“Why not?”
“At the right time and place it will happen, Manny. I want this to be right.”
Amanda sighed; this man was going to get the better of her.
“I suppose here and now could prove fatal,” she admitted with a smile. Amanda frowned a moment later.
“What?”
“I just realized that I’m always turning down men to sleep with except the one man I want,” she informed him. “You’re always turning me down.”
“No, for now, not for always.”
“Oh, right,” she nodded.
“I’m sorry if you were hurt tonight, Manny,” Cade pulled her back close.
“I got even,” Amanda informed him smugly as she snuggled into his arms.
“Yes, you did,” he acknowledged. “Tell me something.”
“What’s that?”
“How do you know I wear boxer briefs?”
Amanda smiled, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“How do you know?”
“You were passed out in my bed,” she reminded him.
“In my jeans.”
“Yes, which were sliding off your hips.”
“That might have shown my waist band.”
“When I went fishing for your keys I learned more than which pocket you keep them in,” she shared with a teasing smile.
“I had forgotten about that,” he admitted, his own smile widening.
“You were too drunk to make any rules that night; I should have taken advantage of you,” she teased.
“No,” he frowned at her. “No, I don’t want it to be like that, Manny.”
“I know; it was a joke,” she assured him.
“You are so special, Manny,” Cade whispered before he kissed. She slid her arms around his neck again.
Twenty
Amanda studied her reflection in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction. She had pulled on a jean skirt, a halter top, and her boots before pulling her hair up into a twist. Jason, one of her old friends from high school, had called that morning to invite her to a gathering at his grandparent’s farm before everyone returned to college; Amanda was now especially glad that she had come to spend the weekend with her dad. She was looking forward to seeing everyone again. Amanda grabbed her jean jacket and several items she was taking before heading down stairs to load her stuff.
“You got your sleeping bag? It’s supposed to be cool tonight?” Naomi fretted over her.
“I’ve got it,” Amanda kissed her aunt’s cheek.
“Behave yourself and have fun,” Naomi cautioned.
“I will,” Amanda promised.
“Where are you going?” Trent demanded as he and Christy stepped onto the porch.
“Out with some old friends from high school,” Amanda opened the driver’s side door. She had wanted to invite Cade but her brother seemed to be determined to make certain she wasn’t alone with Cade. Too bad she hadn’t learned of tonight’s gathering until today; last night she’d had ample opportunity to tell Cade, though her brother didn’t know that.
“Have fun,” Trent offered.
Amanda turned to stare at him, a brow quirked in question. “Did you just tell me to have fun without giving me the nth degree?”
Amanda’s question made both Naomi and Christy smile.
“Go on, brat, and stay out of trouble,” her brother growled, though he was smiling.
“That’s better,” Amanda nodded and turned to climb into her Jeep; she was waving as she cranked the engine and started down the drive.
She picked Jenny up and then continued on her way to Jason’s grandparents'. Several minutes later she turned into a long driveway and followed it past the house and down into a valley by a large barn. A small fire already burned in the field beside the barn and a large screen sat several feet out into the field. Jason had borrowed the screen and projection equipment from a friend of his and was going to show movies. Everyone was bringing food and sleeping bags and they were going to make a night of it.
“Well, if it isn’t the Dynamic Duo,” David greeted them with a hug. “How are you, Jenny?” he asked of her.
“I’m good; how are you?” Jenny returned.
Amanda had to smile, she still wasn’t certain if Jenny and David had actually been a couple or not.
“Mandy; Jenny!” Chloe waved as she jogged up. “I haven’t seen you two in ages; how are you?” Chloe hugged them both. They were soon joining the growing group by the fire.
“Claim a space,” Jason invited and indicated the half circle of hay bales that sat opposite the screen.
Amanda and Jenny spread a blanket before they dropped their things on top and moved to put their food items on the makeshift tables inside the barn. A couple of guys were running extension cables out the door to the equipment for watching movies.
“I am so glad that Jason is doing this; can you believe how long it’s been since we were all together?” Chloe was following them.
“I know, I had thought I would keep up with everyone but I’m always so busy it doesn’t happen,” Amanda admitted as they made their way back outside and greeted friends as they went. Amanda spotted Samantha several feet away and excused herself. She still wasn’t certain exactly what had happened between Samantha and herself.
“Hey, Sam,” Amanda greeted her old friend with a smile.
“Hi, Mandy,” Samantha smiled back.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw you,” Amanda admitted. She didn’t add that she was surprised to see her tonight. Samantha had never run with the group that was here.
“It’s been a while,” Samantha nodded in agreement. “Troy invited me tonight; he and I have a few classes together,” she answered Amanda’s unasked question.
“You and Troy huh? He’s nice,” Amanda offered.
“He is,” Samantha agreed. “Tonight’s our first date so we’ll see what happens next.”
“How have you been, Sam?”
“I’ve been real good.”
“You look nice,” Amanda complimented her friend. Samantha had never spent much time primping; tonight she was dressed very nicely, her hair and makeup in place.
“Yeah, I finally decided to change my look; a little slower than you were,” Sam offered with a shrug.
“Hi, Mandy,” Troy smiled as he joined Samantha and handed her a glass of soda.
“Hey, Troy; it’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you too. I hear you and Jenny are rooming and attending down at Haddon together?”
“We are. I’ll let you two enjoy your date. Maybe we can talk more later,” Amanda suggested to Sam.
“I’d like that,” she nodded with a smile.
Amanda smiled and turned to go and rejoin Jenny where she was talking with Chloe, Dede, and David. Chloe was telling about a small fire in one of the dorm rooms one night that sent the entire dorm into the courtyard in the middle of the night.
“It was freezing cold and here we were in our gowns and pajamas, every guy in the school was suddenly outside just to spy on us,” Chloe rolled her eyes.
“I can imagine,” David was grinning. “They should have invited all you ladies back to their warm dorm rooms,” he joked.
“Men!” Dede rolled her eyes.
“I don’t think I would care much for dorm living,” Jenny commented.
“Uh, huh; me either,” Amanda agreed with her. Amanda watched Jenny grin, her gaze going past Amanda. Before she could turn, two hands covered her eyes, a familiar scent enveloping her a moment before lips brushed her neck just below her ear.
“Cade!” Amanda turned to throw her arms around him as his arms settled around her waist. He greeted her with a kiss.
“How did you end up here?” Amanda demanded of him.
“A little birdie told me about the gathering,” Cade winked over her shoulder at Jenny.
“Thank you, Jenny,” Amanda turned; Cade’s arms remained around her as she leaned into his embrace.
“So I guess you two don’t have to sneak around to see each other anymore, huh?” David teased.
“We never snuck around,” Amanda argued. “That aside, my brother has no idea he’s here.”
“Trent still trying to tell you who you can and can’t see?” Chloe guessed.
“Yep, but I am eighteen and he has no say.”
“So why don’t you just be done with it and tell him you’re seeing Cade,” Jenny challenged.
“Are we seeing each other? I’m not sure what we’re doing,” Amanda joked as she tilted her head to look up at Cade.
“We’re seeing each other, we just don’t get to see much of each other,” he grinned down at her.
“You two are cute together,” Dede grinned at them; Amanda smiled back. She glanced over to find Samantha watching her and smiled. Samantha offered a strained smile in return and turned to say something to Troy. Amanda frowned, still puzzled by Samantha’s distance. Amanda turned back to the group around her; they continued to talk and laugh as the sun began to dip behind the mountains. The smell of burgers and hot dogs cooking began to pull everyone toward the barn where Jason and a couple of other guys were grilling.
Amanda seated herself on the tailgate of Cade’s truck, Cade joining her as others followed. Conversation flowed as they ate and Amanda felt content and at peace with life. It felt good to be seated beside Cade, everyone accepting them as a couple instead of trying to pretend he was merely her brother’s friend.
As soon as she had finished eating, Amanda moved to stand in front of Cade, where he was still seated on the tailgate. Cade wrapped his arms around her as she leaned against his chest, her arms resting on his knees on either side of her.
“I heard your brother was getting serious about a girl; who is she?” Chloe queried.
“Her name’s Christy; he met her at school. She’s nice enough I guess but I can’t say I’m really thrilled,” Amanda admitted.
“Oh?”
“I don’t want her for a sister-in-law,” Amanda answered honestly.
“I don’t think they’ll make it to the alter,” Cade predicted.
“No?” Amanda twisted to look at Cade.
“No, I can’t put my finger on it but something is missing between them. Not to mention she isn’t quite his type.”
“I noted that,” Amanda nodded.
“She basically chased him until she caught him,” Cade informed her.
“Like me?” Amanda grinned at him.
“I wasn’t running,” he informed her, “just staying a step ahead until your age caught up,” he smiled at her before leaning down to kiss her.
“I think I’m going to give these two some space,” Jenny was fanning herself when Amanda turned back to the group. Amanda laughed as her friend walked off, the others following her.
“We ran everybody off,” Amanda informed Cade as she turned to face him.
“Fine by me, for a moment anyway,” he kissed her again and tugged her closer by her belt loops. It was several minutes later before Amanda snuggled against Cade’s chest with a sigh.
“What was the sigh for?” Cade asked her as his thumb caressed the bare skin at her waist.
“I would invite you to ditch the party in favor of a quiet evening at my place but I know you would turn me down,” she admitted.
“I’m not making love to you tonight and leaving tomorrow,” Cade confirmed her prediction.
“You are so mean!” she accused as she leaned back to stare up at him.
“No, if I were mean I would do just what you suggested,” he countered.
“So you’ll head off to school and all the women waiting there,” Amanda frowned up at him. The closer they got, the more it bothered her to think of him with other women.
“Manny, I have slept with exactly three women since meeting you: the first two just after I went to work for your father and the third was at a party my sophomore year. It was another reminder of why I don’t usually drink and I didn’t again until the other night when I was watching that guy put his hands all over you,” Cade informed her.
“Three women?” Amanda queried. His reputation, which she had set out to learn after she met him, didn’t quite match that. “Look, Cade, what you do isn’t really my business.”
“Until now, no; what you did was none of mine and what I did was none of yours. But I would say that’s changed; wouldn’t you?” Cade was watching her intently.
“Do you want it to change?” Amanda asked.
“Yes, I do and I want you to know that I haven’t been off at school fooling around with a bunch of women.”
“What about this Nicole?” Amanda couldn’t help asking.
“I doubled with your brother a few times with a few of Christy’s friends, Nicole was one of those and she was fun and we spent a lot time laughing together. She was the one who wanted to change that.”
“You didn’t?” Amanda surveyed him with a raised brow.
“I can’t believe I’m telling you this,” Cade sighed and shook his head. “She came over and started trying to seduce me. I was trying to politely turn her down when she reached into my pocket and found your letter.”
“Oh?” Amanda waited.
“She demanded to know why I was dating her and writing another woman and to know who you were but stormed out before I could answer. When she came back the next weekend to apologize for blowing up at me and asked who you were I relayed your answer, credited to you incidentally, and she really did blow up. That was the last time I saw her in more than passing.”
“Good,” Amanda was smiling at him.
“Your brother is quite put out with me.”
“Why?” Amanda demanded.
“Because he keeps trying to set me up and I won’t go out more than once maybe twice with any of them and won’t sleep with them.”
“And this makes him angry?” Amanda was smiling in confusion.
“He suspects that it has something to do with you but he can’t prove it. I think he has it in his head that if I’m sleeping around it will ensure I’m not with you,” Cade shared.
“Does it have something to do with me?” she asked him and watched him smile.
“It has everything to do with you, Manny.”
“Good,” she smiled and leaned forward to kiss him.
“Manny?” he cupped her face.
“Yes?”
“We’ll both be finished with school by next summer. Wait for me and I’ll wait for you,” he requested.
Amanda nodded and closed her eyes as he kissed her again.
“We should join the others,” he recommended.
“We should,” she agreed almost reluctantly. She stepped back to let Cade hop down and then took his hand as they made their way to where everyone was starting to gravitate to the fire.
“Decide to join us?” Jenny teased.
“Figured it would be the polite thing to do,” Cade returned with a smile.
Jenny grinned back at him.
“Hey, we ready to start a movie?” Jason called.
A few minutes later the movie was going, the crowd settling down to watch, some seated on the hay bales and others leaning against them. Amanda settled with her back against Cade’s chest and his arms around her and sighed in contentment. Jenny plopped down beside her; a pleased smile on her face as she surveyed them.
“I’ve seen this movie; I don’t like it!” Chloe called a moment later. “It’s a horror movie!”
Amanda shuddered; she’d never been a fan of horror movies.
“I won’t let anyone get you,” Cade promised in amusement.
“I’m not a fan of scary movies,” Amanda admitted.
“Me either,” Jenny agreed.
A few minutes later Amanda was hiding her face against Cade’s shoulder. “She’s going to die,” Amanda predicted.
“Why do you say that?” Cade asked her.
“Because she’s having sex; the girls who have sex in these movies die,” Amanda informed hi
m; it made him laugh.
“She’s dead,” he confirmed a moment later.
“Told you,” Amanda smiled up at him.
“Okay, I know he’s your man but I am so borrowing Cade’s other shoulder,” Jenny hopped up to move to Cade’s other side.
“The Dynamic Duo is scared of horror flicks?” Cade asked a laugh.
“Yes!” they returned in unison.
“I’ll protect you both, one of these days Trent’s going to come to his senses and you have to be in one piece when he does,” Cade teased Jenny.
“If only,” Jenny sighed.
“Ew!” Amanda shuddered and turned away from the screen again.
Chloe screamed from a nearby blanket and then jumped up. “Michael Lewis I’m going to murder you!” Chloe punched his arm. “Don’t scare me like that!”
“I’m sorry; I couldn’t help myself,” Michael was laughing.
“So I’m guessing the guys picked the movies,” Cade commented.
“Jason never said what we were watching but I’m guessing he decided,” Amanda, still refusing to look at the screen, answered.
Jenny startled and Amanda chuckled.
“Ugh! If we do this again, the women are choosing the movie,” Jenny grumbled.
“Hey, Mandy; isn’t that your brother’s truck?” Dede asked. Amanda sat up and peered at the truck coming down the drive.
“Yes, it is,” she sighed and settled back against Cade; let her brother deal with it.
“How did he find out about this?” Jenny queried. “I was careful to seek Cade out when he wasn’t around. I waited until after you and Trent were supposed to run to town.”
“Naomi knew where I was going; he might have asked her,” Amanda shared.
“I didn’t want him glaring and ruining your night,” Jenny was scowling.
“He’ll have to deal with it,” Amanda shrugged. A moment later Trent, Christy, and Shauna were approaching. Trent frowned at Amanda, Cade, and Jenny.
“What they hell are you watching?” Trent turned his frown from them to the screen.
“Ask Jason,” Amanda responded. “What are you doing here?”
“Jason sent Freddie for ice and I ran into him in town; he said you were all here and invited us,” Trent explained as he seated himself; his expression was still drawn.
Under the Open Sky (Montana Heritage Series) Page 21