Page 36 of Carson

“And this grumpy-looking guy is my dad,” Carson tells me.

“Dan, right?” I say, tipping my head.

“You remembered.”

“You’re a hard man to forget.”

His rich laugh fills the house.

“Dan,” his wife says, slapping him lightly in the stomach. “You didn’t scare her off, did you?”

“No,” he answers honestly.

“Oh, no.” I jump in. “He was very nice. All of your men,” I swallow hard, because Cole hasn’t always been so nice, but I get it. “They’ve all treated me kindly.”

“Good,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “You just let me know if I ever need to set any of them straight.”

Dan and his son both chuckle because they know she absolutely has that kind of power.

“I’d introduce you to Khloe, but it’s her naptime,” Carson says as I look over the toys in the living room.

A horn honks outside.

Carson’s father walks over to him and places his hand on his son’s shoulder. “You and your brother need to work out whatever’s going on between you.”

“There’s nothing going on. He’s just been a gigantic dick lately.”

The horn begins to honk insistently.

“See what I mean?”

“Go on, before he wakes your sister,” his dad says, pushing him toward the door. Carson begins to argue, but his dad interrupts. “Luna will be here when you get back.”

“I’ll see you later,” I say, waving at him before his dad closes the door in his face.

“I’m sorry my boys have forgotten their manners,” he says, rolling his eyes at Carson’s theatrical goodbye from the other side of the door. “Really, we did our best.”

“I’m the one who should be sorry. It was me who shook things up.”

Dan and his wife exchange a look before he makes a motion for me to take a seat.

“Oh, I won’t keep you. I’ll just head out back and get my camp set up again. I really appreciate you guys letting me squat on your property for a bit. It’s really beautiful. Thank you.”

Lily looks at her watch. “Why don’t you join us for dinner over at the warehouse. That way you can meet everyone.”

“Nothing like bombarding her with the whole crew right off the bat.”

“That’s what happened when I got here. At least I’ve given her a heads-up,” she argues, wrinkling her nose at him.

Dan releases a long breath through his teeth.

She places her hand on my arm. “The entire club walked in on us in our birthday suits,” she tells me.

A laugh escapes me before I can reel it in.

“It wasn’t the whole club. Don’t listen to her exaggerations.”

“Well, it was at least twenty people.”