Page 19 of The Cattleman’s Unforgettable Love: Ford and Amelia (MacFarland Ranch #11)

"Oh, my," Sierra exclaimed. "You guys have got it bad. I can't wait to see where this goes."

Amelia didn't even deny it.

"I think he's asking if you want your drink yet," said Sierra. "And we should get back over there. I didn't even let you have one before I dragged you away."

"That's okay. I'm glad you did. We haven't had the chance to catch up, but you're right..." She smiled when she saw Ford holding up a bottle above the others' heads.

As she elbowed her way through the packed saloon back toward the bar, forging a path and letting Sierra follow her, she had to admit that she'd liked the way Ford had tucked her under his arm earlier.

As she'd told him, she didn't need anyone to do it for her, but it was a new and wonderful feeling to have someone at her side – and more than that, to know he had her back. Especially when that someone was Ford.

~ ~ ~

"Callie said to tell you that she thinks Amelia's awesome."

Ford turned to Kolby with a smile. "Good to know."

Kolby chuckled. "Glad you think so. I didn't know how you'd feel about everyone offering their opinions. You usually play your cards close to your chest."

"I guess I do."

"But not this – not you and Amelia. I'm guessing that means that whatever's going on between you two is different, right?"

Ford shrugged. "This is our first date. We don't know what it is yet."

Kolby smiled. "Maybe, but you haven't brought a date out with everyone since I've been home.

I don't think I've ever seen you like this.

And..." He jerked his chin to where Amelia was chatting with Callie and Shayna.

"She's different. She's not just a date – she's one of us already.

Not just because she works with Cash and Mav, but because she's Sierra's friend, and I think every single one of us owes her in one way or another. "

Ford turned to his brother with a frown. "What do you...?"

Kolby laughed. "What I mean is that Amelia's helped us all over the last few years.

If it wasn't for her we might never have known Shayna was missing, until it was too late.

She helped with tracing Callie's stalker.

Who knows how Sierra would have held up when Jared took her if she'd been by herself.

And then there's Nessa – Amelia was the one who found where she was being held.

And just last weekend – how would we have found Shelley, Harper, and Jim if we didn't have Amelia on the case? "

Ford glanced over at her again. Of course he knew that she'd been instrumental in saving so many people since he'd known her, but it hadn't registered in the same way until now.

He'd been impressed by the way she'd worked when Shelley had gone missing – from right here at Chico, just last weekend.

He'd given her a ride back to the ranch, helped her set up her gear when they got there and then had only been able to stand back and watch as she worked her magic – and located Shelley's cell phone and sent the guys up to the cabin in the mountains to get her back.

He smiled as he watched her laugh at something Shayna said. She was just a little thing – even compared to most of the other women – but she was a powerful little lady in many ways.

"Or are we all jumping the gun?" Kolby asked. "Are we getting our hopes up while you're not that invested? That wouldn't surprise me."

Ford let out a breath. "What surprises me is that I feel like I'm getting my hopes up.

I didn't intend to. I'll admit that she caught my eye that first time she came to visit, and.

.." He gave Kolby a rueful smile. "I tried to, but I couldn't forget about her ever since.

I was happy when Cash asked if she could stay at the ranch last weekend.

I was looking forward to seeing her again.

And with the way things worked out – with Cash deciding to stick around, and asking Amelia to stay too.

.. I was glad that she was staying. Thought maybe we'd go out a few times, but.

.. after today?" He shrugged. "Like I said; I'm getting my hopes up. "

Kolby slapped his back. "And what's wrong with that? Why shouldn't you?"

He glanced over at her again. The way she interacted with the group of women reminded him of himself. She did more watching and listening than talking. Only speaking up occasionally, but when she did speak, they all listened.

He turned back to Kolby. "Because I don't deal well with disappointment."

Kolby chuckled. "None of us do, big brother, but it's a chance you have to take."

"What is?"

They turned when Tanner appeared at Ford's side.

"What's going on?" he asked. "What kind of chances are we taking?"

Ford shook his head, and Kolby shrugged.

Tanner rolled his eyes. "It doesn't take much guessing to figure out that we're talking about Amelia. But what kind of chance?"

"I was just saying that in relationships like with anything in life, nothing ventured, nothing gained."

"Yup."

Ford gave him a puzzled look. "What, aren't you going to spout words of encouragement like everyone else has?"

He was surprised to feel disappointed when Tanner shook his head slowly.

"Why not?" Kolby asked.

Tanner glanced over at the women. "Because Everly's not convinced."

"Why?" Ford asked with a frown. He liked Everly. He felt close to her; if she had reservations about him and Amelia, then he wanted to know what they were.

Tanner grinned. "Don't worry. She's just gone all mama bear about it.

" He turned to Kolby. "I don't know if you know the whole story, but Everly and I might not have made it if it wasn't for Uncle Ford helping us out – talking me through it and being there for Everly.

And of course, Ash worships his Uncle Ford so.

.." He winked at Ford. "Amelia's going to be on probation, for a while at least, because Everly won't let anyone hurt him. "

Ford had to smile; he could understand it – he'd behaved the same way himself, wanting to protect his siblings – especially his sisters when they first met their partners.

He glanced over at Laney – in her case, when she and Luke had finally come out and admitted that they were together, Tanner and Ty had already made their displeasure known to the point where Luke still needed a MacFarland he could talk to.

So of course, Ford had volunteered himself for that role.

His brothers grinned at him, and Kolby said, "Yeah, I told you Callie's excited for you, but if Amelia puts a foot wrong..."

He frowned at that. "I love that they want to look out for me, but I'll tell you now that if things go south between us, I'll make damn sure everyone thinks it's my fault. It shouldn't be hard to convince people that I was an asshole."

Tanner gave him a stern look. "I hope you're only joking, because if you're not, you need to understand that if things do go bad between the two of you, Amelia's going to have a hard time around here.

For all we tease you about being the dark and broody one, everyone loves and respects you.

No one's going to let anyone get away with hurting you. "

Ford pressed his fingers to his temple. "It's hardly likely to come to that though, is it? We're on our first date!"

Tanner laughed. "Yeah, sorry. We don't need to go jumping the gun."

Kolby held his gaze for a long moment before saying, "We don't, but you might want to bear it in mind."

~ ~ ~

All the women turned to Callie when the band started to play the next song.

"Are you going to get up there with them?" Frankie asked.

Amelia watched the group curiously as they all turned to Callie. She was surprised to see Laney step in front of her, as if protecting her from the others.

"We said we weren't going to put pressure on her, guys!"

Amelia's curiosity deepened when the rest of them all looked a little shame faced.

"She's right," said Shayna. "Ignore us, Callie. We just love you and we can't help it if we forget sometimes."

Callie looked a little embarrassed as she said, "I will, I'll get up and sing with them again one of these days soon. I even talked to Summer about it, and we're going to figure something out when we can get up together."

Amelia wanted to ask why Callie didn't sing anymore – not even here at Chico – but it hit her that would be incredibly insensitive, and also a pretty dumb question – she could figure the answer out for herself.

Callie used to be – and probably still was – one of the biggest names in country music. Her manager had hired Cash and Mav's company to protect her – and they’d sent Kolby as her bodyguard. Amelia had helped out a little but she hadn't been instrumental in hunting the stalker down.

Callie and Kolby had lived through quite an ordeal, and from what Amelia knew, Callie hadn't performed in public since.

She came back to the moment, pulled from her musings when Callie said, "I'm not going to sing, but we should go grab the guys and dance."

Amelia hung onto her hat as the women seemed to move as one back over to where the guys were still standing at the bar.

Shayna grabbed her arm as they went. "You have to get Ford out on the dance floor," she said with a grin. "It doesn't happen often, but he's a real mover when you can get him out there."

Amelia laughed. "I'm fine to stand and watch with him."

Laney leaned in on her other side as they pushed their way through the crowd. "You don't need to worry if you don't know how to dance, you know."

Amelia's heart sank. Laney hadn't seemed impressed with her so far. It wouldn't normally bother her, but she knew just how close Ford was to her – to all of them.

A wave of relief flooded over her when Laney smiled and added, "It's easy. It's called a two-step because it's two quick steps then two slow steps. And with Ford, all you'll need to do is hang on and let him lead."

"Thanks."

Laney nodded. "Just because I haven't talked to you much doesn't mean I haven't been watching. You care about him. I can tell."

"I do."

Laney laughed. "Good – then get your ass over to him and drag him out on the dance floor. Shay's right, we can't often get him out there, but he enjoys himself when he does."

Amelia smiled back at her. The chance to help Ford enjoy himself was enough to get her past her own hesitation about dancing. Standing on a dance floor and shuffling was one thing, but this whole two-step business looked like more of a challenge.

When they reached the guys, Ford stepped forward and held out a fresh drink. "You ready for this?"

She took it with a smile. "Thanks."

"She's ready to dance," Laney said as she swept by them on her way to Luke, who was already coming to meet her with a big smile on his face.

Ford cocked an eyebrow. "You want to?"

She hesitated. "I don't know how..."

"Come on, Lia!" Sierra tugged at her arm. Wade stood with her, smiling at them.

She nodded before looking back up at Ford.

"I can show you if you want to do it, but we can stay here if you don't."

"I want to try."

The smile that spread across his face was worth stepping out of her comfort zone for. Even two-stepping out of it.

And when they reached the dance floor and he curled his arm around her waist, she decided that dancing might become her new favorite pastime.

"It's just two quick steps and then two slow ones," he told her with a smile as he looked down into her eyes.

She nodded and let him lead her. She looked down at their feet, trying to follow his, but getting totally distracted by how big they were. Maybe it was just the cowboy boots, but his feet seemed enormous next to hers.

"Don't worry – I won't hurt you."

She bit back a laugh as she looked up at him. He had to mean that he wasn't going to step on her feet. No way had his mind gone to the same place that hers had – if his feet were that big – then how big was...?

She wondered if he could somehow read her mind when he smiled at her and tightened his arm around her – crushing her against his broad, hard chest.

She swallowed. "I was concerned that maybe I'd hurt you – step on your toes."

His eyes twinkled as he laughed and something about that look made her relax.

She let him lead her, gave him her weight as they moved around the floor – the music loud, the lights low, the glow of neon, and cowboy hats all around them.

Even though this might be as far outside her comfort zone as she'd ever been, something inside her felt as though it settled.

She didn't know how many songs they danced to. She never wanted it to end. She felt as though she was being pulled back to a life she'd left behind when the music stopped and the crowd cheered – and the lights went up.

Ford's hand came up to cup her neck; his fingers slid around her nape, sending shivers down her spine.

He lowered his head, and she lifted her lips to meet him.

Just like this afternoon, he paused, his lips less than an inch from hers.

She met his gaze, and he smiled and pushed up the brim of her hat as she leaned in to close the gap.