by uncertainty. Rafe was never unsure about anything. “Would you have gone through with it? The wedding?”
Jane heard what he wasn’t saying. “Depends. Would you have wanted me because you want to be with me or simply because I was pregnant?”
Time seemed to stretch between them as he stared at her, his expression shuttered. Then he exhaled and his body seemed to collapse in on itself, like a deflating balloon. “I don’t know.”
Jane lifted her chin, proud of herself when she stopped it from wobbling. “Neither do I.” Turning away from him to hide the tears silently tracking down her cheeks, she said, “I think I’d like you to go now. Please.”
But he didn’t.
Instead he came to where she sat on the bed and knelt before her, then gently lifted her leg and spread her knees apart, wide enough for him to nestle between them.
“Rafe, what are you—”
He silenced her with a kiss, soft and gentle but fleeting, and moved his hands to rest on her hips. “Please,” he whispered, resting his forehead against hers.
Jane swallowed hard, his nearness, his pained voice tugging at her heartstrings. Not trusting herself to speak out loud, she merely nodded.
Slipping the knot at her waist free, Rafe pulled the tie undone and slowly opened her dressing gown, revealing her naked body.
Cool air rushed in, chilling her damp skin. Her nipples stiffened to hard little peaks and her breasts tightened.
