“Is that right, Cha-Cha?” Sam asked before he took a sip of his own. He was stopping after one beer so he could drive them home.
“Oh, yes it is. I know what you like. I know you want this bawdy,” she said, rolling her shoulders. He tried not to notice the way her tits jiggled, and failed. Now that things were back on and they were moving in the right direction, he was looking forward to picking up where they left off in the bedroom.
“You’re right. I’m all about that bawdy, but—”
“Oh, is this our first one-on-one?”
“And then right on to fantasy suites. You’ve already got a hometown.”
Amanda gasped, leaning forward. “You’re telling me you watch The Bachelor? Please tell me you watch The Bachelor.”
“Lilah watches The Bachelor.”
“Are her parents local?” Amanda asked, her brows scrunching together. She was probably wondering why she lived with Miss Leona instead of with her own parents or in her own place.
“Nah. They are up in wine country. My aunt and uncle have a winery up there.”
“Oh cool. I like her. She’s sweet.”
“Yeah, she’s a good one.” Not that he was gonna put Lilah’s business all out there, but he was glad when Amanda seemed to let the subject drop. Lilah still wasn’t speaking to her father after he actually tried to arrange a marriage between her and a business partner who was older enough to be her father’s college roommate. His uncle Gerald was a good guy, most of the time, but after he raised seven boys, quiet, shy, but smart as hell Lilah confused the fuck out of him.
He didn’t understand that she didn’t need to be taken care of and he definitely didn’t understand that her single status was of her own choosing, not because she wasn’t any good at talking to men. Half of Big Rock’s single staff members and unfortunately a couple of the married ones were in love with her. Sam knew she’d take the plunge when she was ready. He just didn’t know if she’d forgive her dad in time to extend an invite to her parents for Zach and Evie’s wedding.
“Anyway, yeah. She’s made me watch many an episode of The Bachelor.”
“And you love it, don’t you?” she laughed, taking another sip.
“You know who loves it? Jesse.”
“Really?!”
“He pretends he doesn’t, but every week he’s right in front of the TV with Lilah.”
“Jesse’s an interesting guy.”
“He is, but enough about my family. I want to know more about you, Cha-Cha. We don’t have to talk about work, but I want to know everything else.”
“I mean, I’ll give you the entry-level information. A girl has to have her secrets.”
“True, true.”
“Let’s see. I’m an only child. My parents met when they were, like, eight. Started dating in middle school and have been together ever since. My mom is a nurse at the University of Providence, which I think I mentioned before, and my dad is a facilities manager at the Port of Providence. They are both allergic to dogs, so I don’t have to tell you that my childhood was pure misery.”
“Oh shit. That’s just cruel.”
“Isn’t it! They used to get so pissed though ’cause I would just bring home random animals and be like, ‘What, it’s not a dog.’”
“What kind of animals?”
“Oh, anything. Squirrels, raccoons. I trained some of the birds in our neighborhood to bring me random seeds and crap. And of course my crowning achievement, a skunk.”
“Nah, you’re lying. You didn’t skunk whisper a skunk.”
“Yes, the hell I did,” she laughed. “I tried to convince my mom to let me keep it, but then it was more about convincing my mom not to drop-kick it off our back porch.”
“What happened to it?”
“I just let him out the front door. He toddled across the street and promptly sprayed our neighbor’s dog.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, my mom was like, ‘See, that stink would have been all up in this house.’ But I didn’t care. Skunky was a true friend. He wouldn’t have sprayed me.”
“Amazing. Why aren’t you, like, a zoologist or something?”
“Tex, if there’s anything I love more than playing Russian roulette with your standard case of rabies it’s storytelling.”
“Yeah?” Sam didn’t mean for his voice to have that odd lilt to it, but he felt like Amanda had just let him in on some real personal shit.
“Did you ever watch Primal Zero?”
“A bit. My dad was on that show.”
“Oh my God! That’s right. He was Zork.”
“Yep.”
“I forgot ’cause—”
“All the makeup.”
“Wow. Your family. Anyway. My dad and I used to watch Primal Zero all the time and I used to write pages and pages of fanfiction. I finally told my dad about it and he bought me my first computer so I could write and be more organized. He encouraged me to move out here to become a screenwriter.”
“And now you’re writing on a show. The man knew he was making a wise investment.”
Amanda just nodded and let out a sad sigh, as she started picking at the label on her beer.
Sam reached across the table and stoked her hand. She let him, turning her fingers so he could trace the inside of her palm. Her hands were so soft. “If it’s not working for you, Cha-Cha, why don’t you move on to something else?”
“Because there is nothing else at the moment. It was hard enough to get this job. And not all of us have a backup ranch,” she said with a wink.
“Fair. That is fair. I’ll take that.”
“Oh, I know you will. I’m just messin’ with you. Look, I know this is part of the game. None of this is actually glamorous. At the end of the day it’s a job. Sometimes it’s fun and there are cool perks and if you’re lucky you get to be a part of something you love and are really proud of, but you know. You can think you’re onto
