The anger in her voice surprised him. The answering surge inside him didn’t. “I don’t believe in abortion,” he stated.
Resentment flared in her eyes. “Neither do I—that’s not what I meant.”
Good. But then he realized what, “I’ll take care of it,” meant, and he was pissed off all over again. His gaze narrowed. “So, what exactly did you mean then?” he demanded. “Are you saying that just because you have money, I won’t be part of its life?”
“No—I—”
“Because that’s not the way it works with me. I will be a father to this baby. You can’t keep me from being a part of its life.”
She made an exasperated noise and fixed him with a narrowed glare. “Why don’t we have this conversation in about a month—if we even need to.”
That took the wind right out of his sails, though his tone still held a note of resentment as he muttered, “Fine.”
“Fine,” she tossed back. “God, nothing is going the way it was supposed to.”
Tell me about it!
Kendra spun on her heel and abruptly stalked from the room.
The finality of the slamming door reverberated through Colton’s entire body. He backed up and dropped down onto the edge of the bed. How had everything gone so completely to hell?
Because he’d let his guard down, that’s why.
He didn’t deserve happiness. Looked like he wasn’t about to get it, either. Elbows braced on his knees, he buried his face in his hands.
The soft click of the door brought his head up. He fought to mask his emotions as Kendra stood all the way across the room from him, hands clasped together so hard her knuckles were white. Nervous as she appeared, determination still sharpened her features.
“Will you marry me?”
Chapter Eighteen
Colton stared, realized his jaw hung slack, and snapped it shut. He shook his head to clear the fog, or cobwebs, or whatever it was that made him imagine a marriage proposal, and suddenly understood the rhetorical question.
“You mean if you’re pregnant?” He hesitated a beat. “Yes.”
“I mean now.”
“You don’t even know yet,” he said, more confused than ever.
She rolled her eyes with an exasperated huff. “Would you get off the pregnancy thing?” The moment the words were out, she cast a quick glance at the door and took a step closer to him. “I’m asking you to marry me.” This came out just above a whisper.
Now you could’ve knocked him over with a feather. She wanted him to marry her before she even knew about a baby? This was a strange chain of events.
She’d avoided him all last evening, then came to his room. He’d experienced the most incredible night of his life with her—which at first glance she’d appeared to regret—and now she was proposing. Was it possible? Against all odds, could they have the future he’d hoped for in the early dawn hours?
He wanted to say yes, but acknowledged underlying threads of apprehension and confusion. Thoughts of his mom and dad rushed forward, the life they’d lost, and he turned away—only to face the bed still torn up from the passion of last night.
God, he wanted to say yes.
She cleared her throat behind him. “I’ll pay you.”
Colton swung around. “What?”
She squared her shoulders. “A million dollars.”
Disbelief struck him dumb. “To marry you?”
She nodded. “You can pay off your father’s medical bills, go to school, buy your ranch—whatever you want.”