It would have been so easy to grab her again, to push her up against the wall and be inside of her in five seconds flat. And boy, was Jake tempted to do just that, to fill his hands with her soft curves, to taste that sweet skin, to slide bare into her slick heat again.
But he’d been serious when he’d told her he needed to ask the doctor if sex was okay. So he let her run.
For now.
* * *
Sophie paced Jake’s kitchen, trying to work off her agitation...and ever-present arousal. When he’d been advancing on her, a beautiful naked lion about to pounce, those dark eyes full of enough sensual intent to take her breath completely away, it had been all she could do to walk away from him.
Especially when what she really wanted was to throw her arms and legs around him for yet another trip to paradise.
In the clear light of day, she forced herself to go back over her list of all the reasons Jake was bad for her. He’d never love her the way she loved him. And after their one night together, when he’d touched her like she mattered—then disappeared—she knew better than to ever give weight to that hope again. If she hadn’t gotten pregnant and come to tell him the news, she knew with absolute certainty that he never would have come after her. Rather, he would have avoided her completely, just the way he’d avoided numerous Sullivan family events in the past two and a half months that she knew he would otherwise have attended.
Only, their lovemaking this morning had seemed different from their first night together. She hadn’t had as many orgasms, but it had still been better. Because Jake really seemed to want her, not just that fantasy bridesmaid she’d had the makeup artist and hairstylist put together for him.
This morning, she’d felt like he was touching her because he couldn’t bear not to.
Of course, he’d gone and ruined that theory right away when he jumped off her and shoved those pillows under her knees. Jake was the last person on earth she would have thought would go nuts over pregnant women, but it only confirmed the main fact she needed to remember at all times: he clearly wanted her for the baby, not for herself. And if some great sex was thrown in along the way to having that kid, who was he to say no?
She opened the fridge to see if there was anything in there that could settle her slightly nauseous stomach, but the smell of last night’s leftovers had her slamming it shut a few seconds later, muttering, “I could probably be any pregnant woman and he’d be losing it over me. The big jerk probably has some kind of weird pregnant-woman fetish.”
“What’s that about fetishes?”
She spun around, hand over her heart. “I didn’t know you were here.” Not wanting to have to explain herself, she picked up her bag and headed for the door. That was when she suddenly realized something strange. There were no books anywhere. Not on the coffee table or the counter, and especially not sitting around in piles on the floor like at her place, tripping her every time she went out to get a midnight snack.But when he put his hand on her lower back, her questions about his lack of reading material fled as she focused her thoughts on ignoring how good his touch felt…and how nice his manners were.
It’s because of the baby, she reminded herself.
They drove in silence to her apartment. He drove the way he made love, his big hands controlling the wheel of his expensive car gently, but firmly. Her body heated up and she squirmed in the passenger seat, pressing her thighs together to try and stop the ache.
“I’m only human, Sophie.” His eyes flicked to her face, then her br**sts and legs, naked beneath his shirt. “Keep looking at me like that and I’m going to pull over so we can take care of the problem.”
“There’s no problem,” she assured him, but her voice was ragged enough that she knew it was clear she was lying.
How could she reconcile the Nice Sophie she’d been her whole life with the wanton woman in Jake’s car who wanted to spread her legs wide for him and let him do whatever he wanted to her in the middle of downtown San Francisco traffic?
Thank God they pulled up in front of her apartment thirty seconds later. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes. You can wait in the car.”
She shoved the door open and nearly fell out onto the sidewalk in her hurry to get away from temptation. She could only imagine how small her apartment would feel if Jake were in there with her...and how hard it would be to keep her clothes on around him so that they actually had a chance of making it to her doctor’s appointment on time.
* * *
Jake knew he should be feeling guilty about the dirty thoughts running in circles in his head, about the fact that he’d been ten seconds from making good on his threat to pull over and put his hands and mouth all over Sophie.
But, damn if she wasn’t the hottest thing he’d ever come across...and so transparent that she couldn’t possibly keep her lustful thoughts from passing over her face one after the other as she sat next to him in the small interior of his sports car.
Two and a half months ago, she’d given herself to him without a second thought. Now, even though she clearly wanted him as much as he wanted her, he could see her intent was to withhold every part of herself that she could. Yes, she’d agreed to be in his bed, but even though that should have been more than enough for him, it wasn’t. Not anymore. Not after having had all of her once before.
What, he wondered, would it take for Sophie to open up to him again? To trust him the way she’d trusted him in Napa?