That should be him over there, greeting the director—which meant Beau needed to tear his eyes off of Amelia and remember how to do his damn job. He pulled himself together. “Welcome, Joseph,” he said, holding out his hand for the man to shake. “I’m Beau Taylor. I believe we’ve spoken on the phone a few times. Please let me know if there’s anything we can do to make you more comfortable, or to help as you get everything ready.”

  The director gave a slight nod. “Right, Beau. Good to put a face to the name. The location scouts were already here, but I like to do my own scouting on top of that, just to get a better feel for the place.” He looked at Amelia and added, “I also want to be here in case my star needs me while she gets her riding lessons and prepares for the part.”

  Amelia made a small sound—hardly louder than an exhalation of breath—that traveled right down to Beau’s toes. He curled them inside his boots and steeled himself for the inevitable. He couldn’t put off greeting her any longer.

  “Hello,” he said and faltered. Not knowing what name to call her, he chose instead to say nothing more.

  Not that he could have spoken the second her eyes met his. As her fingers brushed against his outstretched palm, a jolt of pure electricity rocketed up his arm and straight to his heart.

  Damn, she was beautiful. Even more gorgeous than she’d been as a fresh-faced college student. She’d still been growing into herself back then, in the transition stage between child and adult. But now she was every inch a woman, radiating pure sexual energy. But she still had Ami’s innocently happy smile that made her face as sweet as her body was sinful.

  “Hi,” she replied, sounding uncertain, maybe a little nervous. Did she feel the electricity, too? From the look in her eyes, he suspected she did. He held still, so caught up in her that he didn’t realize the moment had dragged on too long until he heard his father clear his throat. At that, he abruptly dropped her hand.

  “So this is new for you, huh?” he said, trying to ease the tension with some casual conversation. “The Searchers is a big artistic deal.”

  “Yes, we’re very excited,” she said. She was still smiling, but the skin around her eyes was taut with a wariness he had never seen before. Ten years was a long time, but he still didn’t want to see her eyeing him this way.

  He thought he’d try to lighten the mood with a joke. They used to joke around all the time. “Must be weird not to be doing a rom-com, huh? You won’t even get to wear a miniskirt. Unless the costume department has some really out-there ideas.”

  The smile she’d been wearing froze, and then dropped fully off her face. Taking a step backward, she huffed out a little noise that reminded him of his most skittish, most finicky mare. “Do girls even wear miniskirts in a backwater town like this, or do you all get scandalized at the sight of an ankle?” she said, waving her hand dismissively. She tossed her head, not meeting Beau’s eyes. Instead they slid right over him like he barely mattered and landed on Joseph. “Where are we, anyway?” she asked the director. “I’ve lost track.”

  Joseph may have answered her—Beau wasn’t really sure. He couldn’t hear anything over the loud rush of angry blood filling his ears.

  She could think as little of him as she wanted. What he couldn’t handle was her mocking or belittling the community that he loved so much.

  But he couldn’t let her know how she’d rattled him. Not when she could probably snap her Hollywood Princess fingers and have this project taken away from him. If it was just him, he might have been willing to take the hit, but this project was about much more than just him Not only would the money help his family ranch well into the future, but hosting a film crew of this size would bring revenue to all the businesses in Crystal Creek. Already, excitement had the whole town buzzing. Meryl at the diner had been booked to provide craft services for the cast and crew through the whole shoot, and she had hired on three new cooks to handle all the work.

  Meryl needed this. Crystal Creek needed this. Everyone was depending on his ability to keep the peace.

  He nodded at his father. “Dad, will you show them to their cabins?” he asked crisply. He was going to be professional, but that meant having the good sense to step away when he really didn’t have it in him to be polite. “Delilah and I cleaned out one and two yesterday, so they are all ready for our guests.” He let the emphasis drop heavily on that last word. “In the meantime, I’ll be in the corral.” He let his gaze drift back to Amelia. “Ready for your first lesson?”

  She looked back at him and he couldn’t read her expression, which only served to irritate him further. Since when did she have this mask up instead of a face?

  “What should I wear?” she asked him.

  Beau eyed her up and down. “Not that,” he scoffed, taking in her clearly expensive outfit. “You’re not in Hollywood anymore, you’re in Texas. Crystal Creek, to be specific.” He turned and strode away, calling back over his shoulder…

  “Welcome to Shining Waters Dude Ranch!”

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