“Excuse me.” She met his gaze over her shoulder. “I appreciate your wanting to be involved. A baby should know its father, but what I do to pay my bills is no one’s business but mine.”
“Not anymore.” Enough was enough. “What you do with your time may be your business, but when it affects the health of that baby you’re carrying, it becomes mine. I don’t care what you do for work, but you won’t be holding down three jobs while you’re pregnant. As my wife you won’t have to. You can choose one and quit the others.”
“As your wife?” She spun on him. “Wait just a minute.”
He crossed his arms, meeting and holding her stunned gaze, and hoped his own astonishment didn’t show. Marriage had always been part of his master plan, but until this moment, the institution hadn’t been an immediate consideration. This situation wasn’t how he’d seen his eventual fall coming about, but the die had been cast on a fall night in Paris.
He and Jane would have their work cut out for them, rebuilding a lasting trust, but the concept of marriage to her sounded right somehow. More importantly, no child of his would start its life under the label of bastard.
“Are you insane? Yesterday, you accused me of using you as a meal ticket.” She propped her hands on her hips, and her mouth twisted into a sneer. “Well, maybe I was. For all you know, one of those other six candidates is the baby’s father.”
“Jane!” Caroline gasped.
“Butt out, Mother. You don’t know all the facts involved.”
“No, we don’t.” Thomas pinned Jane with a stern frown. “And I would be interested in hearing those facts. Are there six other candidates for the baby’s father?”
“Dad!”
Her abject horror at her father’s question spoke volumes, but Gabe needed to hear her denial. “The truth, Jane. I deserve that, at least.”
Pale beneath the twin flags of color riding her cheeks, her face pinched like that of a hunted animal. She turned wounded eyes on him, but there was no accusation in them, only embarrassment. Because she’d been playing him all along, or over her parents’ surprising lack of support?
She bumped up her chin and spoke coolly. “I told you the truth last night.”
Gabe nodded, amazed at the rush of relief coursing through his veins. He turned to Thomas. “Would you mind giving us a few minutes?”
Thomas cast his daughter a disappointed glance before nodding. “Come on, Caroline.” His wife rose to join him and, without a word, let him guide her from the room.
“Are you happy?” Jane wrapped her arms around her waist once they were alone. “I told you I could handle this on my own. Your ridiculous suggestion only made matters worse.”
“I’m sorry if that’s true, but it wasn’t a ridiculous suggestion. Getting married is the more civil of the only two options I can accept.”
Angry fear leapt into her eyes. “And the other option?”
He didn’t want her thinking of him as the enemy, but neither would he leave the raising of his child to someone else. “I fight you for custody of the child.”
“I see.” Her chin tilted up at a stubborn angle. “And you think I wouldn’t fight back?”
The little he knew of her told him she would put up a furious fight and end up hating him in the end, a potential eventuality that made his gut clench with denial. She might be pissed, seeing his demand they marry as nothing but bullying on his part, but a legal union would put an end to their conflict and allow them the chance to build on what they’d begun in Paris.
Most of their communication of the past day had been altercation, but that hadn’t been the case two months ago. The undeniable attraction between them was a point of agreement, and though there was no guarantee they could build a great love story from such a shaky foundation, it was a start.
If he could convince her to give them a shot.
“I know you’d fight me, but you’d lose. I have resources you could never hope to attain. Do you really want to join a battle you can’t win, when there’s another option?”
“An unacceptable option.”
“Is it really?” He stepped closer. “I’ll admit, we haven’t exactly been on friendly terms the last twenty-four hours, but these circumstances would rattle anyone. That wasn’t the case in Paris.”
Though she lifted her chin defiantly, she didn’t meet his gaze. Turning toward the window, she tightened her arms around her waist. “Paris was a fluke and a one-night stand.”
“Maybe so, but there’s no denying the mutual, physical attraction. My point is, I enjoyed your company that night, and not just the time we spent in bed. Though I have to say, the memory of those hours bodes well for the physical side of a marriage between us.”
Her head whipped around, and she stabbed him with a narrowed gaze. “One night of incredible sex doesn’t guarantee physical compatibility.”
The stroke to his ego made him smile. “Incredible, huh?”
She bristled visibly. “Don’t try to charm me, Gabe. We’re talking about my future here, and the future of my baby.”