Page 2 of Wrong Number Right Cowboy
“I can’t wait to start planning!” she squeals.
The live band announces a slow love song in honor of the newly engaged couple, and Carter pulls his fiancé out to the dance floor.
I empty my drink.
Then another.
And another.
“You think you’ve had enough?” Mel asks thirty minutes later, her mom voice coming out.
“I think one more,” I say to the bartender.
He shakes his head no.
“I think it’s time we go home.”
“I can’t drive us,” she says. “Let me call?—”
“I’ll call an Uber.”
“There’s no Uber in this town, sweetie,” Mel says gently, patting me on the shoulder. A wave of dizziness hits me hard,and I’m suddenly so fucking tired. I dig my phone out from my bottomless purse and scroll through my contacts until I find one that saysUber.
“I’ll call an Uber,” I say again.
“I don’t think youcallUber,” Mel says, but she seems distracted. She’s on her own phone, and I decide it’s now a race to see who can call an Uber first.
I push call and wait as the phone rings, feeling smug about my victory already.
“Sawyer?”
“Yes, this is Sawyer Rose. I need an Uber at—” Suddenly, the name of the bar I’ve known all my life is a complete blank. But I’m pretty sure it’s the only one in town. “At the bar. I need a ride home. To Dallas. I really want my own bed.”
The man on the other end of the phone chuckles. His laughter, sexier than it has any right to be, sounds strained somehow. But it’s not my mystery to solve my Uber driver’s life problems. “You’re drunk,” he says.
“I won’t puke in your car. Pinky swear.”
“Whyare you at the bar?” His tone sounds less friendly.
“You ask a lot of questions for an Uber drive.” Another wave of exhaustion reminds me I’m not a spring chicken. Maybe I could just curl up right on a stool. Does this bar have pillows? “My sister, if you must know. It’s her engagement day. Or wait. It’s her birthday. Did you know she’s only twenty-five and now I’m her maid of honor?”
“Don’t move, Sawyer. I’ll be right there.”
I like the sound ofdon’t moveand let my eyes fall closed against the nice cool marble of this really odd pillow.
2
BOONE
“Boone?”Melanie James folds her arms across her chest, giving me the suspicious up and down look as I approach the bar. Sawyer appears passed out, her cheek resting on one arm. Mel’s been watching her like a hawk, like the solid best friend she is, but I’m surprised my buddy Rex hasn’t kicked her out for it.
“She called me,” I explain.
“Why would Sawyer call you?” Mel fires back.
“Good question.” I lift my Stetson and run a hand through my hair. This was not how I thought my night would go. No one warned me Sawyer Rose was back in Wildwood Springs. If I’d had advanced knowledge, I’d have packed up and headed to my off-grid cabin until she left again.
“She was trying to call an Uber,” Mel said, shaking her head.
