He regarded her speculatively. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what he was thinking.
‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to marry anyone. Which is why it’s perfect that I marry you.’
‘Pardon?’
He laughed at her. ‘This way I get a ready-made family without all the emotional baggage. That’s obviously what I’m avoiding.’
‘Obviously.’ She began to feel grumpy.
‘We can have a more level-headed arrangement and I can take care of you both.’
Her hackles rose. ‘How many times do I need to tell you? I don’t need taking care of.’
‘You’re pregnant. On the other side of the world from your family. With limited funds. You need a—’
‘Friend.Not a husband.’
He bristled.
‘And, let’s be honest, you’re not exactly comfortable with either of those concepts,’ she pointed out.
‘I have a friend.’
‘Really? A close one?’ She didn’t believe him. And now she felt hot and angry and she wanted to deal with it. ‘That doesn’t matter. And none of it means that we shouldn’t still release this chemistry.’
‘Chemistry?’
‘I’m swimming in early pregnancy hormones,’ she snapped. ‘You’re...’
‘I’m...?’
‘A virile man with needs.’
‘Needs?’ He gazed down at her. ‘You mean like an appetite that I can’t suppress?’
‘I—’
‘Because, sweetheart, I can suppress it.’
She glanced down at the very rigid evidence of his desire in his briefs. ‘I’m not saying you’re an animal without any control. I’m just suggesting...’
‘Suggesting what?’ He acted mystified. ‘Please do carry on.’
‘That there’s a reaction between us. That, like all reactions, it will work out, pass through...whatever.’
‘Because you’re so very experienced in such matters,’ he said sarcastically.
‘No. But—’
‘You think this reaction is purely pregnancy hormones for you?’
‘Maybe...’ She trailed off and couldn’t look him in the eyes any more. ‘I don’t know.’
‘You really think it’s superficial because you like looking at me?’
What did it matter? ‘What do you think, then?’ She growled at him, irritated that he seemed to have slowed down when they could be kissing already. ‘Seeing you do have vastly more experience in these things.’
‘Not in pregnancy, I don’t.’