“Evening, Miss McQueen. Welcome to Big Rock Ranch. May I park your car for you?”
“Yes, thank you—Oh my God. I’m sorry. I don’t have cash.” She’d been in such a hurry, she’d forgotten to stop by the bank or hit up a CVS for some cash back. “Is there an ATM inside?” she asked as she stepped out of the car. She shrugged on her own coat.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a smile.
“Of course I will. I’ll make sure I get you guys.” Amanda knew they’d probably heard that line plenty of times from cheap guests, but she meant in. She noted the name MATTHEW embroidered into the breast of his jacket before she opened the back door and grabbed her weekend bag and her laptop backpack.
“Can I take your bags for you?” the other young guy with ELI embroidered on his jacket asked as she came around the front of the car.
“I got it, but thank you.”
“Sure. Front desk is right through here.” He shot Amanda a friendly wink as he opened the manual side of the entrance for her. As she stepped into the comfort of the rustic lobby, the momentary warmth she’d felt from her pleasant interaction with Matthew and Eli dropped to her knees. Sam Pleasant was standing there, leaning against the front desk. Amanda felt herself swallow as she took in the sight of him. How did a man look so good in jeans, a flannel shirt and wool lined canvas jacket? The cowboy hat dangling from his fingers didn’t help one bit and neither did the small dog sniffing around at his feet.
He’d been working on a serious five o’clock shadow when she’d run into him earlier in the week. She’d been too upset to process it as something she should add to her Late Night Alone Time files, but now that five o’clock shadow was showing the beginnings of a very nice beard.
Amanda didn’t deserve this sort of torture. She had two seconds to figure out how she was going to handle it.
“Hey,” Sam said with a bright smile as Amanda crossed the recently polished stone floor.
“Hey. You didn’t have to meet me here,” she replied, her voice sounding less than calm and cool.
“Of course I did. You’re my guest.” He stepped closer so they were only a few feet apart, but Amanda could tell he was stopping himself from moving any closer, or even hugging her. She’d drawn her boundaries and he was respecting them, but why did she suddenly regret drawing those lines in the sand? “Good to see you.”
“Same,” Amanda said, and smiled back at him before she turned to the young Black man behind the desk. His name tag said TANNER. “Hi.”
“Welcome to Big Rock Ranch, Miss McQueen. We have suite twenty-four all ready for you.”
“Oh no, Sam. I don’t need a suite—”
“It’s fine,” he replied, waving her off.
“We had a last-minute cancellation,” Tanner added.
“The Hummingbird cabin popped up, but I figured you didn’t want to be out there alone so you’re in the suite. You just spread out in that huge bed.”
“I guess it won’t be all bad,” Amanda admitted as she took the keycard from Tanner’s outstretched hand.
“You want me to walk down there with you?”
“Ah, sure.”
“Tanner, I’m gonna leave Poppy here a minute,” he said as he nodded to the small sandy brown dog with a black muzzle sniffing at her sneakers.
“No!” Amanda bit her lips like she could take her sudden and unexpected enthusiasm back. “You—you can bring her.” She glanced at Tanner for final approval.
He held up his hands. “He’s practically my boss, so that call is between the two of you,” he laughed. “Can I pick her up?” Amanda asked just as the small dog hopped up, resting its front paws on Amanda’s thighs. It stretched out its little body and let out the most adorable yawn while looking right up at her.
“Well, I think you have to,” Sam said, a smile in his voice. “Here.” He slid on his cowboy hat, then took Amanda’s bags from her and just as quickly she reached down and scooped the adorable mutt up into the cradle of her arms. The pup immediately started licking the side of her hand.
“Oh my God. You are so cute,” she cooed. She glanced back up at Sam. “Actually, you can leave. I have what I need.”
“You tell Miss Leona Lovell where her favorite dog is in the morning.”
“Okay. Yeah, no.”
“Come on. I’ll show you to your room.”
Amanda thanked Tanner, then followed Sam through the lobby.
“How was the drive?” Sam asked, glancing over his shoulder as they made their way to her room. Amanda had to swallow again. For some dumb reason she really hadn’t wanted to see him again, but now that he was here and she wasn’t running down the street crying, she was reminded all over again how much she was drawn to him. It helped that she already knew how warm his touch could be, how good of a kisser he was.
“Uh, the drive was fine. There was some traffic getting out of LA, but once I hit the 60 it was pretty smooth sailing.”
“Nice.” Another knee-melting smile over his shoulder. Finally they arrived at her room and Amanda shifted little Poppy in her arms and used the keycard to open the door. The suite was huge. Way too big for one person. She looked at the large sitting area and the cute desk in the corner. There were double barn doors at the far end of the space, opening to the bedroom where she could see the foot of a massive four-poster bed.
“This is bigger than my place,” Amanda said. She set Poppy on the floor, then went toward the bathroom, and sure enough there was a
