I Only Have Eyes for You (The Sullivans #4)(22)

It also happened to be exactly enough time to figure out that her period wasn’t missing because it had always come at random intervals or because she was stressed out over work.

No, there was a much more scientific—and shocking—reason why she was so late.

She was pregnant.

Standing in front of the oval mirror over the sink, Sophie stared at herself and tried to see if she looked different yet. But the hollows beneath her eyes, the increased prominence of her cheekbones—neither of those things had anything to do with the baby growing inside her.

No, those were the result of nothing more complicated than self-pity.

How, she’d asked herself a thousand times in the eight hours that had passed since she’d taken a half-dozen pregnancy tests—one from every manufacturer on the market—had it happened?

She already knew the answer to that, of course. Jake had used a condom, she remembered that clearly. But evidently there was a reason for those disclaimers on condom packages.

Despite the shock of seeing that blue line over and over and the word PREGNANT on that one test that clearly believed a word rather than a double blue line was a better way of presenting the life-changing news, it wasn’t lost on Sophie just how ironic it all was.

She was Nice!

The only time she’d ever let herself do something crazy, the only time she’d ever thrown caution to the winds to take what she so desperately wanted, she ended up totally paying for it.

How many lies had she told herself, all because she’d wanted that night with him so badly? The list was ridiculously long, but yet again she made herself go through each bullet point, knowing it was the perfect way to remind herself of the truth.

Lie: If she loved Jake enough, he’d eventually love her back.

Truth: She could spend every second of the rest of her life showering him with love, and he’d never love her. Oh, he’d like her, all right, just as he liked the rest of the Sullivans. But love wasn’t something Jake McCann was ever going to sign up for. He’d even told her that straight to her face.

Lie: The only reason he felt funny about falling for her was because he was such close friends with her brothers.

Truth: Could she have been any more delusional? He hadn’t fallen for her. He’d simply taken what any guy would have taken after she threw it at him: her naked, willing body.

Lie: He didn’t think he was good enough for her, but once she convinced him that he was, they’d have their happy-ever-after.

Truth: Jake was one of the most confident men she’d ever met. If anything was ridiculous, it was that she’d thought he could ever be happy with a boring, nice librarian. It wasn’t that he didn’t think he was good enough for her. He just didn’t want her. Period.

Lie: Their mind-blowing kisses, the shockingly great sex, had to mean he loved her, too.

Truth: Sex wasn’t magic. Orgasms didn’t connect to emotions. And she was a pathetic fool for ever thinking anything else.

Lie: She could have one incredible night in Jake’s arms and then go back to her normal life without anything else changing outside of those wickedly perfect hours.

Truth: Everything had changed.

And still, despite the undeniable list of truths she’d just laid out for herself, Sophie couldn’t stop remembering the way he’d looked at her that night. Had she imagined the fierce possession? The emotion he hadn’t been able to hide? She’d thought he was touching more than just her body. She’d thought he was reaching all the way into her soul.

Stop it, Sophie!

She needed to accept the truth that Jake McCann probably looked at every woman he’d ever slept with like that, and that their hours together had nothing whatsoever to do with touching souls. Just body parts.

She still couldn’t believe she’d actually told him she loved him. Always.

Forever.

God, she wanted to curl up into a ball on the bathroom floor and never come out again. Stupid Sophie Sullivan with stars in her eyes blinding her to reality. And now look what had happened.

She was pregnant.

With Jake’s baby.

A knock sounded on the door. “You okay in there?”

It was Lori. Sophie quickly splashed some water on her face and flushed the toilet to make it seem like she’d actually used the bathroom.

She opened the door and faked a smile. “Isn’t it exciting about Gabe and Megan?”

“Of course it is.” But Lori wasn’t smiling back. “I need to talk to you after everyone leaves, so stick around, okay?”

Sophie immediately worried that something was wrong with her twin. Had she been too preoccupied with her own shocking news that she hadn’t paid close enough attention to whether Lori needed her support?

* * *

The door had barely closed behind the other women when Lori turned on Sophie. “Spill it, sis.”

The wine glass Sophie had been washing in the kitchen sink slipped from her fingers and shattered on the white porcelain. In the past, Sophie had always been the voice of reason, the shoulder for her twin to cry on.

This time, everything was turned around.

She braced herself on the rim of the sink. She wasn’t going to cry.

Not. Going. To. Cry.

But when Lori moved behind her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, tears started streaming down Sophie’s cheeks as fast and thick as the water still pouring from the faucet.