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The Best Man's Baby(39)

By:Victoria James


She didn’t know what to say, and didn’t really want to say anything as they walked up to the house in silence, Jake’s fingers still intertwined with hers. With every step closer they took to her house, she felt it was a step closer to letting Jake in. She felt a nervous, excited energy propel her forward. She caught the faint tremble in her fingers as she unlocked her front door, feeling the heat emanating from Jake, feeling the presence of his body deliciously close to hers.

They stepped into the quiet house, dusk settling in, making everything seem more mysterious, more forbidden. She turned around to look at him. His eyes shone with the desire that reminded her of their night together, the lines of his face hard, his lips sensual as he stared at her. Claire walked toward him, dropping her purse on the tiled entry with a thud that seemed to echo in the quiet house. She closed the door with the palm of her hand, her arm brushing against his arm. He caught her hand in his before she could lower it. She gasped as he brought her hand up to his mouth, turning it so his lips met the palm of her hand.

Her hand went to her stomach as a fluttery feeling gripped her. And the moment she touched her stomach, everything stopped. In that split second, everything changed. Jake’s eyes went from hers to her stomach. She felt her heart begin to pound with a throbbing, deafening ache as she watched emotions play across his face. Every line in his powerful frame was tense, rigid. His face was unmoving, his jaw clenched. And then his gaze went from her stomach to her eyes, and she felt as though her entire soul had just been lit to life for the first time.

And in his face, in the sheen in his eyes, the lines beside his firm mouth, she saw who he really was, and what this baby meant for him. And if he asked her to marry him again, right now, she wouldn’t be able to refuse. Because right now, Jake Manning was the man she always dreamed he was, deep down, beneath his playboy facade. This was the Jake she thought existed.

“May I?”

She never imagined that a man so tough could sound so heartbreakingly tender. Numbly, she nodded, and watched as his large, warm hand covered hers on her stomach, and then he looked up at her. His gentle touch reached her down to her soul. Her mouth opened but she still couldn’t say anything. He held her gaze, his blue eyes sparkling with emotion.

“We made a baby together,” he whispered, his voice sounding as though it came from somewhere deep inside, revealing a part of him that was new to her. His hand stayed still, its warmth permeating her womb.

“I’m sorry,” he said. Claire had a hard time breathing; the air felt heavy, thick, hot. Her hands prickled with the need to reach out and touch the stubble of his five o’clock shadow.

“For what?” she asked softly.

“I’m sorry for leaving you that night at the hotel,” he said and his voice was filled with such regret, Claire felt the memory of him leaving slowly disintegrate. All she saw was him now—gentle, caring, loving.

“Then why did you?”

His eyes glittered with an emotion she’d never seen, his body unmoving, his hand still on her.

“I was scared because that was the best night of my life, because when I made love to you I felt like I knew you and you knew me. Like we connected.” He squeezed his eyes shut for a second before looking at her again. She didn’t breathe or move.

“I felt like I was coming home,” he finally said roughly. “And then I think about how your first time was with your back pressed up against a wall. You deserved so much better than that, better than me. If I had known…”

Claire swallowed. Her mouth was dry and her heart was rattling against her chest. “If I had known you were a virgin I—”

“You never would have gone into that room with me?”

He shook his head. “I could never have said no to you, but I would have done things completely differently.”

Each word came out sounding like a caress, as his eyes went back and forth from her lips to her eyes.

“If I had known it was your first time I would have started like this.” Jake bent his head, his voice low and gruff, and captured her mouth in the slowest, sweetest kiss. He was an amazing kisser, gentle, but his lips were firm as they pressed against hers. She relished the feel of his mouth, and his words were poetry to her ears. She moved her hands slowly up his chest, then down, feeling his muscles twitch beneath her touch, and then she wrapped them around his waist, feeling his chest against her breasts. When she melted into him, sweet turned erotic, and mouths opened wider and their tongues began a whirlwind of a dance that would only lead them one place.

His hand plunged into her hair and his other hand grasped her hip, tugging her closer, so she was pressed intimately against his hard arousal. She needed to touch him. Claire felt his muscles tense as her hands roamed up his body. He lifted his head for a moment to look at her, and when she tugged at his neck a low moan escaped his lips before he angled his head and claimed what was the last of her control. She learned who he was without words as she tasted him, knew him as his lips ground over hers. She learned who Jake the man was, not Jake the fantasy of her youth.