The Best Man's Baby(9)

“Was she looking for a raise?”

He stared at her expression, his body going completely still. Was that a trick question? When Claire’s cheeks suddenly turned bright pink, it became obvious she knew how that had sounded.

“Never mind,” she said, pointing a fluffy pink flower at him. “Don’t answer that.”

“Claire—”

“Know what?” She tilted her head to the side, her brown eyes narrowing. “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter what you do with Octopus Barbie. You’re here to talk about the baby, right?”

“We can talk about whatever you want to talk about.”

“I don’t want anything or expect anything from you.”

Whoa. That was not what he expected her to say. She turned back to clipping her flowers and left him staring at her profile. This wasn’t good. She was shutting him out.

“You’re keeping the baby, right?” Even though he was trying to sound calm, he knew his voice sounded shaky.

She glared over her shoulder at him. “Of course I am.”

He let out a huge sigh. Problemo numero uno, solved.

“Good. Well, I’m not going anywhere. I’m thirty-five years old. I’m not a child. This wasn’t planned, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.” He could tell by her expression she was shocked when she slowly turned to look at him. And yes, hearing the words come out of his mouth seemed a little odd. He sounded more like his brother Evan than himself. But he was not going to run anymore. No, he was going to do the right thing.

She averted her eyes and tilted her chin up before speaking. “I thought we—you used a condom.”

He shrugged and walked around the island to join her at the sink. It was filled with purple and pink flowers. “I did.”

She bit her lip and looked out the window above the kitchen sink. “Oh. It broke?”

He almost smiled, speaking to the top of her head. Her hair was shiny, and he knew for a fact it felt as silky as it looked. “Evidently.”

She turned abruptly, looking up at him. Her eyebrows snapped together. “Did you buy the cheapest condoms you could find?”

“I’m not cheap. I only buy premium condoms.”

She waved her hand in front of her face. He could tell she was embarrassed by the direction the conversation was heading, but he didn’t like being called cheap. “In fact, I think those ones were premium ribbed and—”

“Jake!” At that moment, with her face brighter than the pink flowers in the sink and her eyes wide with horror, he felt like kissing her more than laughing.

“We are going to make this right. I’m not going to let you have this baby by yourself. I won’t run from my responsibilities. We can get married.”

His eyes wandered down to her lips, which were open, probably in shock. He fought the urge to reach out and kiss her. Just to comfort her, of course. It had nothing to do with the full lip she remembered nibbling between his teeth and sucking on…

“You’re kidding, right? Married? Us?”

Jake frowned. Not exactly the reaction he was expecting. “Of course I’m not kidding.”

“Uh, no.” She said, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Why not?”

“I’m not getting married to you because of some antiquated notion that you have to marry me because I’m the mother of your child.”

He met her eyes. He didn’t get what she was saying. It didn’t make sense. She was raised by people who had traditional views on marriage and family. Her father was a minister. He had avoided her for the past five years because of her father, because despite how well he and her father got along, Jake knew he would not have wanted him dating Claire.

“I want the whole package. I want to be married to someone I love. I want to fall in love. I don’t want to be married to a man who is forced to marry me. I don’t think it’s healthy for a child to be raised by two people who don’t love each other. I won’t live the rest of my life with someone who is marrying me to do the right thing. No way. I’m not marrying you.”

Her voice was a little too calm, and he felt his stomach fill with something akin to panic. Jake stared at her, trying to find an ounce of logic in what she was telling him. Okay, fine, so she wanted love, but things didn’t always go that way. But he was going to be here for her. He’d go to doctor’s appointments, help get ready for the baby…anything. So what if love wasn’t part of the “support” package he was offering? They didn’t have to be in love for their marriage to work.

“I get the whole married-for-love concept—”