I set my hairbrush down and walked to the door, opening it to find Kenan standing there. His shoulder rested inside the door, and he had one hand tucked in his pocket. My belly flipped and heat blazed through me when his eyes met mine.

  “Hey,” I said, my voice coming out breathless.

  “Hey. Can I come in?”

  “Of course.” I opened the door wider, and he brushed past me.

  As soon as the door clicked shut behind him, he spun around. I stumbled back instantly, my shoulder blades landing against the door.

  He placed both palms on the door beside my shoulders, and his gaze held mine.

  “What?” My pulse raced, my breath short and shallow.

  “This.” He leaned closer until his lips were but a whisper away from mine.

  I felt as if electricity sizzled where our lips met. He took my mouth in a lazy, sensual, and utterly devouring kiss. By the time he lifted his head, my knees were weak. I could feel the slick heat of my arousal at the apex of my thighs.

  “You can’t do that,” I whispered a weak, raspy protest.

  “I just did,” he pointed out.

  I rolled my eyes, placing my palm on his chest. I intended to push him back, but the rapid pounding of his heart against my palm arrested my movement for a few seconds. Maybe it didn’t make sense, but I was relieved that his pulse felt as wildly out of control as mine did.

  I pressed just enough that he stepped back. I ducked under his arm and stepped around him. I walked to the windows of my hotel room, curling my arms around my waist as I looked out. The view here was beautiful. Willow Brook, like so much of Alaska, had mountains nearby. With winter on the way, snow already blanketed the peaks.

  The lake was frozen. The sunset reflected on the ice, a blurry shimmer of lavender and deep pink.

  “We have to talk,” I said when I felt him stop beside me.

  “I thought you might say that.”

  I glanced up at him and looked away again. “I’m not ready for us to be public. If everything goes to shit for us, I’d rather people not know.”

  I was nervous, uncomfortably so, and my arms tightened around my waist.

  “Do you really think it’ll go to shit?” he asked.

  Even though it was difficult, I forced myself to face him. “Kenan, you’re my best friend. I know we’ve already crossed those boundaries, but you’ve never had a serious relationship, for a very good reason, at least, according to you,” I pointed out.

  “Neither have you,” he returned.

  I knew him well enough to know he was feeling defensive. I could hear it in his voice. “I know I haven’t,” I said quietly. “But it’s not like I have my pick of men the way you have your pick of women. If you wanted to get married, you could probably get married tomorrow. Plenty of women would line up to sign up for that. It’s not that easy for me.”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw as he swallowed. “It’s not that easy for me. You’re beautiful. I just don’t think you see that.”

  I took a quick breath. “Whatever. We could debate this. That’s not all that’s at stake. I work for your family, and I like my job. I don’t want things to get awkward there. I’d rather not have this be common knowledge. Not now.”

  Kenan finally nodded. “I understand. We’re already best friends, so we can just keep it that way publicly. We see each other all the time.”

  “No PDA,” I said firmly.

  Kenan’s lips quirked at the corners. “Fine. Understood. Shall we go?”

  “Yes.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Kenan

  Just as Quinn reached for the door, I caught her by the elbow. She glanced up at me. “What is it?”

  “Just a sec.”

  I palmed her cheek before bending low to capture her mouth with a kiss. I’d meant for this to be controlled, just a tease. I should’ve known better. The moment our lips met, I was gone. Her tongue darted out to tease mine. It was a damn good thing I could put my other hand against the door behind her because that was about the only thing that kept me standing.

  By the time we broke apart, we were both heaving. “What the hell?” she mused between gulps of air.

  “You said no PDA,” I managed to retort as I dragged in another breath. “I had to get a little dose before we left.”

  She burst out laughing. “Oh my God, is this how it’s going to be?”

  I chuckled as we both straightened and stepped apart. “Yes.”

  “Is that a promise?” she teased, the glint in her eyes making me want to kiss her all over again.

  As it was, I had to get my raging hard-on under control. “Absolutely.”

  It was supposed to be a joke, and it was. But as we stared at each other, that unsettling intimacy shimmied to life in the air between us.

  I cleared my throat. “We should go.”

  I held the door for her, my hand reflexively reaching to touch her, to slide down over the sweet curve of her bottom and coax her forward.

  “Well, we pulled it off,” Adam said from my side.

  Glancing at him, I grinned. “Archer and Chase pulled it off,” I pointed out.

  Adam chuckled. “They’re family, so that counts as we. You and Quinn helped negotiate the contract for this building, and I ran the numbers,” he added.

  “Fair enough.” I let my gaze arc about the space. It looked good, really good.

  Fireweed Industries had purchased a defunct storage garage on the outskirts of town. We’d needed something big enough to eventually open a small production area here.

  It would be a much smaller production and distribution warehouse than the one in Fireweed Harbor. We wanted them to be able to produce small batches of beer for sale right here in the brewery and winery, in addition to local distribution in Anchorage.

  Archer and Chase had headed up the renovation. The restaurant and bar looked nice. The space had an industrial vibe. They’d polished all of the visible exposed beams and venting and added additional windows that offered a view of the mountains and a glacial lake nearby.

  The space was decorated with fabric arts mounted on the walls and furnished with round wooden tables and a wide polished wooden bar that ran the length of the back of the space with an additional one in the center. The opening event was crowded. The locals had filled the space within minutes of opening.

  Archer stopped beside us, lifting a bottle of beer in a mock toast. “We’re busy,” he said lightly.

  I grinned. “Seriously. You and Chase pulled off a great opening.”

  Archer’s wife, Phoebe, appeared, hearing the tail end of my comment. She leaned up to press a kiss on Archer’s cheek, the love and pride shining in her gaze. “That’s what I told him. This was a lot of work, and you did an incredible job.”

  “We had a lot of help from David,” Archer replied. He gestured toward David, the longtime chef for the winery restaurant in Fireweed Harbor who had shifted into an administrative role within the past year or so. He was talking with some staff behind the bar. “David organized most of this, while Chase and I handled the local logistics and staffing. Blake was a huge help as well.”

  “He’ll be your main point of contact for getting the production up and running here,” Adam commented.

  “I’m going to let Chase lead that,” Archer said just as Chase, our half brother, appeared beside us.

  Our father had a summer fling with Chase’s mother before he met our mother, but none of us knew about him until McKenna did a genealogy test for fun.

  “Chase is leading what?” Chase prompted with a grin.

  “Production,” Archer replied.

  “Oh yeah. I’m actually looking forward to that. As it is, I’ve just been doing whatever is needed around here.”

  “I told him he’s been like you for us here,” Archer said, nudging his chin toward me. “The everything guy, like an everything bagel.”

  “Oh, I love everything bagels,” Phoebe enthused. “They are the best.”

  We collectively chuckled. Just then, Quinn appeared in my line of sight. She weaved her way through the crowd, stopping to say something to Blake and Fiona by the bar in the center. Every cell in my body fired up when my eyes landed on her. My entire system felt like engines revving at the start of a race.

  I recalled her comments before we left about no PDA and how she wanted us to be a secret. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand. I did. But it chafed. More so because I understood her hesitation about me.

  Adam said something beside me, dragging my attention away from Quinn. Being my twin, we had a closeness that I didn’t really share with anyone else. When you were a twin, a bond, a closeness just happened. Twins ran in our mother’s side of the family. Our family tree had several sets in the generations above us.

  I wasn’t even present when Adam broke his arm playing baseball in middle school, so I didn’t know exactly what happened. It wasn’t quite like that. Yet that day, I had told a mutual friend in school that I thought something happened to Adam.

  I avoided sharing the deep cynicism I felt about love with anyone in my family. We all carried collective survivor’s guilt about what happened to Jake. As much as I loved my siblings and believed that family was important, my way of coping was becoming the one who fixed everything. I was the fix-it guy, the guy who smoothed everything over. I didn’t have enough faith in myself to have kids. I carried a deep worry that, somehow, I just couldn’t be everything for everyone, certainly not for someone I loved.

  Quinn knew that about me, and I knew her understanding of my fears was the reason she had her doubts. I couldn’t imagine life without her now. I still couldn’t believe what I’d proposed, that we see what happened. Now, I wanted it all with her. Yet that deep-seated fear that I couldn’t be enough made me fear that I truly couldn’t, that I would be the one who would make it all fall apart. While Quinn worried about what other people might think if things didn’t work for us, I worried that I would feel like I had not been enough for her, that I might fail her.

  I forced my attention to the conversation around me, just as a few of Chase and Phoebe’s friends from their days as hotshot firefighters appeared. They both still filled in on the crews in a pinch. Conversation carried on, and I managed to fall into the easy rhythm of casual talk.

  A few minutes later, Quinn appeared, standing beside Wyatt. It was good to see Wyatt, always. He glanced down at her, giving her a friendly smile. “Well, hey Quinn, smartest woman in the room,” he said with a wink.

  “Why do you always say that?” she asked in return.

  “Because I’m pretty sure it’s true,” he said.

  “You don’t really know that, though,” she pointed out

  Wyatt’s brows hitched up as he cocked his head to the side. “I’m pretty sure I do.”

  Quinn rolled her eyes. “So how’s life as a hotshot firefighter?” she asked, dividing her gaze between Wyatt and Griffin, who was standing beside him.

  They shrugged simultaneously. Like me and Adam, they weren’t identical. Griffin shared the same gray eyes and dark blond hair coloring as the rest of our siblings, while Wyatt had dark hair and blue eyes like our mother and me.

  McKenna appeared, stepping between Wyatt and Griffin. She looped her arms through theirs, squeezing as she beamed from one to the other. “You guys need to come home.”

  Griffin chuckled. “We will.” Wyatt finished Griffin’s sentence with, “When the time is right.”

  Blake meandered over with Fiona, chiming in with, “I need you guys at the winery and brewery.”

  “Whatever for?” Quinn prompted.

  For fuck’s sake, her voice alone sent a sizzle of heat through me. It wasn’t as if the sound of Quinn’s voice was new to me. Yet I was acutely aware of its throaty quality and the subtle rasp.

  I distantly heard Blake explaining that our main brewer was moving to Juneau with his wife because she was expecting a baby and they wanted to be closer to family.

  I felt an elbow nudge my side and glanced over at Adam. “What?”

  “You’re staring.”

  “What?” I repeated, not even catching on that he was teasing me.

  “At Quinn. You know, the friend you swore you’d never be interested in.”

  I scuffed my toe on the floor and quickly glanced out the windows. Of course, Adam would notice. He already knew I’d kissed her.

  As if he could read my mind—which sometimes I wondered if he could, and I was pretty sure he wondered the same of me at times—he added, “I’m not the only one who’s noticed. It’s obvious.”

  “Shut up,” I muttered.

  Just then, a server walked by with a tray of beers. When he paused beside our group, I snagged one and took a long swallow. By some lucky miracle, as far as I knew, no one else in our family was prone to overdrinking like Jake.

  Blessedly, Adam dropped any further comments about Quinn. There were enough people around to keep me distracted. I was uncomfortably aware of the effort it took not to keep glancing at Quinn and not to let my gaze linger on her.

  Eventually, the event wound down, and we all filtered away. Some in the group made plans to meet in the bar at Wildlands Lodge where we were staying. I made the excuse that I was tired. As I walked through the reception area at the lodge to take the stairs up to my room, Wyatt fell into step beside me. I glanced over. “It’s good to see you.”

  He flashed a smile. “Ditto.”

  “Mom would love it if you guys came home,” I said.

  His smile stretched a little wider. “We know. I’m seriously considering taking Blake up on coming back to do the brewing.”

  “You could do that, and Griffin could handle the wine,” I replied. “The guy he has now does both, but he’s stretched pretty thin.” We had paused at the base of the stairs and began walking up together.

  “He mentioned that,” Wyatt replied. “Maybe next spring. We have to make a decision if we’re going to stay on before fire season kicks in next year.”

  “I vote for you to come home.” I paused on the landing of the second floor. “But I also understand you love what you’re doing. Enjoy it while you can. It’s not a career you can do forever anyway.”

  Wyatt chuckled. “Definitely not.” He slipped his key card out of his front pocket, spinning it between his fingers. “I’m on this floor.” He paused, studying me for a few beats. “By the way, it’s obvious you and Quinn might be taking things to the next level.”

  I didn’t even notice my mouth had dropped open until he reached over with the key card and tapped the bottom of my chin. I snapped it shut and rolled my eyes. “What are you talking about?” I hedged.

  “Dude, you stared at her every chance you had. You’ve been besties for years now. Don’t screw it up. I always thought you’d make a good couple anyway.”

  With that, Wyatt winked and turned, calling over his shoulder, “Good night.”

  I jogged up the stairs to the top floor. As I turned down the hallway, my pulse picked up its pace. I had been so studiously avoiding Quinn, that I didn’t know if she was in the bar or if she was in her room.

  My room was beside hers. I couldn’t help but wonder if McKenna had been aware of that. Not that McKenna made our reservations, but she would’ve been the one to give any instructions to Tish.

  The stretch of hallway in front of our rooms was empty. Disappointment sliced through me. Aside from trying to keep up appearances, tonight’s effort at avoiding Quinn meant I’d missed just hanging out with her. Because she was my best friend, if I’d been behaving normally, we would’ve chatted most of the night.

  I let myself into my room, kicking off my shoes and shrugging out of my jacket. Before turning on the light, I crossed over to the windows. It was dark out now with the half-moon casting a glow on the snowy peaks of a mountain range in the distance. Turning away, I flicked on the lights and lifted my phone, tapping out a quick text to Quinn.

  Me: I need to see you.

  If I’d spoken aloud, the words would’ve been terse, taut from the need bound up tightly inside me.

  I tossed my phone on the dresser across from the foot of the bed and tried to take a slow breath, anything to quell the impatience and restless need kicking up a storm inside me.

  The second my phone vibrated on the dresser, I spun around to snatch it.

  Quinn: Should I do Morse code on the wall between our rooms?

  I smiled, a piercing sense of joy rising inside.

  Me: I’ll be right there. Let me in when I knock.

  I grabbed my key card, not even bothering to put my shoes on as I slipped out of my room and immediately knocked on Quinn’s door. My phone vibrated with her reply as she opened it.

  Quinn: Just get over here!

  I was in her room in a flash, kicking the door shut behind me and cupping her cheeks as I dipped my head to claim her mouth in a kiss.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Quinn

  I moaned into Kenan’s mouth, frantically arching up, trying to get as close to him as I possibly could. Our kiss was messy, overwhelming, and deep. Our tongues tangled and our teeth clanked together before we finally broke apart.

  Kenan still cupped my cheeks as he stared into my eyes.

  “Oh my God!” I gasped.

  He said, “I missed you tonight.”

  I knew what he meant. If we hadn’t been trying so hard to avoid each other tonight, we would’ve mostly been together as we chatted with our mutual friends and his family. Instead, we’d avoided each other. In his case, I knew it was because I ordered him not to give me any affection. I’d never been so into a man that I stared at him from across a room. It was as if Kenan was a magnet and I was the opposing force drawn to him.

  Over and over and over again, my eyes had been drawn to him, and I’d had to tear them away. Adam had caught us. I’d seen him look from me to Kenan and back again before he winked at me and nudged Kenan hard with his elbow.

  I knew without a word being spoken that Adam sensed what was going on for us. I didn’t mind him knowing. Although we didn’t have the same kind of friendship I had with Kenan, I trusted Adam and knew he wouldn’t gossip.

 

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