Shit. She took a second breath, feeling her world stabilize for the first time since this started. He was right. They couldn’t move forward if they didn’t deal with this. Her way was honesty. She couldn’t change now.
He beat her to it.
“Check my pocket first, please.”
She studied his gaze, then shook her head. “No. I trust you.” And she shifted back and away to lean against the headboard again. She offered him a watery smile. “I’m sorry. You need to look in my pocket.”
He laughed and tossed her jeans at her. “Not if you won’t look in mine.”
Then he reached over. “I will show you mine instead.”
She stared down at the jeans he’d given back to her. She’d thought it was the end of the world if he didn’t take a look, but then she realized she was a fool. He was everything to her and more than that, he was a good man. There were no guarantees in life, but she knew he’d be there for her – one way or another.
“I want you to look in mine,” she whispered. “I love you too.”
He grinned, and ignoring her first comment, he said, “And that makes this perfect timing.”
She frowned as he reached into his pocket and pulled out whatever he had in there. She couldn’t see what it was. He reached over and picked up her hand.
“I didn’t know how or when to do this, but I bought it a few weeks ago when we were finally safe and had a future to plan.”
“What?” Curious, she leaned forward, but he hadn’t placed whatever it was in her hand yet. It was clutched tight in his.
He took a deep breath.
And opened his hand. She stared at the stunning sapphire ring as it was held up to her, his words ringing in her ears. She couldn’t believe what her ears were hearing. Couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing.
The ring – an engagement ring?
Oh dear God.
She stared at him in shock as he said, “I love you, now and forever, and I’m asking you to do me the honor of becoming my wife.” He took a shaky breath, a sideways grin on his face as he saw the shock on hers, and added, “Will you marry me?”
“Oh,” she cried out softly, her gaze locking on his beloved face. “This was in your pocket?” And now she understood why he hadn’t wanted her to pull it out. Talk about ruining his surprise and yet being the answer to her problem at the same time.
“Yes,” he said, “I almost panicked when I realized I’d left it in there and you had the jeans in your hand.”
She shook her head. The ring was spectacular.
But more than that, he loved her. Like really loved her.
But he didn’t know about the pregnancy test. He’d been honest, but she hadn’t been yet.
She carefully closed his finger around the ring and lifted her gaze to his, seeing the pain of rejection as he understood her actions. She hurried to say. “My answer is yes, but…”
Relief washed over his face, then doubt. “But…”
“You need to know what’s in my pocket before you accept it. Just in case,” she added nervously. She tossed the jeans to him.
*
He was confused and scared, and damn it, she’d said yes, right? Weren’t they supposed to be celebrating? But her grip on his hand was so tight, the nails cutting in. She didn’t appear to notice. She wasn’t letting go of him, so that was good.
And she wanted him to pull out whatever she’d been hiding.
So he would. One-handed, because he wasn’t letting go of her either. But she seemed to feel when he found out something that he wasn’t going to want to marry her.
Just the thought of something so big choked him. He couldn’t bear to think of what she could mean. Awkwardly, his fingers fishing inside the tiny pocket – why were men’s pockets built for a full-size hand and yet in women’s pockets the space was so small you had to slide a finger in to pull the item out sideways?
It made no sense.
He finally grasped the sharp item and tugged it up and out.
It was a small plastic stick.
He turned it over and around and stared at it. No matter which way you looked at it, it was a stick with a faded blue end.
Like what the hell was this? He lifted his confused gaze in her direction and watched as she struggled, one-handed, to take a small box out of the nightstand and toss it in his direction.
A home pregnancy test kit.
Holy hell. He grabbed it up to read the instructions. If the stick turned color, the test was positive.
“Shit,” he whispered as he dropped the box and picked up the stick. Definitely blue.
He raised his stunned gaze to her and said, “You’re pregnant?”
She nodded. “Apparently. I was going to do a second test this morning,” she mumbled. “Just to confirm.”
“Oh my God. You’re pregnant.”
“I think so,” she stressed, “But…”
He grinned. “Do the second test. Please. Let’s find out for sure.”
He leaned over and gave her a bruising kiss. “I want to see.”
She frowned at him. “I’m not going to pee on the stick while you watch.”
“Yes, you are.” He laughed at her disgruntled look. “But not until we do this first.” He opened his hand and carefully placed the sapphire on her ring finger. “We’ll do this in the proper order.”
While she splayed out her fingers, loving the look of the ring, he walked around and tossed the bedding back and scooped her up. She squealed in laugher. He carried her to the toilet and set her down. He returned with the second test kit and brought it to her.
She rolled her eyes as he walked back out. She quickly followed the instructions then finished her business. She laid the test stick on the box and washed her hands, watching as he walked back inside the bathroom.
“Now we have to wait.”
“How long?” he demanded, his gaze never leaving the tiny strip.
“Not long.”
“Good.”