Rock Me Deeper (Licks of Leather #5) - Jenna Jacob Page 0,51
me. “Hi, Caris. I’m Darren’s fiancée, Tori Combs. This is our son, Dustin.”
“Inside, people,” the man on the porch bellowed.
“Nice to meet you. Your son is beautiful.” I smiled as we fell in step behind the others filing into the lodge.
“He’s a handful and exhausted since he didn’t get a nap today. Thankfully, the baby bed we rented arrived.” Tori smiled down at her son as we climbed the stairs of the porch. “After a nice long bubble bath, some clean jammies, and a couple of stories, he should zonk right out.”
“Bubble baff? Oh, boy,” Dustin squealed with excitement.
As we stepped through the front door, my jaw nearly hit the floor. Not only was the lodge stunning from the outside, it was equally magnificent inside. The décor was rustic yet modern and lent a relaxed, homey vibe.
“Everyone in the family room. Now that we’re all here, we need to have a little meeting,” the auburn-haired man announced.
“You stay for the meeting. I’ll take him.” An older woman, with blonde hair cut in a carefree bob lifted Dustin from Tori’s arms. “Your daddy and I will give him a bath and get him tucked into bed. Walter and Susan can fill us in later on what Quinn has to say.”
Quinn was the man with the accent, giving all the orders. Of course, it made perfect sense now. I didn’t know who Walter and Susan were, but I assumed the older man beside the woman who’d plucked up Dustin must be Tori’s father.
Syd wasn’t kidding when he said everyone was converging on the lodge to stay safe.
“Thank you, Gail.” Tori smiled, kissed her son, then took a seat beside Darren on the couch.
“Let’s sit over there.” Syd nodded toward an oversized beige sectional.
I tried not to fidget as we sat down and waited for Quinn, who was studying something on his cell phone. With a grim frown, he handed the device to the blonde woman who’d been standing beside him on the porch. Unlike Quinn, the woman’s placid expression didn’t waver as she scanned the device.
Quinn strolled to a stop in front of a colossal stone fireplace, cleared his throat, then turned his sage-green eyes on me.
“Caris, welcome to the family, dear. My name is Quinn MacKinnon. I’m the agent and promoter for Licks of Leather. The beautiful creature on my left”—he swept his hand toward the pretty blonde smiling up at him as if he’d hung the moon and stars—“is my lovely wife, and partner in crime, Ava. You already know Syd, Ozzy, and Mia, a.k.a. Phoenix, but I’d like to go around the room and let everyone introduce themselves before we start the meeting.”
“Thank you,” I said softly. “It’s an honor to be here and under your protection.”
Quinn raised a brow and slid a curious, slightly intrigued glance at Syd, who simply flashed the man a cocky grin. I had no clue what that was all about but made a mental note to ask later.
My head was spinning as I tried to remember everyone’s names. It must have shown, because halfway through the introductions, Mia flashed me a grin. “There’s a bunch of us, I know. Don’t worry, if you can’t remember someone’s name, just ask. We don’t get offended easily.”
“That’s no lie. After being around Syd so long, nothing offends us.” Burk laughed.
“You’re welcome.” Syd chuckled beside me.
When the introductions were over, I discovered that Walter and Susan were Darren’s parents, and the older couple putting Dustin to bed were his aunt Gail and her “boyfriend” Edward, Tori’s father.
“Thank you, everyone,” Quinn began. “And once again, welcome, Caris. All right. We have a full house, as in there are no empty beds left now. Thank you, Duke and Mick, for sharing one of the rooms with two queen beds. The other three rooms that sleep doubles have been assigned to McCoy and his men. Speaking of which, he and his men are taking shifts to provide us twenty-four-seven security. If you see someone walking around the grounds in the middle of the night, hopefully it’s only McCoy, Ruben, Tony, Al, Cole, or Brad.”
“Any new information about fuck face?” Ross asked.
“Yes, and while it’s not an issue right now, everyone please watch your language when Dustin is within earshot.” Quinn cracked Darren a knowing smile. “What four-letter words his father teaches him is none of our business.”
“Being a dad is easy.” Darren grinned. “Cleaning up my vocabulary is a red-hot bitch.”
“You mean a red-hot girl dog, right?” Tori teased.