“We try to keep this private until we don’t want to keep this private anymore.”
“We could do that. It’s not hard.”
She saw an eyebrow go up under the shadow of his cowboy hat. “It’s not?”
“No. Do you even know what Daniel Kaluuya’s girlfriend looks like? Mahershala’s wife?” Sam paused and she knew he had a vague sense ’cause he’d probably met them at a thing but... “See. If you saw them on the street you wouldn’t know.”
“You have a point. But . . . I don’t want to keep this private.”
“You know that’s enough for right now though, right? Like, it means a lot to me ’cause I know you’re serious. I’m not ready to be photographed. I am not a photographed kind of girl. And it’s not ’cause I don’t think I’m beautiful—”
“Oh, I know. Remember, we spent a good chunk of the morning protecting this beautiful face,” Sam laughed.
“It’s not a self-esteem thing. It’s . . . when something or someone means a lot to me I want to keep it to myself for a while. Just enjoy it for as long as I can. As soon as we are seen together—”
“We belong to the Internet.”
“Bitch, we belong to the Internet.”
“I get it. I don’t want that either.”
“Listen, you introduced me to your family, day one. You introduced me to your horse.”
“That’s huge. You don’t even know.”
“So, I met your horse. I met your grandma. I’m a little less terrified of your brother Jesse, and Evie, well, she loves me.”
“How could she not?”
“My mom can’t keep a secret for shit so maybe I won’t tell her right away, but as soon as Helene and Ignacio are back from their honeymoon I’ll tell Helene. And then maybe we can go double-dating on Ignacio’s yacht or, like, go window-shopping for exotic animals and buy the most illegal one. I don’t know what rich people do with their free time,” she teased.
“We’re rich. Not white.”
“True. Tex, let’s just protect this from the Internet for as long as possible.”
“Anything for you, Cha-Cha. Anything you want.”
“I want to sleep with you again. And then probably again.”
“Oh, we can definitely do that.”
“Why don’t we head back to my room. Like now. My front is very warm but my butt is freezing.”
Amanda felt Sam’s hands ease down her hips before he reached around and grabbed her ass in his firm grip. “Better?”
“Much. But we still can’t do this outside.”
“Okay,” Sam laughed. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 17
Sam pulled back up to the front of the lodge and tried to ignore the clock on his dashboard. Their night wasn’t over, but he didn’t expect to be back at the ranch just before nine p.m. He needed to turn his mood around and enjoy the time he had left with Amanda before their weekend was over. He glanced through the front doors and caught the shadows of a couple walking through the lobby.
“Head on in. I’ll go park.”
“I can come with you,” Amanda replied, her voice light. Sam could tell she was trying to make him feel better and he really appreciated it. He reached over and took her hand so he could lay a warm kiss on her cold fingers.
“I’d love the company, but in the interest of our collective privacy—”