Page 40 of Finding Chloe

Chloe: I guess we’ll have to see. Corner one around the back of the house. Give me ten minutes.

I quickly showered and heard thetink, tink, tinkof pebbles hitting the glass as I pulled my nightie over my head. My smile reached from ear to ear as I walked to the window and unlocked it. It was good no one else was in the house at the time, or everyone would have known what was going on when Hunter caught his foot on the windowsill and crashed into the room. I didn’t even try to hold back my laughter, but I kissed every one of his bruises to make up for it.

“I missed you,” Hunter said as he kissed his way across my shoulder.

“It hasn’t even been an hour.” I let out a sigh when he wrapped me in his arms and rubbed his nose along the shell of my ear.

“I know, but I want to hold you tonight. It’s been so long, and I need to feel you against me.”

My heart gave a little pitter-patter. This time, I didn’t have to dream about Hunter all night. I’d fall asleep in his very real arms.

MATT

“Hurry up, dude,” Hunter yelled from the backseat. It was way too early to deal with him and his shit, but I’d agreed to drive Chloe into town. She needed to go to the Cotton Jin to make final arrangements for the open bar. I was tired and grumpy, having to get up earlier than my usual time to get my morning tasks done before I could take off. Hunter was egging me on just to bust my balls.

I climbed behind the wheel, my mood already improving at the sight of Chloe’s gorgeous smile and a travel mug filled with coffee. She was an angel. I grabbed the cup and gave her a kiss to show my gratitude, then took a huge sip before pulling down the driveway. Once we hit the road, Hunter happily chatted with Chloe, letting her pick up the bulk of the conversation about the different things she had left to do. Her to-do list was never ending, and I couldn’t even try to envision event planning as my job, but she thrived in the craziness of it all. I loved seeing her happy and in her element.

Turning into the Cotton Jin, I parked in the shade, not knowing how long we’d be here. I didn’t want Chloe to be uncomfortable if the truck got too hot, especially if this wasn’t our only stop today.

I jogged around the front of the truck and opened the door for Chloe. She placed her hand on my arm as she hopped out.

“Thank you.” She squeezed my forearm and intwined her hand in mine. I could feel my chest puff as we walked hand in hand to the front doors where Hunter waited for us.

He opened the door, and we were blasted with the air conditioning as it fought to ward of the midday heat. Chloe released my hand as she stepped through the door, smiling at Hunter.

“Thank you.” She ran her finger across his chest as she passed him. My gut clenched only for a moment before it was completely wiped away by the goofy grin on Hunter’s face. He followed her as she started to weave through the tables, making her way across the room.

“Hey, Oliver,” Chloe called when he popped up behind the bar.

“Hey, Chloe.” He waved her over. Once there, she plopped on one of the stools, took her tablet from her shoulder bag, and fiddled with it.

“So, the final details.” Chloe paused and waited for Oliver to grab his notepad.

“I got the payments from the Kingstons.” Oliver tapped on his pad, concentration furrowing his brow.

“Great.” Chloe tapped at her screen, likely checking things off.

“The wedding is April 9th. When do you need me for setup?”

“Not until the morning of. I don’t have a time for when the tents will be ready, but Gavin said you could bring your inventory to the ranch anytime, and we can store it. Then the morning of, the guys can load them on the trucks and bring the cases to the wedding location.”

“That’s perfect. The delivery window for their order is set for this Thursday, so I can bring a few cases over on Monday. If Ithink I need to drop more stuff off before the wedding, I’ll give you a call.”

“I’ll let Gavin know when to expect you.” Chloe typed away, adding notes as they spoke.

I glanced at Hunter, who looked just as out of place as I felt. Did we really need to be here for this? No, but we both wanted her to know we supported her. I leaned against the bar top, letting my elbow brush against Chloe’s arm. Hunter took the seat on her other side and scooted closer to her.

“You mentioned a signature drink last time. Did everyone have time to think about it?”

She shook her head. “They told me they trusted us and to choose something fun.”

“What’s a signature drink?” I asked.

Chloe lay her hand on mine, interlacing our fingers. “Sometimes at parties, people want a signature drink—something that’s themed to whatever the event is. Weddings might have a drink to do with love or something specific to the couple. I went to a wedding once where the drink was a mango mojito because it was the drink the bride had on their first date. It was cute. At the horse show in New York where I met Hunter, they had a signature cocktail calledThe Winner’s Circle.”

Hunter winced. “Oh, I remember that. It sounded horrible. It was something fruity, right?”

“Well, we can’t just have rum and Coke.” Chloe bumped her shoulder with Hunter’s.

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