Page 86 of The Wedding Ranch
Standing off to the side, she recognized a lot of the guests, laughing and enjoying themselves. Her eyes hopped from one couple to the next. She knew the majority of the guests. Stacy and Carmen and their husbands stood talking to another couple. Embarrassment flooded over her.What am I doing? What did I expect?
Her breath caught in her throat when she heard someone call out her name from behind her.
She turned in that direction.
Ryder?He was walking toward her wearing a huge smile.
She glanced at the surrounding people. Everyone was so busy with their own conversations no one else seemed to have noticed, thank goodness, but figuring out how to explain what she was doing here to Ryder after the big deal she made abouthim accusing her of crashing Cody’s wedding, that wasn’t going to be elegant at all.
“Hey, you look beautiful. I didn’t know you were coming today.”
She couldn’t lie to him. “Surprise.” She backed into the building. Thankfully he followed without her having to tug him in like it was a kidnapping.
“Friend of the bride?” he asked.
“Definitely not. She’s marrying my ex-husband.”
Ryder’s neck lurched forward. “What?”
“I shouldn’t be here.” She grabbed his hands. “I was just so nosy, and was going to take a little peek, and now here I am—how am I supposed to get out of here without them seeing me?”
He laughed. “No way. You really are crashing this wedding.”
She peeked around Ryder and saw Craig walking in her direction. “It’s not funny. It’s horrible and I’m humiliated to have to admit it to you, but now my ex is coming this way.” She pulled in close to Ryder’s chest. “Please don’t let him see me.”
She could feel Ryder’s breath on her forehead.
“That’s the guy who cheated on you?” Ryder’s jaw pulsed. “Doesn’t surprise me.”
“Shh. He’s coming.” She ducked, pulling herself closer to Ryder, all the while wishing to disappear.
Craig’s voice carried over the noise. “Lorri? Is that you?”
She tensed, dreading the next moment when Craig got close enough to confront her.
A gentle hand tipped her chin. Ryder pressed his lips to hers.
It was doubtful that even holding her breath, bracing herself for the worst, could leave her this dizzied. She responded to hiskiss, relishing the way his strong hands moved her so effortlessly, and with just the brush of his lips, her heart beat twice as fast.
He walked her into the shadow of the building out of sight, but then didn’t waste a second. “Come on.” He grabbed her hand and broke into a run.
Unsteady from that kiss, she let Ryder whisk her away and then out through the bushes. Cars were double and triple parked all around them.
She followed behind him as he zigged, then zagged, and finally darted between two vehicles heading for a merlot-colored gangster-style car in the middle of the driveway.
“Go. Get in,” he said, swinging her past him into the bushes next to the car.
“What? I can’t steal someone’s car.”
“Jump in the passenger seat and hunker down. I’ll be there in a minute.”
She hesitated, but she didn’t have much choice. Hoping for the best, she waited until the valet walked off to park another car. She darted out and jumped into the front passenger seat of the fancy ride.
Collapsing into a puddle on the floorboard she wished she could wiggle her nose and disappear. If anyone discovered her, she didn’t know how she’d talk her way out of this one.
The door handle clicked, and the driver’s-side door opened. She heard the jingle of keys and the engine turned over. She opened her eyes, relieved to see the familiar leather cowboy boots mash the gas pedal.
“Stay down,” he whispered. The car swerved to the left and then to the right, then sped along for a ways before ithalted. “Come on, my friend Lorri. You can get up. The coast is clear.”
