A tear rolled down my cheek, and I swiped it away with my hand. I immediately stuffed my hand back in my pocket, only to have another roll down my other cheek. I blinked fiercely before freeing both hands from my pockets and opening the glove box to grab a tissue. I quickly blew my nose and dried my eyes. I didn’t need to be a weepy mess while I waited lost on some gravel road in the darkness.

  I glanced at my phone. I was keeping it on. Blessedly, it was fully charged before I last turned my car off. It was now approaching midnight.

  My mom had to have called someone by this point. I just hoped they could find me. I told myself they would. They had to.

  Time ticked by. When I shivered all over, I stuffed myself in my winter sleeping bag in the front seat and ate the muffins I’d brought to give to my mother. I’d have to remember to replenish the small food supply in my emergency kit because all I’d had in there was a stale granola bar.

  After checking my phone again and willing some kind of signal to appear, I let out a sigh. When I’d first parked, I’d gotten out of my car and climbed on top of it, holding the phone high to see if I could get a signal. I’d deemed it too risky to walk in any direction in the darkness, knowing that I hadn’t had a signal for miles. This area was spotty for cell phone reception, even on the highway. The mountains weren’t helpful.

  I was starting to get warm in my winter sleeping bag when I saw headlights flickering through the trees in the distance. They didn’t seem to be on this road. I debated starting my car and following them, but I didn’t know where I was and didn’t want to get more lost.

  “Please, please, please, please, please,” I whispered in the darkness, my breath puffing in the air with every word.

  The moon high in the sky illuminated the inside of my car. I debated whether to start my car again when I saw headlights in the distance. On this very road.

  I almost burst into tears. I held my emotion in check and started the car, turning on my lights to flash them repeatedly. Then I turned my car back off immediately.

  I waited.

  It felt like forever, but it must’ve only been a few minutes before the vehicle reached me. As soon as I saw the shape of it, I knew it was Rhys. I fumbled with the zipper on my sleeping bag. He was at my car before I could even get it all the way unzipped. I burst into tears the moment he opened the door.

  His concerned gaze coasted over my face quickly. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded through my tears. He helped me out of my sleeping bag and pulled me into his arms. Pressing my face into his neck, I breathed him in through my tears, crying a little harder at his familiar scent. His embrace was warm and strong.

  I faintly heard Blake’s voice nearby and another vehicle pulling up, barely noticing that Adam and Kenan were also here.

  I heard Rhys talking to various people, but he held me close as I clung to him. An emergency vehicle arrived within a few minutes. Only then did he set me back, saying, “You’re shivering hard. We need to have them check you over.”

  I shook my head, but he insisted. I was hiccupping and sniffling while a woman asked me several questions. My temperature was a little below normal. I heard Rhys swear.

  “You need to go to the hospital,” he ordered.

  The woman glanced over, saying, “She just needs to be somewhere warm.”

  I looked around blearily. The relief of having Rhys here and knowing I would be okay finally sank in. Blake stood beside Rhys with one hand in his pocket as he said something to Adam.

  Kenan came over and held a thermos out. “We thought ahead. Hot chocolate,” he said.

  He started to hand me the thermos, but Rhys reached for it. “Is there alcohol in that?”

  Kenan glanced at him. “Uh, no. Is there a problem if there is?”

  “She’s pregnant,” Rhys bit out.

  Adam and Kenan looked my way together, Adam appearing almost comically surprised.

  Blake glanced over at me. “He told me the news. Congratulations, I think.”

  “Whoa,” Adam finally said.

  Before I could even protest it, Rhys started insisting we had to go to the hospital.

  The EMT leaned in, asking, “Do you know how far along you are?”

  “I think about seven weeks.”

  She nodded. “She doesn’t need to go to the hospital.” She glanced at Rhys. “Get her somewhere warm and keep her warm tonight. That’s the treatment for hypothermia, but she’s not dangerously cold yet.”

  The brothers conferred about how to deal with my car. Adam and Kenan had planned ahead. They even had a full gas can. I was about to argue the point about driving it home, but Rhys wouldn’t hear of it. They decided Blake would drive my car back to Fireweed Harbor. Rhys would drive me, and Adam and Kenan would follow.

  A short while later, after we got into cell range, I called my mother and updated her. When I lowered the phone, I glanced at Rhys.

  “I can stay at my place if that’s best.”

  His gaze slid to mine. The intensity in his eyes, even in the dim light cast from his dashboard, nearly took my breath away. “I’m taking you home. With me.”

  Chapter Forty

  Rhys

  Emotion was crashing through me, one wave after another. My heart banged against my ribs as I drove, my hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. I almost didn’t trust myself to talk, but I knew I needed to.

  “I’m sorry,” Haven blurted out.

  “You don’t need to apologize. I was upset because you didn’t tell me, but—” I took a quick breath before continuing. “I understand. You didn’t expect to be pregnant, and if it turned out to be negative, it would’ve been nothing. I love you. I really do.” I paused for another steadying breath. “I understand, maybe, why you had your doubts about us.”

  Haven interjected, asking, “Can I say something?”

  “Of course.”

  “The thing with Cathy, it’s just my insecurities. I don’t have any other excuse. I should’ve trusted you. You did nothing to make me doubt you.”

  I glanced over at her. “I appreciate that, but I think maybe I did. Not about Cathy specifically.” My heart crashed against my ribs again and again as anxiety spun in my chest. “You know my family story. It’s messy. I knew I loved you, but I didn’t realize or didn’t grasp that I hadn’t let myself be vulnerable. I was determined to show you I loved you by being the perfect guy. When what I needed to do was just be a little more…” I paused, shaking my head. “I don’t even know how to explain it. I just think maybe I was pulling back a little bit, not because the feelings weren’t there but because that’s been my whole life.”

  When I slid my gaze sideways to look at Haven, a sheen of tears shone in her eyes. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” I said quickly.

  She reached for one of my hands where it rested on the edge of the steering wheel. I let go and laced my fingers through hers. “It’s not that. Your family has been through a lot. You are all so close now, and things are solid with your mom, so sometimes I can forget what it means. Your dad died, and Jake died. Then there’s what you went through with your grandfather, all of you. It’s really sad. You had to be the strong one for a long time.”

  I took a shaky breath as I nodded, keeping my eyes focused on the road.

  “Then all the stuff with not knowing if I was Matthew’s father.” I shook my head. “It kind of all tangled together. I love you. I’m not perfect, but you have nothing to worry about with Cathy or anyone.”

  “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

  I glanced over, shrugging. “I understand why you did. Not like I was an ass, but before you, I never let anybody in.” She squeezed my hand again. “What do you want to do?”

  “About what?” she asked in return.

  “You’re pregnant. Now, more people than maybe you wanted to know about that know.”

  She laughed softly. “That’s okay. I’m a little surprised, but I want to keep our baby. But I’m not sure how you feel about that.”

  “If you want our baby, I do too. I’ve had some time to think about being a father lately,” I offered dryly.

  “I think a baby is a little different.”

  “True, but I’m just saying. This is how I would want it to be. With you. Us.”

  When we got home, I needed Haven in a way I never had before. Once we were in the house, I cupped her face as I looked down. “I love you,” I whispered.

  I kissed her, meaning for it to be gentle, but it wasn’t. Not at all. I devoured her mouth as her tongue tangled with mine. By the time we broke apart, we were both breathless, gulping in air.

  Haven stared back at me, her breath coming in sharp heaves. I ran my hands down her arms. “Are you warm enough?” I asked.

  She nodded quickly. “I’m fine.”

  I opened my mouth to say something, something along the lines of telling her we should slow down, that we didn’t have to rush, that…

  She leaned forward, pressing a hot, open-mouthed kiss in the divot at the base of my throat. Her touch felt like a drop of warm honey on my skin, rippling through my system in hot shocks. I slipped my hand around the back of her head, holding her close.

  “This can wait.” My voice came out gruff as emotion trampled through me, and my heart kicked against my ribs.

  She leaned back slightly, peering up at me. “I don’t want to wait.”

  When I stepped back, my hand fell away. She caught it, lacing her fingers through mine and giving me a little tug. “Let’s take a shower.”

  Moments later, hot water rained down around us. I couldn’t keep my hands off Haven. Bubbles rolled over her skin. Moments later, I’d pressed my hands flat against the tiled wall. I kissed Haven as if she were the very air I needed to breathe. One of her hands mapped my chest as she reached between us, curling her other hand around my insistent arousal. I was swollen to the point of pain.

  I gasped into our kiss before breaking free and sucking in a deep breath. “Haven,” I bit out. “This isn’t just sex for me. I need you to know that. I love you.”

  Her palm rested just above my heart. She pressed firmly, my heart pounding harder in response. “I love you too,” she whispered. “I know it’s not just about that. I need to explain.”

  I slid my hand down her side, hooking my palm under her knee. “No, you don’t.”

  She blinked before leaning up to kiss me. I held her close, lifting her knee higher and adjusting the angle of my hips as I sank home.

  This time, when she shuddered and cried my name, my heart felt cracked open, split wide as the lightning of my own release sizzled through my system.

  A short while later, we were eating pizza from Fireweed Winery, and Haven was bundled in a pair of my sweatpants and a fleece shirt. Her legs rested on my knees with the pizza box on her lap while we ate from it.

  We had talked. I had explained I finally understood I held a piece of myself back because I knew what it meant to lose someone. Because maybe I had learned in my messy family story that pain was part of the ties that bound us all together, and it was easier to keep a part of myself separate.

  She blinked up at me after I dumped my heart out in words and trailed her fingertips along my jawline before her hand slipped down to rest over my heart again. I watched her take a deep breath, her gaze soft.

  “That makes sense. For me, I think I just couldn’t believe you really wanted me. My only other serious relationship wasn’t a tragedy, but I struggled with trust. In high school, I felt like I never fit in.”

  I cut in. “Haven, you’re beautiful. I’m not just saying that.”

  Her lips curled slightly at the corners. “I always imagined someone like Cathy being the kind of girl you would fall for. You did sort of have a relationship with her.”

  I shrugged. “I wouldn’t call it a relationship. I was in college, and we enjoyed each other for a few weekends. I was shallow then, and so was she. I’m not that guy anymore and haven’t been for years. There’s literally nothing there with her. I’m kind of embarrassed there ever was. She did try to push for something, but there was never any risk of that happening. Even if I wasn’t completely in love with you.”

  She leaned forward once again, dropping another kiss right at the base of my throat before leaning back. “Well, we’ve sorted all that out.”

  My chuckle was dry. “We have.” As the laughter faded, a lingering jolt of fear struck me. “I was terrified tonight until we found you.”

  “I was prepared,” she insisted. “You saw my giant sleeping bag.”

  “I know, but things could’ve gone wrong.”

  “But they didn’t,” she whispered, her palm circling over my heart.

  I took a breath as I nodded. I slid my palm over her belly. “So?”

  She leaned her forehead to mine, curling her hand over mine.

  Epilogue

  Haven

  A year or so later

  * * *

  I pushed through heavy layers of sleep before bolting upright in bed. I looked around the room wildly. Rhys wasn’t in bed with me, and little Jake’s crib was empty.

  Once you had a baby, I quickly learned that a sense of panic built when you didn’t know where your baby was. I scrambled out of bed, running barefoot out to the living room. Rhys was in the kitchen, talking in a low voice to our baby boy Jake. Once we knew he was a boy, we both knew we wanted to name him Jake after Rhys’s brother.

  Rhys poured a cup of coffee with one hand and turned when I came skidding to a stop by the counter. I wore one of his T-shirts, which hung to the tops of my thighs. He smiled over at me.

  “Good morning.” He finished pouring the coffee and set the pot down on the burner before turning and crossing over to me. He gave me a lingering kiss while Jake let out a happy gurgle when he saw me.

  My heart felt as if it was going to burst out of my chest at the sound. The sheer unadulterated joy with which a baby greeted you elicited a mirroring response inside.

  “Hey, sweet boy,” I said, smoothing my hand over his hair. I looked up at Rhys. “I can’t believe I slept through him waking up.”

  Rhys grinned. “I can. He didn’t sleep well last night, so you didn’t either.”

  “That means neither did you,” I pointed out.

  He shrugged. “I wasn’t going to wake you up when you were still asleep this morning. We take our sleep when we can get it,” he said lightly.

  Never in my life had I lost as much sleep as I had in the first few months after having Jake. I knew I would adjust, and he was starting to have better nights, but holy hell. Sometimes I just dragged myself through the days. I was profoundly grateful I worked at a coffee shop.

  Rhys was nudging me to let that job go, pointing out that it wasn’t like I needed the money. Although it was intimidating to marry into a family that was billionaire wealthy, they were all so down to earth and worked hard.

  Rhys didn’t expect me to quit and twiddle my thumbs. Meanwhile, McKenna was lobbying for me to work full-time with them. I planned to keep my existing online graphics business, but they had plenty of work to give me at Fireweed Industries. Deciding on that was for another day.

  For now, I smiled up at Rhys, still marveling that we had a baby. We had decided to get married before I had the baby. Not because we had to but because we wanted to. Even though I made wedding invitations for other people and was aware of how much some people loved the idea of a big wedding, I didn’t want that. I wanted something small.

  Because our first encounter since high school was in the house Rhys was staying in and where we still lived, we had a small ceremony here in the backyard during the summer and had the reception at Spill the Beans Café.

  Rhys poured me a cup of coffee. I nursed Jake for a few minutes, and he promptly fell asleep. After I put him back in his crib for a nap, we enjoyed our coffee in the kitchen while Rhys made scrambled eggs. It was all very mundane. I loved it.

  He reached for my hand when I pushed my plate away, lightly lifting it to turn it over and drop a kiss in the center of my palm. The sensation sent little ripples of heat rolling through me.

  “Do you work today?” he asked.

  When I shook my head, his gaze darkened. “Excellent. Come here then.”

  Before I knew it, he had pulled me onto his lap and had his way with me in the kitchen. When you had a baby, you stole every moment you could when they came along.

  When it was all over but the gasping, he leaned back, his eyes skating over me. “I told you I would make you mine,” he whispered, that wicked flame still lingering in his gaze.

  * * *

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  Up next in the Fireweed Harbor Series is Dare To Fall.

  * * *

  Fiona is uptight, delectably distracting, and she works for my family. I make one rule for myself: hands off.

  * * *

  Once, just once, I break my own rule. After that, Fiona becomes my secret.

  * * *

  Don’t miss Fiona & Blake’s story - it’s swoony, forbidden & sweet!

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  Pre-order Dare To Fall - due out June 12, 2023!

  * * *

  For more swoony romance…

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