“You know you want me to,” Risa teased. “Be honest with me.”
I burst out laughing. “Okay, fine. Maybe a little info would be good.”
“I might as well get as much information as I can. This man is the father of your baby.”
“Does Darren think I'm irresponsible?”
“Whoa. You’re an adult. If you want to have a no-strings one-night stand at any time, that is completely within your rights.”
“Well, I know that, but he is my older brother, so he might have an opinion.”
“Yeah, whatever. I don't think he cares. He just wants to make sure the guy is decent and going to be there for you financially.”
“I think he will be.”
“I bet he has good health insurance since he’s a firefighter. Maybe you should get married.”
“Oh, my god,” I sputtered. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.”
“You're having a baby. That's more serious than getting married,” she replied, her tone pragmatic.
I sighed. “I know. I hope it's okay. He seems nice, and we'll be okay. Is Darren around?”
“Actually, he's covering the evening shift because one of the cops is on vacation this week. I thought it was the perfect time to call and get the scoop. I'll follow up and give him all the details so he's prepared when you talk to him.”
“Poor Chase, he has no idea what dealing with my nosy police chief brother might be like.”
“He's not stupid. I'm sure he knows your family is going to look out for you. I’ll do my homework on your behalf and talk to Jasmine and have her scout out all the information.”
I shook my head even though she couldn't see me, laughing softly. “Wow. Well, I guess this is a bonus then.”
“Totally is. When did you say you were seeing him next?”
“He’s coming to Anchorage tomorrow, and he’d like to come back and attend my doctor’s appointments with me.”
“Wow, that's serious.”
“I don't know. Is it good or bad?”
“Well, he wants to be involved. I think that's good.”
“I hope so. I just hope he doesn’t turn out to be a jerk.”
“Did you think he was a jerk the night you met him?”
“No, but it was just one night.”
“Here's the question I have that I don't expect you to answer for Darren: Was it good?”
I burst out laughing, my cheeks flashing with heat. “Uh, yes. It was the best night I ever had.”
“Oh my,” Risa said with a low whistle.
Meanwhile, I was hot all over. Feeling like I needed to shake the heat off my body, I stood from the couch and paced in a little circle around the coffee table.
“All right. Call me after you see him again. I want to hear about it. Are you going to let him stay the night?”
“I don't know. Oh, god, I don't know how to do this. I feel like we did it all backward.”
“All you can do is deal with what's happened. That's it.”
I took a breath. “Okay, you're right. That's all I can do.”