Lucy picked up her purse from the seat she’d gotten out of. “You and Alex have plane duty. Frankie was on shift yesterday, so that meant it was all me getting up four billion times last night. I swear whoever came up with the idea of twenty-four-hour shifts for firefighters should be made to march to the edge of a cliff and shoved off. I’d do it myself, but I’m too damn tired.”

Ian looked back at the kid. Freya had a mop of red hair, freckles scattered all across the chubby cheeks that grandmothers liked to pinch, and a glint in her eyes that reminded him way too much of her formidable mom. She didn’t look like a non-sleeping demon, but what in the hell did he know about kids?

“Why did you give me your baby?” he asked.

Lucy let out a weary sigh. “Because I’m exhausted and need a nap. Don’t worry, this little fluff muffin has been fed and should sack out after takeoff.” She lifted up the pacifier attached to Freya by a length of ribbon decorated with hockey pucks. “Here’s a binky in case her ears bother her. You and Alex can swap off holding her.”

“Why would I—”

And that’s when he finally looked over at the set of seats next to Lucy’s. It was one of the two sets of four seats that sat facing each other, two on two, that were usually reserved for the team captain. Christensen sat in one chair closest to the window, his body tense as he looked out of the jet. Across from him sat Shelby, dressed all in black with an aggressive electric-blue line sailing across her top eyelids and ending in a little swoop shape that reminded him of wings. She took one look at him, straightened her shoulders, and let out a deep breath as if she’d spent the past sixty years prepping for this moment with absolute dread.

Forget awful, this situation was a fucking nightmare. He was stuck on a plane holding a baby—a baby!—he’d never seen before, while sitting next to his former best friend whom he wasn’t speaking to and across from the woman he had the hots for—thanks, PopPop, for giving me the mental slang of a Boomer—who would rather never set eyes on him again. Even worse? They were all forced to stay together like this for the entirety of a cross-country flight that would last approximately six hundred years.

Ian slid his gaze back over to Lucy. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I never joke when it comes to my sweet Freya.” She blew a kiss to the baby, who was drooling like someone had left a tap on. “She gets grumpy right before she falls asleep. I suggest tucking her in against you and letting her stroke your hair. It seems to calm her down the fastest.”