MONTANA HOMECOMING (Montana Book 2)
Page 5
"Amanda?" Scott asked, rubbing her back and looking down at her.
She took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded, holding on to him a little longer before stepping back. He smiled down at her and wiped gently under her eyes where her mascara had smudged, before bending and kissing her cheek.
"You've been so strong today," he whispered. "I'm proud of you."
Amanda touched his shoulder and slowly walked backward, before taking Blake's arm.
"Are you coming to the burial?" she asked.
Scott shook his head. "No. But I'll see you at the house later."
Blake gave him a strange look but Scott just stared straight back at him as he led Amanda away. He might want Amanda in his bed, but at this exact moment all he wanted to do was be there for her while she grieved, because he understood her pain.
He'd deal with Blake if he had to, but he was going to do his best to be the bigger man and not get into a confrontation with her brother. The old him would have been the first to throw a punch and tell him to back the hell off, but that was exactly what Blake was expecting. Besides, after years of dating beautiful women and never settling down, he was starting to wonder what it would be like to have someone like Amanda in his life. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been with a woman in the months since he’d been home, maybe it was just that he wanted to look after Amanda while she was hurting, or that he wanted what he couldn't have. All he knew for sure was that he was sick of being marked as the bad boy, the guy who wasn't good enough for nice girls. He’d been thrown out of enough bedrooms as a teenager by angry as hell fathers to get that message loud and clear.
Scott waved to his brother and walked to his truck. He'd go back to the ranch, see the progress his construction crew had made, and then head back for the wake.
Amanda knew she should have been more focused on all the people coming and paying their respects, but she couldn't help but keep an eye out for Scott. So much for everyone acting like he only ever treated women as objects – that wasn’t the Scott she’d seen since she’d gotten back to town. So far he'd been the only person other than her mom and siblings able to meet her tear-filled gaze, able to just reach for her and hold her, not caring that she was crying or that they were surrounded by a crowd. He was a rock and he'd helped her through the toughest part of the day.
"Looking for someone?" Charlotte slung her arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze.
Amanda squeezed her straight back. "I was just keeping an eye out for Scott."
Charley grinned. "Please don't tell me I'm going to end up with another Gregory as a brother-in-law? One is more than enough."
She rolled her eyes at her sister. "I just wanted to thank him for something he did earlier."
Charley leaned in close. "He just came in the back door, and I saw him grabbing a beer and chatting to Jack."
Amanda nodded. "Thank you."
"Hey, are you doing okay? I mean, I know you were pretty cut up about not coming home sooner."
She gave her sister a hug. "It's you I'm worried about the most. You spent every day with him. I'll be fine."
Amanda knew she was lucky to have two sisters, especially at a time like this. They'd always been close, but now they were grown up it was different. Better.
"Go find him. And if he cracks open any bourbon don't forget to include me this time."
Amanda glared at Charley. "Maddison told you?"
"About you getting caught drinking and making out with Scott? Of course she told me."
She closed her eyes for a second, before giving Charley a playful shove and walking off to find him. Trust her sisters to gossip about her.
When she stepped into their kitchen, she was surprised by how few people had made their way in. Scott was leaning against the counter, and Jack was sitting with Maddison at the table. Two of her mother's friends were chatting near the oven, no doubt waiting for more food to be ready to pass around.
"Is this a private party?" she asked.
Scott looked up, stopped talking when he heard her voice, and he pushed off from the counter straight away.
"I'm only here because my feet are killing me, and Jack was forced into keeping me company," Maddison said.
"What can I get you to drink?" Scott asked, eyes on hers as she walked to stand closer to him.
Amanda held up her glass. "Well I've been drinking orange juice, but I think it's time for something stronger."
"I'd kill for a glass of anything alcoholic," her sister moaned.
"Come on," Jack announced. "Let's get out there and talk to your dad's friends, find something for you and the baby to eat."
Maddison grumbled but she took Jack's hand and rose from her chair, leaving Amanda and Scott standing alone.
"Everything go okay?" he asked, finding a glass for her and pouring wine.
"As well as it could, I guess," she replied, not wanting to think about her father being lowered into the ground ever again. "You should have come. You know you're like family to us."
He shook his head, before pointing to the table and going to sit down with her. They sat on the same side of the oversized wooden plank table, chairs angled so they were facing one another.
He let out a big breath and leaned back, “Today was the first time I've been to a funeral service since my mom died."
She stared at him. "Because of what happened, with her?" she asked softly.
"I've got plenty of scars from those years, but none are quite like being a boy and seeing your mom in a coffin."
Wow. She remembered the funeral herself, even though she'd been really young, but Scott was more sophisticated now, so grown up, that she'd never realized how raw some of his wounds would still be.
"It meant a lot to me that you came today. Especially given that."
Scott angled his head, watching her as he took a swig of his beer. "I went out of respect for your dad and also…I went for you. I wanted you to know I was there." Scott paused, like he was unsure how to tell her what he wanted to say. "Your folks stuck up for us when we were boys, after mom died, even though it meant pissing my father off. Your dad gave a shit about me and Jack, and as far as I'm concerned, he was more of a dad to us back then than our real one ever was."
"Then why didn't you stay when my dad offered you a job? When he tried to stop you from leaving?" Amanda asked, remembering what it had been like back then, how upset she'd been that Scott had walked away.
"Because I needed to make my own way in the world, and he was one of the only people in my life who understood that. I talked to him and he listened, treated me like an adult when I was eighteen and trying to figure out what to do."
"And now?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Now I know what I want and who I am. There's no one in my life with any power to stop me from doing whatever the hell I want to do when I want to do it."
She laughed. "So that's why you don't have a girlfriend or wife?"
"No," he said, his voice suddenly deeper, more serious. "I don't have a woman in my life because I've never been with anyone who's tempted me to stop being a loner. Up until now, I've wanted to be on my own."
Amanda wanted to lower her gaze, but the way Scott was staring at her made that impossible. They seemed to keep skirting around something, flirting but serious at the same time. Was he waiting for her to say something? To say that she was looking for Mr. Right, too? Because she wasn't sure if she was. For the first time in her adult life, she wanted to just have fun and not try to pre-plan her future.
"So now that you're back," she said, changing the subject, "are you planning on staying for good?"
He nodded. "Yep, I'm here for the long haul now. I just need to get my house finished so I can move out and let Jack and Maddison have some privacy."
"Not to mention the fact that you won't want to listen to a newborn screaming at god only knows what hour of the morning."
Scott winked, eyes filled with laughter. "I'll have you know that I intend on taking my duties as
uncle very seriously."
"So we'll be competing for favorite uncle and aunty status?" she asked, raising her eyebrow like she was ready to throw down right there.
"You don't stand a chance," he said. "I've got it all planned. If it's a boy, there'll be motorcycles, guns and tree huts, and if it's a girl, favorite uncle here is going to get the best pony…"
Amanda held up her hand, touching her finger to his lips to stop his claims. "I get the picture," she said, laughing as he grabbed her hand and held it captive. "But it's not just about what money can buy. I might have a few tricks up my sleeve, too."
He tugged her closer, hand locked around her wrist. "I'd like to know more about these tricks of yours."
Amanda's heart raced as she stared at Scott. She'd only been this close to him twice before, and the last time she'd found herself touching his lips, she'd ended up straddling him and then pinned against a wall.
"So?" His voice was deliciously deep.
She gulped. "Maybe they're secret."
Amanda hoped no one was watching them, but she didn't really care. There was no part of her that wanted to pull away from Scott - he was like a magnetic force reeling her in and not letting her get away.
"Maybe we could partner up?" he murmured, voice like it was being dragged over gravel. "Make sure we're both the favorites."
She was thinking about partnering up in an entirely different way, but right now she'd take what she could get.
Amanda stood beside her family and listened as Jack spoke about her dad to the crowd gathered. She doubted there was a dry eye in the room, and it had taken all her self-control to hold her own emotions in check. She’d relied on the welcome distraction that was Scott.
She glanced in his direction, instinctively knowing where he was standing, and his dark gaze locked on hers. It had been the same every time she'd looked at him - his smoldering eyes sending a blast of heat through her body. She knew it was wildly inappropriate, given that she'd just buried her father, and it was also completely out of character for her. Which was making the whole flirting thing so enjoyable.
"Amanda?"
She turned to face her brother. Jack had finished speaking and everyone was slowly going back to chatting.
"It was so nice of Jack to speak on behalf of all of us," she said, fighting the heat in her cheeks as her brother stared at her.
"Yeah, it was," he replied, but he looked more pissed off than grateful.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, reaching out to touch his arm.
She felt Blake stiffen, knew for sure he was angry. This was more than just dealing with losing their dad.
"I want you to steer clear of Scott," he said, like he was giving her an order, not a suggestion.
Amanda stood her ground, wishing her sisters were still standing nearby. She could use them to help talk sense into their hothead brother.
"Are you talking about what happened earlier today? After the funeral?" she asked. "Scott helped me through a rough moment, that's all. I just needed a hug."
Blake's face was almost expressionless, which she knew meant he was bottling his anger up inside.
"You need a hug, you come to me," he told her.
"Blake, don't be an ass." She wasn't going to engage, not with him behaving like an overprotective idiot. "I'm not a little girl anymore, and Scott is just a friend."
Blake laughed. "There was nothing just friendly about the way you two have been looking at each other, and I know him, Amanda. He's not the type of guy I want you being with, okay?"
Now she was angry. How dare he try to tell her what she could and couldn't do? "So he was good enough to be your best friend until he left here, but it's not okay for me to be friends with him? Is that what you're saying?"
He closed his hand around her wrist, tugging her closer, his voice a low whisper. "Scott's bad news where women are concerned, okay? If I find out that there's anything going on between you two, Scott will have me to answer to.” Blake shook his head. “You know, I remember how heartbroken you were when that dickhead cheated on you. The one when you first moved to New York.”
"Let go of my hand, Blake." She didn’t have any intention of recalling those memories – she’d gotten over that relationship years ago.
Amanda tugged her way out of his vise-like hold and took a step back.
“I just don’t want to see you hurt again, Amanda. So when I say don’t go there? I mean it.”
"Everything okay here?"
She turned to see Maddison standing behind them.
"Back off, Blake," she said, loud enough so her sister could hear.
Blake glared at her, clearly not caring that Maddison was listening. "I'll knock every one of his teeth out if he so much as…"
"What?" she hissed. "If he does what, Blake? Because I'm a big girl now and he's a big boy, so your silly threats from the past aren't going to work anymore."
Blake shook his head and marched away from her, leaving Amanda confused and angry.
"I could kill him," she moaned to her sister.
"He's just trying to look out for you," Maddie said as she slung her arm around her shoulders.
She gave her sister a hug back, but inside she was fuming. The funny thing was, Blake had as good as pushed her in Scott's direction. The more he told her to stay away, the more she wanted something to happen. It might be childish, but there was something about being back home that was bringing back the rebel in her, and for the first time in years she finally felt free. She'd never been told she couldn't have something, and there sure was some truth to that old saying about forbidden fruit…
CHAPTER SIX
"What did that nail ever do to you?"
Scott paused and looked down from where he was positioned on the the roof of his new house. He held up his hand to block out the sun and grinned down at his brother.
"It's kind of therapeutic, you should try it sometime."
"Yeah, except for the fact that I don't have any underlying anger I need to get rid of," Jack called back with a laugh.
Scott finished hammering and came down the ladder. "Would you believe me if I said I didn't have anything on my mind?"
"Nope, not a chance,” Jack said. "But I would believe you if confessed to being all tied up in knots about a certain blonde.”
Scott laughed. “Not me."
He scuffed his boot in the dirt, looking up at the half-constructed structure in front of them.
"It's looking good,” Jack said. “ I still can’t believe you’ve managed to get this and the accommodation underway so fast."
"Yeah, you’ll have me out of your place in no time."
Jack nudged him with his shoulder. "You might just need to find a good woman to share it with, huh?”
Scott shoved him back, laughing hard when his brother gave him a play punch in the stomach. "Just because you're all loved up doesn't mean the rest of us have to be."
"Who're you kidding? I have a beautiful woman in bed beside me every night and you're gonna be rattling around this place alone."
"You've gone soft in the head," he told Jack. "The woman in my bed part? Perfect. But I have no intention of going all domestic and shacking up with anyone."
"Even Amanda Jones?"
This time he punched Jack hard in the arm before scowling back at him. "You just focus on your wife, bro, and I'll stick to finishing this place. I’ll be way too busy pulling in the guests to even think about Amanda.”
He was lucky his brother had a good sense of humor - as he climbed the ladder all he could hear was laughter. But the worst thing was, Jack was right. He did have Amanda on the brain, and the only thing he could think about was pressing hard against her again, like he had that night in the barn, and seeing just how far she'd let things go. Screw Blake. If Amanda wanted some fun between the sheets, hell, or against a wall for that matter, then he was up for it. What Blake didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and besides, grown up Mandy could make up her own mind about what she wanted.
He put down his hammer and pulled out his mobile, before deciding it wasn't exactly a good idea to call the main house. Maybe his best bet was to finish his work, then wander over and come up with a bogus reason for visiting. Offer to help out. Then he could look Amanda in the eye and ask her out, insist on that dinner she'd agreed to the other night.
If he was lucky, maybe he wouldn't even see Blake. The women of the Jones family he could deal with - it wasn't them who'd ever been his problem.
Amanda sat in the sun and stretched out her legs, admiring her newly painted toenails. It seemed like forever since she'd actually taken some time to pamper herself, and hanging out with her sisters had been fantastic. They'd always been close, but most of their sister time was spent on the phone chatting, not in person.
She heard her sister coming back out and she relaxed back into the chair, eyes shut.
"I hope you have something ice cold for me to drink," she murmured.
Amanda held out her hand, beyond thirsty from sitting out in the sun for too long, but instead of the soda she was expecting, something wet trailed across her bare stomach.
"Charley!" she squealed, almost falling off her chair.
“I’d say sorry but I wouldn’t mean it.”
Oh-my-god. Amanda's entire body felt like it was on fire when she looked up and realized exactly who was blocking the sun. Scott was staring down at her, amusement written all over his face. His smile was wide as he burst out laughing, holding out the bottle of Coke.
"Scott!" she managed, rearranging her bikini top to make sure she wasn't showing anything. "That wasn't…"
"I'm sorry," he said again, interrupting her and pulling the other chair over so he was facing her. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "I couldn't help myself."
"Pity Blake isn't here. At least I could sic him on you as punishment."
Having Scott trail an ice-cold anything down her skin wasn't exactly torture, and the way he was looking at her now… it was having that delicious effect of wiping her mind of everything else.