Page 22 of Wrangling a Wild Texan

She grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. “You can’t just go charging in there and cause a scene.”

“So I should just let her have sex with some yahoo?”

“No.” She nibbled on her thumbnail. “We need to stop them without turning it into another thing you have to discipline her for.”

“She should be disciplined for sneaking out.”

She sighed. “Look, I know you think I’m just a spoiled rich girl. But I’ve been in Sophie’s shoes. I know what it’s like to feel like your guardians don’t care about you.”

“I care about Sophie!”

Sunny shushed him. “I know you do, but she doesn’t feel that. So you have to lighten up a little. In fact, it might be best if you let me handle this and you go on back to the trailer.”

“Let you handle it? You’re not her guardian.”

“Exactly. So I can be more of her friend. And kids listen to friends more than they do parents.”

He studied her with those penetrating eyes for a long moment before he nodded. “Okay.”

She blinked. “Okay?”

“You have to be better at talking to her than I am. But I’m not going back to the trailer.”

“Fine. But stay out of sight. I think I might have a plan.”

He rolled his eyes. “Of course you do.” He hesitated. “Did you hear that?”

She listened. “I don’t hear anything.”

He shook his head. “It was probably just the wind. So what’s your plan?”

She smiled. “I’m just going to be ditzy me.” She winked at him before she turned and headed through the trees. As she grew closer to Cooper Springs, doubts started to sneak in.

What was she doing? She didn’t know anything about raising kids? Especially when she’d had such bad parental examples. But when she stepped through the trees and saw two figures standing by the edge of the springs, she knew she couldn’t backout now. Sunny had had sex too soon and still regretted it. She had to at least try to help Sophie make a better decision.

She quietly moved closer so she could hear what they were saying.

“. . . but I thought this was what you wanted,” JC said.

“It is,” Sophie replied. “But you didn’t have to jump on me as soon as I showed up and start ripping my clothes off.”

“I ripped your shirt?”

“Well, no, but you could have the way you were pawing me.”

“Okay . . . well . . . then maybe we should take our shirts off.”

“Yeah, maybe.” But Sophie made no move to take off her shirt. And she jumped back when JC yanked his T-shirt over his head, making it quite obvious that she was having second thoughts about her decision.

Sunny knew exactly how she felt. All her life, she had jumped into things without thinking them through. More than once, she’d wished someone had been there to stop her. Not hesitating, Sunny strode out of the shadow of the trees, then stopped suddenly as if totally surprised.

“Oh!” She placed a hand on her chest. “Y’all scared me half to death. Sophie? Hey!” She walked over and pulled the young girl into her arms. She could feel her body shaking. Since it wasn’t cold, Sunny figured it had more to do with nerves than temperature. She rubbed her back a few times before she drew away and smiled. “So I guess y’all had the same idea I had—a late-night swim.” She cocked an eyebrow at JC who looked like he was about to pee his pants.

“Uhh . . . yeah . . . we were just going for a swim.”

Sunny held out a hand. “Hey, I’m Sunny Whitlock. And you are?”

The kid moved his shirt to his other hand and gave Sunny’s hand a brief shake. “Jared Carmichael.”

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