The Best Man's Baby (3 page)

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—”

“It’s not a concept.”

“But we don’t have that option right now. We can get married and raise this baby. Who knows, maybe in the future—”

“We can get divorced?” She smiled a smile he was quickly coming to identify as her sarcastic smarty-pants smile.

He scowled. “What? No. Maybe in the future we’ll grow to love each other.”

“People usually do that before they’re married. Right now we have to think about what’s best for all of us. You, me, and the baby. I’m not going to marry you because of duty or responsibility. The man I marry—”

“You’re not marrying anyone else.” He tried to check his temper. No other man was going to be a father to his child.

“Excuse me?” She matched his frown. Actually, hers was probably scarier. Especially when she stood on her tiptoes in a futile attempt to match his height.

“I won’t let you.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and pressed down gently until she stood back on her heels. There was no way in hell she was getting married to some other man. Not in this lifetime. He balled his fists and stuck them in his pockets.

“Funny, I don’t recall asking for your permission, Manning.” She poked his shoulder.

He sighed. “Fine, fine, poor choice of words. We
should
get married. We made a baby together, don’t fight what comes next.”

“I don’t want to be married to a man who leaves a woman in a hotel room right after having sex with her. I don’t want to be married to a man who then takes off without ever calling. And I certainly don’t want to be married to a man who takes another woman—”

“Claire.” He felt sick to his stomach because everything she was saying was true, and somehow he’d managed to convince himself that what he’d done was okay. He’d paid the hotel bill on his way out and then tried unsuccessfully to forget about her for six weeks.

She turned from him and started arranging flowers again.

“Nope,” she said over her shoulder. “We’re not getting married. We are completely wrong for each other. Let’s face it, I’m not your type.”

“What? What are you talking about now?”

She spun around to look at him. “Maybe if you were kind of losing your hair.” She paused, waving the flowers around his head. He was trying his best to follow her train of logic, but he wasn’t hearing anything logical.

“And maybe if you were thirty pounds heavier and wore your jeans a little higher we’d have a chance at making this work. But as it stands, nope.” She was shaking her head, and he realized he was, too.

“So you want to marry an overweight, balding man who wears jeans up to his armpits?”

She nodded and smiled, throwing the flowers into the sink. “Exactly!”

“I’m not following you.”

“You don’t need to. Just accept what I’m saying and let’s move on. We can come up with some sort of visitation agreement.”

“And exactly where are you going to live?”

She spread her arms out. He refused to look down at the nicely rounded breasts he just knew were straining against her T-shirt. This was the problem. This was exactly what had gotten him into the hotel room with her—she was too damn sexy. Her enticing floral smell, her curvy body, and those eyes that could tell him to drop dead or kiss him without saying a word, all made her bloody irresistible.

He shook his head. “You can’t raise a baby in this house.”

“Why not?” She folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot.

“It’s the size of a shoe box.”

“Oh, and like your place is any better?”

Okay, so his one-room warehouse loft above the Manning Construction offices wasn’t exactly child-friendly.

“We’ll find a new place together.”

“I don’t think so,” she said and turned her back to him. Once again, he forced his eyes to focus on the top of her head and not on the back of her jeans. Pregnant women shouldn’t be allowed to wear tight jeans anyway. When things with her were on less shaky ground, he’d mention it.

“Why are you so opposed to us trying to make this work?”

“I told you. I am not going to marry someone who doesn’t want me.”

“Oh, I want you. I’m serious, marry me.”

…

Claire stared at her socks. They were navy with pink embroidered flowers on them. She liked her socks. They were so her, conservative but cute. Not the socks Amanda would wear. Amanda probably didn’t even own socks. Or any sort of undergarment, unless it was held together only by thin strings. The sound of Jake clearing his throat brought her back to the reality that was this insane moment.

“Claire.” Jake’s voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked into his eyes, wishing for a second that they could go back to that night when he’d stopped in the middle of the ballroom and danced with her. When she still thought of Jake as the man of her dreams. But they couldn’t. He’d left. She was pregnant. And now…

“Marry me.” His voice was throaty, gruff, and filled with emotion.

This wasn’t the way her marriage proposal was supposed to go. No, she had naively dreamed up hundreds of different ways Jake Manning would one day propose to her. But in her kitchen, because she was pregnant, out of duty, was not one of them.

She shook her head. “I can’t. We would never work. This was not the way my life was supposed to go, Jake. I’ve always done what everyone expected me to. I’ve always played by the rules, and the one time I gave in I wind up pregnant. What kind of loser gets pregnant the first time she has sex?”

“Uh, like a quarter of the population.”

“Yeah, except they’re teenagers, not women who are almost thirty.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a virgin?”

She stopped moving and felt every muscle in her body tense. “None of your business. Completely irrelevant.”

“Uh, yeah, my business. Yeah, important. That’s a big deal, Claire. You don’t just shock a guy with that.”

She still didn’t turn around to face him. “I didn’t think you’d notice.”

“Um, yeah. Very noticeable.”

“What do you mean? Was I that pathetic?” The sheer humiliation of the fact she was actually asking him if she’d sucked in bed was almost worse than the answer she knew was coming. He leaned down to look at her. His expression wasn’t one of a man about to tell her how horrible she’d been.

“Are you kidding?” His hands moved from her shoulders to her face. Why did the feel of his rough hands, so gentle on her skin, make her melt into a thousand little pieces? She met his eyes and wanted to walk into him, a part of her knowing he would wrap his arms around her and make her believe everything really was going to be okay.

She backed herself as far away from him as she could, the counter edge digging into the small of her back. She stared at the tanned skin exposed at the opening of his sweater, and knew it would be hot beneath her fingers if she touched it. She didn’t want to meet his eyes. Jake was so not the right man for her.

“Claire,” he whispered, the tenderness in his voice making tears prick her eyes. His hands cupped her face, his thumb grazing her cheekbone, all but forcing her chin up. She met his eyes and the expression on his face made her forget why she couldn’t be with him. When his thumb traced her lower lip, she knew she needed to get the topic back to their argument or she’d be a goner.

“I’m doing this on my own,” she whispered.

He frowned and pulled back slightly, his arms dropping his sides. “You’re not raising our child by yourself. I’m the baby’s father and I’m not going anywhere. And there’s no way in hell I’m letting another man raise my kid. Besides, how are you going to run your business and raise a child?”

…

Jake couldn’t believe she was arguing with him still. It took all of his concentration to keep up with the argument as well, because at the moment he was lost in Claire and how appealing she was. He had thought about her every day of those damn six weeks.

“I have it all planned out.”

“Let’s hear it,” he said folding his arms across his chest.

“Fine.” She ducked away from him and marched out of the kitchen. He followed her into the hallway. She stalked into a small room that must have been her home office. It was white and pink, but he couldn’t believe what he was looking at. It couldn’t be.

Claire had two giant dry-erase boards on easels, and she was standing in front of them with two markers, glaring at him. She looked like a cross between a very hot teacher and a very angry woman. He was toast. He looked at the complex flowcharts she had on each board and felt his stomach sink like a lead weight.

“Here is plan A,” Claire said in a clipped voice, pointing to the board on her left. There was a big bubble in the middle that said “Keep the business” and then all these squiggly lines leading to other bubbles. This was bad. He scanned the chart—his name wasn’t there.

“So if I decide to keep my business once the baby is born, I plan on modifying my schedule so we are closed on Sundays and Mondays. Right now we’re just closed on Monday. Then I plan on promoting Leigh, who has worked for me since I opened five years ago. She can handle all the day-to-day operations. I can do most of the design work from home. I will just go in for bridal appointments and on Saturdays when my mother can watch the baby.”

His jaw was clenched so tightly it felt like it might snap, but he was not going to lose his cool. Right now he needed to be rational and calm. Never mind the fact he wasn’t in any part of plan A. Maybe plan B would involve him. That sounded more likely since he had never been in anyone’s plan A.

He tilted his chin in the direction of the other board. “What’s plan B?”

He could have sworn he saw a trace of sadness flicker across her brown eyes.

“Plan B is selling the business.” Her voice was soft and she cleared her throat before continuing. “I have an appointment with an appraisal company to determine what it’s worth. On speculation it should be pretty good—my profits keep increasing every year and there’s the very real possibility of franchising. So, I could sell before the baby arrives. We could live off that for a few years, being frugal of course, and then I could start again once he or she is old enough to start school. I could always do some floral arranging from home for extra money and to keep my foot in the door.” She turned around, snapping the lid back on her marker.

Jake was speechless. Furious. He was trying to understand things from her perspective, but he couldn’t.

“Your charts are all screwed up.”

She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Really? How so?”

“I’m not in any damn plan,” he said slowly, carefully enunciating the words the best he could through his clenched teeth.

Her expression went from confused to angry. “You’re right. Wanna know why? Because plan A would have involved you sticking around long enough for the sperm to fertilize the egg, but by that time you were already on a plane halfway across the country! Why the heck would I think you’d stick around long enough to see the baby’s birth?”

Chapter Three

Jake stared at the glossy black door adorned with some kind of bright-green wreath, no doubt purchased at Claire’s floral shop. He hesitated before knocking. Did he really want to ask his sister-in-law and brother for advice? Once he went down that road, there would be no going back. Then again, it wasn’t likely they would leave him alone. After yesterday’s daddy-outing, Holly and Quinn were bound to be looking for him. He might as well get some advice for all his trouble. And right now he needed all the help he could get, especially from Holly. She knew Claire better than anyone.

He didn’t know how he was going to get back into her life. He needed to earn her trust. He had hurt Claire—badly, much more than he thought originally. And now she had booted him out of her baby plans even though he was the damn father. After Claire’s horrifying “presentation” of baby plans A and B last night he’d used up all his energy trying not to yell. They bickered a few more minutes and then he’d finally called it quits. He really didn’t want to yell at the mother of his child. He told her she wasn’t getting rid of him and he was in it for the long haul. She’d given him a smirk that spoke more than she ever could have with words and then he’d left.

He stared at the wreath.
Just get it over with, Jake.
He raised his tightly clenched fist to knock when the door swung open. Quinn stood there with an absurdly wide grin. “So you got a minister’s daughter pregnant. I have to say, Jake, even for you this is an all-time low.”

Jake glared at him and clenched his teeth. By the time this whole mess was sorted out he’d probably have to see his dentist for all the teeth-grinding he was doing. Had Ella not appeared at that moment and barreled into his legs, Jake would have hurled a few choice curses Quinn’s way.

“Uncle Zake!”

“Hi, sweetie,” he said, hoisting her into his arms. She was smiling at him, and he was grateful for that unconditional support. At least they hadn’t turned her against him. Holly suddenly appeared behind Quinn’s shoulder. She reached out and yanked Jake forward, bunching up his shirt in her hand. He had no idea his tiny sister in-law had that kind of strength. He ignored Quinn’s laughter as he stumbled into their always-spotless entryway. Holly let go of him and stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest and a frown on her pretty face. His brother was grinning like an idiot.

“Alright, Jake, care to tell me why my best friend has not returned any of my calls?”

“Can we go in the kitchen? I need caffeine before we get into this.”

Jake punched Quinn on the arm as he passed him. “Thanks a lot,” he muttered under his breath.

“No, no, no. No hit Daddy,” Ella said, wagging her finger at him. Jake gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“You’re right, Ella-Bella,” he said, trying to look contrite.

“That’s my girl,” Quinn said with a smile as they entered the bright kitchen.

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee teased him into thinking maybe this was going to be a normal morning, but he knew normal was about to take on a drastically different meaning from now on.

“Me color,” Ella said, pointing to the child’s play table and chairs. He helped her settle into a chair.

“Uncle Zake color?” He would have loved to join her. He glanced over at Holly, who was standing at the large island in the middle of the kitchen, watching him.

“Sorry, sweetie. I have to speak to your mom and dad. Why don’t you draw me a picture?”

Ella stared at him for a moment. “Uncle Zake in trouble?”

“Huge trouble,” Quinn called out.

Jake turned to glare at him, then gave a smile to Ella. “No, I’m fine. Don’t worry. You draw and then show me your picture when you’re done, okay?”

Ella nodded, picking up her pack of crayons.

He settled himself down at the large island and Holly shoved a coffee in his direction.

He opened his mouth, about to start talking, when he heard the front door open. Evan shouted out a hello. Jake cursed under his breath. This was beginning to turn into a circus, and he was starting to feel like the stupid elephant wearing the pink tutu.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the runaway Manning father,” Evan said, sauntering into the kitchen with a too-wide grin on his face. Jake glared at him while he kissed Holly and Ella on the cheek.

“Uncle Zake, big trouble,” Ella said with a worried frown.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Uncle Jake is always in big trouble.”

Ella’s brow furrowed and then she went back to coloring. Even his niece was beginning to think he was a screwup. Holly poured Evan a coffee and despite Jake’s frosty greeting, he plunked down at the bar stool beside him.

“Thanks,” Jake said. He loved his brothers, he really did. He couldn’t have asked for better brothers. Even when he’d let them down, they’d welcomed him back into their lives without question. That was part of the reason he was here now, willing to participate in his own beheading, because he respected them, and despite everything, he knew they would have his back.

“Okay, boys,” Holly said sternly, pointing her index finger at Quinn and Evan. “No teasing.” Evan was already on his BlackBerry and Quinn held his hands up in surrender.

“Give me the full story, Jake,” she said, leaning forward opposite him on the island. He looked into her reassuring green eyes and suddenly felt compelled to spill everything. Is this what women did?

“The night of your wedding we, uh—” He coughed and then took a sip of his coffee. “Sort of got a room together.”

“So you used Holly and Quinn’s wedding as an opportunity to fornicate,” Evan said while thumb-typing.

Jake glared at Evan. “Fornicate?”

Evan looked up from his BlackBerry, shaking his head condescendingly. “Fornication. There is a child in the room, Casanova. I’m trying to use words she won’t be able to repeat.”

“Pornication!” Ella yelled out. Holly’s mouth dropped open, and Quinn choked on his coffee. They all slowly turned to look at Ella, who was grinning at them.

“That’s not a word, sweetie. Uncle Evan likes to make things up,” Quinn said.

Ella nodded and then held her index finger to her lips. “Shhhh.”

If he hadn’t been the subject of the conversation he might have laughed.

“Can we try and keep our voices down and keep this PG, please?” Holly whispered. They all nodded. Jake muttered a curse at Evan. Evan gave him a smile that told him exactly how much he was enjoying this.

“Okay, back it up. You and Claire slept together the night of our wedding?” Quinn asked in a hushed voice.

Jake nodded.

“Why didn’t she tell me?” Holly whispered. Jake could tell she was hurt. He knew those two probably told each other everything.

Jake shrugged. “It wasn’t really planned and—”

“Wait a second, Jake,” Holly said, giving him a look that sent all the small hairs on the back of his neck standing at attention. Who knew how scary his five-foot-five sister-in-law could be? “Didn’t you leave for that project on the West Coast the next morning?”

He swallowed. Hard. Then nodded. Holly had joined the Manning business as a senior designer, and since she was married to Quinn, she knew everything that went on. She also knew he didn’t
have
to leave at the crack of dawn that morning.

“But you called her, right?”

He watched as Quinn backed away from the island, out of Holly’s line of vision, and was nodding his head in an exaggerated motion. Jake frowned at him—he couldn’t lie. Quinn was sliding his finger across his throat like a knife. Evan looked up, snorted a laugh, and then went back to his BlackBerry. Holly turned to glare at Quinn, who quickly dropped his arm and took a sip of coffee.

Jake finally shook his head and then looked away. Of course his brothers would know that was exactly what he did, and how could he possibly justify that?

“No wonder she didn’t tell me. She was probably humiliated. How could you
do
that? And then you showed up with Amanda groping you. I mean, of all people,
Amanda
?” Holly covered her face with her hands, shaking her head as though he had shown up with an escaped convict.

“She hitched a ride. I didn’t invite her. I didn’t lead her on. Wait, what’s with Amanda?” Jake asked, remembering the way Claire had said her name last night too. Holly promptly lowered her hands from her face, composing herself, and snatched up her mug of coffee.

“Nothing, nothing,” she mumbled into her cup, avoiding eye contact with him.

“Spill it, Holly. If I’m going to make this work with Claire I need to know some of this stuff.”

She slowly looked up at him. He could tell she was trying to decide whether or not to tell him whatever it was she was hiding. Finally she shook her head. “Nothing.”

He took a deep breath even though his chest hurt. So much for coming here to feel better. “Holly—”

“I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, and Claire would
so
kill me right now, but because of the extenuating circumstances, I feel it’s in her best interest to tell you Claire is
not
a one-night-stand kind of girl.”

“Don’t you think I know?” He felt as though he ripped those words from his gut. His torment must have gotten through to her, because suddenly Holly looked sympathetic.

“Gee,” Evan interjected sarcastically, “what would have given that away? The fact that she is Reverend Holbrook’s daughter? Were you running out of women in Red River? I mean of all people—”

“Back off, Evan,” Jake growled. His brother was right, and he was angry at himself. What had he been thinking?

“How did you even manage this whole seduction, anyway? We were the last ones to leave. I remember standing with you on the balcony.” He stopped talking for a second and then scowled at him. “You told me you were exhausted and going to bed, and then ditched me while I was still speaking.”

“You were boring.”

“So you decided to hit on Claire?”

“Better than spending the night listening to you.”

“Can we get this conversation back on track, guys? Jake, listen up, you need my help.”

Jake nodded seriously.

“As you may or may not know, I am a firm believer in the philosophy that everything happens for a reason.”

Jake looked at Quinn, expecting his brother to be rolling his eyes, but it was much worse than that—his brother had a small smile on his lips, and his expression as he stared at his wife was…sappy.

Evan sighed loudly. “Holly, you know that sounds really sweet—”

“Evan,” she said, effectively cutting off his brother with the tone of her voice. “I’m not prepared to hear some logical explanation of what really happened in your opinion. What I’m here to do is help two very deserving people find happiness together.”

Jake ignored Evan’s snort and instead focused on whatever his sister-in-law was about to tell him. She obviously had pity for him. And he’d take it.

She clasped her hands together. “Okay. So now we have to fix this.”

Finally, someone was willing to help him. “Thanks, Holly.”

“Did you see Claire last night?”

He nodded and averted his eyes. “She kicked me out of her house.”

Quinn and Evan laughed. Holly glared both of them into silence. “What happened?”

“I proposed marriage and she told me to get out.” He ignored Quinn as he spit his coffee out of his mouth, and then he fought the urge to step on Evan’s BlackBerry as it clanked to the ground.

“
You
proposed marriage? This is years too early for you,” Quinn said, approaching the island again.

“What are you talking about?”

Quinn was tapping his chin. “Well, according to your life plan, you’re not due to be getting married for at least another decade. What was it you said about ruining the best years of your life?”

Jake glared at his older brother, recalling the exact conversation in which he’d proudly declared that he wasn’t getting married until he was forty-five. “That was then. This is now. Obviously things have changed.”

“You asked her to marry you?” Holly repeated, her skin suddenly going a few shades paler.

Jake gave a nod.

“And she said no?”

Jake nodded affirmatively.

“Not good,” Holly mumbled, leaning back against the counter.

He ran his fingers through his already-disheveled hair and then looked up from his mug at Quinn and Holly. “I just need to do something that will make Claire realize I’m in this for the long haul, that she can depend on me. For some reason she thinks I’m this playboy who can’t settle down.”

Evan turned to look at him. “Uh, maybe it has something to do with the fact that you have a new woman on the back of your Harley every week. Or that you took off for six weeks.”

“Which was two weeks longer than you really needed to be gone. The new subdivision out west was already under way. You didn’t need to stay out there that long. Our partners on that project had everything under control, ” Quinn added.

Jake looked away from them. Yeah, he’d been gone weeks longer than necessary for Manning Construction, but he had his own business plans and it was too early to tell them yet.

“Wait, I’ve got it!” Holly yelled, flailing her arms around.

“Yay! Mommy!” Ella clapped. They all smiled at her and then she went back to coloring.

“Trade in your Harley and get a minivan.”

Everyone went silent. Jake felt the room start spinning, and he was having a hard time focusing. He clutched the edge of the quartzite counter as chills ran up and down his spine. And then a cold, clammy sweat dripped from his pores. He heard laughter, voices, but it sounded as though they were coming from a dark tunnel. Was he having a stroke? A large hand slapped him on the back. Hard.

“Breathe, Jake, breathe,” he heard Quinn say in the distance.

“Have some water.” He accepted the glass of water and forced himself to take a large gulp.

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

Everyone laughed.

“Jake, getting rid of the Harley would symbolize the end of your wild days, that you’re ready to embrace your future as a dad. And a husband.” He could tell from the sound of her voice that she was actually being serious. Helpful even.