Page 38 of Mountain Daddy (Mountain Men #2)

Kendra

My skirt swooshes around my thighs as I walk down the hall, and it’s just enough to sort of cool me off.

“Oh, this is her.” Susan waves me toward the table when I enter the kitchen.

There’s no suspicion in her tone, and I have to imagine these new people distracted her because there’s no good reason why Luther and I weren’t right behind her.

“Hello.” I lift a hand to the couple beside Susan.

The man is probably somewhere between mine and Luther’s age, and he’s handsome as hell. A real tall, dark, and brooding type.

The woman at his side is closer to my age, pretty, with braided hair and a baby strapped to her chest in a green carrier.

“Hi.” The woman holds her hand out, and I take it. “I’m Courtney. That’s Sterling.” She nods toward the hot guy. “And this is Ursa, our little baby bear.” She runs a hand over the baby’s shockingly thick dark hair.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m Kendra, Joe’s kid, obviously.” I grin down at the baby. “She’s adorable.”

Courtney huffs good-naturedly. “She’s gonna run the house.”

The man, Sterling, drapes an arm over Courtney’s shoulders, and for a moment, my heart squeezes.

Then I remember my mission, and I turn to the other two people. Both men.

“Kendra.” I hold my hand out to the younger of the two.

The guy, maybe my age, gives me a wide smile as his palm connects with mine. “Fisher. Nice to meet you.”

I match his smile. His energy is bright and easy.

Nothing like the serious, overwhelming energy pouring off the man who just stopped at my side.

“Fisher.” Luther’s voice is so serious and loud that the younger man almost jumps.

“Hey, Rocky.”

The second man introduces himself as Simpson. And as we all gather plates of food, I find out they all work together at some lodge near here.

Not my jam, but glad they all seem to love it.

When our group steps out onto the back deck, Dad makes a big commotion of saying hello to everyone. And it’s another ten minutes before Dad serves us all brats from the grill, and we find seats around an unlit firepit in the backyard.

Dad added extra folding chairs to accompany the usual wooden chairs that live in a circle around the pit.

Everyone shuffles around. And I make sure to catch Luther’s eye as I take the chair next to Fisher.