The Heiress's Pregnancy Surprise (Heirs to an Empire 2)

“Explains what?”

He shrugged. “You’re yourself here. It suits you. For all your busy job and lifestyle, you like the simple things. Like sun and flowers and meat pies.” He looked down at her and grinned. “Speaking of, breakfast settling okay?”

She nodded. “I do quite well with toast and tea.”

When he pulled her off the path to stand beneath a whispery willow, she didn’t resist. The grass was damp on her shoes, but she didn’t care about that, either. Jacob looked like he had something to say. “What is it? We never finished talking last night. I was thinking, maybe the easiest thing would be to decide on terms and then have an agreement drawn up.”

He reached for her other hand. “I think you should marry me.”

Charlotte’s whole body went numb. Marriage? When had that ever been on the table? She stared up at him, unable to speak, trying to sort out her thoughts. Elation at being asked, followed swiftly by dismay that he should propose because of the baby and not because of...love.

“I don’t understand. What did Stephen say to you?”

His gray eyes were serious as they plumbed hers. “A lot of things. Mostly I think he was trying to get at how I feel about you. And the truth is, Charlie, I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.”

Just what she wanted, right? Then why was she more afraid than ever?

“In love with me? We spent a week together. And by your own admission, you’re still in love with Jacinta.” The way he winced as she said her name told her she was right. “Please, don’t propose out of obligation or some warped version of doing the right thing.”

He let go of her hands briefly. “Charlie, I’ve had to do a lot of thinking since I left you. And the truth is, I’m not in love with Jacinta. Not anymore. I did love her. Of course I did, or else it wouldn’t have hurt so much when she died. But I’ve been hanging on to that guilt for years. It’s kept me from moving forward. Until you. Until you, I was just kind of living a half life. Functioning but not really living at all.”

She frowned, torn between wanting to believe him and knowing words were easy but actions harder. “I can’t compete with a ghost, Jacob.”

“You don’t have to. Don’t you see? It was my guilt holding me back, not love. I used it to keep people at arm’s length. To not get involved. To not get hurt again. And then, at the airport in Paris... Well, walking away from you hurt. More than I ever expected.”

And then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar box.

Panic raced through her limbs. She hadn’t expected this. Jacob wasn’t the type to make flowery declarations and pull out diamonds. Stephen had to have persuaded him. She wanted him to love her but...oh, God. She wanted to believe in it. But she didn’t. Because she knew without a doubt that if not for this baby, a proposal wouldn’t even have crossed his mind.

He opened the box and she saw her grandmother’s ring. Stephen had lied, then. He had known she was going to be here and came expressly for this purpose. She’d spent a lifetime doing the right thing for the family, and now that she’d finally broken free, the family wanted her to do the right thing for them again, didn’t they? A neat-and-tidy marriage to the father of her baby.

“Charlie, will you marry me?”

She took a step back. “Don’t be ridiculous. I—I can’t. You shouldn’t have asked. This isn’t what we agreed.”

His gray eyes widened, wounded. “Are you saying you don’t love me? That what we shared wasn’t real?”

The panic now felt like cold chills all over her body as she fought for breath. “So what if it was? It’s a big leap from there to marriage. This makes no sense! We don’t even live in the same country. And you... You willingly put yourself in danger! Are you willing to give all that up?”

“Are you asking me to?”

She didn’t know how to answer. To her shock, she was afraid he’d say yes, he would give it up. Then what would he do? “I can’t believe Stephen convinced you to do this,” she breathed, shaking her head.

Jacob snapped the box closed and shoved it back in his pocket. “I know my own mind,” he bit back. “Stephen may have given me the ring, but asking you was my choice. Because I thought we had something real. Because seeing you here, the way you kissed me yesterday, gave me hope. But I was wrong, wasn’t I? Because even after everything that happened in New York, even after doing all that you asked this week when you told me about the baby, you don’t trust me. And that’s not something I can fix. That’s something you have to do on your own. I’m not Mark, Charlie. I’m not after something, and I’m not your father. You’re not going to lose me when you still need me. But you need to believe that, and you don’t.”

“You want me to trust you, when you’re still hung up on Jacinta? You want me to believe you’re ready for a relationship just like that? That you’re ready for marriage? You say you won’t leave me, but you’re still determined to put yourself in danger in your job. Maybe this is just a chance for you to redeem yourself.”

His voice softened, and sadness darkened his eyes. “Don’t hide behind her because you’re scared. I lost the one I loved, who loved me, because she was taken from me. But at least I didn’t throw my chance away.” He shook his head. “I understand if you don’t love me. But I never imagined you’d be a coward.”

“That’s unfair.” She lifted her chin. “You want to know wh

y I don’t trust you? Because when I returned to Paris, Maman told me you’d told her about the email. When you said you wouldn’t.”

“I never said I wouldn’t. I said I wouldn’t send it to your IT team and instead I’d send it to mine. I never agreed to not tell your mother. She was my employer. But you go ahead and tell yourself that’s why because it’ll make you feel better.” His voice broke on the last word and he turned away.

“Jacob...”

He backed away, putting more distance between them. “I don’t want to fight with you. Draft up a preliminary parental agreement and I’ll have my lawyer look at it. I still plan to be a parent. I’m not abandoning you or my baby.”