it wasn’t the best day for me, okay?”
Amanda refused to give him sympathy. He was throwing enough of a pity party all on his own.
“I don’t deny there were issues,” she countered. “But to be honest, the problems were also of your own making. I mean, really,” she continued, goading him with thinly veiled exasperation, “could you have given Lamar a worse task on his first day here?”
Justin’s glance narrowed. “What do you mean?”
Not about to let him pull rank on her—because in this instance they were equals—she moved around the front of the desk and leaned against it, facing him. “Lamar was sent here because he can’t stand school. So the first thing you do is give him paperwork?”
His full attention on her, Justin rocked back in his swivel chair and waited for her to go on.
Her frustration with the situation boiling over, Amanda continued, “Does anyone know why he is skipping so much? Has anyone even asked him?”
Justin’s handsome features sharpened with chagrin. “I don’t know what he’s told others, but I can tell you that I haven’t discussed it with him.”
Hands cupping the edge of the desk, her arms braced on either side of her, Amanda leaned close enough to search his eyes. “Don’t you think you should?” she persisted.
Justin’s brooding expression returned. “I’m not his counselor.”
Amanda exhaled and sat back. She knew this wasn’t her problem, and yet it was. “Then try being his friend.”
His jaw hardened. “He’s got to respect me first.”
Amanda knew better than anyone that a solely disciplinarian approach never worked with a kid like Lamar, just as it had never worked with her when she was ticked off at the entire world. “Set a good example. Inundate him with kindness and patience. The respect will come.”
Silence fell between them. She couldn’t tell what Justin was feeling. Wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
Restless, Amanda stood and began to pace around the room. She paused to look at some of the awards hanging on the wall. There were several for community service and fund-raising, as well as his bachelor’s degree diploma from the University of Texas. Also on display were a model and numerous sketches of the Laramie Boys Ranch as it would look when it was completed with a dozen residential bunkhouses, barns and corrals, basketball and tennis courts, and a swimming pool. But the walls were devoid of the kind of pictures that one would expect to see—portraits of family and friends, and kids he had helped in the past. Truth be told, there was nothing uniquely personal here.
Wondering if his quarters at the ranch were any different, she swiveled back around. “I know your heart is in the right place,” she said softly, determined to help him succeed with Lamar.
He raked his hands through his shaggy hair and stood. “You just don’t think I’m cut out for this.”
Amanda paused, her hands curving over the back of an armchair. It was difficult telling someone what they didn’t want to hear. For whatever reason, with Justin, it was ever harder. She met his eyes. “Kids like Lamar are complicated. They’re tough to reach because they play everything so close to the vest.”
His broad shoulders relaxing slightly, Justin roamed closer. She inhaled the brisk masculine scent of his skin and hair, her pulse picking up another notch.
“So how did you get through to him?”
Feeling as if the room was a little too warm and small for comfort, Amanda turned and walked into the spacious living area with its abundant couches. She sank into a big armchair, wishing she could find the right words to reassure him. “I didn’t. Not really.” Pretending she wasn’t oh-so-aware of every masculine inch of him, she looked Justin in the eye, then lamented, “All I can tell you for certain is that Lamar’s self-esteem is incredibly low.”
Justin rubbed the underside of his handsome jaw. “Which is why he’s acting out.”
Trying not to notice how good it felt to be with Justin in such an intimate setting, Amanda fought back a flush. “Right.”
Justin sat on the sofa opposite her. “Still.” Justin paused to look her over lazily, head to toe. “You connected with him a lot more than I did. He followed you around like a lost puppy.”
Tingling everywhere Justin’s gaze had touched, and everywhere it hadn’t, Amanda shrugged. She knew that what she and Lamar had shared had, for the most part, been superficial, that there was much more going on with the teenager than he was divulging. There had to be, given the fact Lamar had been abandoned by his parents before becoming a ward of the state.
Aware Justin was still studying her intently, Amanda slanted Justin a haphazard glance. “Lamar had never actually seen any carpentry work being done, so he was interested in what I was doing.”
“Plus,” Justin guessed ruefully, “Lamar was trying to get out of more desk work, assigned by yours truly.”
“Good point.” A more companionable silence fell, and they exchanged smiles. “I want this to work out for you both,” she said.
Really listening now, Justin leaned forward a bit. “Then where would you suggest I start?”
Amanda tried to keep her eyes off the sinewy lines of his shoulders and chest. She did not need to be wondering how it would feel to be held against him. And she certainly didn’t need to be wondering what it would be like to kiss him!
Amanda smiled and advised, “By doing something with Lamar tomorrow that would get you both out from behind a desk. Something that needs doing that he can feel good about at the end of the day.”
Justin took her advice to heart. “I’ll work on it,” he promised, leaning toward her. “In the meantime, I have a favor to ask.”
Chapter Three
“A favor,” Amanda repeated, wondering why she was so drawn to him. And even more important, why she was so curious. He was just a client. She shouldn’t need to understand Justin McCabe on a personal level, never mind try to figure out why he had taken on a challenge of this nature. And yet, she sensed there was something motivating him. Something he didn’t like to talk about.
“Don’t worry.” Justin rose and headed for the lodge kitchen. “It’s nothing all that drastic.”
Intrigued, Amanda followed him. “I can’t wait to hear it, then.”
Justin wandered over to the fridge and peered inside. He took out a package of New Braunfels smoked sausage links and set them on the counter. “I volunteered to host a fund-raising dinner and I’ve got no clue what I need to do to get ready for it...or even what kind of food I should serve.”
Amanda couldn’t have been more shocked had he proposed marriage. “And you’re asking me? The carpenter?”
Justin set a skillet on the stove. He opened a bottle of Shiner Boch beer and poured it into the skillet, then added the links and turned the burner on to simmer. “You’re still a woman. And you like to cook.” He went back to the fridge and brought out containers
