“That’s a good idea.” She poured her water, then looked at the glass. “Only I have to tell you something first.”
She risked glancing at him. He was handsome, she thought, which was interesting but not really important to the matter at hand. Still, if she had to look at a stranger over breakfast for the next two years, Dev was a nice-looking one. He was also kind and obviously loved his brother. More good news.
He waited patiently while she gathered her thoughts. She half stood, then sank back onto the sofa.
“I was going to tell you I changed my mind,” she said, forcing herself to meet his dark gaze. “Nothing about this situation feels right to me. We’re not in love. As you just said, we don’t even know each other. While my pregnancy is a complication, it doesn’t seem like a big enough one for us to go through with this. I meant what I said before—that marriage is an important and sacred commitment and one I take very seriously.”
“You think I don’t?” he asked.
“I didn’t mean that, exactly,” she said, desperately wanting to look away but refusing to.
“I do take it seriously,” he told her. “I will honor our wedding vows, Noelle. This isn’t a game to me.”
“I didn’t think it was a game,” she said slowly, feeling that they were offtrack. She’d had a whole speech prepared and—
“It’s not as if I’ll be dating,” he said.
Dating? She hadn’t thought about that. He was a man who was used to being with women. Lots of different women. Maybe not at the same time, but still. She looked down and fought a blush.
“I didn’t think about that,” she admitted. “Your side of it. I…You’ve always had women in your life.” Didn’t he have to have those women for his needs? Weren’t men supposed to have needs? In theory women had needs, too, but based on that single night with Jimmy, she couldn’t imagine why they would want to acknowledge them.
“You’re asking about sex,” he said bluntly.
She swallowed, then nodded.
“I meant what I said,” he told her, using her words. “I’m not doing this to seduce you.”
She totally believed that. She wasn’t his type at all. But if he wasn’t going to sleep with her and he wasn’t going to date, what was he going to do? Two years was a long time. She couldn’t imagine him simply doing without.
But there was no way she could ask and they were completely off topic.
“I appreciate the no dating thing,” she said. “It would be difficult to explain. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to tell you that I’d changed my mind. That I wasn’t willing to go through with this. I went home to talk to my mom and get her to help me figure out how to say all that.”
She glanced at him and saw him watching her. There was no way she could tell what he was thinking, which was probably a good thing.
“What happened?” he asked.
Noelle explained about the job change and the stack of bills. “They’re still paying for my hospital stay and the physical therapy. I feel so horrible about that.”
“It’s not your fault,” he said. “You didn’t run into the tree on purpose.”
“I know, but guilt is such a time-honored tradition. Anyway, I realized I couldn’t burden them with another child. In a couple of years, I’ll be on my feet and they won’t have to worry about me.” She glanced down at her lap, then back at him. “I’m taking the easy way out. I wanted you to know that.”
Noelle spoke with a combination of shame and conviction Dev had never seen before. There had been no reason for her to confess all this to him. He wondered how much of her need to bare all came from her age and how much of it was who she was inside.
“This is me at my worst,” she continued. “If you can handle that, we’ll be fine.”
She couldn’t have found it easy to admit what she saw as her worst fault. How many other people would have been willing to be so honest? How many others would have simply taken what was offered?
Until this moment she’d been little more than the virgin Jimmy had knocked up. Suddenly she was a person, very possibly one he could respect.
“If this is as bad as it gets,” he said gently, “we won’t have any problem. Don’t worry, Noelle, I have more than my share of faults. They’re just not so easy to define.”
Her blue eyes widened slightly. “I’ve just admitted I’m using you. How can that be all right?”
“You’re agreeing to what I offered. There’s a difference. I know exactly what I want and I’m getting it the best way I know how. You’re not using me.”
“But…”
He shook his head. “We’re both going to come out ahead on this deal. You’ll get to spare your family the expense of the baby and the embarrassment of their oldest daughter being pregnant and unmarried. I get to take care of my brother’s child, be a part of his or her life and make sure the baby has the family name. It’s a fair trade.”
“Not for you,” she said stubbornly. “This is costing you a lot.”
“It’s only money.”
She stared at him. “How can you say that? It’s a lot of money.”
He shrugged. “Which I’ve always had. Giving some away isn’t very meaningful because I’ve never done without. I work for a living, but only because I chose to.”
“You say that as if you don’t like what you do and you don’t work hard. I’ve read the reports and you’ve doubled the size and the profits of the company since you took over. That doesn’t happen by chance.”
He was surprised she knew that. “My point is, I’ve never done without so I won’t miss what I give you. Don’t make me out to be a hero, Noelle. I’m getting everything I want at very little cost to me. Don’t forget that.”
* * *
They had dinner in the kitchen. Noelle liked the round table next to the bay window and the view of the side yard, which was probably thirty or forty feet deep.
They shared fajitas, enchiladas, rice, beans and chips. Dev had a beer with the meal, but didn’t offer her one. She wasn’t surprised—not only was she underage, but she was now pregnant.
Pregnant—it didn’t seem possible. She didn’t feel any different. But she knew what had happened and her luck wasn’t good enough for the test to be wrong.
“We have a lot of logistics to work out,” he said. “But I think we’ve dealt with enough stress for tonight. Are you willing to put them off for a while?”
She nodded. No doubt his logistics were about things like living arrangements and when they would get married. She could go a long time without dealing with those.
“I don’t have any relatives,” he continued, “but I will have to meet your family.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh.
“You could try to be a little enthused,” he teased. “I don’t eat with my hands.”
She smiled. “I can see you have very nice manners. It’s not that. It’s just…everything. We’re all really close and I don’t know if I can fool them. I mean, they know I’ve been dating someone at work and my mom’s been bugging me to bring him around, but why would they believe you’re interested in me?”
He frowned. “Why wouldn’t