“Yeah, they stopped when I moved in,” Harley interjected. “Let's start hosting it once a week.”

  “Works for me.” I glanced over at Harley. The second her eyes met mine, it felt as if a sizzle zipped through the air between us.

  Chapter Four

  Harley

  “What do you mean? Like that?” Gemma asked, clicking on a button on her computer screen.

  “Just like that,” I confirmed.

  “Oh, well that’s easy.” Her eyes twinkled when she smiled over at me. “Do you really think I need a website?”

  “Yes. That way, new people can find you, and customers can pay online. It's much easier. I promise.”

  “Thank you for doing this for me.” She brushed her honeyed curls away from her cheeks.

  “It's no big deal. You're family.”

  Gemma grinned over at me before glancing at Daphne. “She’s the best almost sister-in-law I could ask for.”

  “Same,” I returned as Daphne nodded in agreement.

  Gemma, with her curls and blue eyes, was perfect for my brother. She was a soft edge to him. As a yoga teacher with a warm and kind personality, she was a good counterpart to his gruff but soft heart. Diego loved hard, and he deserved someone like Gemma.

  I leaned back. “Let me finish up the back end.”

  I slid the laptop across the table to me. Her website was pretty simple with a basic about page for her and a calendar for her yoga classes. It allowed people to select times and sign up and pay right there.

  “People can still pay when they show up for class, but this way, it's all set up in there for you. The system automatically tracks it and does your monthly accounting.”

  “Oh, that’s amazing.” She pressed her palm to her chest, letting out a sigh. “This is going to make it so much easier for me.”

  “That was the plan,” I replied with a grin.

  She leaned back in her chair, smiling. “Thank goodness for you. I'm not that tech savvy. There's no way I could set up a website.”

  “I got you on this. I'll make it so you can update it on your own if you'd like, but I will always do it if you need my help.”

  “Thank you. I will probably never update it unless you tell me I need to.”

  Cammi, a friend and the owner of Misty Mountain Café where we were meeting, approached, and replied to Gemma's comment, “She made my website too. I'm not updating it without her help.”

  She stopped by our table, smiling at us. “How's it going, ladies?”

  “Good. You weren't here when we came in,” Daphne replied.

  “I had to run to the bank because we were short on cash for change. I have to get back in the habit of stopping by the bank almost daily during the summer.”

  Daphne let out a sigh. “That is one thing I don't mind not worrying about.”

  Cammi snagged an empty chair from a nearby table and sat down with us. “What do you mean?”

  “Not worrying about all the cash,” Daphne replied. “I love being the chef at the lodge. I just cook for the guests and staff. I don't have to handle bills or tips or anything.”

  Cammi grinned. “Ah.” She owned this café along with Red Truck Coffee. Between the two businesses and recently having twins, she was busy, especially in the summer months when tourists descended on Alaska. “I don't mind it. I love the hustle and bustle.”

  “It’s perfect for your personality. You're like a ray of sunshine,” Daphne said earnestly.

  Cammi burst out laughing. “A ray of sunshine?”

  “Absolutely,” a low male voice intoned.

  We all glanced over to see Elias, Cammi’s husband, and another one of the pilots at Walker Adventures, approaching our table. He leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss on Cammi’s cheek. Her cheeks were flushed pink by the time he straightened.

  “Sunshine is a good thing.” He rested his hand at the base of her neck, squeezing lightly. “You’re not behind the counter?”

  “No, I'm having lunch with my friends,” she said with a saucy smile.

  He grinned. “Good. I'll go get my coffee then.”

  “Are you staying?” she asked as she swiveled around when he began to turn away.

  “Don't have time, babe. Just grabbing a coffee. I have a flight.” He glanced at his watch. “Oh, shit. I gotta hurry.”

  “Bye! I’ll pick up the twins on the way home later.” She blew him a kiss as he jogged to the counter.

  When she turned back, Daphne smiled indulgently at her. “You have made Elias one happy man.”

  “I love him, so it's mutual,” Cammi said simply.

  “How’s working and having twins going for you?” Daphne asked.

  Cammi’s smile was wry. “We’re making it work, and I’m so grateful we have friends to help with daycare. Today, they’re with Susie’s mom. Everyone tells me life is just hectic with babies, and it is. I don’t mind, and Elias is a big help.”

  “You know, I got his old room at the staff house. I didn't even really know him before you two were together. Rumor has it he used to be on the grumpy side,” I commented.

  “He was very mysterious,” Cammi said, lowering her voice, her eyes glinting with mischief.

  Daphne chuckled. “He wasn't mysterious at all. He had a crush on Cammi forever.”

  “He'd only been here for four years,” Cammi protested.

  “Okay, forever as long as he lived here,” Daphne corrected.

  Cammi laughed before letting out a soft sigh. She slid her eyes to me. “I think it's your turn.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Daphne grinned. “Your turn to fall in love.”

  “Oh, no, no.” I held a hand up, shaking my head swiftly. “No way.”

  “I said no way to love too,” Daphne interjected. “I came to Alaska figuring I would never be in a relationship again.” She held up her hands and let them fall.

  I sighed. “You know, it would be easier to sell if I'd known either of you before you were ridiculously whipped. You have Flynn wrapped around your little finger.” I gestured to Daphne. “And Elias worships the freaking ground you walk on.” I waved toward Cammi. “I'm not like either one of you.”

  “What do you mean?” Daphne pressed, her eyes narrowing.

  “I don’t know how to explain it, but I’m not the kind of woman guys fall for.”

  “You haven't even dated since you've been here, and you've been here over a year,” Gemma said.

  “Yeah, I don't want to date. I am great at being single,” I said firmly. “Hell, my last boyfriend Joe screwed my roommate. I walked in on that.”

  “You mentioned that, but honestly, you don't seem that upset about it,” Gemma added.

  I laughed a little. “No, not really. I was planning to break up with him anyway. I learned two things: She was a shitty roommate, and I had a good reason to break up with him. He's already cheated on her too.”

  “Comes around, goes around,” Gemma said, nodding sagely.

  “Did you really swear off relationships forever?” Cammi pressed.

  I shrugged. “I'm kind of opinionated, and it's possible I might be difficult to deal with.”

  “Difficult?” Cammi looked puzzled.

  “Outspoken, blunt. I'm not great at sucking up to guys,” I explained.

  “Neither are we,” Daphne replied.

  “Yeah, but you have a softer touch than me. I feel like I'm all sharp edges.”

  “I think you're just trying to find excuses,” Gemma commented.

  That was true, but I wasn't about to fess up to that.

  “Maybe you don't want to be in a relationship, but ruling it out for no good reason is kind of silly,” Daphne commented.

  I bit back a sigh, and my heart twisted sharply. I knew she had a point, and thinking about my emotional resignation when it came to relationships tended to remind me how much I wanted a family. I loved kids. Fiercely. Babies were the cutest. They smelled good. They were chubby. Their skin was soft, and they were magic.

  Yet I just didn't have the best luck with relationships. I was almost thirty, and it felt like my biological clock was on fire. Even though I knew better intellectually, that's just how it felt.

  “Maybe someday,” I said nonchalantly. Just then, my heart fluttered oddly, and I felt my pulse race. I ignored it.

  Daphne looked at me quietly. I loved Daphne. I hadn’t known her for all that long, but she was sort of a mother hen, always taking care of everyone. She wanted everyone she loved to be happy. She seemed to have decided that meant finding their person.

  “Maybe I don't want to find my person,” I said, lifting my chin a little. “Maybe I'll be that single girl who lives a bold life.”

  Cammi cast me one of her sunny smiles, reaching over to give me a side hug. “Of course, you will.”

  Chapter Five

  Harley

  That night, I glanced over at Cat and Grant sitting on opposite sides of the sectional, bickering over what to watch. I was at a small table where I often worked on my laptop in the evenings.

  “Just pick something, or I'll be the tiebreaker,” I called over.

  Cat glanced at me. “What do you want to watch? Let's vote.”

  I shook my head quickly. “Surely you two can solve this. When it comes to television, you two turn into ten-year-olds.”

  Grant narrowed his eyes before he burst out laughing. That was the thing about him. He was a pretty easygoing guy, which made him all that much more attractive. I still hadn't been able to put the sight of his bare chest out of my mind.

  “Do you want to play cards?” Cat asked.

  “Why did card night stop out here?” I asked.

  “Because we're the only people left,” Grant said dryly.

  “Are we not worthy of card night?” Cat countered.

  “No, but we have to invite everybody over,” Grant pointed out. “You should do girls’ night cards,” he added as he leaned back into the couch cushions.

  “It used to be mostly guys, right?” I asked.

  “Well yeah. Until you got here, it was all guys. Nora stayed here for a while, but then she built her cabin and moved out because she got sick of all the guys.”

  “How many of you were here?”

  Grant lifted a hand, counting on his fingers. “Well, there was me, Gabriel, Elias, Tucker, and Diego, so there were five of us.”

  “But there aren't five bedrooms,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah. Tucker and Diego shared the biggest bedroom for a while.”

  “Really?” Cat asked.

  “Yeah, didn't you notice there used to be two twin beds? We turned it into a pool room when only three of us were left,” he explained.

  Cat snickered. “Such a guy house. No wonder Nora wanted to move out.”

  “It was totally a guy house,” Grant replied with a shrug.

  “Let’s invite all the girls out soon,” I offered.

  She squealed. “I'm in. I'll make appetizers.”

  “Perfect,” I replied.

  Grant grinned between us. “I guess that'll be one of my nights out then.”

  “You're always out,” Cat said sharply.

  “Why do you care?” he countered.

  “I don't,” Cat retorted.

  Cat tossed a throw pillow in his direction. They quieted and settled on a comedy show while I continued to tap away on my laptop, adjusting some things on the website I was working on for another business in downtown Diamond Creek. When I had decided to come up here on a whim, I'd honestly thought most of my business would be online clients from a distance. While that did keep me busy, I had lots of local business. People here definitely wanted to support local businesses, and I benefited from that.

  Hours later, I was alone in the living room. Grant and Cat had gone to bed. I tended to be a night owl. I also had a tendency to be an early riser. In short, I didn't sleep well. I had been fighting off a sense of restlessness all day. It had been an innocent enough conversation earlier, but Daphne and Cammi had gotten under my skin with their heartwarming teasing about falling in love. I didn’t want to care. I also didn’t want to be crushing on Grant because that was freaking annoying. With a sigh, I tapped the save button and powered down my laptop before closing it.

  I stood to walk into the kitchen to get something. Abruptly, my breath became short, and my heartbeat felt funny. It felt as if the beats were out of order and skipping between too fast and too slow. Moments later, I was gasping for air and found myself on the floor beside the couch. I didn’t have a clear idea of how I ended up there.

  “Harley?” Grant's voice reached me from the base of the stairs.

  I looked over, my thoughts were muddled and fuzzy. “Yeah?”

  He crossed the room swiftly in long strides, kneeling beside me. “What the hell happened? You fell.”

  I didn’t normally sit down in the middle of the floor like this, but I wanted to argue the point. The next thing I knew, he was checking my pulse, and I was trying not to get pissed off.

  “I feel fine,” I insisted.

  “Did you faint? Have you eaten today? Your pulse feels okay.”

  “It's fine. I'm fine.” I was sort of lying because internally, I was freaking right the hell out.

  “I think we should get you up on the couch for a few minutes.”

  “Oh my God. You do not need to monitor me,” I said.

  Grant didn’t care how I felt. “Deal with it.”

  A few minutes later, we were both sitting on the couch. He'd fetched me a glass of water. I thanked him earnestly because I had needed the water. I was mentally trying to figure out what lie I would make up to get out of this.

  “I think you're right. My blood sugar must have been low,” I offered in response to something he’d said moments earlier.

  He was sitting a little too close for my comfort. Between checking my temperature and running me through questions to rule out a concussion, my comfort level had been obliterated.

  “Dear God, you're so annoying,” I said when he reached for my wrist to check my pulse again.

  “We’re all trained in first responder stuff because we fly in the middle of fucking nowhere half the time. If something happens, we have to be able to handle the basics.”

  “I know,” I finally said. “But I'm fine. I'm right here. I’m not in the middle of nowhere.”

  Grant arched a brow, and I rolled my eyes. “Okay, I guess we kind of are, but you're here. We're in a house.”

  “Do you have a doctor here?”

  “No.”

  I sighed. That was another small problem. I should be seeing a doctor, but I didn't want to discuss that. Not with Grant. For the first time ever, I decided to distract myself by actually enjoying how he looked all up close and personal with the chiseled lines of his face, the hint of stubble gracing his jaw, and his sexy eyes.

  He narrowed his gaze. “You should have a regular doctor. Hang on.” He reached for his phone on the coffee table. “That's why I came downstairs. I forgot my phone.”

  “You need your phone when you sleep?”

  He shrugged. “When I can't sleep, I play word games. It puts me to sleep real quick.”

  I couldn't help but laugh at that. Another moment later, my own phone vibrated where it sat nearby on the coffee table. “What did you send me?”

  “Dr. Quinn Haynes. He’s a great guy. He runs the family practice in Diamond Creek. We all go to him.”

  “Mmm. How's your shoulder?” I asked when I saw him turn and wince slightly.

  “Much better. It’s still sore, but it's definitely better.”

  “I'm glad you're okay.”

  “Yeah, me too. Thank you again.”

  “What for? Chasing the moose off with a shovel and a rock?”

  “Yeah,” he said, flashing a quick grin.

  It felt like the air heated around us. As I said, he was right there beside me. I didn't know if it was just me or if he avoided me as well, but I was usually careful not to let myself get too close to Grant.

  Now, my belly flipped with tingles radiating through my body. My heart raced, although it was for all the wrong reasons this time. As he looked down at me, I made a foolish but crucial decision.

  I lifted a hand, dragging my fingertip along his jawline. “Just so you know, Grant, you’re kind of hot.”

  “Excuse me?” His voice came out husky, and butterflies tickled my belly.

  If I'd been standing, my knees would’ve given out. I felt all melty inside. I could be a bold girl when I wanted, so I leaned up, pressing a kiss right where my fingertips had just been.

  I drew back, staring at him, daring myself and daring him. In another second, his head was dipping down as I leaned up. The second our lips met, it felt as if flames burst to life between us.

  Grant muttered something, then angled his head sideways, fitting his mouth over mine. Oh hell, Grant just had to go and be an amazing kisser. His tongue swept boldly into my mouth, and I gasped. His hand slid into my hair, angling my head to the side.

  He was all commanding, yanking the control right out of my hands. I had no idea how long we kissed, but a sound snapped into my awareness, and we broke apart. I reflectively glanced over, realizing Cat had just walked from her bedroom into the bathroom. We were both gasping for air and staring at each other.

  “What the fuck, Harley?” he rasped.

  “What?” I returned, straightening. “I wanted to kiss you. And don't lie. You wanted to kiss me too.”

  Grant blinked before running a hand through his hair as he let out a ragged sigh. “Fuck.”

  He stood to walk upstairs, spinning back to say, “Call the doctor.”

  Chapter Six

  Grant

  I stared at the ceiling, but there wasn't much to see. The ceiling was plain white with shadows cast across it from the moonlight falling through the windows. It offered nothing for distraction.

  My mind kept repeating the vivid recollection of kissing Harley, which sent a jolt of heat sizzling through me with each loop in my thoughts. I’d gone and done the stupidest thing ever and fucking kissed Harley.