He shook his head. “I ate earlier.”
“Oh.” He really had done all of this for her. No man had ever cooked for her before.
Then again, no man had ever knocked her up, either. She supposed rustling up a meal was the least he could do.
Sophie was hungry enough not to care that he was just sitting there watching her eat. She’d never been one of those girls who picked at her food. Her hips and br**sts were evidence of that, despite the laps she swam every day. Lori was quite a bit leaner, given her intense dance and choreography schedule.
But after several minutes, as her stomach went from empty to full, she realized she was going to lose the battle with keeping her eyes open. She put down her knife and fork and yawned, big and long.
“You’re tired.”
Jake, she’d noticed more than once, didn’t waste words. But before she could do much more than nod, his arms were going around her and he was lifting her off the stool.
Her brain—and body—immediately flashed back to Napa, when he’d picked her up, naked and desperate for him.
“What are you doing?” She couldn’t hide the panic that underlay each word.
He didn’t break stride. “Taking you to bed.”
Her breath lodged in her chest. Even wanting him as bad as she still did, she couldn’t have sex with him tonight. Not when she was so tired and felt so weak, like every wall she should have up to protect herself was lying down taking a nap.
What would happen if she lowered the defenses she’d tried to put up? What remaining part of her heart—or worse, her soul—would she end up handing over to him on a silver platter?
“Jake, dinner was great, but I need to go home now.”
“No.” His bedroom was big and masculine, just like him. “Seven days, Sophie. You promised me the week.” He moved to take off her shoes and she was so stunned by how gentle he was being with her that she let him.
“I know I did,” she said when she found her voice. “But I thought they’d be like dates, that we’d meet up after work for a few hours.”
“I want you here. With me.”
It was everything she’d ever wanted him to say, and yet the words coming from her lips were, “What if I don’t want to be here?”
He looked up at her from where he was kneeling by her now bare feet, his eyes an unfathomable near-black. “Then I’ll stay with you.”
She swallowed hard, suddenly realizing his intent—and just what she’d signed herself up for.
Not just seven days, but seven nights.
Oh God.
He got up and went to the bathroom, but was back in seconds. “There’s a new toothbrush beside the sink. I’ll be back soon.”
Sophie knew she could put her shoes back on and leave, that she didn’t have to go into his bathroom and brush her teeth before slipping into his bed. But she also knew Jake well enough to know that if she did that, he’d just follow her.
He wouldn’t care about pounding on her apartment door loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood before she let him in. Not when he was so incredibly possessive, clearly wanting to take over her life by doing things like forcing her to eat dinner. It didn’t matter that she’d been hungry enough to eat a horse. She didn’t want anyone telling her what to do.
Especially not him.
But the craziest thing of all was that, instead of only being mad about his domineering behavior, she was aroused by it at the same time. So much so that she couldn’t stop her old favorite daydream from playing in her head, the one where Jake’s hard muscles were pinning her to the bed and he was looking down at her telling her exactly what he was going to do to her. And she was dying for it.
She shoved herself off the bed and went into the bathroom. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.” She ranted at herself the entire way across the carpet to the tiled floor.
Her stupidity had already gotten her into this mess. She didn’t need to compound it further by actually falling for his seven-day “let me convince you I can be there for you and the baby” game. Especially since any guy who kept extra toothbrushes on hand clearly needed them for a parade of women.
Furious at herself, she brushed her teeth hard enough to take off the top layer of enamel, then washed her face. He hadn’t offered her any pajamas and she definitely wasn’t going to get into his bed naked.
Wouldn’t he just love that?
At least, she thought with a small measure of comfort, he didn’t keep women’s pajamas in his house to go with the toothbrushes. She’d never gone through someone else’s things before—Lori was the snoop in their family—but Sophie didn’t feel at all bad about opening his closet to look for a T-shirt. She hated sleeping in her bra, but she needed something to cover her in lieu of the white cotton she had on.
She found a black shirt and as she quickly pulled off her skirt, sweater, and bra, she tried not to appreciate the fact that the shirt smelled like Jake. A clean, masculine smell that went straight to her head.
Hearing footsteps, she all but threw herself onto his bed and beneath the thick covers, only to find his mattress deliciously comfortable. Clearly, from what she’d seen of his house so far, he bought the best for himself. She could only imagine how much a bed like this must have cost.
Oh, but it was worth every single penny.
She hadn’t thought she’d be able to sleep a wink in his bed. But it was so comfortable...and she was so tired.
Before she knew it, Sophie’s brain turned off and she was down for the count.