A few looked curiously at Jack, but he kept mysteriously silent as Melanie showed off their daughter. He had no idea what she’d told these people and he wasn’t about to embarrass her, yet she inched closer to him and didn’t seem to mind his hand at the small of her back. After she told her secretary that she’d be out for the next couple of hours, Jack urged her to the door.
An older woman stopped them, cooing at the baby. “I just have to say that your family is gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” Melanie said, looking at the baby. Juliana bounced in her arms.
“She has her father’s eyes. You and your husband must be very proud.”
Melanie’s mouth opened to tell the woman he wasn’t her husband, then she clamped it shut.
Jack stepped in and said, “We are. Thank you.” He ushered Melanie out the door and to the car. Settling the baby in the car seat, they drove. Beside him, Melanie was quiet.
“Bothers you?” Jack asked. “What that woman said?”
“No, it’s a logical comment. Juliana does look like you.”
She was being evasive again, he thought. “Hair and eyes maybe, but she reminds me of you.”
“I whine for my supper, too?”
Jack laughed. “She’s stubborn, content with her surroundings and oblivious to what’s going on right before her eyes.”
Melanie looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers. “Then I’ll be a six-month-old and continue to explore other possibilities.”
“Liar. You’re not even considering them.”
“Jack, we’ve been over this.”
His fingers gripped the steering wheel. “I never thought I’d have to beg a woman to marry me, but just give me one good reason why you won’t.”
“I’ll give you more than one. You don’t have to marry me to be a father—this past week proved that to me if it didn’t to you. Marriage for the sake of giving a child her father’s name is not necessary.”
“It is if you’re that kid.”
She glanced at him, wondering about that stony look, then twisted in the seat to check on her daughter, who was happily chewing on a cracker and making a mess of Jack’s car.
“I need more reasons than that.”
“Jack, this isn’t a ‘Can you top this?’ discussion.”
“You made it that,” he snapped as he pulled up beside a park He didn’t say anything as he got out and went to the trunk. Melanie took her daughter from the car seat and just stood by as Jack became a master in baby-outing logistics. In less than two minutes he had a picnic spread under a tree far enough away from the other people enjoying the park to be private.
Melanie sat down and put Juliana on the blanket. Jack set out some toys, then opened the cooler and took out sodas. He offered one to Melanie and had his popped and half-empty before she’d taken a sip. She had the feeling that he wished it was a stronger drink.
“You’re angry.”
“Yes, dammit. You know, I’ve never proposed to a woman before. It’s not something I’m going into blind.”
He looked more hurt than angry and her heart split a little. He deserved to know it all. “Well, I’ve accepted proposals before and as a result, I’ve got my eyes wide open.”
His gaze snapped to her. “You’ve been engaged? When?”
She felt his anger building and hurried to say, “Before I met you. One was a few months before.”
Jack tried to keep calm, but the thought of Melanie agreeing to marry any man but him made him feel incredibly jealous and a little cheated. “What happened?”
Melanie took the sandwich he offered and with her other hand stroked Juliana’s hair. “I loved Craig and he decided that his secretary was a better choice.”
“How long were you engaged?”
“Long enough for me to be selecting china.”
Jack groaned. “The guy was a moron.”
“Yes, well, I take great comfort that his marriage to her didn’t last as long as our engagement, but then about two years later I grew stupid again.”
“Falling in love is not stupid.”
“No, it’s not. Marriage to the wrong person for the wrong reasons is.”
Jack held his temper. Why did she think that just because they’d created a beautiful child before marriage they were so wrong for each other? “What did the second guy do?”
“You don’t think it was me?”
“No, I don’t, because you’re a beautiful, smart woman, Melanie.”
She held his gaze, wondering if he’d still be around if it wasn’t for the baby they shared. She’d always wonder that, and it was a bigger reason not to marry him. “I found him in bed with a flashy blonde.”