Amanda took a deep breath. “Well, I was hoping to save this conversation for our first—yeah, um, but I would maybe ask Sam to be more specific in what he does want?” She looked over at him cautiously. He looked back at her, waiting for her to go on. “It sounds like you’ve been doing the appropriate rounds. No harm in hearing people out even if the project isn’t right for you, but you are in a position to ask for things. And I’m guessing in a position to pitch some ideas of your own.”
“Bloop!” Corie said as she reached for more diced fruit.
“Quiet, you,” Sam said with a playful glare, before he turned his attention back to Amanda. “I’m with you. Go on.”
“I guess just be super honest with yourself, go for the big asks and if this all goes belly-up and your career is ruined, I heard a rumor that your family owns a ranch. Might make for a softer landing.”
“Bloop, bloop, bloop! Girl called the whole family out,” Corie laughed.
“No. I just mean you’re lucky, right. Having a supportive family is great. My parents have my back and they’ll never know how much I appreciate that, but what you guys have here is amazing, from what I’ve seen so far. If you take big risks and they don’t pan out, Big Rock Ranch doesn’t seem like a terrible place to start over.”
“She’s right,” Zach said with a shrug.
“I didn’t say she was wrong.”
“It’s not a bad thing,” Amanda scrambled to say. She bit her tongue so often with Lady Voldemort, she forgot how freeing it was to speak her mind, but maybe this wasn’t the right time or the right place.
“I didn’t say it was a bad thing either,” Sam replied. His hand slid back over her thigh, giving her an encouraging squeeze. “You’re right, I’ve been . . . rushing. That’s the right word. I’ve been rushing to find the next project because I want to keep up the awards-season momentum, but I don’t want to follow up this win with just another project. I want to do something I’m proud of and something I’m excited for.”
“You have two brilliant actors, in your grandmother and your father, right under your nose. And all of this to come home to. I say use this time and combined resources and experience to really chase after what you want. Or maybe I’m wrong and I should have just sat here and ate my crepe tart.” Amanda dropped her eyes back to her plate and shoved a nice forkful of said tart into her mouth.
She tried not to shiver when Sam leaned over and kissed her on the side of her head. “That was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you.”
“I’m so glad we could do this on Valentine’s Day,” Miss Leona said as she poured a healthy amount of champagne into her glass. “Get to spend some quality time with my babies and my babies’ friends.”
Zach went on outlining new plans for the ranch once the weather warmed up again and it seemed like everyone had moved on from Amanda’s brash comments. She latched on to the comfort of Sam’s strong fingers as they occasionally brushed her thigh throughout the meal. He’d clearly forgiven her, but she hoped she hadn’t accidentally gotten herself banned from all future Pleasant family functions. Not that she and Sam were working on a real future or anything. They hadn’t even been on a real date, but still. It would be nice to be invited back.
Chapter 14
Lunch went on smoothly after Amanda extracted her whole foot from her mouth. She enjoyed spending time with Sam’s family and envied how close they all were. And he was right, well, kinda. She wasn’t exactly sure Miss Leona loved her like one of her own after one meal, but she was extremely kind and gracious and made Amanda feel very welcome. By the time Jesse was full and everyone else was well on their way to being drunk on carbohydrates, Amanda felt significantly less awkward.
She sat back, with Sam’s arm draped over her shoulders, while Zach and Lilah debated the finer points of LeBron James’s shooting average. If his affection toward her made their new situationship a thing with his family, they didn’t mention it.
“Any hot plans for you tonight, Miss Leona?” Vega teased just before she finished her glass of juice. Jesse made a weird noise at the end of the table. Amanda didn’t miss the glance Zach shot in Jesse’s direction. Jesse didn’t look up, but his jaw clenched. Amanda was dying to know what was happening there, but of course she kept her mouth shut. Sam got her attention with a gentle squeeze to her arm. She turned and met his handsome smile, smiling back at him as a few dozen butterflies fluttered their wings in her stomach. His wink told her he’d let her in on the dirt later.
“I’m going out with Mig and Pam tonight,” Miss Leona said.
“Gonna tear the club up?” Corie replied. She stood and started clearing her and Vega’s plates.
“You know Mig’s granddaughter bought the Gutierrez farm and she set up a wine and cheese tasting for us. I will be skipping most of the cheese and enjoying all of the wine and the conversation.”
“Corie, can you get her number for me?” Jesse said. Corie set down the plates by the sink, then pulled out her phone and a moment later Amanda heard a ping from Jesse’s end of the table. “Thank you.”
“Well, since I guess we’re all done here, Corie,” Evie said.
“What? I was just putting our plates up.”
“Like I said, since we’re all done here, I’m really glad we could all do this together and I’m glad Amanda could join us. I don’t love all the flying back and forth, but I’m
