“This whole valley knows my whole family and I thought I could just walk in there and order a Tecate.”
“What happened?”
“They called my dad and had him come pick me up. He made me sit there while he threw back a good five beers, just chatting it the fuck up with the bartender and the high school football coach. Then he made me drive his drunk ass home. I was hot.”
“You didn’t walk out as soon as you saw the football coach?” Amanda asked as they pulled up to the front of the lodge. Sam stopped just beyond the valet and turned the car off.
“I didn’t know it was him. I didn’t go to Charming High. I didn’t go to high school.”
“Oh I’m sorry. I forgot you mentioned you—”
“No, it’s fine. I got my GED. But I started doing stunts when I was like twelve and I got cast on Dude Ranch Summer Camp when I was fifteen. Anyway I didn’t go to Charming High like Zach and Jesse did. There was a different coach when Jesse played. I had no clue who the new guy was. Anyway. I’m legal now and my dad isn’t here to stop me.”
“Thank God.”
“Come on. Let me walk you to your room.”
Amanda climbed out of the car and took Sam’s hand as he came around and met her at the entrance to the lodge. When they reached her room, she forced herself not to ask him to stay.
“So what time are you picking me up for our super-sexy romantic date tonight?” she said.
“Eight sound good?”
“Eight sounds perfect. I might order a little room service snack before we go. Eight’s a little late for me to have dinner.”
“Are you kidding? Jesse and I are gonna Greco-Roman wrestle each other for the rest of that corn bread sometime in the next hour. If you’re hungry, girl, eat. And if you’re still hungry the wings at Claim Jumpers are pretty damn good.”
“Oh, this date is gonna involve wings? Cupid knows what I like.”
Sam let out the sexiest laugh before he closed the distance between them. Amanda leaned up and pressed her lips to his, sighing into his mouth as his lips parted and his tongue just barely brushed hers. Her body had had the sense to tell her pussy to chill when he was touching her throughout their late brunch, but enough was enough. She felt her body swell with arousal as she pressed closer, running her hands up his strong chest as his hands smoothed their way down to her lower back.
After a few long moments though she forced herself to break their kiss. They couldn’t spend the afternoon fucking. Well, they could, but that wasn’t what she wanted. Well, it was, but not how she wanted it. She forced her gaze to his plaid shirt. Looking up at those deep brown eyes and that cowboy hat was a little too dangerous. Not that drawing her thumb across his nipple was the safest move either, but that didn’t stop her.
“Maybe you can plan to spend the night over here tonight, if you can get away with that. I don’t want Miss Leona thinking I’m some kind of hussy.”
“Oh, no. Your hussiness needs to be our little secret,” Sam said, gripping her ass with both hands. The action spread her ass and her lips apart. She bit her lip to keep from making a noise. She leaned up and kissed him again before she stepped back against the door. Her body missed the heat of him instantly.
“Yeah, stay over tonight. I didn’t bring any sexy lingerie, but I have this T-shirt with some Nakia fan art and Star Wars pajama pants that will really melt your butter.”
“Damn, girl. You know what I like.”
“I’ll see you at eight.”
“Okay.” Sam tipped his hat in her direction, then headed back down the hall.
Amanda waited until he turned the corner before she keyed into her room. Inside she collapsed on the bed and buried her face in her pillow. How had this happened? She just wanted to get out of town for a moment. She didn’t mean to meet Sam’s whole family and she definitely hadn’t planned on spending Valentine’s Day with him in any sort of a romantical sense.
Amanda rolled over and grabbed her purse. She had to text her mom and let her know that Miss Leona was a living goddess in real life. As soon as her screen lit up she saw several missed texts and calls from Dru.
Call Lux and get me and the girls a table tonight.
Hello. I know you’re out of town but your phone still works.
Never mind. Lacy took care of it.
You’re lucky my mother won’t let me fire you on the weekends. You’re fucking worthless.
She looked at the time stamps and the texts were a whole three minutes apart. She’d just sat down to lunch when Dru had sent them. The last text came an hour later.
Someone sent me the wrong size.
You can have them.
You’re welcome.
There was a picture of brand-new Fenty Pumas, white with ice blue accents. Amanda was still annoyed with Dru, but she rarely turned down an opportunity to build her sneaker collection and she sure as hell wasn’t going to turn down a free pair of almost-three-hundred-dollar shoes. She took a deep breath and texted Dru back.
Sorry. I was having lunch with family
friends.
I thought you were watching some dumb baby.
Amanda swallowed, her heart pumping hard in her chest before she remembered Dru hadn’t caught her in a lie. Not yet.
I took the baby to lunch with me.
Whatever. When you get back on Monday just answer my damn texts.
I will. Have fun at Lux tonight.
I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.
The middle finger emoji Dru sent signified the end
