Amanda stepped back, and another stuttered breath managed to escape. “So you want to keep seeing me?”
“Hell yeah. Have you looked at this face in the mirror lately? Girl, you fine. I ain’t letting you go.”
“I am pretty dope.”
He stepped close and cupped her cheeks in his hands, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. Why did she have to go back?
“When can I see you again?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I’ll text you?” She headed over to the bed and closed her bag before checking her purse once more. She had everything. It was time to head back to LA.
“Can’t wait. I’ll be back in town on Tuesday. So just let me know. I have more meetings.”
“I know I have no right to give you career advice right now, but you should talk to your people about Black Death. You’d be perfect for it. They should be begging you to meet with them for it. And those checks? Shiiiiiit.”
Sam laughed as he scooped his hat off the couch. “You’re right. I’ll think about it.”
“Okay.” They met back at the door and Amanda couldn’t help but feel like she was leaving a part of herself behind. Boy, she really liked Sam Pleasant. How was she going to survive all week without his sweet breath of fresh air? She leaned up and kissed him twice more.
“I’ll text you.”
“Not if I text you first.”
“Oh, don’t threaten me with a good time.”
“Go on. Git. I’ll wait a few minutes, then circle around to the side exit.”
“Oh, this is so scandalous. It’s making me so hot, Tex. You don’t even know.” She kissed him just one more time, then headed out the door. A squeal slipped out of her as he slapped her on the ass as the door closed between them. She thanked the young lady at the front desk as she sent one of the young valets to get her car. As she drove away from the ranch, she tried not to think about how in the world things between her and Sam were supposed to work. She wasn’t in a position to quit and even if she was that wouldn’t turn her into a Hollywood socialite overnight. They came from two different worlds. He was right, there was nothing to be embarrassed about, but facts was facts. Their lives simply weren’t the same.
That didn’t change the way she felt about him one bit. It didn’t change that she was going to text him as soon as she got home. As she drove through Charming, she promised herself that she wasn’t going to run from this. If things ended between them naturally, so be it. But she wasn’t going to push him away. Not again. He was too good of a kisser, too easy on the eyes, and brought her too much laughter and joy. She was going to hold on to Sam Pleasant.
At the last stoplight before she turned onto the highway, a text message popped up over her navigation map. She grabbed her phone and clicked over to her conversation with Tex.
There was just a screen grab. It was a cropped screenshot of a conversation with his agent.
Tuesday. I want to talk to you about
Black Death.
Fuck yeah, man. Let’s do it.
Amanda wished she had the resources to put herself out there like that. In the meantime though, she was pretty proud of her brave cowboy.
* * *
Sam knew he would get shit from his family for strolling back in wearing the same clothes as the night before, but when he walked into Miss Leona’s kitchen he realized what he was wearing and what he’d gotten up to was the last thing on anyone’s mind. Jesse was straight up pacing back and forth in their grandmother’s kitchen. Zach and Evie were standing guard like they were waiting for him to start smashing shit any moment. Lilah was sitting on a stool, just chillin’ like Jesse wasn’t about to implode.
“Heey, hey,” Sam said cautiously. “What’s going on?”
“Um—Miss Leona—” Evie started.
“No. Fuck that. What happened?” Sam felt like he was going to throw up.
“No, no, she’s okay,” Evie rushed to say.
“She didn’t come home last night,” Zach explained. “And she didn’t stay at Mig’s.”
“Oh shit,” Sam whispered. She’d spent the night out with her new mystery man. And Jesse was fucking losing it.
“Yeah,” Lilah said before she cringed. She knew too. Of course she did. They all knew the truth before last night. All of them but Jesse.
“She’s on her way home now,” Evie said.
“And I’m trying to tell our brother here that she is beyond grown, but he doesn’t want to listen,” Zach said.
“What is there for me to listen to?” Jesse asked. “She lied about where she was going and spent the night out with God knows who. That doesn’t bother you?”
“I mean, it does, but I think it bothers us for different reasons,” Lilah shot back.
Zach turned to Evie, squeezing her hand. “Babe.”
“Yeah.” She squeezed his hand back before she left the room.
“Li, can you give us a sec?” Zach said.
Their baby cousin looked back and forth between the three of them, her tongue rolling over her teeth. She hated when people treated her like a child, but that wasn’t what was happening here.
“Not trying to pull the grown-folks card on you,” Zach said. “Just wanna talk brother to brother. To brother.”
“Fine. But Jesse,” she said in her soft voice. She hopped off the stool and fixed him with a hard stare. He actually stopped pacing to look at her, even though he was still huffing and puffing. “You really need to back off. If anyone knows how awful it is to have the menfolk in this family butt into your love life, it’s me.”
“This isn’t about her damn love life!” he yelled. Sam couldn’t stand when he got like this. He had Senior’s hard, authoritative edge, but where their father knew the limits of his temper, Jesse had a point where he couldn’t
