Her Fill-In Fiancé (20 page)
Read Her Fill-In Fiancé Online
Authors: Stacy Connelly
Mind? That he could love another man's child so much?
“No,” Sophia whispered, “I don't think I'd mind that at all.”
“Well, then, I hope you don't mind if I tell you your plan for us to see each other pretty much sucks.”
Sophia gaped at him in shock. “What?”
“I don't want to
see
you. I don't want to play phone tag or try to fit our relationship in when I have time.” Anger sparked in his golden eyes, and Sophia realized that was what he'd been hiding the night in the apartment above the shop. Frustration, not that she'd asked for too much, but that she had expected so little.
She'd forced him to the sidelines of her life, the same way Mollie had even though it was never what she'd intended.
“Oh, Jake. I am so sorry. I thought if I didn't ask for too much, then maybe I'd have a better chance of holding on to at least a part of you. But you're right. That never would have
worked because the truth is, I want it all. Lover, husband, father, friendâ¦everything.”
“It's yours. I'm yours. I love you, Sophia. I spent years thinking I wasn't a family man, but the truth is, I'm like one of those dusty old things on Hope's shelves, just waiting for the right woman to come along.”
“You're not so dusty or so old.”
“But you are the right woman for me. You and your baby are the family I've been waiting for my whole life. Marry me, Sophia. Let's make this real.”
Sweet, swift happiness rushed through her. “Yes, I'll marry you.”
His kiss was filled with promise as he pulled her into his arms. “I love you,” she whispered as he lifted his head. From the yard behind them, she could hear the sounds of the celebration continuingâfor one lifetime of love thirty-five years in the making and for another lifetime just beginning.
As if picking up on her thoughts, Jake said, “We better do this pretty quick. Your parents already have thirty-five years on us. If we don't start soon, we'll never catch up.”
“Oh, we'll get there,” Sophia vowed with a smile. “Just wait.”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0804-9
HER FILL-IN FIANCÃ
Copyright © 2011 by Stacy Cornell
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