by Lane, Soraya
"So let me get this straight," Jack said, his arm slung around Maddie's shoulders as they sat on the opposite sofa. "You just left with the clothes on your back and took the next flight to New York?"
"If it makes me sound less crazy, I actually booked the ticket before I left the house," Scott told his brother, grinning at the look he was getting in return. "I just wasn't planning on the flight leaving so soon, so I grabbed my wallet and my keys and just left."
Scott looked down at Amanda when she reached for his hand, and he lifted his arm up so she could tuck closer to him. It was only the day after they’d arrived back and they were sitting in her home, surrounded by her family… except for Blake. He was expected to arrive within minutes, and Scott had been carefully rehearsing exactly what he was going to say to him since he'd gotten out of bed too early that morning.
"And you're actually going to move back for good?" Maddie asked.
He watched as Amanda nodded, but he could see she was still second guessing herself. "That's the plan. I mean, it worked out pretty well for you, right?"
They all laughed and then Maddie made a face like she was in pain. Amanda was by her side in less than a second.
"It's the baby, isn't it? What happened?" Amanda asked.
Scott exchanged a look with his brother. The baby wasn't due for another couple of weeks, and he had no idea about this type of thing at all.
"I'm fine, it's probably just a false contraction," Maddie said. "Keep talking, it'll take my mind off the pain."
Amanda looked back at Scott and he motioned for her to come join him on the sofa again. If Maddison wanted distracting, then that's exactly what they'd do.
"Tomorrow I plan on showing Amanda exactly why she'll never want to move back to New York again," Scott said, rubbing his hand down her back.
"Just tell me, would you?" Amanda moaned. "Enough with the teasing!"
He dropped a kiss into Amanda's hair, but his smile faded the moment her brother walked into the room.
"Hey," Blake said, hands pushed into his pockets as he stood near the door.
Scott knew Blake wouldn’t have been expecting him to be sitting there, but he wanted to make sure they got off on the right foot. Amanda was too special to him for him to screw this up.
Charlotte and her mom appeared behind Blake, and Scott took his chance to say something while he could, before their lawyer arrived. He squeezed Amanda's hand and jumped to his feet as everyone said their hellos.
"Hey, you got a minute?" Scott asked him.
Blake nodded and turned around and they both walked into the kitchen, leaving the others to comfort Maddie. The reading of the will was only a formality, they knew exactly how the property had been divided because their dad had always told them, but Scott knew they all wanted to be together as they heard Gus's wishes read out by their family attorney.
Blake leaned back on the counter, hands braced and supporting his weight, as Scott fought the urge to pace and instead stood in front of him.
"I don't really know how to say this, but…" Scott somehow forgot everything he'd practiced, his mind empty of all the clever words he'd rehearsed. "I'm in love with your sister, Blake. I tried to walk away, I tried to let her go, but I couldn't, and I wanted you to hear it from me."
Blake's face was impossible to read, his mouth drawn in a tight line, so unlike his usual easygoing smile.
"All the women in the world and you had to have my sister?"
Scott swallowed, not wanting to argue with Blake, refusing to say or do anything stupid. "I love her, man. You know I wouldn't say that if I didn't mean it, if I hadn't tried everything to fight it."
"And Amanda?" Blake asked, folding his arms across his chest.
"If Amanda didn't want this, I wouldn't be standing here," Scott told him. "I'm not asking for your approval, because nothing you or anyone else says to me could make me walk away now, but I know how much your blessing would mean to your sister."
Blake laughed, shaking his head. "So now you're telling me you want my blessing? I thought you didn’t give a shit about what I thought?”
Scott was baffled. He'd expected yelling, hell, maybe even a fist fight, but not Blake laughing.
“I’ve always cared about what you thought, I just didn’t agree with you.”
Blake gave him a cool smile and walked toward him, stopping less than a foot from him.
"You hurt my sister? I will kill you," he muttered, staring straight into Scott's eyes.
They were almost the same height, standing facing one another, and Scott had no intention of backing down.
"I'm not going to hurt her, Blake. Hand on my heart, I'm not the same guy that I used to be."
"Just don't fuck up," Blake muttered. "Because I told Jack the same thing, and I mean it. You hurt one of my sisters, I hurt you. End of story."
"Fair enough," Scott accepted, holding out his hand. "So are we good?"
"Yeah, you're good," Amanda said, surprising them both when she called out from across the room.
"Mandy, we're trying to…"
"Discuss me like I'm a piece of property?" she interrupted her brother. "Scott, what he didn't tell you is that I already threatened his life if he even thought of trying to come between us this time."
Scott looked at Blake and fought the urge to laugh. So much for the men thinking they were in charge and working their issues out.
"That true?"
Blake shrugged. "I have three sisters. I'm used to being bossed around. But when it comes to protecting them? That's the thing they don't get a say over."
"I came to tell you two buffoons that the lawyer is here," Amanda told them. "So if the whole macho, sorting out who I belong to thing is over, how about you join us?"
Scott held his hand out again to Blake, knowing that for all Mandy's bravado she was anxious for things to settle between him and her brother.
"That guy who used to sleep with everyone woman in town is long gone,” he told Blake in a low voice. "I love your sister, and there's nothing I'd do to jeopardize that.”
"I believe you," Blake said, clasping his hand. "Just don't fuck up, okay? Make her happy, keep the smile on her face, and look after her."
"Promise," Scott said, slapping Blake on the back.
"Then let's grab a beer and go listen to what the old man left his family. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I was such a dickhead to you in the beginning. You were right when you said it wasn't me. I should have taken some time to cool off."
Scott just smiled, his heart no longer racing. Thank god for that.
Amanda lay with her head on Scott's shoulder, snuggled under the covers. They'd hardly said a word since they'd come upstairs to bed, even though her mind was full of everything they'd learned during the reading of her father's will. It was already at least 2 a.m. and she doubted she'd ever manage to fall asleep.
"You okay?" Scott asked, turning slightly so he could look at her, his lips touching hers before she had time to answer.
"It's just weird to think that we all own this place now. That it's ours instead of belonging to mom and dad."
Scott thrummed his fingers gently up and down her arm and she tried to push the thoughts of her dad from her mind - and failed.
"You know, it was like he was in the room with us tonight. I could hear his voice when everything was being read out, could see him discussing it all with his attorney and working out what was fair."
"You're lucky, you know," Scott said. "You were all left equal ownership of everything, which means no animosity, and Charlotte and Blake receive the income they deserve from running the ranches."
Amanda nodded. She knew he was right, but still. "I have this feeling like I don't deserve to have the same ownership as them. I mean, what have I done to help? To contribute to our family?"
She blinked as Scott wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"You've been the daughter living her own dreams, you and Maddie both. Your dad must have been so proud
of you, of everything you accomplished, I know it," Scott murmured. "And you're here now. Maybe there's a reason you're back home."
She forced the tears down and wriggled so she could face Scott, propped on one elbow. "Can't we just go see my surprise now?"
He laughed. "In the dark? No."
She sighed, needing something to take her mind off everything. "I'm never going to fall asleep."
Scott waggled his eyebrows and had her pinned beneath him in seconds, his breath hot against hers, big body a welcome weight over her.
"It just so happens that I can think of a hundred ways to take your mind off just about anything," Scott whispered, kissing the spot on her neck that always made her squirm in pleasure.
"We can't," she protested, wishing with every bone in her body that they could.
"Why not?" Scott asked, teasing her with his tongue now, his lips slowly moving against hers.
Amanda gave in, kissed him, ran her hands down the bare skin of his back.
"No!" she managed, pushing him back, one palm to his chest. No. "We can't, not in this house, with my mom and my brother…" Amanda took a deep, shuddering breath, wishing she wasn't being so sensible. But that part of what they were doing just didn't seem right.
"You're sure?" Scott asked, looking down at her in the soft light cast from the moon shining in her window.
"There's something about this room that makes me feel like a naughty school girl all over again," she told him, "so yeah, I'm sure."
Scott groaned and rolled off her. "We're staying at my place tomorrow night, even without furniture," he grumbled.
"Is that the surprise?" she asked.
"No more questions," he told her, pulling her close and shutting his eyes. "You'll see in the morning, but yeah, this is the last night we're spending having chaste cuddles in your family home."
"Hey, what's wrong with cuddling?" she protested.
Scott chuckled, his eyes still closed. "The fact that you're not naked."
When he'd run through it in his own head, it had sounded great, but Scott was starting to think he'd made too much of a big deal over the surprise. Especially now that everyone knew he was showing her something, and she was just about bouncing off her seat with excitement.
"I still can't believe you got me out of bed so early," he grumbled, pretending to be annoyed but loving the fact she was so enthusiastic.
"I'm thinking you have that gorgeous bath finished and you're dying for us to have the first romantic…"
"In broad daylight?" Scott asked, grinning over at her. "I mean, I'm up for it, but I didn't think you'd be game."
Amanda laughed. "Yeah, I was thinking you could just show it to me today and we'd come back in the dark for a dip."
Scott chuckled and took one hand off the wheel to place it on Mandy's thigh instead. He was about to tell her that the bath was definitely ready to be christened, but…
"Oh my god!" Her words all meshed into one she said them so fast. "It's actually finished?"
Her eyes locked on his when he stopped the car outside his new place, pleased that there were guys there finishing it off.
"Yep, it's almost done."
"So this was the surprise?" she asked, her eyes lighting up with her smile.
Scott leaned across and kissed her. "No, but I'm glad you like it."
She touched his cheek, gazing into his eyes. "I don't just like it, I love it," she told him. "And I'm guessing that, um, well that this is where we'll both be living?”
Damn it, he'd asked her to come home with him and he hadn't even made it clear that he wanted her to move in.
"So you probably shouldn't have had to ask me that, huh?" He reached for her hand and lifted it, kissing it but never taking his eyes from hers. "Amanda Jones, I would very much like you to move into my house with me."
She batted her eyelashes at him. "Why Scotty, I'd be delighted to move in."
They both laughed and Scott touched his forehead to hers. "I do want you to live here with me, you know that, right? I'm just not the best at remembering to actually say what I think sometimes."
"That's why I like you so much, Scott. Because the men I've been with in the past have done way too much talking and not enough in the thinking department."
"Come on," he said, dropping her hand and getting out of the vehicle. "Let's go check the place out."
He met Amanda around the other side and took her hand, ready to walk through the front door and show her exactly what he'd done for her. At the time, he'd wondered if it was crazy to even think she'd come back someday, but now she was at his side, he knew it was the smartest thing he'd ever done.
"I can't believe you're so close to the accommodation but you're still so private," Amanda said, turning around in a slow circle and admiring the new house. "And it's new, though it totally feels like it's been here a lot longer than it has, if you know what I mean."
"Now that's the best compliment you could give me," Scott said. "I paid my architect a fortune to make sure that was the case, so at least he's done his job."
"Can we take a look upstairs?" she asked, desperate to see the rest of the place.
"Sure can," Scott replied, motioning toward the staircase. "After you."
"So you can check out my butt?" she asked, turning and smiling at him over her shoulder.
"Hell yeah," he said, slapping her ass and making a grab for it, which sent her squealing and running up the stairs.
"Which way?"
"My, sorry, our bedroom is straight ahead, but I think we'll look at the one next door first."
She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to go first. "Is this the surprise?"
Scott didn't say anything, went quiet as he pushed open the door and walked in. Amanda followed, looking around the large, empty room. It was painted white, and there were large doors opening out to the upstairs balcony, like it was more of a living room than a spare bedroom.
"This is for you," Scott said, his voice lower than usual. "I want this to be your own space, where you can paint and relax, either in here or outside looking back over the ranch to your family's place."
Amanda shook her head, walking to the doors and pushing one open, admiring the view that indeed stretched all the way to the ranch she'd grown up on.
"Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure in all my life," Scott said, coming up behind her and circling his arms around her waist. "I want this to be your home, too, and I know you're used to having your own space. This was supposed to be two bedrooms, but I changed the design and decided to make it one big area for you."
Amanda turned in his arms, looking up at Scott. "What if I'd said no and not come home with you?"
He grimaced. "I would have spent the rest of my days as a bitter bachelor."
"So are there any spare rooms for kids, now that you've given me half the upstairs?" she teased.
"Hey, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves."
She rolled her eyes. "I was talking about Maddie and Jack's little one, silly." She hadn't been, but she was also only teasing. One day she'd love children, but right now all she wanted was to enjoy spending time with Scott, the man she'd somehow fallen head over heels in love with, just like she had over a decade ago as a naïve teenager.
"Thank you," she said, staring up at him. "I love it."
"So can we tour the master bedroom now?" he murmured, his hands sliding down her back to rest on her butt.
"I didn't think you had any furniture yet?" she asked.
"I don't, but the carpet's pretty damn soft and there's a big bath…"
"Scott! There're still guys here working."
"So?" he shrugged. "Nothing they haven’t seen before."
"Come on Romeo, let's just finish the tour. We might have to make a day trip into Billings tomorrow to order some furniture, so we can move in and start to enjoy the place."
Amanda grabbed Scott's hand and dragged him from the room, unable to stop grinning as she took one last loo
k through her new studio. It was a hell of a lot different from her studio in New York, and the house was the polar opposite of her apartment, but she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
This was home now, and she knew she'd never be desperate to leave Montana ever again. There would be no more compromises, no more thinking she couldn't have it all, because Scott had shown her that she could have everything she'd ever dreamed of. She’d need to fly out to New York every couple of months, maybe more often, but the commute would be worth it.
He interlinked their fingers as they walked down the hall to the master bedroom, but before they could walk in the door he stopped and pushed her against the wall, pinning her body with his.
"Hey!" she protested, even as she parted her legs so he could press against her, tilted her mouth back so he could kiss her.
"I need to thank you," he murmured, holding her hands against the wall and staring down at her, his dark gaze sending a shiver of anticipation down her spine.
"For what?" she whispered back, aching to stand on tiptoe and make him kiss her, wanting her hands back so she could run her fingertips across his stubble.
"For making me believe that my father was wrong," he told her. "He told me when I left here that I was such a screw up that no one would ever love me, least of all him, and I believed him. All these years I pretended he couldn't hurt me, but deep down I always thought he was right."
"Well he was wrong. Every shade of wrong," she told him, smiling as his lips touched hers in a gentle kiss that quickly turned rough.
"You're sure about that?"
Amanda gasped as Scott ran his hands up her top, across her bare skin, his mouth against her neck even as he spoke.
"Shut up and kiss me, then I'll show you how sure I am."
"Ahh, sorry to interrupt."
A deep male voice made Amanda jump, yanking down her top and pulling away from Scott. He turned, not looking at all embarrassed.
"Scott, I just need to go over a few final details with you in the kitchen, but if you need a minute…"
Scott looked over his shoulder at her and grinned. "What I need to do will take a lot longer than a minute, so let's get this over with."
Amanda's entire body felt like it had been lit on fire, the blush in her cheeks probably so red she looked like a beet. Trust Scott to say something like that without worrying how it sounded.