Page 59 of On the Rocks

At that, one of her manicured eyebrows rose, the corner of her lips curving into an amused smile. “A friend date,” she repeated.

“Look at you,” I said, stepping back as if to hammer home the fact that I had completely innocent intentions.

Even if that was a lie.

“You’re so stressed out with all the wedding planning. It’s been consuming your every waking minute of every single day. Hell, I’ve only been helping for a few days and evenIam overwhelmed.”

“I’m okay,” she insisted. “A little tired, I admit. But, this is all part of the process.”

“Ruby Grace, you can’t even make a decision on which stupid plates you want.” I held up the gun, clicking through a few screens until I could see everything we’d scanned. “As of now, if everything on this registry is purchased, you’ll have two-hundred-and-seventy-three of them. And I’m pretty sure you don’t plan on hosting any partiesthatbig.”

Her face screwed up like she was certain I couldn’t possibly be right. She snagged the gun out of my hand, studying the screen before she let out a long sigh, pressing one of her delicate hands to her forehead. She held it there for a moment before dragging it over her face on a groan.

“Okay. You win.”

I smiled. “My favorite words to hear.”

Ruby Grace shoved my gun back into my chest. “The problem iswhenare we going to go anywhere or do anything when I have so much to get done?”

“That’s easy. We go now.”

“Now?!”She gaped. “We still have so much to register. We have two more floors to cover.”

“So?” I shrugged. “We’ll get it done. We have time.”

“My bridal shower is next Saturday. And the wedding is in less than four weeks.”

I huffed, dropping my gun on an empty part of the table next to us before I grabbed her upper arms in my hands. “Ruby Grace, there is nothing that needs to be done in this moment. Everything will be okay. Everything will get done — and in time. I promise.”

“But I can’t go anywhere right now. I’m not dressed for anything, unless we’re registering for wedding gifts at a department store or going to church,” she pointed out, gesturing to her knee-length sun dress and wedges.

“That’s half the fun. We’ll figure out what we want to do and then buy the clothes we need to do it.”

“But—”

“You are spreading yourself so thin, you’re going to disappear completely by the time your wedding day gets here if you don’t take a moment to justlivea little.”

Her little bottom lip poked out at that, and I had to fight against the urge to pull her into me, frame that beautiful face, suck that lip between my teeth…

“You’re tired. You need a break. Webothdo.” I paused, searching her worried gaze. “Trust me?”

“No.”

I laughed. “Liar.”

She smiled a little at that, and then let out another long breath, her little shoulders giving way with it. “Okay. I trust you.”

My heart did a little flip at that victory. “Good.”

“But… Noah?”

“Yeah?”

“Before we go, we have to at least eliminate these plates down to less than one hundred.”

She held up her gun, cringing at the screen.

I chuckled, swiping my gun off the table and spinning it in my hand a few times before tucking it in the band of my jeans like a cowboy. “Lead the way, Bonnie.”