Page 56 of Soldier Cowboy
Colton stepped aside, taking Jennifer with him. He recognized three of them from the dress store, but there were more, and he counted. Seven, eight…he stopped at ten.
All fully vetted and no men with them. He scanned the crowd, reminding himself that even if the media had heavily advertised this event, the point was no one could possibly make the connection betweenMr. Cowboyand Jennifer.
CHAPTER14
“Here comes our cast.” Lori clapped her hands. “I never thought I’d say this, but I missed them.”
The bevy of women descended on them, having arrived in a separate limo provided by the production company. Elton snapped away with his camera.
“Hello, hello, ladies!” Lori said. “Isn’t this exciting? I hope everyone is thrilled! A little reunion of our sleeper reality show that became so popular with online viewers.”
Colton took Jennifer’s hand and started to lead them away but stopped when someone said, “Hey, Sean 2.0!”
Irritated, he turned to scowl and noted they were all taking selfies with each other. All except for the woman who had called him. Tabitha, or whatever her name was.
“Can I get a selfie for my Instagram followers?”
“No,” he said.
“Oh, c’mon! I’m a local,” Tabitha said. “We’re going to be seeing each other around especially if you have to go to the clinic. I’m the nurse there.”
“I won’t be going to the clinic. I never get sick.”
Everyone gaped at him.
“Never?” said one woman, holding a hand to her neck.
“How about you, Jennifer? Can we get a selfie?” the other woman asked. “Just us gals.”
“Absolutely not,” Colton said. “You will not take photos of my fiancée.”
Jennifer squeezed his hand, obviously communicating he might be going over the top with his protection mode. No one had any idea of why he didn’t want photos of her taken, and it certainly wasn’t because he was an ogre. Though he might sound like one.
“Sorry,” Colton said. “The thing is, I want this day to be about Sean and Bonnie Lee. Let’s focus on them.”
“He’s right, ladies,” Jennifer said. “I really don’t want to take any attention away from the beautiful bride. Just wait until you see her.”
“I’m sure she looks gorgeous,” Lori said. “We have an entire photo shoot setting up right now for when they arrive. It’s going to be inPeoplemagazine.People!I finally hit the big time.”
Guests were arriving slowly, both from the church, and others who hadn’t been to the private ceremony. The large Carver family was grabbing seats at a table together. Hank and Brenda, Lincoln, Sadie, Jackson, Eve, and Daisy with…was thatWild Wade Cruzholding her hand? And speaking of which, didn’t Eve leave Jackson at thealtar? Colton remembered that well. Seemed all was forgiven there. And Sadie, with Lincoln, the rodeo champion roper and town Casanova. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Colton had missed…a lot.
And since arriving he’d had little time for anything other than getting ready for this wedding and worrying about how all the publicity and attention would affect his job. No, not job. Favor. He’d never been a bodyguard before in the civilian world, and he honestly had no idea if he was doing any of this right. But as long as he met his primary objective, keeping his principle safe, that’s all that mattered to him.
He walked around with Jennifer at his side, waving to people he hadn’t seen in a while, talking to a few, and hearing far too many “thank you for your service” greetings.
“There you are!” Jolette Marie Truehart, youngest daughter of the man who owned the largest horse ranch in the area, called out. “Welcome home, cowboy.”
“Hey there, Jo.” She was an old friend, and Colton didn’t hesitate to open up his arms and accept her hug. Both he and Sean thought of her as the little sister they’d never had. She was beautiful but made bad choices when it came to men.
“Hi, I’m Colton’s fiancée.” Jennifer stuck her hand out and announced herself faster than he’d ever seen her do before other than the day they’d all been in the dress shop. “Jennifer.”
“Fiancée? C’mere!” Jo grabbed her in a hug. “I’m Jolette Marie and we hug in these parts.”
“It’s really good to see you, Jo.” Colton meant every word. “You look…happy.”
Jo had been through a lot of heartache when she ran out on her last fiancé. It had been the third, count them,thirdtime she’d run out on a man. No one was willing to take the chance on her anymore. Colton had been around to witness that carnage. The Ladies of SORROW didn’t take it easy on her, either, accusing her of running perfectly good men right out of town. Though, if Colton recalled, it had been their choice to leave.
“Thank you, I am happy. Especially to see Bonnie Lee and Sean back together.” She waved her hand between Colton and Jennifer. “When didthishappen?”
