Page 64 of Never Fear (Whiskey Ridge)
“Brynne has food poisoning and doesn’t look well enough to drive herself home, so I was going to give her a ride. Is it alright if I leave early? I only have about an hour left of my shift, anyway.”
Monica nodded, brows furrowed as she glanced behind me in Brynne’s direction. Whatever she saw must’ve confirmed what I told her. “Yes, of course.” She wiggled her pen in the air, gesturing to the door. “Do whatever you need to. I hope she feels better. Don’t worry about your time cards; I’ll note down what time you two left.”
I gave a curt nod and a quiet thanks before making my way back to Brynne where Austin already had his arm around her waist. He dipped his chin at me, signaling that he had her. Then, we headed out of the diner toward my car in the back lot.
“You’re heading straight for the ranch, McKenna,” Austin instructed, tone firm. “Nowhere else. She needs meds, I’ll pick them up after you’re both safe at the house.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered as I opened the passenger door. The drizzle of rain bit into my skin like little needles, and I wished I’d grabbed my jacket.
As Austin helped Brynne into the passenger seat, I rubbed my hands together to fight off the cold. When he straightened and turned to me, he took one look at the motion before closing the passenger door and moving to his truck. I started to head around my car to the driver’s side when Austin grabbed my wrist, spinning me around. Before I could protest, he was sliding my arms into his large,dark brown jacket. The bottom of it reached just past my skirt, wrapping me in a warm cocoon.
“Thank you.” My breath was a cloud between us.
He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and even with the bitter air, his lips were warm. “Drive safe.”
“You’ll be right behind me,” I reminded him, fingers wrapping around the cuffs of the jacket to tug it tighter.
Even with that knowledge, worry painted his features. “I know. I?—”
I pressed a finger to his lips, knowing what his next words would be. “It’s barely a half-hour drive. Stop acting like this is goodbye forever.” Because if he kept looking at me like a sad puppy, I’d stow Brynne in the back seat of his truck and leave my car here. I didn’t want to do that, though, because I didn’t work for the next two days, and I didn’t want to come back for it when I’d rather spend my time being ravished by Austin.
He allowed himself one more moment to worry before his expression shifted like he clicked a switch. He nipped the tip of my finger with his teeth before moving past me to open my door. I slid onto the seat, pulling on my seat belt before giving him one last look as he shut the door. He headed for his truck, and I waited until it was started and ours was warm to pull out of the lot.
Austin’s truck was behind us for a total of fifteen minutes before red and blue lights lit up the road. It was sunset, but the flash still shined bright in my rearview mirror. I double checked our speedometer to make sure we weren’t speeding. In fact, I’d been going two under. A list of reasons he could be getting pulled over ran through mymind, but I couldn’t figure out why. As far as I could tell, he wasn’t doing anything illegal.
I watched in the mirror as he seemed to contemplate abiding by the law and pulling to the side or continuing on his way, but then he flicked on his blinker and pulled off.
Brynne’s head lolled to the side, taking note of the lights. “Austin’s getting pulled over?”
Her voice sounded oddly slurred, which wasn’t right. Food poisoning didn’t cause that, or so at least I thought.
“I guess so.” I followed the bend in the road, and with the thick forest surrounding us, I lost sight of the police car and Austin’s truck. “Should I pull over?” He didn’t want us driving home alone, but I also didn’t know if I was legally allowed to stop along with him if I wasn’t the one they wanted.
Brynne shot forward in her seat, hand over her stomach. “Yeah. I think I’m going to throw up.”
I quickly glanced her way before driving onto the shoulder and coming to a stop. The passenger side was in the dirt, but the other half of my car was still on the pavement. Brynne shot out of the vehicle and I shoved the gear in park.
Making sure there were no cars coming, I got out and rounded the hood. The fresh scent of pine wrapped around me, and I was thankful for Austin’s jacket keeping the cold away. At least, from the thighs up.
I stopped when I saw Brynne hunched over and dry heaving. A bead of sweat was dripping down her forehead, and she looked too pale.
“Brynne, are you sure it was the food that’s making you feel this way?”
She shook her head, ponytail swishing over her shoulder. “I’m not sure. I—” She careened to the side, and I caught her right before she fell. “I don’t feel too good.”
“Why don’t we get back in the car?” I scanned the darkening forest, the sun nearly gone behind the cover of trees now.
Right as I said it, another car I hadn’t seen coming pulled in behind ours, and I froze. Brynne barely lifted her head to follow my line of sight.
“Who’s that?” she questioned weakly.
“I’m not sure.” I inched over to open her passenger door. “Just get in your seat. It’s probably someone who thinks we have a flat tire or something.”
As I helped Brynne back into the car, a man in a dark gray hoodie and combat boots approached. Combat boots that sent alarm bells blaring in my head.
I instantly recognized them from the rodeo.
“You ladies need some help?” the man asked, peering around me to get a better look at Brynne.
