The driver had already been instructed as to Piers’s destination, so he sat back as the car rolled away from the airport toward the hospital where Jewel was being treated.

What had happened to her? It must be serious if she’d broken down and phoned him after he hadn’t been able to uncover her whereabouts for five months. Guilt was a strong motivator, and yet his efforts had come to naught.

No matter. He now knew where she was. He’d see to it that she had the best care and settle an amount on her to compensate her loss of employment, and then maybe he could get her out of his head.

When they finally rolled up to the hospital, Piers wasted no time hurrying in. At the help desk he was given Jewel’s room number, and he rode the elevator to the appropriate floor.

At her door, he found it slightly ajar and issued a soft knock. Not hearing any summons, he pushed the door open and quietly walked in.

She was barely more than a rumpled pile of sheets on the bed, her head propped haphazardly on her pillow. Her eyelashes rested on her cheeks, and her soft, even breathing signaled her sleep.

Even in rest, she looked worried, her face drawn, her brow wrinkled. Her fingers were clutched bloodlessly at the sheet gathered at her chest. And yet she was as beautiful as he remembered, and unfortunately for him, he’d been haunted by her beauty for the last five months.

He removed his suit coat and tossed it over the chair beside her bed and then settled himself down to sit and wait for her to wake. The slight movement alerted her, and her eyes flew open.

Shock registered as soon as she saw him. Her eyes widened in what looked to be panic. Her hands moved immediately to her stomach in a protective gesture he’d be blind to miss.

Then he saw what it was she was protecting. There was an unmistakable swell, a taut mound that shielded a baby!

“You’re pregnant!”

Her eyes narrowed. “Well, you needn’t sound so accusing. I hardly got that way by myself.”

For a moment he was too stunned to realize her implication, and then when it came, it trickled like ice down his spine. Old memories came back in a wave, and hot anger quickly melted away the cold in his veins.

“Are you saying it’s mine?” he demanded. Already his mind was moving in a whir. He wouldn’t be trapped again by a conniving woman.

“She,” Jewel corrected. “At least refer to your daughter as a human being.”

Damn her. She knew that by personalizing the vague entity she shielded that he’d be inhuman not to react.

“A daughter?”

Against his will, his voice softened, and he found himself examining her belly closer. He impatiently brushed aside her cupped hands and then snatched his own hand back when her belly rippled and jumped beneath his fingers.

“Theos! Is that her?”

Jewel smiled and nodded. “She’s active this morning.”

Piers shook his head in an attempt to brush away the spell. A daughter. Suddenly he envisioned a tiny little girl, a replica of Jewel but with his dark eyes. Damn her for making him dream again.

His expression hardened, and he once again focused his attention on Jewel. “Is she mine?”

Jewel met his steady gaze and nodded.

He swore softly. “We used protection. I used protection.”

She shrugged. “She’s yours.”

“You expect me to accept that? Just like that?”

She struggled to sit up against her pillows, her fingers clenched into tight balls at her sides. “I haven’t slept with another man in two years. She’s yours.”

He wasn’t the gullible fool he’d been so many years ago. “Then you won’t object to paternity testing.”

She closed her eyes wearily and sank back into the covers. Hurt flickered in her eyes when she reopened them, but she shook her head. “No, Piers. I have nothing to hide.”

“What is wrong with you? Why are you here in the hospital?” he asked, finally coming around to the matter at hand. He’d been completely blindsided by the discovery that the child she was pregnant with was…could be his.

“I’ve been ill,” she said in a tired voice. “Elevated blood pressure. Fatigue. My doctor said my job had a lot to do with it, and he wants me to quit. He says I must quit, that I don’t have a choice.”

“What the devil have you been doing?” he demanded.

She lifted one shoulder. “Waitressing. It was all I could find on such short notice. I needed the money before I could move somewhere else. Somewhere warmer. Somewhere I could make more money. It’s very expensive here in San Francisco.”

“Then why did you come here from the island? You could have gone anywhere.”

She cast him a bitter glance. “I have an apartment here. One that is paid for. After I was fired, I had little choice in where to go. I had to have a place to sleep. I intended to save enough money and then go somewhere else.”

He flinched as guilt consumed him. Damn, but this was a mess. Not only had he had her fired, but he’d sent a pregnant woman into a bad situation.

“Look, Jewel, about your firing…”

She held up a hand, her expression fierce. “I don’t want to discuss it. You’re a coward and a bastard of the first order. I wouldn’t have ever spoken to you again if our daughter didn’t need you, if I didn’t need your help.”

“That’s just it. I never intended for you to be fired,” he said patiently.

She glared at him. “That’s hardly comforting given that I was fired and that I was escorted out of your hotel.”

He sighed. Now wasn’t the time to try and reason with her. She was growing more upset by the minute. If she chose to believe the worst in him, and it was obvious she did, he was hardly going to change five months worth of anger and resentment in five minutes.

“So what is it that you need from me?” he asked. “I’ll help in any way I can.”

She stared at him, suspicion burning brightly in her ocean eyes. Maybe he was wrong to want his daughter to have his eyes. No, she should definitely have Jewel’s eyes. Dark-haired like him, but with her mother’s sea-green eyes. Or were they blue? He could never tell from one moment to the next.

Then her shoulders sank, and she closed her eyes. “My physician won’t discharge me until he’s certain I have someone to care for me.”

She said the latter with a measure of distaste, as if it pained her to be dependent on anyone.

“I’ll be on bed rest until my surgery.”

Piers sat forward. “Surgery? Why do you need surgery? I thought you said you were only ill. Blood pressure.” He knew enough about that from his sister-in-law’s pregnancy to know that the prescribed treatment for stress or elevated blood pressure was merely rest and to be off one’s feet. “You can’t have surgery while you’re pregnant. What about the baby?”

She stared back at him patiently. “That’s just it. When they did a sonogram to check on the baby, they found a large cyst on one of my ovaries. Instead of shrinking, as a lot of cysts do during the course of the pregnancy, this one has gotten larger, and now it’s pressing on the uterus. They have no choice but to remove it so that it won’t interfere with the pregnancy or possibly even harm the baby.”

Piers cursed. “This operation, is it dangerous? Will it harm the baby?”

“The doctor doesn’t think so, but it has to be done soon.”

He cursed again, though he didn’t allow the words past his lips. He didn’t want to be ensnared in another situation where he stood to lose everything. Once a fool, but never again. This time things would be done on his terms.

“You’re going to marry me,” he announced baldly.

Five

“Y ou’re out of your mind,” Jewel burst out.

Piers’s eyes narrowed. “I’d hardly say my speaking of marriage constitutes an unsound mind.”

“Crazy. Certifiable.”

He bristled and let out an irritated growl. “I am not crazy.”

“You’re serious!”

She stared at him with a mixture of stupefaction and horror.

His breath escaped in a long sound of exasperation.

Her mouth fell open. “For the love of God. You think I’d marry you?”

“There’s no reason to sound so appalled.”

“Appalled,” she muttered. “That about covers my reaction. Look, Piers. I need your help. Your support. But I don’t need marriage. Not to you. Never to you.”

“Well if you want my support, you’re damn well going to have to marry me for it,” he growled.

“Get out,” she bit off. She held a trembling hand up to point to the door, but Piers caught it and curled his fingers around hers. He brought it to the edge of the bed and gently stroked the inside of her wrist.

“I shouldn’t have said that. You made me angry. If you’re pregnant with my child, of course you’ll have my support, Jewel. I’ll do everything I can to provide for you and our daughter.”

Astounded by his abrupt turnaround, she could only stare at him, her tongue flapping to try and come up with something, anything to say. How could he still affect her this way after all he’d done?

“Then you’ll say no more about marriage?”

His lips tightened. “I didn’t promise that. I have every intention of marrying you as quickly as possible and definitely before this surgery.”

“But—”

He held up his hand, and to her utter annoyance, her mouth shut, cutting off her protest.

“You are having a dangerous surgery. You have no family, no one to be with you, to make decisions if the worst should happen.”

A cold trickle of dread swept down her spine. How did he know anything about her family? Had he had her investigated? Her stomach rolled as nausea welled. She couldn’t bear for anyone to know of her past. As far as she was concerned it didn’t exist. She didn’t exist.

“There has to be another way,” she said faintly. Already the strain of him being here, of standing up against this hard man, was wearing on her.

It must have been obvious, because his expression softened noticeably. “I’m not here to fight with you. We have a lot to work out and not much time. I need to speak with your doctor and have you transferred to a better facility. I’ll want a specialist to take over your care. He can give us a second opinion on whether this surgery is the best solution with you pregnant. I’ll see to the arrangements for our wedding.”

“Stop right there,” she said as fury worked its way up her spine until her neck was stiff and locked. “You won’t come barging in here, taking over my life and making decisions for me. I’m not some brainless idiot who needs you to rush in and save the day. I’ve spoken to the doctors. I’m well aware of what needs to be done, and I will make the decision as to what is best for me and my daughter. If that bothers you, then you can take yourself right back to your island and leave me the hell alone.”

He held up a placating hand. “Don’t upset yourself, Jewel. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you. Taking over is what I do. You asked for my help, and I’m here to offer it, and yet now you don’t seem to want it.”

“I want your help without conditions.”

For a long moment they stared at each other, neither backing down as the challenge was laid.

“And I’m afraid that I’m unwilling to just sit back and not have a say.”

“You’re not even convinced this is your child,” she threw out.

He nodded. “That’s true. I’d be a fool to blindly accept your word. We hardly know each other. How do I know you didn’t set the entire thing up? Regardless, I’m willing to help. I have much to make up for. For now I’m willing to go with the assumption that you’re carrying my daughter. I want us to marry before you have any further medical treatment.”

“But that’s just insane,” she protested.

He continued on as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’ll have an agreement drawn up to protect both our interests. If it turns out you’ve lied and the child is not mine, the marriage will immediately be terminated. I’ll provide a settlement for you and your daughter, and we’ll go our separate ways.”

She didn’t miss the way he said “your daughter,” the way he purposely distanced himself from the equation. If she lied. She almost shook her head. She would have had to have jumped directly from his bed into another man’s for the timing to be such that the baby could be someone else’s. What he must think of her. Hardly a basis for marriage.

“And if she is yours?” she asked softly.

“Then we remain married.”

She was already shaking her head. “No. I don’t want to marry you. You can’t want this either.”

“I won’t argue about this, Jewel. You will marry me and you’ll do it immediately. Think about what’s best for your daughter. The longer we spend arguing, the longer you and the baby are at risk.”

“You really are blackmailing me,” she said in disbelief.

“Think what you want,” he offered with a casual shrug.

“She is your child,” she said fiercely. “You get those damn tests done, but she’s yours.”

Piers nodded. “I’m willing to concede that she could be mine. I wouldn’t have offered marriage if I didn’t think the possibility existed.”

“And yet you don’t want to wait for those results before you tie us together?”

“How strangely you put it,” he said with mild amusement. “Our agreement will allow for any possibility. As I’ve said, if it turns out you’ve lied to me, our marriage will end immediately. I’m prepared to be generous in spite of the lie, but it will be on my terms. And if, as you said, that she is my daughter, then the best course is for us to be married and provide a stable home for her.”