hold you to that. I’m going to need a friend to lean on when it happens.”
He leaned in and kissed her on the lips. “You’ve got my word.”
“Are you bored with this thing, yet?” she asked.
“Never,” he replied. “Not when I’m dancing with the prettiest girl in the room. Besides, we’re Maverick and Bridget’s ride home, so we have to stay until the last dog is hung. They’re having a great time.”
“Let’s slip outside, get a drink from Bubba Joe, and sit on the tailgate of your truck,” she said. “I can’t deal with all this drama right now, Pax.”
“We’ll two-step over to the door, then sneak on out of here,” he said. “I’ll tell Maverick when we pass by him.”
“At least we made an appearance,” she said but then started falling.
He tried to grab her, but it was impossible to get a hold anywhere. She landed hard on her side, and then Rachel was on the floor right beside her. Pax figured they’d both slipped on root beer that was dripping from a table where a can had been turned over. He extended his hand toward Alana and helped her stand.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine.”
Her tone and the pained expression on her face suggested that she was anything but fine. He turned to help Rachel, but Billy Ray was already at her side.
“That bitch grabbed my high heel and dragged me down,” Rachel hissed.
“Aww, come on, sweetheart. It was all an accident.” Billy Ray draped an arm around Rachel’s shoulders and led her out the door. “Let’s go find you a real beer. That’ll make it all better.”
Bridget and Maverick made their way across the floor and stopped in front of Alana. “Are you all right?” Bridget asked. “That was a nasty fall.”
“I’ll be fine,” Alana said, again. “I need to get out of here and get a breath of fresh air. Y’all go on and enjoy the evening. Pax and I are going to visit Bubba Joe’s bar out in the parking lot and buy a drink. Want me to send him back inside with something real for y’all?”
“Maybe later,” Bridget said. “I can be the designated driver if y’all get more than one drink.”
“Thanks.” Alana tucked her arm into Pax’s and leaned on him on the way out of the cafeteria.
“Do we need to run over to the emergency room and get an X-ray of your side?” Pax asked when they were out in the hallway. “That sounded like a pretty solid crack. You might have fractured a rib.”
“I had cracked ribs back when I was bronc riding. This is only going to be a bruise. I know the difference,” she told him. “It hurts like hell, but by damn Rachel is going to hurt too. I’ll teach her to trip me.”
“What?” Pax stopped in his tracks.
She pulled on his arm. “Let’s get out to the truck, and let me stretch out in the bed, then we’ll talk.”
Pax scooped Alana up in his arms and carried her out to the truck. He set her on the ground, lowered the tailgate, and said, “Stand right here, darlin’, while I get a blanket out of my truck.”
“Right now I don’t even care.” She held her arm and groaned. “I hope the bruise is gone by the day of the wedding, but at least I won’t be walking down the aisle with an arm in a cast.”
Pax rushed to the backseat, grabbed an old patchwork quilt, and carried it to the pickup bed. He quickly spread it out, put his hands around her slim waist, and picked her up again. This time, he set her on the tailgate and motioned for her to slide on back. “Tell me what to do to help you, and I’ll do it.”
“I can do it without help.” She managed a weak smile. “Thank you, though.”
She scooted until her back was braced against the back of the cab. He did the same until he was right beside her. His heart threw in an extra beat when he gently pulled her to his side. “Now what’s this about Rachel tripping you?”
“She was dancing with Billy Ray, and she snarled her nose at me, stuck out her foot, and kicked me in the shin about the same time I stepped in that spilled root beer. Then as I was falling, she gave me a shove with her elbow and called me a bitch. Man, she’s really got the hots for you,” Alana said.