Zach replied, giving Amanda his usual brief run-down of the ranch, but Sam wasn’t listening. He was too busy focusing on how hard Amanda was trying not to focus on him. She looked over at Helene and then Delfi.
“I can just hang around here for a bit. I think I might be too early for my check-in,” she said, like she was terrified to impose or break the rules. This Amanda was different from the Cha-Cha he’d been with at the start of the week. The woman he’d met on the dance floor had been brash and assertive. Amanda seemed almost shy and reserved. Or maybe she was just going out of her way to be polite. Either way, Sam was even more intrigued and pleasantly surprised. He’d made up his mind to track her down. He never thought the universe would drop her right into his lap.
“Nonsense. We can get you set up right now,” Sam heard himself say. He knew Delfi was silently punching him in her mind, but she was on the clock. She’d give him an earful about how he might be a Pleasant, but he didn’t work at the ranch and he didn’t run shit around these parts. She’d also probably try to get him in a headlock and threaten to tell Miss Leona if he overstepped again. All in good fun, of course. But for now, she smiled wider and did her best to set Amanda’s worries to the side.
“Absolutely. Amanda McQueen?” Of course Delfi had the whole guest list memorized; most of the staff would. It was just how they did things at Big Rock Ranch.
“That’s me.”
“Wonderful. You’ll be staying right here in the lodge. Come with me. We’ll have Laura here get you your key.” Delfi gently touched Amanda’s shoulder and guided her back to the desk where one of the newer guest clerks Sam didn’t know very well was waiting.
“Your friends are rolling in so I’m heading back to work, but it was great to meet you,” Jesse said to Helene.
“It was lovely to meet you finally.” He gave her his signature stoic nod before he peeled away and headed back to his office.
“I’m going to do the same. We’ll see you ladies in a little bit.” Zach said his goodbyes and then followed after their older brother. There was no reason for Sam to hang around, but he couldn’t get the message that it was time to go down to his feet. He watched Amanda as she smiled at Delfi and Laura behind the desk. He had to get her alone so they could talk.
“Everything okay?” Robyn asked. Sam snapped out of his trance. He’d definitely been staring.
“Um, yeah, all good. Helene, I’m gonna head back to the house, let you ladies do your girly things,” he teased. “But I’ll be there for the rehearsal.”
“Great. Thank you again. Your whole family—just, thank you.”
“Of course.” He shot her a wink and headed for the door. He couldn’t stop himself from tapping Amanda’s shoulder. She looked back at him, her throat working as she swallowed. “It was nice to meet you,” Sam said.
“Likewise,” she replied before she took the keycard Laura handed her. Sam could see the pleading in her eyes. She was just as surprised as he was and what’s more, Sam was pretty sure he wasn’t the only one who’d kept pretty quiet about their rendezvous. So Helene didn’t know. Maybe Amanda didn’t want her to know. It was silly for Sam to speculate. Later, when things quieted down or ramped up and there was so much going on no one would notice if he and one of the wedding guests slipped away, he’d pull Amanda aside and see where her head was at. And if she wasn’t interested in getting to know him any further he could at least give her a hard time for stealing his Oscar.
Chapter 5
Amanda was proud she’d managed to wait until she’d gotten to her room to have a mini freak-out. The chances of running into Sam on the Pleasant family ranch were pretty high. She’d known she’d be risking another encounter by showing up on his turf. And she’d prepared for that, spent half of the two-hour drive rehearsing exactly what she would say, what excuses she would use to avoid him if he wanted to revisit what had happened between them that Sunday night.
She just hadn’t thought he’d be standing in the lobby right when she walked through the doors. And she definitely hadn’t expected him to have gone full cowboy boy with his thigh-hugging jeans and cowboy boots. His white cowboy hat had been in his hand, because of course he’d be raised not to wear it indoors. She’d ignored the way the orange-and-green-plaid shirt he had on did nothing to hide his cut biceps or his sculpted chest.
All of that had been too much to take in. The fact that he’d been with Helene and her whole behind-the-scenes wedding-day crew that included his ridiculously handsome brothers really tested the limits of her reflexes. She’d had to stop herself from gasping and running back toward the exit. Or drooling. Seriously, a family should be limited to one smoking-hot son. Three is just unfair.
She’d found the rest of her brain cells when Sam had left the lobby after lightly touching her arm. Still the panic had already set in and now she worried it wouldn’t dissipate until she was safely back in LA.
Amanda let out a deep breath and sank down on the love seat in her adorably faux-rustic suite. She’d only seen a fraction of the property, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Big Rock Ranch was a beautiful ranch. Just pulling up to the main lodge with the picturesque mountains rising high in the distance made Amanda feel so grateful for the invitation. And the time off. Dru had texted five times on the drive over. Nothing important, just backhanded and covert requests for reassurance before
