Chapter Fifteen - Scott
Scott pestered Jules all day, asking if she was okay. It got to the point that she got mad at him for asking. It was like she wanted to pretend nothing had happened—like it was just a normal day on the ranch.
Once they’d gotten rides back and given statements to Jimmy and Kat, Jules had insisted she could still do her job. So even though Blair, Sandra, Amanda, and Cameron had claimed they needed the day off (and yet somehow had been well enough to drive down to Lake Powell), Scott had said he was fine too. Anything if it meant being able to spend more time with Jules.
It turned out, however, that not many guests were interested in the activities he had been assigned to for the day. This meant a lot of downtime and mundane tasks. And a lot of time to think.
He’d tried to keep his focus on the world tour he’d be leaving for at the end of the summer, and how he was already a third done with his time at the ranch. Another month and a half and he’d be a free man.
Which made him think about how he only had another six weeks with Jules. Had she been thinking of their kiss from the previous evening as much as he had? They hadn’t spoken about it since. Did she regret it? That led him to wonder if she’d be interested in doing some traveling with him. Then realize he had no idea if that was something she’d enjoy doing. Scott really didn’t know her at all. And vice versa. He was pretty sure she still saw him as the rock star who had been forced into a cowboy hat and a plaid shirt—someone she couldn’t take seriously.
Which led him to a plan for how he was going to prove her wrong.
* * * * * *
An abandoned barn sat at the edge of the ranch. Scott had discovered it when one of his guests had gone wandering off by the stables after getting bored with the archery range. And in that two-story barn were a stage and an outdated dance floor that had been used at some point in the distant past. It sat on the second level, sound speakers long forgotten, tables and chairs covered in dust.
And this was where Scott was going to prove that he was the man for Jules, whether she liked to admit it or not.
It didn’t take much to get Penny and Andy on board, and between the three of them, the stage was set. Figuratively, and literally.
It was five o’clock when Scott strolled down the stairs of the activity barn after having just sent a family down the zipline. His pulse was too quick, his hands too moist. He’d never been this nervous to talk to a girl before. Would she like the surprise?
Penny leaned against the rec desk. Her gaze flitted to him, then back to Jules, who was putting away some gear in the back room. This was the part where Penny was supposed to ask Jules if she’d like to go on a tractor ride. She had connections now that she was dating Andy, who worked with the big machinery as part of his job.
Scott had been worried that Jules would think the idea was lame, but even from across the barn, where he had paused on the steps, he could see her eyes light up. And then she went into turbo mode, like she wanted to get done as quickly as possible.
Shoot. He hoped that Andy and Penny could slow her down, because he needed to get out to the abandoned barn before they did. He’d been hoping to change his clothes first, but now he didn’t think he had time. Not when he needed to grab the food that should be waiting for him in the kitchen, hopefully without raising too many eyebrows. Another one of Andy’s connections.
Scott, however, did nothing but raise eyebrows, and when he started taking the food that had been left for him in an old-fashioned picnic basket, the kitchen staff pestered him with questions, as if he were trying to use his celebrity status to get extra privileges.
Thankfully, Andy came to his rescue before rushing out to prep the tractor for the scenic tour he was planning on taking Penny and Jules on.
Scott didn’t know why the guy was helping him, but he had a strong feeling that it had to do with Penny. And Scott was totally okay with using it to his advantage. He had his own girl to win over, after all.
* * * * *
The rumble of the tractor grew closer, and Scott straightened the already straight napkins. He had thought about candles, but instead went with the Christmas lights that still decorated the walls around the dance floor. Sure, it was midsummer, but they offered a romantic feeling to the room. And he could use all the help he could get.
When he heard the tractor stop, Scott grabbed the bandana he’d stuffed in his back pocket and took the steps two at a time. One step shifted under his foot and sent him stumbling. Luckily, he’d taken a few parkour classes and was able to do a roll that ended with him back on his feet.
“This place is kinda creepy,” he heard Jules say. Yikes. Hopefully, she wouldn’t think so by the time the evening ended. He appeared in the doorway of the barn just as Penny and Andy were leaping back into the tractor and Jules was looking around, bewildered, saying, “You’re just going to leave me here?”
“Don’t worry, I can give you a ride back,” Scott said.
Jules spun and faced him, her lips parted in surprise. “The tractor ride was just so they could get me out here.” She said it matter-of-factly, no question. Scott had used her friends to trick her into meeting him. Hopefully, this didn’t turn out to be a big mistake.
“Thought you’d like a tour of the place.” Scott lifted the bandana. “Of course, I will need to blindfold you before going in.”
Jules blinked. And then blinked again. “You want to give me a tour…blindfolded. Of a haunted barn.”
“It will be worth it. Trust me.”
And then Scott worried that she didn’t trust him, and that that was the problem. It was the reason he’d felt compelled to trick her into meeting him for a romantic evening—so he could show her the real him. Not the one she thought she knew. He was the guitar-strumming guy from the night before, not the rock star everyone saw him as, and he was here to prove it.
And then Jules smiled. It was the type of smile that said she did trust him. And that she wanted to be there with him, haunted barn or not. She closed her eyes. “Just to let you know, If I hear anything creepy or feel something run past my leg, I am so out of here.”
“And I’ll be right behind you.”
The edges of Jules’s lips twitched up, and she squeezed her eyes even tighter, which only made Scott like her more, and made him more nervous. He fumbled with the bandana as he attempted to tie it around the back of Jules’s head, but he managed to finally get it, and only pulled out three hairs in the process.
“Watch your step,” he said as he led her into the barn and to the stairs that would take them to the second floor. Halfway up, when Jules had tripped on a wobbly step and then hit her shin on the one above it, Scott thought that maybe he should have thought this through.
But when she got to the top and he took the bandana off, seeing her expression—it was all worth it. At least for him. She might not agree, depending on how big a bruise she ended up with the next day.
Jules didn’t say anything at first but simply took it all in. The white Christmas lights that adorned the rustic beams (because saying old, rotting wood didn’t sound quite as romantic), the plaid tablecloth that he’d laid on the floor to act as a picnic blanket, and the basket that sat in the middle of it.
“When did you have time to do all this?” she asked, turning to him.
Scott grinned. “I had some help.” He then took Jules by the hand and led her to the blanket. His guitar sat to the side of it, resting in its stand. “Would you like some music to accompany your meal?”
Jules sat on the blanket, her legs to the side and her hands resting on top—all proper-like. She tilted her head to the side and said sheepishly, “Do you mind if we eat first? Andy took us all over the ranch in that tractor, to places I didn’t even know existed, and I’m starving.”
Thank goodness. He was all for romance, but his own stomach was protesting their delayed dinner. “Absolutely.” He reached into the basket and pulled out chicken salad sandwiches, grapes, and mini tarts for dessert. Scott had thought there’d be more, but he supposed he should be grateful that Andy had been able to grab what he had.
If Jules was bothered by the lack of choices, she didn’t show it. Instead, she ate three sandwiches, half the grapes, and four tarts.
Scott had never been out with a girl who felt comfortable enough to eat in front of him. Usually they ordered an expensive salad, then poked at it for the entire night, either because they were too nervous to eat in front of him or they were afraid they’d end up with leaves stuck between their teeth.
Not Jules, though. She seemed to forget he was even there until she was licking lemon custard off her fingers. When she realized he’d only made it through half as much as she had and was watching her with an amused smile, pink tinged her cheeks.
“Um… I…” She raised a shoulder. “I guess I was even hungrier than I realized.”
“Making sure guests don’t shoot themselves while at the gun range can do that to a person.”
Jules placed a hand on his arm and smiled, and Scott couldn’t help but mirror it. “What you’ve done here is amazing.”
“I wanted you to see me outside work. Wanted to give you the chance to ask me anything—get to know the real me.”
Jules leaned back on her arms and studied him for a moment. “Why?”
“Because you don’t trust me. You think your future lies with someone like Blair—someone who isn’t good enough for you.”
“And you are?” She sat up, her gaze curious.
Scott hesitated. That was a good question. Was he good enough for Jules? Before arriving at the ranch, he wouldn’t have given her a second glance. It didn’t matter who you were, just to be able to spend a few hours in his company was an honor. But being forced to be out there at the ranch for the past few weeks? It had changed things.
He now realized he’d been wrong.
And if someone like Jules even gave him a chance, he’d be lucky.
“I’d like to try—if you’ll let me.”
Jules seemed confused by the request. “I thought last night was a one-time thing—your reputation precedes you, and I knew not to expect more.” Her eyebrows furrowed in the center. “Are you messing with me? Because if you are—”
“I’m not,” Scott interrupted. “I would never do that.” Even as he said it, he knew she had every reason to be suspicious. He’d certainly made a point of posting pictures of a different girl in his arms every night on his social media. Funnily enough, he’d actually had a couple of long-term girlfriends over the past few years, but when he posted pictures of dozens of girls, the paparazzi could never figure out which one it was. They didn’t even suspect he could be capable of having a long-term relationship. Of course, he had been dating both of the long-term girlfriends at the same time, so maybe he wasn’t.
That didn’t alleviate his desire to try. He no longer wanted to date just anyone.
Scott wanted to date Jules. And only her.