“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 copper-wrapped clawfoot tub big enough for her to do laps in.
“We don’t get many cancellations, but lucky for you,” Sam said as she stepped back into the sitting room. He set down her bag on the armchair by the TV, then took off his cowboy hat again. She stopped herself from smiling, thinking about who had raised this boy right.
“Well, you should be all set here. Tanner’s on until five a.m., if you need anything. Enjoy that bed.”
“Actually thought I would take a bath and then pass out, but I’m wide awake.”
“Hey, I know it would involve hanging out with me, but if you want you’re welcome to come back to my brother’s place. My cousins are over there and we were doing aFriday the Thirteenthmarathon. We were partway throughJason Xwhen I left and we were gonna watchJason Takes Manhattannext. You’re welcome to join us.”
Amanda glanced toward the bed and considered the sleep she could desperately use. And then she thought for a moment if what she really wanted was to be alone. “You sure your family won’t mind? I don’t want to just bust in on their movie night.”
“Nah, it’s all good. For real, if you want to come, come. The rest of the dogs are there, hanging out.”
“Oh well, why didn’t you say that?”
“So you’re coming?”
“Yeah, why not.” Amanda grabbed her purse and double-checked that she had her keycard. “Lead the way.”
“Alright. Let’s go, Poppy.” He scooped the dog off the floor and tucked her under his arm. Amanda followed as Sam opened the door for her. She stopped before she stepped out into the hall.
“Listen. It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you. I just—”
“You don’t have to explain. I read my cousin’s copy ofHe’s Just Not That into Youwhen I was in high school.”
“No, Sam,” Amanda laughed. “I just didn’t expect to see you again. And not so soon. Not under those circumstances. It was a lot to process while trying to bepresentfor Helene and Ignacio.”
“I get it.”
“Sometimes you’re—you have no vision for something and then it lands in your lap twice. I was overwhelmed.”
“So was I, but I just rolled with it.”
“Hmmm,” Amanda replied. She could admit to herself that maybe Sam was also handling this wild situation as best he could. Maybe she wasn’t the only one feeling a little out of sorts. “Did you know you were inviting me down here for Valentine’s Day weekend?” she asked with a smirk.
“When I invited you, no, I didn’t, but my brother let me know I was potentially playing myself, but hey, here we are.”
“Here we are.”
“Pals.”
“Pals.”