Page 51 of Wrangled Love

“He’s fine,” I assure her. “He’s at the cottage with Heath and Walker but should still be asleep.”

“Ten bucks he’s not when you get home,” Charlie teases.

Briar shoots her a playful glare. “You’re not off the hook, sister. We’ll talk later.”

Charlie grins. “If it weren’t for me, urban cowboy wouldn’t have rescued you from Mr. Grabby Hand. Just saying.”

Briar chuckles, pulling her into a hug. “You might have a flair for dramatics, but I’m grateful you were here.”

“Love you, babe.”

“Love you more.”

Charlie steps back with a smile. “Alright, that’s enough drama for one night. Go be with your man and check on the little guy.”

Briar shoots her a pointed look.

Charlie holds out her hands. “Hey, just saying. Have fun, lovebirds,” she hollers as she steps outside, causing everyone waiting to be seated to look in our direction.

Before Briar and I follow, I crane my neck, getting one last look at the pathetic lawyer. He’s still standing by the table soaking wet, now arguing with the server. Let that be a lesson for trying to touch what’s mine.

Jensen opens the truck door for me like the perfect gentleman, and when he circles to the driver’s side, I check my phone and notice a string of missed texts.

Backroads & Bad Decisions Group Chat

Charlie: Mission: Date Night with Hot Lawyer = Successfully Aborted

Charlie: PS. He turned out to be a handsy creep with no concept of personal space.

Wren: Wrong message thread, Charlie.

Charlie: Shit!

I shake my head with amusement.

Briar: Wow. So we’re doing secret group chats now. Noted.

Birdie: Onlyfor tonight!

Charlie: Snitch.

I have a good idea what it means, and truth be told, I’m not mad about it.

My date was a train wreck from the start. Sure, the lawyer was good-looking, but that lost its charm the second he launched into a ten-minute tirade about how awful small towns are. The only reason he’s living in Bluebell is because he couldn’t land a job in California, and his uncle owns the only law firm in town.

Then he picked a fight with our server over the lack of vegan options on the menu and bad-mouthed her the second she walked away when she refused to get the manager. If that weren’t enough, he made us wait almost an hour to order because he wanted to let his drink settle before eating and then couldn’t decide what to order.

I had every intention of taking a page out of Birdie’s book and powering through until dinner was over, but that flew out the window when he put his hand on my leg and refused to let go after I’d already dodged his attempt to hold my hand.

Just as I was about to cause a scene, Jensen strode over wearing Wranglersanda cowboy hat, channeling Rip Wheeler fromYellowstone, all brooding hero and silent fury. It was sexy as hell. I didn’t even care that he wasn’t supposed to be there. I was just grateful that he was, and I didn’t hesitate to go to him when he held out his arms.

Wren: Can we go back to the part where the lawyer was a handsy creep with no concept of personal space?

Charlie: He put his slimy hand on Briar’s leg and acted like it was his god-given right.

Birdie: Did you or Briar mace him?

Charlie: Damn, that would have been so much more satisfying than tossing water at his face.

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