Page 119 of Lead Me On
Chase smiled, but tipped his head in agreement.
“Have you met Lori?” He turned and tugged Lori out of a conversation with a grouchy-looking old man who had a pencil poised over a little notebook. He looked like a reporter from the sixties.
Mr. Jennings snuck his arm around his girlfriend. “Lori Love, this is Chase.”
“Oh,Chase,”Lori said, eyes flying wide at the sight of him. Chase shook her hand while her gaze fluttered up and down. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, Lori. Congratulations on the big trip.”
“It’s not that big of a deal.” Her elbow struck Quinn Jennings’s arm. “I still can’t believe you did this.”
“You can thank Jane. If I’d done this myself we would’ve ended up with a camping tent and a couple two-liters of soda. Thank you, Jane.”
Jane felt her face heat with embarrassed pleasure. “You’re welcome… Quinn.”
Both Quinn and Lori made oohing sounds, while Jane laughed and wished she had a drink.
“Listen to that!” Quinn said. “She called me Quinn! Does she still call you Mr. Chase?”
“Only in private,” Chase answered, drawing more oohing sounds from the couple.
“Oh, jeez.” Jane laughed. “Get me a drink already. I’m not used to having a fun boyfriend. I need a liquid buffer.”
As soon as he wandered out of earshot, Lori grabbed Jane’s arm in a death grip. “Oh. My. God. Are you kidding me?”
“What?” Jane asked, grinning so hard her cheeks hurt.
“I thought Quinn was exaggerating! But now I’m thinking he left a few things out!”
“The shaved head is new.”
“Theshaved headis new? I can’t believe that just came out of Jane Morgan’s mouth. About herboyfriend.”
Jane pressed her hand to her stomach, laughing too hard to answer.
“And that was no lie about him being big. Wow.” Lori stepped close to pull Jane into a hug. “I’m so happy for you. He’s really cute.”
“Thank you. Your advice…it helped.”
“Good.”
When Chase came back with a glass of wine, Lori slipped away to mingle with her other guests. “Don’t forget to take your box of books!” she called.
“What books?” Chase asked Jane.
“Lori and I are starting our own book club when she gets back.”
“Oh, yeah? Can I be in it?”
Thinking of the kind of books they’d be reading, Jane shook her head. “No way. Girls only. Plus, you don’t read.”
“But—” he started, cut off by a blur of movement. A blond woman darted past them and ran straight to Lori to give her a hug. She picked Lori up and spun her around, squealing with excitement the whole time.
“Who’s that?” Chase asked.
“That’s Molly. She’s Quinn’s sister. She’s in the book club, too.”
“Are you kidding?” His eyes stayed locked on the gorgeous woman in skintight leather pants and impossibly high heels. Molly was still squealing. “That girl is related toQuinn?”
