“Is that all?”
“You want me to ask you on a date?”
This was a mistake. Why did I think I could get it through his thick skull that I was alone and scared? I needed him to cool it for one freaking second so I could untangle my courage from my panties and admit the truth.
Coconut cake was easier than this. “Forget I said anything.”
“Whoa.” Nate didn’t let me escape the office. “Look, Mandy. You gotta take the stick out of your ass or no man is ever gonna fuck it.”
The father of my child, spreading wisdom like his seed. I nearly slapped him.
“What do you want?” Nate asked. “You want…to go on a date? Get me to talk? Want to get to know me? Fine. You name the place, I’ll pick you up.”
“Absolutely not.”
“All right. You can drive.”
“That’s not what I mean,” I said.
“You don’t think I’m interested?”
I laughed. “I think you’re interested in one thing.”
“Can you blame me?”
“Can you understand why I don’t want that?”
“No,” he said.
“Listen to me, Nate Kensington.” I took a deep breath. The nausea returned, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. “That night…when we were together?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know how to explain…what happened.”
His damn smile melted me. “It’s real easy, baby. You have a sensitive spot on your neck. I nibbled there, and you surrendered.”
“That’s not…what? No, I don’t!”
“Sure you do. Right…” He grabbed me before I could get away, and his lips pressed against the hollow between my shoulder and neck. “Here.”
Oh…my…
His words murmured over my skin, and the hum of his voice rumbled deep inside me.
My stomach twisted, but it wasn’t the morning sickness. The rough stubble on his chin tickled me, and with every brush of the roughness, my thoughts, willpower, courage, and resistance faded.
“You’re such an ass,” I whispered.
“I’m right, and you know it.”
A shiver traced over my spine. His lips pressed harder, accompanied with a little nip. Just how it happened before. I never thought I’d regret it then. I still wasn’t sure I regretted it now.
“I have something to tell you.” My words trembled as he nibbled along my neck. “And it’s…not going to be…”
“The only thing I want to hear is you moaning my name.”
I shrugged, but the movement wove him back over that sensitive spot. I nearly groaned.
I couldn’t let him seduce me again. The last time ended with a big enough surprise. I didn’t need my family walking in on this disaster.
Or my mother.
Good God.
“Nate.”
I pushed him away and sucked in a deep breath. It didn’t work. I only took in more of his masculine scent. I sat on the edge of the desk and swallowed.
This was it.
I had to tell him about the baby. Now or never. Like ripping off a band-aid—everyone said babies were always sticky, right?
The words didn’t come. I bought some time by absently flipping through the papers on his desk. The numbers on the pages didn’t make any sense. I tilted my head.
“Nate…are you…pulling a profit?”
He grimaced. “Surprised? You sound like my dad.”
“Why don’t you have a bookkeeper?”
“I take care of it on the slow days.”
I bit my lip. Some of the numbers were really good. “You’re doing very well.”
“Yeah.” He grinned, proud of something other than what swung between his legs. “The brewery took off. The bar too. Enough that I’m thinking of starting another location.”
I nodded. “In Ironfield?”
“Nah. Why stay local? I want to get away from my parents and this town. I’m thinking of heading out west.”
“West?”
“California.”
My stomach dropped, condensing two pounds of buttercream frosting and cake into a ticking time bomb. I really wished the baby didn’t hold the detonator.
“That’s…very west.”
He flipped open a menu, tapping on a couple of his premium brews. “I locally source a lot of my ingredients, and I could make more of a variety in California. I figure it’ll get me away from my family, let me hang out on the coast, get some sun. Have fun.”
“You’re serious?”
“I found a spot in Santa Barbara to check out next month. If I like it, I might put in an offer.”
“And you’d want to live out there?”
“Don’t get worried.”