He got down on one knee in front of her, taking her hand in his.
“Marry me, Jennifer.”
“You don’t know me.”
“We can do that later on. We can get to know each other in time.”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t want to do that. What we had was fun, but that’s all it is ever going to be. Fun. I don’t want anything else from you.” Jennifer pulled her hand free from his.
“You were different,” he said.
Jennifer looked at him. She felt like a complete bitch turning him away. He’d been different as well. She’d known about his reputation, and he’d talked like there was no tomorrow.
“Sorry. I’ll never keep your child from you,” she said.
“You better not.”
****
Patrick couldn’t believe it. The one woman he was prepared to marry and she was running away from him as if he was a disease. He stared down at Jennifer and saw she was scared. Bloody hell, he was scared, too. They’d made a baby together. He or she was currently growing inside her, and Patrick didn’t want to miss a moment of it.
“This isn’t over, Jennifer. I’ll be back, and I’ll show you I can be a man you want.”
He closed her door behind her. Linda, her friend, stood guarding the front door. “What?” he asked.
“She’s scared. Her family make her nervous. Don’t move on because she’s pushing you away.”
“This is none of your business. Stay out of it,” he said.
“You’ve got a reputation of using women, Patrick. She knows that, and still she slept with you.”
“There was not a lot of sleeping involved.” He was being an ass, but he was hurt. For the first time he was prepared to do the right thing, and Jennifer pushed him away.
“Stop being a jerk. Look at this from her perspective. How would you feel if she was a greedy gold-digger using you for your money? She’s nervous. Give her time, and she’ll come around.”
He stared at her friend. Linda clearly loved her. He understood. In the short time they’d spent together he’d seen how special Jennifer was.
“I’m not going anywhere. Tell Jennifer that.” Patrick brushed past her friend and made his way out of her apartment. The fresh air did nothing to calm his sexual hunger. The moment he got close to her, he’d felt desire spring inside him. He wanted her, and that hadn’t gone away.
Her family would be persistent. He knew that.
Patrick was going to be a father. He still couldn’t believe it, no matter how many times he said it to himself.
He was dazed by the news. On the drive back to his home he stopped off at a store that specialised in baby products. Without thinking, he got out of his car and wandered up and down the aisles. Women stopped and muttered to each other. He ignored their presence and concentrated on buying something for his baby.
The other women meant nothing to him. He was going to show Jennifer he meant to be a real father and a real husband to her. That night she’d given him a chance, and he was more than willing to show her he deserved plenty more chances.
Picking up a couple of teddy bears and some newborn clothing, he paid for his purchases and made his way out to his car.
When he got home, he dumped his purchases on the kitchen counter. He checked his messages and then fired up his laptop. His father might think he spent a great deal of his time partying and fucking, but he still worked.
He was currently investing in a company that helped disadvantaged children. Once he checked his email, he put a call through to his father.
“You better have a good reason why Edward Dixon is phoning me every ten minutes,” Robert said.
“I knocked his daughter up.”
There was silence at his comment. He’d been purposefully crude with his statement.
“What?”
“You heard me. Jennifer Dixon, the girl from the newspaper article on your desk this very morning. I’m the reason she vomited at the seafood place. She’s pregnant with my baby.”
He heard his father collapse into a nearby chair. “I can’t believe you.”
“She won’t marry me, either. Looks like you’re going to have a grandson coming into the world without the benefit of wedlock.”
Patrick hung up the phone. The last thing he needed was to hear his father berate him. He grabbed a beer out of the fridge and wandered through his house. For too long he’d been living an empty life. He was tired of being alone. In her own way, Jennifer was offering him something he’d wanted for a very long time.
He’d wanted a family of his own. Their parents were going to interfere with their lives. He knew that, and he’d put money on it that Jennifer would know it as well.
They didn’t have a lot of choices open to them. He swigged down his beer and moved into his library. Staring out of the window, he gazed in the direction of where his son or daughter had been conceived.
Whatever happened, Jennifer and their child would want for nothing. He’d see to that.
Chapter Four
“You’re going to have to talk to him, Jen. You can’t put it off,” Linda said through the door.
Jennifer was vomiting down the toilet the following morning and feeling like crap. “I’m not going to see him.”
She refused to let her friend enter the bathroom. The room stank of sick and depression. She was depressed. Since yesterday she’d struggled to get Patrick out of her head. He was all she thought about. No man deserved that much attention. Not even the father of her baby. The doctors had called and informed her that the blood tests were positive. She’d demanded they get the results as fast as they could. Money was good for a lot of things, and getting the best care was high on the list.
“He’s not going to back down, Jen. You may as well come to terms that Patrick Thompson is going to be part of your life.”
Growling at the door, Jennifer heaved down the toilet and then flushed it away. She crawled to the sink and pulled herself up. Her face was pale, and sweat dotted her brow.
“You can’t go through this alone,” Linda said.
With a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth, she opened the door and looked at her friend. “I thought you were going to help me?”
“I was. I am. I’ll always be here for you, Jen. You know that, but Patrick wants to be part of this baby’s life, and I think you should let him. I saw the way he looked yesterday. He was sad but determined to be with you.”
Jennifer pulled the toothbrush out of her mouth. “He wants to be around for the baby’s sake. I can’t be with someone who doesn’t want to have anything to do with me. I’m not built that way.”