I Only Have Eyes for You (The Sullivans #4)(34)

She opened the fridge to see if there was anything in there that could settle her slightly nauseous stomach, but the smell of last night’s leftovers had her slamming it shut a few seconds later, muttering, “I could probably be any pregnant woman and he’d be losing it over me. The big jerk probably has some kind of weird pregnant-woman fetish.”

“What’s that about fetishes?”

She spun around, hand over her heart. “I didn’t know you were here.” Not wanting to have to explain herself, she picked up her bag and headed for the door. That was when she suddenly realized something strange. There were no books anywhere. Not on the coffee table or the counter, and especially not sitting around in piles on the floor like at her place, tripping her every time she went out to get a midnight snack.

But when he put his hand on her lower back, her questions about his lack of reading material fled as she focused her thoughts on ignoring how good his touch felt…and how nice his manners were.

It’s because of the baby, she reminded herself.

They drove in silence to her apartment. He drove the way he made love, his big hands controlling the wheel of his expensive car gently, but firmly. Her body heated up and she squirmed in the passenger seat, pressing her thighs together to try and stop the ache.

“I’m only human, Sophie.” His eyes flicked to her face, then her br**sts and legs, naked beneath his shirt. “Keep looking at me like that and I’m going to pull over so we can take care of the problem.”

“There’s no problem,” she assured him, but her voice was ragged enough that she knew it was clear she was lying.

How could she reconcile the Nice Sophie she’d been her whole life with the wanton woman in Jake’s car who wanted to spread her legs wide for him and let him do whatever he wanted to her in the middle of downtown San Francisco traffic?

Thank God they pulled up in front of her apartment thirty seconds later. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes. You can wait in the car.”

She shoved the door open and nearly fell out onto the sidewalk in her hurry to get away from temptation. She could only imagine how small her apartment would feel if Jake were in there with her...and how hard it would be to keep her clothes on around him so that they actually had a chance of making it to her doctor’s appointment on time.

* * *

Jake knew he should be feeling guilty about the dirty thoughts running in circles in his head, about the fact that he’d been ten seconds from making good on his threat to pull over and put his hands and mouth all over Sophie.

But, damn if she wasn’t the hottest thing he’d ever come across...and so transparent that she couldn’t possibly keep her lustful thoughts from passing over her face one after the other as she sat next to him in the small interior of his sports car.

Two and a half months ago, she’d given herself to him without a second thought. Now, even though she clearly wanted him as much as he wanted her, he could see her intent was to withhold every part of herself that she could. Yes, she’d agreed to be in his bed, but even though that should have been more than enough for him, it wasn’t. Not anymore. Not after having had all of her once before.

What, he wondered, would it take for Sophie to open up to him again? To trust him the way she’d trusted him in Napa?

A heavy weight settled in Jake’s gut as he silently acknowledged her valid reasons for not trusting him. She would never believe him if he told her he wasn’t the kind of guy who slept with a girl and then left her hanging for months. He’d always been clear with his lovers about expectations, about the fact that they couldn’t have any. And he’d never slunk away in the middle of the night like a coward.

Until Sophie.

And he had no idea how to make it up to her.

No question, the sexual connection he and Sophie shared was as good as it got. Their desire for each other wasn’t going anywhere, no matter how hard she tried to slam the brakes on it.

But that wasn’t enough. He’d always liked Sophie, but now that he was seeing the different sides to her—the smart and the sexy, the complicated emotions and the simple pleasures she took from beauty and food, the spark that sprang from the serene—he realized he wanted her to like him, too.

And that, he already knew, was going to be the biggest hurdle of all, considering he’d be hard-pressed to come up with reasons why she should.

Sophie came back to the car wearing a soft, long-sleeved sweater dress in gray that did more for her curves than he figured she knew. She’d put on a little makeup and brushed her hair until it shone. She buckled her seatbelt and sat with her hands primly clasped on her lap before telling him the address of her doctor’s office in a tight voice.

He couldn’t help but smile at the way she was trying so hard to rein in all that passion she’d been losing the battle to just minutes before. His lovely, foolish girl. Didn’t she realize she should just give in already?

“We’re about to be late,” she snapped when he didn’t start the car. But when she finally turned to him, whatever she’d been about to say fell away, confusion taking its place. “Why are you looking at me like that? What are you smiling about?”

She was so easy to rile up. He could already see he’d never get tired of putting sparks into her pretty eyes.

“Whatever you have up your sleeve,” she muttered, “you’d better just forget it.”