Amanda's Wolves(19)

Laurie spoke quickly when they exited, introducing two men almost before Amanda had a chance to step into their line of sight. “Amanda, this is my brother Sawyer, and this is Logan Masters.”

Amanda stopped breathing. She stood rooted to her spot for several seconds, blinking as if she were seeing an apparition.

Her eyes darted back and forth between them before settling on Logan. Logan Masters. The fourth brother. Single, if she recalled correctly, and yet another replica.

But what was more shocking was the other man. Sawyer. Laurie’s brother. He was taller and larger than Logan, which was saying something.

He was also the second man who starred in her dreams.

The bottle of water she held slipped through her fingers and hit the porch with a resounding thud in the silence. Droplets flew into the air, but she didn’t glance down to acknowledge the accident.

No one did.

Both men stood perfectly still, staring at her as though they were completely aware of her dreams.

Which is totally insane and not possible…

Laurie cleared her throat. “Okay, then, how about everyone sit down.” She pulled on Amanda’s arm.

Amanda forced her feet to inch forward under Laurie’s guidance until she found herself lowering into the porch swing next to Laurie.

Thank God, because if she’d tried to support herself upright for much longer, she would have fainted, or at least her knees would have buckled.

Laurie was still the only person to have spoken, and she did so again. “Logan. Sawyer. Sit.” Her voice was soft but commanding.

Without taking their gazes off Amanda, they rounded to the two chairs across from her and took their seats.

Amanda blinked several times, trying to decide if she was awake. Maybe she had fallen asleep babysitting and was still inside on the couch and no one had come home yet. Yes. That had to be it. In which case, it would be best if she didn’t disturb the dream and let it play itself out.

In fact, considering the way her body was reacting to these two men, she sincerely hoped she could remain asleep and enjoy the tingling sensation that made her nipples pucker and her legs draw together to pinch off the need growing between them.

Laurie spoke again, startling Amanda. There had never been another woman in her dreams. “So…Amanda just moved here from Oklahoma. She’s been staying with her sister, my friend Mary.” She was rambling. “Thank goodness she was able to babysit for me and Rebecca tonight. I needed the break.”

Amanda concentrated on breathing, which seemed to be the case with Logan and Sawyer also. She watched their chests rise and fall. It seemed as though she’d been struck mute and dumb, but then again, so had these two men.

Had to be a dream…

Laurie took a deep breath and kept talking, filling the awkward silence. “Logan lives in Cambridge and works with his family at the resort as a ski instructor in the winter and a hiking guide in the summer.” She glanced nervously at Amanda, who caught the gesture out of her peripheral vision. “Sawyer moved here at the same time as you. What a coincidence, huh?” Her voice shook, but she didn’t quite laugh.

Sure. What a coincidence.

“He’s a fireman of some sort. Just got a job here with the wildfire team thingy. What do you call it, Sawyer?”

A few seconds ticked by.

“Sawyer?” Laurie repeated.

He licked his full lips and finally responded in a rather robotic voice. “Hotshots.”

Laurie snapped her fingers in an exaggerated manner. “That’s right. Hotshots. Never heard of them before. Have you, Amanda?” She nudged Amanda with her right arm.

“Um, no.”

“Well, they’re some specialized team of firefighters who put out wildfires in the forest and stuff like that. Right, Sawyer?”

Amanda had the sensation that she and the two men were suddenly toddlers and had only a rudimentary grasp of the English language.

“Yep. Stuff like that.” Sawyer straightened his spine and sat taller, rubbing his palms on this thighs. He shook his head as if to clear it of a deep fog and finally spoke for himself. “What do you do, Amanda?”

“Nothing.” She couldn’t imagine ever doing much of anything at all as long as she was this tongue tied. And then a small fragment of sense returned to her brain. “I mean, not yet. I just got my degree in anthropology. I’ve been interviewing a few places since I moved here. I had a promising interview at the junior college. They said they would get back to me soon.”

“Teaching?” Logan asked. It was the first time she’d heard his voice. Deep. Rich. Exactly as she knew it would be.

She shook her head. “No. Doing research. They have a grant to study the separation of Native Americans and Caucasians in the area. I don’t get the impression they’ve had any other qualified applicants.”