“Thought you’d never get here,” she said when I reached her. “Now go get your girl.”
“She’s not mine,” I corrected.
“She won’t be if you waste any more time.”
That was when I spotted Sunshine. She had her arms looped around the neck of some guy I wanted to strangle.
“Did you and Gunner set this up?” I asked.
Shaina’s forehead wrinkled. “Who’s Gunner?”
I turned and pointed him out. “My best friend. Can you go tell him thanks for me?”
Her eyes sparkled with mirth. “No problem.” Gunner is in trouble.
We parted ways, and I skirted through the crowd, fighting the green monster that was rearing its ugly head as I watched Sunshine stare in that guy’s eyes like she should be looking at me. I tapped the guy’s shoulder. He wasn’t from Mason Creek.
“Can I cut in?” I asked.
Sunshine wore a dopey expression. “Mitchell,” she said.
“You guys know each other?” the guy asked.
“She’s my girl.”
The guy immediately lifted his hands in surrender. “Sorry, dude.”
Either Sunshine hadn’t heard me, or her lack of protest was confirmation she was finally agreeing that there was something undeniable between us.
I wrapped one arm around her waist and another around her shoulders.
“You came,” she said, staring up at me like I was the sun, moon and stars.
“There is nowhere else I want to be.”
“Not with your power-couple woman?”
So she’d heard what I said to Serena on the phone the other day. “Only with you,” I admitted.
Amusement lit up her expression. “You sure you can handle me, pretty boy?”
“You think I’m pretty?” I let my gaze fall to her mouth.
“You’re wasting time,” she said, barely loud enough to hear.
It was tempting. But the last thing I wanted was for her to regret anything that happened between us while she was clearly drunk.
Suddenly, she covered her mouth. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
I moved to part the crowd and got her outside before she tossed her cookies. I got a hold of her hair as she retched in the bushes. When it was over, she looked miserable.
“Going to call it a night?” I asked.
Shaina and Gunner came out then. Sunshine said, “Sorry,” to her friend.
“Why don’t we go back to the ranch and start a fire? I could rustle up some drinks,” I offered, not ready to end the night.
Gunner shook his head. “I don’t think I can drive.”
Shaina perked up. “You can ride with me. I can bring you back to town after. I can even drive you home if you still can’t.”
I lifted a brow, and Gunner grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”
“You can ride with me,” I said to Sunshine.
She pleaded with her friend. “Girl code?”
Shaina said, “Not breaking it. He’s not a stranger and you’re not leaving me. We’re going to the same place. I’ll see you there in a few minutes.”
Nothing was too far in the Creek. I held out my hand and Sunshine took it. We walked like that back to my truck, and I relished the feeling of her hand in mine. I would have stretched out the walk, but then Gunner and Shaina would get to the ranch long before us.
As I opened the car, she said, “I may have said some things...”
“No worries. Everyone gives a drunken confession once in their life.” I couldn’t contain a smirk.
“It wasn’t a confession,” she blurted far too quickly.
“Whatever you say, darling.”
Her mouth opened, but I urged her into the cab of the truck. I knew better. She could have protested and ridden with her friend. But she was here with me. I’d give her time to come to terms with the fact that she was mine. I could be a patient man when I had to be.
Her eyes were covered when I got in on the other side. I grinned to myself, firing the engine to life and putting the truck into gear. In less than five minutes, we were pulling into the ranch gates. A red jeep followed. I assumed that was Shaina and Gunner. I wondered how much he was going to want me to pay him back for saddling him with that filly. Shaina wasn’t shy, that was for sure. Gunner, on the other hand, was still pining for his wife.
I pulled up near the bunkhouse instead of parking in the garage out back. Shaina followed suit. Sunshine was out of the car before I opened the door. “I need to rinse out my mouth and brush my teeth.”
I nodded and said, “We’ll be behind the bunkhouse. There’s a firepit there.” Assuming Nate hadn’t removed it in his zeal to modernize the property.
To Gunner I said, “You know where to go. I’m going to grab a bottle of wine and some glasses.”
Shaina had something to say about my choice. “Too fancy for beer?”
“I can grab you a bottle or two. I just didn’t think Sunshine would want to see a beer for a while.”