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for them when they arrived.
    “Hey Vin!” Carly called out. A picturesque blonde with wavy
    hair down to her full ass, and brilliant green eyes, Carly was
    definitely one of the reasons for the mostly male clientele at Mick’s.
    She was also most assuredly off limits.
    Mick reached across the bar to grip Vin’s hand firmly, his six
    foot four inch muscular frame rippling with each movement. “Hey
    man, good to see ya. How’s the groom holding up?”
    “Anxiously waiting for me to tell him what the hell I have
    planned,” Vin said, a smile spreading over his face. “Anyone else
    here yet?”
    “The Gillian brothers are in the back with Daniel and Bran. A
    couple of others. Looks to be a good turnout.” Mick topped off a beer
    and passed it to him. “Give that to D for me, and tell him his drinks
    tonight are on me.”
    “Will do. Thanks.” With a quick turn, Vin headed back to where
    he’d left his brothers waiting with a blindfolded Drannon. “Hold your
    hand out, D.”
    “Seriously? Can we do away with this damn rag now?” Drannon
    complained. “I know we’re at Mick’s. I can smell Carly’s pizza
    sauce.”
    Vin snagged the blue bandana from his brother’s eyes. “That was
    Hawke’s idea. He seemed to think you wouldn’t know where we
    were going even though this is the only party place within a thirty
    minute drive of the ranch.”
    “That’s what you’re supposed to do for the bachelor,” Hawke
    protested. “Hell, it’s not like I’ve thrown a lot of these parties.”

    31
    Lori King
    Drannon took a deep drink of his beer, and then smiled. “So
    what’s the plan?”
    “Poker. All night long,” Vin announced. The relief on his face
    was comical and was quickly followed by anticipation.
    “Let’s get this party started!” Roman said, clamping his hand
    down on Drannon’s shoulder and directing him through the doorway
    next to the bar.
    While the main part of the bar was fairly generic, the private
    room was quite plush. Vin knew that Carly had done a renovation on
    it recently, and he made a mental note to tell her he approved. Four
    dark wood tables were set up with eight chairs each around them, and
    removable poker tops had been prepared with cards and chips
    already. Alongside one wall was a scaled down bar and four bar
    stools with two large screen televisions hanging behind it. On the
    opposite wall sat the largest couch he’d ever seen. Anyone sitting on
    it would have an unobstructed view of the televisions while the poker
    tournament was going on.
    “Wow. This place looks awesome,” Drannon commented as the
    other men in the room called out greetings.
    “Carly did a bang-up job, didn’t she?” Luke Gillian was the first
    to reach them. He rose from his seat and gave Drannon a quick hug.
    “Good to see you, D.”
    “You too, Luke. It’s been a while.”
    Luke nodded, “Not my fault you never leave the ranch these
    days.”
    Drannon laughed. “Tell the truth, if you had a woman who
    looked like Lacy at home, would you leave the house more than you
    had to?”
    “Hell, no,” Luke agreed. “I’d be living in blissful poverty
    because I’d barely have the energy to go to work in the mornings.”
    Luke’s younger brother, Mark, was next, followed by a dozen
    others. In all, there were nearly thirty guys in attendance when the
    poker games started. Vin observed instead of joining the game
    because he wanted to make sure everything went off without a hitch.

    32
    Claiming His Cowgirl
    If he did nothing else right, he wanted to make sure Drannon got a
    good send off before he tied the knot.
    “You’re not playing tonight, Vinnie?” Abby Bricker carried
    another bucket of ice and a handful of napkins into the room. He
    bristled at her use of the intimate nickname. Abby wasn’t his favorite
    person, but he couldn’t tell Mick and Carly who to hire, so he tried
    hard to hold back his contempt.
    “Nope, I’m the event planner and designated driver,” Vin