Proof of Their Sin(38)

But she was acutely aware he’d said nothing about feelings, nothing about creating a family with the baby they’d made. He wanted a bedmate. That was all.

“You understand now why I was less than honest with you,” he cajoled gently. “You can believe me when I tell you I will be entirely monogamous. Why would I stray when the best is at home?”

She jerked away from his hold, lowering her eyes to hide how badly she wanted to believe him. All of her longed for a husband who gave her children and came home to her and their family every day. Maybe she was trying to rewrite her childhood when she’d been surrounded by “real” families while she was the odd duck whose father had died and whose step-siblings resented her. But the yearning in her to have a nuclear family was intense and real.

Without love, however, there would be no glue. If sex was all that brought a man home, it could lead him afield just as easily. And if there was even a seed of suspicion between them...

“Whether I trust you is only half the equation, isn’t it? You don’t trust me.”

Silence. His hand lowered and balled into a fist of frustration.

“If I am the father, Lauren, you would not refuse to marry me,” he finally said.#p#分页标题#e#

“So marrying you would prove to you that you are? That’s what you’re saying?” She flung back her head.

She could see by his expression it wouldn’t be that easy, only that refusing to marry him would, in his eyes, prove once and for all that he wasn’t the father.

She jerked conflicted eyes to the blurred panes of glass on the cupboards, brow knotting in pain. “You’re not being fair,” she murmured, hurt that he refused to take her word.

He lightly caressed her cheek with his knuckle. “Lauren.”

She leaned away from his touch. “Don’t. Getting your way like that will make me hate you.”

Paolo tensed, feeling as though heavy chains were settling and binding around him. Lauren had been beyond his grasp for too long for him to accept distance now.

“Don’t be stubborn,” he growled, frustrated that she refused to see what a chance he was taking in offering marriage without a guarantee about the baby’s paternity.

“You’re the one being stubborn,” she accused, crackling with the passionate energy that lit such a fire in him.

“I have to take a long view,” he reminded.

“Well, I’m not about to rush headlong into marriage without considering all the ramifications, either. I married the first time because I thought it was my only option. My mother had brainwashed me into thinking I needed a man in my life. I don’t. When the baby is born, you can take blood tests. Let me know then if you want to be involved, and we’ll discuss marriage.”

“And you’ll vilify my reputation in the meantime. Very nice,” he bit out.

Lauren rotated to face him with feminine aggression. “If you think you can change my mind by telling me your job is more important than my happiness, you’re wrong. Been there, done that. Tell me what I will get out of marriage and I’ll think about it.”

Hellfire, she was beautiful. The short hair worked for her, exposing a face that glowed with passion and assertiveness. That force tapped an answering signal in him, making him want to frame her face in his hands and kiss the hell out of her. They were both still aroused. That’s why they were on the verge of killing each other, snapping like territorial dogs. If she thought he wasn’t aware of the points of her nipples turgid against the fall of her light sweater, she was kidding herself. All he could think about was how close he’d had her to orgasm simply by fondling her breast. It took all his self-control not to adjust the ache behind his fly, but he was afraid that if he touched himself, he’d give in, open his pants and have her on the floor.

She knew what was going on in his mind. Her breathing pattern hitched and her lips parted invitingly while her body language grew soft and receptive.

He smiled. “You want the sex as much as I do, cara. Marry me.”

“I’m not as uptight as I used to be, Paolo. I can have sex without a ring.”

He let his brows go up, not liking that supercilious note in her voice. It was too suggestive of confidence that she could manage him. “You think?” he challenged.

She snorted. “I may be easy, but so are you.”

He folded his arms, taking full advantage of his height to look down on her. “And if I told you I won’t make love to you until my ring is on your finger?”

“Really?” A smile of genuine amusement grew across her lips. “You want to take that on as a challenge or a bet or whatever it is your crazy, competitive nature drinks in as fuel? You have a streak of perversity, you know that? Okay, run with it. Let’s see how far you get.” She chuckled and turned away to reach for her water, turning back with the glass raised nearly to her grin before adding, “Keeping in mind that I can have sex whenever and with whomever I choose.”#p#分页标题#e#