When Charlie doesn’t answer right away, I study her more closely and notice her tense shoulders and red-rimmed eyes.
Has she been crying?
“We need to talk,” she says with a slight tremor in her voice as she scans the area to make sure no one else is around.
“What’s going on? You in some kind of trouble?” I question.
If she was, I’d do just about anything to fix it for her. I hate seeing her anything less than bold and confident. Cheering her up has suddenly become my top priority, even if it comes at my own expense. Yet my whole plan is upended by the next words out of her mouth.
“I’m pregnant,” Charlie blurts out. “I took a test earlier, and it came back positive.”
I stare at her, my mind scrambling to catch up with what she’s just said. I’m pretty sure she’s telling me she’s having a baby.
She’d rather take on a raging bull than come to me with something like this, which means it’s mine. There’s no other reason she’d be standing here. The problem is, when I open my mouth to answer, the shock leaves me tongue-tied, and nothing that comes to mind feels adequate for the situation.
“Do you think I wanted this to happen?” Charlie huffs, finally breaking the silence, and takes a step back. “I figured you’d bean asshole, but the least you could do is respond… God, I knew coming here was a mistake.” Her voice cracks on the last word.
It’s rare to see her this rattled. She tends to keep her emotions locked down tight. If I weren’t still processing the bombshell she just dropped, I might find her nervous rambling cute as hell. As it is, all I can do is stare at her like the floor’s dropped out from under me, my thoughts refusing to form into coherent sentence.
She sighs, turning to leave, and I’m moving before I can stop myself, my fingers curling around her wrist. “Charlie, wait.”
She reluctantly meets my gaze, her emerald eyes cloudy with uncertainty. “Why?”
So I can figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do.
If I don’t fix this fast, she’s going to leave and will probably never speak to me again, which isn’t an option. Not after promising myself that if I ever got another chance to make her mine, I’d take it.
“You’re pregnant,” I repeat, still staring at her in disbelief.
“Yes,” she whispers.
“Marry me.”
Charlie gapes at me. “Are you insane? I tell you that I’m pregnant, and your solution is to propose?”
I nod, taking a knee as I grab her hand. “You’re having my kid. I’m going to take care of you both.”
This might not be the most conventional way to start a family, but I’m all in. Charlie, and by extension the baby, are my responsibility, and there’s nothing I want more than to be the man she can lean on through this.
Charlie presses her palm to my forehead. “You must be coming down with a fever. It’s the only plausible explanation for the moody cowboy who can barely tolerate me asking me to marry him. You didn’t even ask if the baby is yours. What if you’re not the father?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m claiming both of you, regardless,” I state without hesitation.
Even if the baby wasn’t mine—which I’m certain it is—I’d still want them just the same, because they’re part of Charlie, and that’s all the reason I need.
“The baby’s yours,” she says, her voice dropping to a hushed tone. “I haven’t been with anyone else in the past six months.”
A possessive satisfaction tightens low in my chest. “Wouldn’t have mattered if you had. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” I brush my thumb over her knuckles. “What do you say, Charlie? Marry me… please.”
Her fingers curl around mine for a second, and warmth flickers across her face. But just as quickly, her stubborn mask slides back into place.
She exhales sharply, straightening her spine. “This isn’t the 1950s, Heath. You can’t propose out of thin air and expect me to accept and swoon dramatically in your arms.”
I know a losing battle when I see one, and right now nothing I say or do is going to change Charlie’s mind… at least not right now.
I sigh, rising to my feet. “What exactly do you suggest?”
She nibbles on her thumbnail, lost in thought for a beat. “We co-parent and keep our lives separate.”
