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Chapter Nineteen

Amanda sat curled up on the couch with the manuscript resting in her lap and her trusty red pen in hand, staring at the same paragraph she’d already read three times without absorbing a single word. Giving up, she tossed the pen onto the stack of pages and reached for the coffee she’d abandoned on the end table nearly an hour ago. One sip of the cold brew made her grimace and set it right back down. Her concentration was shot, and she knew exactly who to blame.

Every time she tried to focus on the manuscript, her mind wandered back to the night before. Dinner, dancing, Grady’s hand at her waist, and the way interest and more than a little lust had shown in his eyes, despite the ridiculous outfit she’d deliberately chosen to repel him, kept invading her thoughts.

Then there was that kiss. Good Lord, that kiss. She’d spent the morning trying not to think about it, which naturally meant she’d thought about little else.

Her cell phone rang on the cushion beside her, startling her out of another replay of that incredible moment on Edith’s porch. The signal booster she’d ordered for the house had been worth every penny, finally giving her reliable cell service so she didn’t have to keep using her aunt’s landline.

The name on the screen wiped some of her smile away. Madeline.

She picked up the phone and put the call on speaker. “Please tell me you don’t need anything complicated today. My brain has apparently decided to take the morning off.”

“Good morning to you too.”

“What do you want?”

Madeline paused, then said, “I have news.”

Something in her tone immediately put Amanda on alert. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this?”

“You might.”

“Madeline.”

“Okay, fine. You probably won’t.”

Amanda closed her eyes, wishing the other woman would rip off the Band-Aid and spill the news. “What did you do?”

“Technically, I didn’t do anything. The network did.”

That was worse. “What did the network do?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“They love the whole Wyoming situation.”

Confused, she stared at the phone. “What Wyoming situation?”

“You. Antelope Rock. Your aunt. Community service. Small-town life. All of it.”

A horrible suspicion began forming. “Madeline...”

“They want to film it.”

She had to have misheard. “No. Absolutely not.”

“I’m sorry, but the decision has already been made.”

She shoved the manuscript onto the cushion beside her and shot to her feet. “What do you mean, the decision has already been made? It’s my show. I make the decisions!”

“But your contract gives them the right to approve and develop location-based content involving your public appearances and ongoing projects. You know that.”

“Community service is not a public appearance or a project!”

“Actually—”

“Don’t you dare actually me.”

Madeline sighed. “They’ve already been in contact with the town. Vividmark reached out to the mayor two days ago, and the town board approved the filming yesterday. I got the call early this morning. The location manager and his team are heading out there, and the rest of the crew will follow once everything is settled.”