And her apartment wasn’t going to fit the bill when it came to building said family. The lease ended in October, a little bit more than a month away. She’d mentioned moving, talked about renting a place farther in town. The prices dropped as the distance from the beach increased.

But that wasn’t exactly what he had in mind for the future. Nope, he wanted something way more permanent. He wanted forever.

He’d spent all of those nights in Australia—when he was half a freaking world away—thinking about it. And he knew what he needed to do first. A man-to-man conversation with Paul Laurence was priority number one.

Tuesday provided just such an opportunity. They were driving up about two hours north of Mirabelle to go fishing. Harper was ridiculously happy about the fact that he was going to be spending the day with her father. And as he genuinely liked Paul, he was looking forward to the day as well.

The plan was to leave at five o’clock in the morning when Paul picked him up at the apartment.

But Liam didn’t hear the alarm and it was Harper who woke him, her hand on his chest before it slid down and wrapped around his dick.

“One for the road?” she whispered in his ear.

And just like that she successfully managed to get him up twice over.

*  *  *

The sun was still sitting low in the sky and hadn’t cleared the forest that surrounded them when Liam and Paul got to the lake. The humidity wasn’t too terrible yet and as they would be in the shade of the trees it looked to be a pretty good setup.

The entire ride up Liam had been trying to figure out how to broach the subject…just jump right on in. Or segue into it at some point during the day. Or…

“I can smell you thinking over there.” Paul’s voice interrupted Liam’s thoughts.

They were both standing at the back of the truck putting their rods together. Liam turned to the man next to him and caught the corner of Paul’s mouth doing that slight twitch that meant he was amused.

“I’m trying to figure out how to ask you a question.”

“Well, you want my advice? Just come out and ask me already.” Another twitch moved his lip.

“I want to marry your daughter.”

“That didn’t sound like a question.”

“It wasn’t.” Liam shook his head. “It’s a fact. It’s also a fact that I love her more than anyone and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. That’s never going to change, either. And I know she’s who I’d want no matter the circumstances. I don’t want to marry her just because she’s pregnant. I want to marry her because she’s it for me.”

“I still don’t hear a question in there.”

“Because none of that is in question.”

“Then what is?”

Liam took a deep breath before he asked. “Do I have your blessing in asking her to marry me?”

“There it is.” Paul looked over, his head tilted to the side just slightly. Though the man was wearing sunglasses, Liam could feel his penetrating gaze doing a rather extensive study. “You know, Harper’s ex didn’t ask for my blessing when he asked Harper to marry him. He wouldn’t have gotten it, either, because he wasn’t the man she was supposed to marry. Not all that shocking as he walked out on her in the end.”

“Moron,” Liam muttered under his breath.

The twitch in Paul’s mouth curved up into a smile before he turned back to the task at hand, grabbing another piece of the rod to attach. “Lucky for you, huh?”

“Something I find myself thanking God for every day.” Liam cleared his throat, reaching up and scratching the back of his neck. “So you two ever talk about the fact that you didn’t think he was good enough?”

“Yeah we did, a number of conversations in fact. And at the end she always told me she was sure about him. But I always sensed that flicker of doubt. Which was why I kept asking. A year and a half and he never quite proved himself to me. And you know, beginning circumstances being what they were, I wasn’t all that hopeful about you, either. But for my daughter’s sake I was going to give you a chance.”

“And hope that I was smarter?”

“Oh, you proved that long before I met you, Liam. You didn’t walk away from her.”

“I know what it’s like to lose her. To think there’s no chance of getting her back. I don’t ever want to feel like that again.”

“Definitely smarter than Brad.” Paul nodded. “Still didn’t mean you were worthy of her.”

“If you’re waiting for some revelation as to that, I think you will be waiting for a long time. Because honestly? No one will ever be worthy of Harper. I knew it before. Knew it the first time I saw her. Knew I would spend the rest of my life trying to prove myself. And, circumstances being what they are, I understand it even more. No one will be worthy of my daughter, either. Ever.”

“It takes a real man to understand that.” Paul put the rod on the back of his truck before he turned his entire body to face Liam. He folded his arms across his chest as he leaned against the hitch. “You know how many times I’ve asked Harper if she was sure about you?”

“How many?”

“Once. The night she told me she was pregnant. When I met you I didn’t need to ask anymore. The first thing I saw was you looking at my daughter like she was your entire world. You want my blessing to marry her? You’ve got it, Liam.” Paul extended his hand out.

Liam was a little taken aback by the last words that Paul had spoken, and it took him a second to get over the shock and reach out, grabbing the proffered hand and shaking it.

“Welcome to the family, son.”

*  *  *

Harper got to her parents’ house just after six o’clock, Darby and Luna greeting her when she walked in as per usual. She’d dropped Lune off before work since she and Liam were going to have a late evening with dinner and everything else.

“Hey guys,” she said, getting down low and scratching both of their heads.

“Harper?” Delilah called out.

“Be there in a second.”

She gave the dogs about another minute of a good rubdown before she straightened and headed for the kitchen. Delilah was at the stove, the cast iron skillet popping with oil.

“Hey, Mom.” Harper came up next to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek just as Delilah dropped a dollop of dough in the oil.

“Hey, sweetie.” Delilah leaned into the kiss.

It wasn’t like their relationship had done a complete one-eighty in the last couple of weeks, but they were working on it. It was definitely better than it had been, and her mother had accepted the fact that she was going to be a grandmother.

So Harper had that going for her.

“They back?”

“Yeah, about thirty minutes ago. They’re both getting a shower.”

“Separately I hope,” Harper said as she reached for an already cooked hush puppy.

Delilah turned and looked at her, not impressed with the joke.

“I know, I know. I did not get my sense of humor from you.” She grinned before she took a bite.

“Clearly you did not. It’s definitely from your father.”

“Has to be.”

“Mmm hmm.” She nodded as she dropped another dollop into the oil. “Hey, your father and I pulled a few things for Baby Girl from the attic yesterday. We put it in the room with all of the other stuff.”

Baby Girl. God, they were having a little girl. Every time she thought about that fact the most perfect, indescribable flutter ran through her belly. Though there were quite a few flutters lately. Baby Girl was moving around. Nothing drastic as of yet. No kicking hard enough for Liam to feel.

Harper knew how anxious he was for that moment to happen.

“Baby Girl?” Harper had to ask, as this was the first time her mother had addressed the baby with that moniker, and Harper would be lying if she said she didn’t love it. “That’s what we’re referring to her as now?” Harper turned, popping the last of the hush puppy in her mouth as she leaned back against the counter to get a perfect view of her mother’s face.