“I don't know,” I murmured, lightly dragging my knuckles across her collarbone. Her skin was warm, and I watched as the flush deepened on her cheeks. “I'd ask the same of you. Do you know the answer?”

  She shook her head, her hair shifting with the motion. I slid my hand through those silky locks and dipped my head to fit my mouth over hers. She breathed in sharply, the sound of the hitch in her throat sizzling through my system.

  We were by her door, and she spun me, boldly pushing me back until my shoulders bumped into the wall. Her naughty, deft fingers flicked the buttons of my fly. She broke free of our kiss, shimmying down. Her palm stroked boldly over the hard and swollen ridge of my arousal.

  “Don't we have to go?” I asked between gritted teeth.

  That glint in her eyes was sly and naughty, and my balls tightened, my release already threatening.

  “We have a few minutes,” she teased.

  My cock sprang free when she shoved my boxers down. Her tongue dragged in a slow tease along the underside of my cock before she swiped up the bead of precum rolling out the tip.

  With my jaw clenching as I scrambled for restraint, my hands slapped against the wall. I tried to protest, but I couldn't even muster a word. I felt the warm, slick kiss of her mouth closing around me when she sucked me inside. My head thumped against the wall as I clung to my control.

  She sucked me in deeply and rocked back on her heels when she drew away. Her lashes lifted as she stared up at me for a moment. Her lips were kiss bitten, her eyes dark with passion. I almost came right then. She smiled as she leaned forward again, drawing me in as her palm curled around my length. Another moment later, my release was spurting into her mouth, whipping through me with such force that I was grateful for the wall behind me.

  Hallie shifted back, slowly releasing me. I dragged my eyes open when I felt her tugging my boxers back into place and buttoning my jeans.

  “Fuck, Hallie.” My voice came out in a ragged gasp.

  “Later,” she teased.

  I gave my head a shake, resting against the wall for another few moments to catch my breath as pleasure echoed in electric swirls through my body. A few minutes later, we were in my truck, and I glanced over.

  “I don't feel right about that,” I said.

  “What do you mean? I'm pregnant with your baby. By the way, it's not like we haven't done that before,” she pointed out, her tone dry.

  “I know, but you're taking me to meet your parents,” I protested.

  She shrugged. “They know I'm pregnant.”

  “Did they know you were planning to invite me over tonight?”

  “I hadn't really thought ahead. They're pretty easygoing. It'll be fine. I texted and told them you were in town.”

  I paused before turning out of the parking area behind her building onto the street. “I hope so. I haven't met anyone's parents since my high school girlfriend.”

  The look in her eyes was reassuring when I slid my gaze sideways. “Don't look so stressed out. We’re having a baby together. No matter what, you’re going to see them.”

  I took a breath, trying to ignore the nervousness tightening in my chest. “I know. My dad would like to meet you, and so would my sister.”

  “Oh, wow. Now I understand why you're nervous,” she said.

  I burst out laughing.

  “Nice to meet you,” Hallie’s father said, his handshake firm. Anthony dipped his head with a quick smile.

  “Nice to meet you as well,” I returned as he released my hand.

  “This is my mom, Pam,” Hallie offered.

  Pam smiled at me, her eyes warm. Her hair was the same shade of soft brown as Hallie’s and streaked with silver. Her father's hair was all white, but she had his eyes, although hers had more green in the hazel swirl.

  “It’s so nice to meet you,” her mother added.

  This was awkward. I was the father to be, and I’d never even met her parents before. As the evening passed, I discovered Hallie was right. They were pretty easygoing. I could tell her father was sizing me up, but he wasn't an asshole about it. Apparently, he knew my dad.

  “He took me out on a hunt,” Anthony said.

  “Ah, I hope it was a good one,” I replied.

  “Of course, it was. I was bringing a friend from out of state, so I preferred to have a professional guide. I like your dad because he's not too tough guy about it.”

  I chuckled. “I know what you mean.”

  Backcountry guides tended to slot into two categories—either the highly skilled and practical ones like my father, or the potentially highly skilled, or maybe not, but arrogant ones. It was hit or miss.

  “You enjoy firefighting?” he asked.

  “I do. I like being out in the wilderness. It's not something I can do forever, but I plan to do it as long as I can.” As soon as I spoke, I silently cursed.

  Her father probably wondered about me actually providing for Hallie and our baby.

  “What do you plan to do after that?” he asked.

  “I could do guiding like my father, but by the time I'm ready to take a break from firefighting, I'm not sure I’ll want to travel that much. I got a degree in business when I went to college.”

  “Practical choice and gives you options,” he returned.

  “I am a planner,” I said with a wry smile.

  It was only after Hallie went with her mother to look at something in the garage that her father studied me carefully. I braced myself.

  “Hallie tells me you're stepping up to the plate.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said. “I take my responsibilities seriously. When Hallie told me she was pregnant, I told her I'd support whatever she wanted to do, and I will. It’s important to me to be involved, and I care about Hallie.”

  Her father nodded slowly. “Okay then. Doesn't seem like you two have been involved for very long.”

  I shook my head. “We haven't.” I wasn't going to lie, even if a tiny part of me thought that might make this easier.

  “She really wants children,” he said.

  “I understand. I do too. Maybe this didn't happen in a planned way, but I don't think that changes the outcome.”

  Her father eyed me, pressing his tongue in his cheek before adding, “She’s always traveled a lot. It'll be good for her to be in one place.”

  “Okay,” I replied, not sure what else to say.

  His eyes held mine, and I felt as if he were peeling back the layers of my brain. “I'm glad you're going to be there for her. Please let us know if you need anything.”

  I breathed a silent sigh of relief when Hallie and her mother reappeared.

  Later when we were back at Hallie’s place and she was curled up against my side with her fingertip tracing slow circles on my chest, she asked, “Was it so bad?” Her voice was a low rasp in the darkness.

  “No, your parents are really nice. They seem easygoing like you said.”

  I thought about what I told her father and the bulwark of baggage behind what it meant for me to be part of my child’s life. It was the right thing to do, to be there as a father for any child of mine. But for me, there was so much more to it than that.

  “How about you come to Willow Brook next weekend? We can have dinner with my father, and hopefully, my sister can make it to town for the weekend.”

  “Okay,” Hallie whispered.

  She dusted a kiss on my shoulder, shifting slightly against me. Only seconds later, her breath evened out.

  In my heart, I knew I was falling for Hallie, and I didn't know what to do about it. Even though I was the one who had said we might as well see where this takes us, I hadn't thought it through. I’d been acting on this hazy concept of trusting the chemistry.

  I couldn't help but wonder what her father had meant about her traveling. I didn’t have a problem with that. I traveled plenty, but I was trying to read between the lines of her father’s comment and worried maybe Hallie didn’t want to settle down. I'd always told myself I would know if I met someone who shared any qualities with my mother. My mother had taken flighty to extremes, and she’d traveled frequently. She was flighty about what she wore. In a single hour before she went somewhere, she was constantly changing, and her moods shifted quicker than the wind during a storm.

  I told myself I was creating things to worry about. I smoothed my hand through Hallie’s hair and told my doubts to shut the hell up.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chase

  “You got that?” Graham called.

  I glanced over, lifting up the hook he’d just tossed to me. “Got it.”

  We kept walking, the frosty ground crunching under our boots. It was spring in Alaska but still thawing in the northern parts of the state. We were returning from a training exercise, which also served to put out a fire. This had been a small one set by the landowner. They'd been burning brush in a burn barrel and left it unattended for too long. The wind tossed some sparks into a dry area, and poof, we had a fire. These were the easy days—fly in, put out a fire, and fly out.

  “How's it going?” Rowan asked when I stopped by where some of our crew was seated on fallen logs.

  We were waiting for the helicopter that was on its way to pick us up. “Good, easy day. I like a challenge too, but I don’t mind this.”

  “These are what I call hero days,” Graham commented as he stopped beside me.

  “Hero days?” Rowan prompted.

  “Yeah, we fly in and put the fire out inside of a few hours.” He lifted an arm, flexing his muscles.

  “Makes sense,” I replied with a chuckle.

  Rowan handed me a bottle of water, and I took a few swallows before sitting down beside him on the log. He finished a bite of a granola bar before asking, “So are the rumors true?”

  “What rumors?”

  “That you're going to be a father.”

  I almost choked on the sip of water I’d just taken. After sputtering and taking a breath, I caught his eyes and nodded. “Yes, but how the hell did you know?”

  “Well, you told your father who told Mae’s father. Of course, he told Mae’s mother who told Mae, and then she told me,” Rowan offered dryly. “It’s a small town. I'm sure your father told somebody else.”

  “Dude, everybody knows,” Graham chimed in. “Can't keep a secret around here.”

  I groaned, propping my elbows on my knees and glancing amongst my crew members and friends.

  “How do you feel?” Graham prompted.

  “Still getting used to the idea, but pretty good. I think,” I said slowly.

  “Having a baby is no joke,” Graham offered. “And on the unplanned pregnancy front, at least you're older than I was.”

  I burst out laughing. “Dude, you got a girl pregnant when we were seniors in high school.”

  He nodded sagely. “Turns out it's really not hard to make a baby when you don't use birth control,” Graham deadpanned.

  “I used condoms,” I offered when a few guys arched their brows in question.

  “Seriously?” Rowan pressed.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “It’s a miracle baby,” someone said.

  “If you only knew,” I said, thinking it wasn't my place to go into Hallie’s medical history and the slim odds of her getting pregnant.

  “Rex got a phone call about your girlfriend,” Russell said.

  “Huh?”

  “Apparently, your girlfriend’s brother is the police chief in Diamond Creek.”

  I nodded slowly. “Yeah?”

  “And he called up to ask Rex if you were a good guy. You know, a little reconnaissance,” Russell clarified.

  I hadn’t realized my mouth had dropped open when Rowan reached over and nudged his knuckles on my chin. I snapped it shut. “Fuck, man. I mean, I get it, but that feels weird.”

  “Look, you worry about your kids. Allie’s a sophomore in high school now. Holy shit,” Graham said slowly. “Sometimes, I can't believe how old she is. I don't blame him for checking on her.”

  “Do you think your girl asked him to?” Rowan asked.

  I shook my head. “Actually, I don't. I think that might annoy her, but I don’t plan on mentioning it to her because it's not my problem. I had nothing to do with it.”

  “Smart man,” Rowan said with a light nudge of his elbow. “So what's the deal with you and her? And what's her name?”

  “Hallie, Hallie Thomas. The deal with her and me is we are seeing how things go.”

  “You mean like a relationship?” Graham prompted.

  “Yep.”

  Paisley glanced over. “And how is that working out?”

  “We'll figure it out, I guess.”

  “You freaking better,” she retorted.

  “That’s what I like about you. You are always practical, Paisley,” I teased, and she grinned in return.

  Russell, her boyfriend, glanced over, waggling his eyebrows. “She is so practical. I gotta say, though, dude, you're doing this at warp speed. You know, relationship, baby, the whole thing.”

  I chuckled. “Don't I know.”

  “If you need to chat, I'm here,” Graham said as he sat down beside me.

  “Thanks, man.”

  “I can come out next weekend if you need help on the house,” he added.

  “You got time for that?”

  He shrugged. “Define time.”

  Graham was happily tied up with his new fiancée and parenting his teenage daughter who he’d been raising alone since she was a baby. Between that and leading our hotshot crew, he was beyond busy most of the time. He had come out a few times to help me with work on the house I was building.

  A smile stretched across my face. “Good point. Whenever you have a little time, let me know. Now I feel like I need to get it ready faster.”

  “I was kind of wondering about that. I don't know what will happen with you and Hallie, but you're gonna want space for the baby, whether it's for visits or full time,” Graham offered matter-of-factly.

  At those words, my stomach plummeted as if I was falling from a great height. Holy shit. This was really happening.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chase

  Later that evening, I stared at my phone screen, rereading the text message from my half brother Rhys. Tiffany was right, and I knew it. I'd known it for a while, but now I felt like I needed to move things along. Because I was about to be a father. I wasn't sure how I felt about this brand new family. I hadn't even known they existed, but they wanted to know me, and they were my family.

  I trusted my sister. If she thought they were good people, they likely were.

  Rhys: Text or call anytime. We'd love to hear from you. I don't want to pressure you, though, so don't take this as pressure.

  I slid my thumb across the screen, tapping the button to call. My half brother picked up on the first ring. “Hello, Rhys here.”

  “Hey, Rhys.”

  “Chase?” he said, the barest lilt of a question in his voice.

  I knew he had my name in his contacts, but I suppose he was confirming. The line was silent for a moment.

  “I'm glad you called,” he added.

  I didn't really know what to say, so I said as much. “I don't really know what to say. This whole thing is a shock.”

  “That's one way to put it,” my half brother offered helpfully. “We were as surprised as you. My sister, McKenna, did the DNA test, and you popped up.”

  “It's pretty weird. Tiffany tells me she's been in touch.”

  “She has. Your sister's pretty awesome.”

  “She is,” I said, smiling.

  “I don't really know where to start. You have an open invitation to Fireweed Harbor. You should also know you're in our dad’s will.”

  “Excuse me?” That startled me.

  “Even though he didn’t know who you were, he put you in there. He knew he had a son out there somewhere.”

  “Tiffany didn't mention that,” I replied, trying to wrap my brain around this detail.

  “I thought I should tell you directly.”

  “I don't feel right about that.”

  “What do you mean? He considered you family.”

  “Look, I know the scoop on Fireweed Industries. It’s a big deal. I can’t imagine the rest of the family is chill about me inheriting anything.”

  Rhys was quiet for a few beats before he replied, “It started as a small family business, a winery and brewery down here in Fireweed Harbor. It took off big time, and then my family just kept expanding. They bought up land where they could all over Alaska. That's why there's the old mine in Willow Brook. Archer’s handling the transition for that.”

  “I know. I’ve known him since we were kids. He was Archie back in the day.”

  Rhys chuckled. “Yeah, we called him that too.”

  “Archer vouches for you, although we haven't chatted much about it. I think he's trying to give me space on the issue.”

  “Probably. Look, I'm trying to say the business is a family affair. And yeah, we made a shit ton of money. But when it all comes down to it, we're all born and bred in Alaska. If you know Archer, our childhood was like that, just here in Fireweed Harbor instead of Willow Brook. There are seven of us. Nobody has any problem with this. I know you're working as a hotshot firefighter. One of our other brothers is a hotshot up near Fairbanks.” I had already known that detail, but I didn't say anything. “If you need somewhere to land when you're done doing that, we'll make it happen. It can happen in Willow Brook or in Fireweed Harbor. We’ll figure it out. I’d love to fly there and meet you. You’re also welcome here. I'm not gonna lie, coming down here might be overwhelming.”

  “Are you all there all the time?” I was still struggling to absorb that I had seven new siblings.

  “I used to be based out of Seattle, but I've relocated back to Fireweed Harbor. Currently, there are five of us here. McKenna is traveling. She's the only sister in the whole passel of us,” he offered with a low laugh.

  “I've got some stuff going on. I’m having a baby with my girlfriend.” I decided to frame it like that even though there was a lot more to the story.