"Then stop struggling, because if you don't, we are going to end up making love again and this time I didn't lock the door."
She glared at him, but stopped squirming against his lap. The growing bulge under her thigh confirmed that he meant what he said.
"If you don't want to marry me, I'm sure I can manage on my own. I am financially independent and every bit as capable as my mother of raising a child without a husband."
He gripped her chin with his hand and forced her to meet his gaze. "We are getting married. You agreed to it and I'm not about to let you renege on your word. My baby will be born with my name."
"I never said I wanted our baby to do otherwise. You are the one acting less than enthusiastic about the idea of marriage."
He frowned and the wary expression came back into his eyes. "Perhaps I had hoped that you would want to marry me for my sake, not just as penance for allowing me to make love to you."
"I didn't say it was penance."
"You did not have to."
She couldn't believe it. He felt insecure. It was there in his eyes. He thought she wanted to marry him only because of the baby. How could she convince him otherwise without sharing her innermost feelings?
Feelings she still did not trust.
"I'm not marrying you just because I'm pregnant."
"Are you saying that you decided to marry me before you got sick this morning?"
Placing her hand on his shoulder, she sighed. "No."
"Then you are marrying me because of the baby."
"Well, isn't that why you want to marry me?"
"I asked you to marry me after we made love the first time."
That was true. Suddenly she felt better than she had in days. He must have some tender feelings for her. She could not believe that he had proposed to every woman he had ever lain with. He'd surely be married several times over by now if that were the case.
She brushed his cheek with her fingertips. "It's true that my morning sickness precipitated my decision, but I would have come to the same one eventually, regardless."
"What of your promise to your mother?"
"Melly is right about one thing. Mama wanted me to be happy." Leaning forward, Thea caressed the skin of his jaw with her lips. "Marrying you will make me very happy."
As she said the words, she knew deep in her heart that they were true. She wanted him in her life. The thought of returning to her island without him, to spend the rest of her years alone, held no appeal. She might be independent, but she wasn't stupid. She knew a good thing when she saw it, and a life with Drake would be a very good thing indeed.
"Your happiness is necessary to my own. I will do everything in my power to see that our life together never causes you to regret your decision."
Tears stung her eyes at the promise in his voice. He might not love her, but he cared for her. Her father had claimed to love her mother, but had been the instrument of her unhappiness. Drake did not claim to love Thea, but she knew with absolute assurance that he would devote himself to making her happy.
"You are crying again."
She nodded, her throat too constricted to speak.
"Have I said something to offend you?"
She shook her head.
"I had heard t
hat pregnant women were emotional, but I confess I am not sure how to deal with it."
She smiled. How could she put into words what she was feeling right now? She had spent her entire adult life, and most of her girlhood, convinced that marriage was a fate worse than death. Now that she faced the prospect with Drake, all she felt was anticipation and relief that she would not have to tell him good-bye.