by Sam Crescent
“Why? What do you know?”
They walked up through the entrance of the house. She turned to the left and made for the family sitting room. Linda tightened her hold on Jennifer’s arm.
Jennifer saw her mother and father standing by the fire place. Her mother was on the phone while her father glared at the person sitting on the sofa.
“Hi,” she said, gaining their attention.
Evan, her brother, sat in the chair in the far corner. The man on the sofa turned around to face her. Patrick Thompson was staring at her. His green eyes looked deep into her soul.
She stopped in her tracks. His green eyes were all she could make out before everything went black.
****
“Crap, she’s fainted,” her friend said.
Patrick reacted. Jennifer had hit the floor before he caught her. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her onto the couch. She looked as beautiful as he remembered. In fact, she was more beautiful without the make-up and the artifice she’d been wearing that night.
“Linda, language. I know your own home may not be strict, but you’ll keep your cursed language out of my home,” Jennifer’s mother said.
“Sorry, Mrs. Dixon.” Her friend didn’t leave Jennifer’s side.
“You may leave, Linda,” Jennifer’s father said.
Patrick couldn’t believe how rude they were being.
Linda turned to him. “She doesn’t want me to leave her alone.”
Patrick stared at Jennifer’s best friend. The woman was pretty with blonde hair and blue eyes. In another time he’d have found her beautiful. Now, all he had eyes for was the woman on the sofa. “Is she?” he asked, resting a hand on Jennifer’s stomach.
Nibbling her lip, her friend nodded her head.
He didn’t know what to expect.
“Her friend stays,” Patrick said.
“Mr. Thompson, this is my house, and I’ll excuse the people I don’t want,” Edward Dixon said.
“Your daughter has just fainted. She doesn’t want her friend to leave.”
“This isn’t happening,” Jennifer said.
He gazed down at the woman he’d spent the most amazing night with. She rubbed her eyes looking from Linda to him and then back again.
“He’s real, isn’t he?” Jennifer asked.
“That’s enough. Linda, move out of the blasted way while I talk to my daughter.” Helen Dixon pushed Linda aside and then stood glaring down at Jennifer. “You have some explaining to do, young lady.”
“No, I don’t. You shouldn’t be talking to my friend like that,” Jennifer said. She suddenly began to move.
He noticed she pushed her dress down past her knees. Patrick also noticed the fact she refused to look at him.
“Don’t talk to me like that. You’ve put this family through the works, Jennifer. Throwing up in a seafood restaurant and causing a scandal everywhere you go. There is nothing you can say that can defend what you did. You make us look like fools.”
“I couldn’t help but throw up, Mom.” Jennifer stood up. Her face was red, and Patrick saw the anger blazing in her eyes.
“What excuse can you come up with now? You’re not allergic to anything. Look at the size of you. When will you go on a diet and lose those extra pounds? All the men would be begging for your hand in marriage,” Helen said.
“For God’s sake, Mom. I threw up at that place because I’m pregnant. You’re going to have to deal with me being fucking fat a little longer, okay. Please, just leave me alone,” Jennifer said. In the next instant she covered her mouth looking horrified.
“What? Pregnant?” Helen asked.
Patrick felt his heart hammering against his rib cage. He’d known she was, and Linda had confirmed it. They hadn’t seen each other since that night, but it was a night he’d never be able to forget.
“Yes, pregnant, and guess what? He’s the father.” She pointed in his direction.
“We need to calm down and talk about this,” Evan said.
Patrick knew her brother. They’d been to a lot of parties together and hung out a few times.
“Talk? There is not going to be any talk. Patrick and Jennifer are getting married, and that is the last of it,” Edward said.
“What?” Patrick and Jennifer said.
“You’re getting married. There is no way my daughter is having your baby without a ring on her finger,” Edward said.
“That’s not going to happen.” Jennifer folded her arms. “You’re not going to force me to marry someone I don’t know.”
She walked right into that one.
Patrick wasn’t repulsed by the idea of getting married. He was shocked by how unaffected he was. Most of the time when his parents demanded he marry, he ran in the opposite direction. Frowning, he stared at Jennifer. He wanted to marry her.
Shit, he was looking forward to being a father.
“I’m done,” Jennifer said.
Without looking at him, Jennifer walked out of her parents’ home leaving him behind. He stared after her, shocked. She was the first woman he believed carried his child, and she was the first woman to walk away from him.
Jennifer might not know it yet, but she’d just become the most intriguing female he’d ever met.
Chapter Three
Jennifer was scooping another spoonful of chocolate ice cream onto her spoon when the doorbell rang. She was on the sofa with Linda watching a romantic comedy. Her head pounded from being with her family that morning.
“Do you think we can leave it?” she asked, yawning.
“No. Your family are going to be pissed with you, Jen. You better get the door.” Linda lifted her feet out of the way. She dumped the ice-cream carton on her friend’s lap and answered the door. Patrick stood in her doorway looking every bit as sinful as he had that night she’d conceived his child.
He leaned against the doorframe. His arms were folded over his impressive chest, which outlined his thick arm muscles.
“What do you want?” she asked. Her mouth watered remembering the feel of his arms wrapped around her.
“You’re expecting my baby, Jennifer. I think we need to talk.”
She shook her head. “I’m not going to ask you for anything. You don’t need to be here—”
“Your parents were pretty much arranging our up-coming wedding when I left. I think we need to talk about it.”
“What? There is not going to be a wedding,” she said. She slammed her palm against her forehead.
“Let him in, Jen. You need to talk to him.” Linda was kneeling up on the sofa looking over at the door.
“Thanks for being a supportive friend,” she said over her shoulder.
“Anytime.”
Turning back to the gorgeous man at her door, she moved out of the way to let him enter. “Come in.”
“Thank you.”
“We can talk in my room.” Jennifer ignored her friend and walked towards her room. She closed the door behind him. When she looked at him, she knew bringing him to her room was a mistake. He made her room feel small with him inside.
“This is your room?” he asked.
There were pictures of her with Linda and some pieces of art work. Her room was usually spacious, but with him in it, it seemed poky.
“What do you want to talk about?” she asked, getting straight to it.
“You’re really going to ask me that?” He sat down on her bed. She wished she could make him leave.
“I’m pregnant. You’re the father. Really, it’s no big deal.”
He folded his arms over his chest once again. Her gaze drifted down to the muscular shape of his thick arms. How could a man be that strong?
Focus, Jennifer, focus.
“It is a big deal.”
“I’m surprised you’re not demanding paternity tests and denying it all. Isn’t that your MO?” she asked.
Jennifer watched his jaw tighten as he ground down on his teeth. “That was a low blow, Jennifer.”
“I know. I’m sorry. My mind is all over the place. I never expected anything like this to happen. Ever.” She ran her fingers through her hair. That night when they’d slept together felt like a lifetime ago. “Just the other day the news reported that you’d won a case, and it was proven you were not the father of a woman’s baby. How can you not be demanding the same thing from me? Why do you believe me?”
Patrick stood up and moved over to where she was against the door. Her heart sped up at his closeness. The moment he’d touched her that night she hadn’t been able to think straight. She’d have done anything he asked without thinking of the consequences. She had done everything, and now she was pregnant with his child.
“I never slept with that woman. If there was any chance the baby was mine then I’d own up to it. I know that baby is mine.”
“I could be sleeping around. There could be hundreds of potential men who are the father,” she said. Jennifer cringed at her own words.
Great, Jennifer. Make yourself sound like a complete slut in front of the father of your child.
“Don’t do that, Jennifer. That’s beneath you.”
“You didn’t know my name,” she said.
She didn’t know why she was arguing. They’d been good together for the few short hours they’d known each other.
“I knew your name was Jennifer. Did you know who I was?”
“Yes. Everyone knows who you are.”
“Don’t deny me, Jennifer. We made a baby together. We can handle the future together.” He pressed a hand to her stomach. His other hand went over her head to rest on the door behind her. Jennifer gasped at the contact. His hand covered her stomach. She stared down at where he touched her. The electricity coursed through her body from his touch. This was how it had been that night. From the merest of touches she’d felt connected to him in the most primal of ways. “We’ve got this, Jennifer,” he said.
“What? Sex? That is not a very good basis for a relationship,” she said.
“It is more than some couples have for a marriage. We’ve got chemistry. You can’t deny it. You’re dripping wet and begging for my touch.”
He leaned in close. She stared into his eyes, and her gaze dropped down to his lips.
“I’m not marrying you,” she said.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not marrying a man who can’t keep it in his pants for longer than ten seconds or when the next hot woman walks by.” She pushed him away and sat on her bed.
“You’re judging me,” he said.
“No. All my life I’ve been told what to do. I’m not being told who to marry. That is something I refuse to do,” she said. She felt the tears fill her eyes. Brushing them away with the back of her hand, she stared up at Patrick.
He got down on one knee in front of her, taking her hand in his.
“Marry me, Jennifer.”
“You don’t know me.”
“We can do that later on. We can get to know each other in time.”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t want to do that. What we had was fun, but that’s all it is ever going to be. Fun. I don’t want anything else from you.” Jennifer pulled her hand free from his.
“You were different,” he said.
Jennifer looked at him. She felt like a complete bitch turning him away. He’d been different as well. She’d known about his reputation, and he’d talked like there was no tomorrow.
“Sorry. I’ll never keep your child from you,” she said.
“You better not.”
****
Patrick couldn’t believe it. The one woman he was prepared to marry and she was running away from him as if he was a disease. He stared down at Jennifer and saw she was scared. Bloody hell, he was scared, too. They’d made a baby together. He or she was currently growing inside her, and Patrick didn’t want to miss a moment of it.
“This isn’t over, Jennifer. I’ll be back, and I’ll show you I can be a man you want.”
He closed her door behind her. Linda, her friend, stood guarding the front door. “What?” he asked.
“She’s scared. Her family make her nervous. Don’t move on because she’s pushing you away.”
“This is none of your business. Stay out of it,” he said.
“You’ve got a reputation of using women, Patrick. She knows that, and still she slept with you.”
“There was not a lot of sleeping involved.” He was being an ass, but he was hurt. For the first time he was prepared to do the right thing, and Jennifer pushed him away.
“Stop being a jerk. Look at this from her perspective. How would you feel if she was a greedy gold-digger using you for your money? She’s nervous. Give her time, and she’ll come around.”
He stared at her friend. Linda clearly loved her. He understood. In the short time they’d spent together he’d seen how special Jennifer was.
“I’m not going anywhere. Tell Jennifer that.” Patrick brushed past her friend and made his way out of her apartment. The fresh air did nothing to calm his sexual hunger. The moment he got close to her, he’d felt desire spring inside him. He wanted her, and that hadn’t gone away.
Her family would be persistent. He knew that.
Patrick was going to be a father. He still couldn’t believe it, no matter how many times he said it to himself.
He was dazed by the news. On the drive back to his home he stopped off at a store that specialised in baby products. Without thinking, he got out of his car and wandered up and down the aisles. Women stopped and muttered to each other. He ignored their presence and concentrated on buying something for his baby.
The other women meant nothing to him. He was going to show Jennifer he meant to be a real father and a real husband to her. That night she’d given him a chance, and he was more than willing to show her he deserved plenty more chances.
Picking up a couple of teddy bears and some newborn clothing, he paid for his purchases and made his way out to his car.
When he got home, he dumped his purchases on the kitchen counter. He checked his messages and then fired up his laptop. His father might think he spent a great deal of his time partying and fucking, but he still worked.
He was currently investing in a company that helped disadvantaged children. Once he checked his email, he put a call through to his father.
“You better have a good reason why Edward Dixon is phoning me every ten minutes,” Robert said.
“I knocked his daughter up.”
There was silence at his comment. He’d been purposefully crude with his statement.
“What?”
“You heard me. Jennifer Dixon, the girl from the newspaper article on your desk this very morning. I’m the reason she vomited at the seafood place. She’s pregnant with my baby.”
He heard his father collapse into a nearby chair. “I can’t believe you.”
“She won’t marry me, either. Looks like you’re going to have a grandson coming into the world without the benefit of wedlock.”
Patrick hung up the phone. The last thing he needed was to hear his father berate him. He grabbed a beer out of the fridge and wandered through his house. For too long he’d been living an empty life. He was tired of being alone. In her own way, Jennifer was offering him something he’d wanted for a very long time.
He’d wanted a family of his own. Their parents were going to interfere with their lives. He knew that, and he’d put money on it that Jennifer would know it as well.
They didn’t have a lot of choices open to them. He swigged down his beer and moved into his library. Staring out of the window, he gazed in the direction of where his son or daughter had been conceived.
Whatever happened, Jennifer and their child would want for nothing. He’d see to that.
Chapter Four
“You’re going to have to talk to him, Jen. You can’t put it off,” Linda said through the door.
Jennifer was vomiting down the toilet the following morning and feeling like crap. “I’m n
ot going to see him.”
She refused to let her friend enter the bathroom. The room stank of sick and depression. She was depressed. Since yesterday she’d struggled to get Patrick out of her head. He was all she thought about. No man deserved that much attention. Not even the father of her baby. The doctors had called and informed her that the blood tests were positive. She’d demanded they get the results as fast as they could. Money was good for a lot of things, and getting the best care was high on the list.
“He’s not going to back down, Jen. You may as well come to terms that Patrick Thompson is going to be part of your life.”
Growling at the door, Jennifer heaved down the toilet and then flushed it away. She crawled to the sink and pulled herself up. Her face was pale, and sweat dotted her brow.
“You can’t go through this alone,” Linda said.
With a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth, she opened the door and looked at her friend. “I thought you were going to help me?”
“I was. I am. I’ll always be here for you, Jen. You know that, but Patrick wants to be part of this baby’s life, and I think you should let him. I saw the way he looked yesterday. He was sad but determined to be with you.”
Jennifer pulled the toothbrush out of her mouth. “He wants to be around for the baby’s sake. I can’t be with someone who doesn’t want to have anything to do with me. I’m not built that way.”
“Then you need to go and talk to him. He wants more than the baby, Jen. Patrick remembered you, and he was the one that was there at your folks’ place. You need to give him the benefit of the doubt with this one. Trust him.”
Linda handed her a summer dress and turned to leave. Jennifer closed the door. She finished brushing her teeth and then washed herself in the shower. Her friend had a point. Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the feel of the warm water cascading down her body. The heat felt good, and so did the thinking about Patrick. Her body was hot for him.
She turned the shower off. Jennifer dried her body and then dressed in the summer dress Linda had given her. Brushing her hair, she left the long brown locks flowing down her back. When she opened the door, Linda was waiting with a slice of dry toast and her purse.