Hunter looks at me as if I slapped him in the face. The words were instant, on the tip of my tongue, and there’s nothing I can do to take them back. I just told him I couldn’t marry him. It breaks my heart, but there’s no other choice right now.

“You can’t? What do you mean you can’t?” he asks, pain written all over his face.

My eyes burn. “Just what I said, I can’t.”

The car feels like it’s gotten smaller by the minute. Not to mention I’m nauseous as hell. I’m surprised I didn’t gag the entire time I went down on him. Everything makes me want to vomit these days. Guess I can blame it on all the morning sickness. Or in my case, the all-day sickness. It’s been hard as hell keeping it from him the past few weeks. I wanted to make sure I was past the risk zone before I told him.

Grabbing my chin, he tries to turn me toward him but I move away. I feel like I’m going to be sick. Opening the door, I get out and fall to my knees. Hunter’s by my side in an instant, holding me.

“I don’t understand. Why won’t you marry me?”

My lips tremble. “Because I don’t want it to be because of the baby. I’ve already had one failed marriage. I can’t go through that again. I’ve seen numerous relationships fail because of this.”

He lifts my chin in his strong grasp, refusing to let me look at anything but him. “That’s not going to happen, Kennedy. I love you and I want you to marry me.” Keeping his gaze on mine, he reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, only I can’t see it. “If you’d just given me a couple extra minutes, I was going to ask you to marry me anyway. The baby has nothing to do with it.”

I glance down at the diamond ring and gasp. “Hunter.”

Mouth gaping, I stare at the ring, frozen. For the first time in my life, I don’t know what to do. I love him more than life itself, but I’m afraid. So many things are going to change in the next few months.

He holds the ring in his palm, not even attempting to put it on my finger. “I don’t know what you’re thinking or how you feel, but know this: I’m not going to run away. I may be young and say stupid things, but I know what I want.” His lips brush mine softly. “I want you, Kennedy. For the rest of my life, I want to be the man you lean on, the man to make you happy. If you think I’m going to run when things get hard, you’re going to be in for one hell of a surprise.”

The thought makes me smile. “I know you won’t run away when things get hard,” I tease. All I want is to get the forlorn expression off his face. I hate I put it there.

He huffs and rolls his eyes. “I’m being serious, Kennedy. I’m not going anywhere. Even if you don’t say yes today, I’ll wait for you. All I ask is that you accept my ring. I won’t take it as a yes or a no. Hell, you don’t even have to wear it. I just want to know you’re mine for however long you give me.”

My hand shakes but I hold it out, letting him slide it on my finger; it fits perfectly. Tears stream down my cheeks. “I’m scared.”

Taking my face in his hands, he looks straight into my eyes. “You don’t have to be,” he murmurs. “I’m going to be right beside you the whole way.”

“Promise?”

A small smile spreads across his face. “I promise.” He helps me to my feet and then gets on his knees, brushing his lips across my belly. “I’m gonna make you a promise, too,” he whispers, talking to our little peanut. “I may not know what I’m doing, but I promise to be the best damn dad I can be. I won’t let you down either.”

With tears in his eyes, he kisses my belly again and gets to his feet. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him as tight as I can. I don’t ever want to let go. “I love you so much, Hunter. All I ask for is time. Our lives are about to change. There’s no telling what’ll happen.”

He squeezes me back. “All that’s going to happen is me falling in love with you more.”

I know exactly how he feels.