Callie definitely had her eyes on Bash. Not that she could blame her. What red-blooded single woman wouldn’t? Bash was gorgeous and had obviously come to the party without a date. Colt made it a point to sit near Sarah and not next to Tony, though Des knew where his heart wanted to be, so she cast him a sympathetic gaze. Colt just shrugged and smiled at her.

As the day wore on, Des was amazed by the number of people who’d shown up.

“Do you always get this many people?” she asked Logan.

He nodded. “It’s a big deal. And the fireworks are pretty cool. But I think we have more than the usual crowd, likely due to you and Colt being here.”

She’d met and talked to a lot of people today, yet not once had she ever felt rushed or crowded. People stopped and shook her hand, and she’d taken a few pictures, but most of the folks had been extremely courteous. Not at all what she was used to from other places.

“People here are nice. Usually I’m bombarded by crowds. Everyone here has been so polite.”

“You’re here to enjoy yourself and relax. This is your day off. No one wants to be rude and trample on that. If they see you have a spare minute, they’ll want to say hello and maybe get a picture with you, but no one’s going to intrude.”

Des took a deep breath and let it out. She could get used to a lifestyle like this, where she was treated just like everyone else. And no paparazzi in sight. It was idyllic and peaceful, and she couldn’t recall having a better day. Even Theo hadn’t bothered her today. He’d come to the barbecue, but he’d stuck to hanging out with his crew or talking to the people of the town. He’d steered clear of her.

Which meant today couldn’t get any better.

Or maybe it could, since she hadn’t yet had any significant alone time with Logan, and she was definitely looking forward to that.

There was still a lot of fun stuff left in the day.

“Excuse me,” Logan said, getting up. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He went over to the table where Luke was sitting, then whispered something in Luke’s ear. Luke motioned to Bash and Carter. Suddenly, they’d all gotten up and disappeared into the crowd.

Emma and Jane came over to sit with her. “Any idea what that’s about?”

Des shrugged. “No idea.”

“It’s too early for fireworks.”

“Maybe they’re off to have a shot of tequila,” Callie said. “And if so, how rude of them not to share.”

Emma laughed. “There’s plenty of hard liquor in the house. You’re welcome to it.”

“In this heat, I think I’ll stick to tea today. But later tonight when it gets dark, that tequila might sound really good.”

About a half hour later, they reappeared. And with them, Theo, who shot off in the opposite direction.

Des stood. “What happened?”

Logan gently pushed on her shoulder to sit her back down, then pulled up a seat next to her. “Nothing. The guys and I just had a . . . discussion with your director.”

Colt frowned. “What’s going on with Theo?”

Des sighed. “He came to my trailer several days ago and hit on me.”

“He did not,” Colt said.

“Yeah. And when I turned him down, he threatened me and said he’d make sure I never worked again.”

“That perverted sonofabitch,” Sarah said, shaking her head. “He’s such a snake.”

“I took care of it,” Des said. “I threatened to go to the press and get some of my actress friends to do the same, and blow the lid off his cheating ways.”

Callie laughed. “Good for you, honey. Someone should. His wife is a real sweetheart and doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.”

“What did you do, Logan?” Colt asked.

Logan didn’t answer.

But Luke did. “We took him into the barn and had a . . . discussion with him about the appropriate way to treat a lady.”

“And what could happen to him if he ever makes a threat against Des again,” Bash added.

“There’s a right way and a wrong way to treat a woman, especially on my ranch,” Logan said. “I don’t care what kind of papers I signed allowing the movie to be filmed. You threaten someone on my property, and I’m going to do something about it.”

“I didn’t see any bruises on his face,” Colt said.

“Oh, I think Logan got his point across. Within the limits of the law.” Luke grinned.

Tony sprouted a wide grin. “He’s not used to someone calling him out. He was probably so scared he pissed himself.”

Colt snorted. “I would love to have been there for it. He’ll probably surround himself with his bodyguards the rest of his stay here on the ranch.”

“As long as he leaves me alone, I don’t care what he does,” Des said. “He’s an arrogant ass.”

“But a very good director, unfortunately,” Colt added.

Des sighed. “So true. But I don’t think I ever want to work with him again.”

“He won’t be bothering you,” Logan said.

Des’s heart swelled. She couldn’t believe he’d done this for her. She turned to him. “Thank you.”

His lips curved. “You’re welcome.”

Chapter 14

TYPICALLY ON THE Fourth of July, Logan wandered among the crowd, stopped and talked to everyone, but spent the day as an observer. He had no complaints about that. This was his day to relax, eat good food, drink some beer, and maybe end the night with a beautiful woman who had caught his eye.

Right now his eye was on a certain raven-haired beauty laughing with a group of her friends and his, with different people from town winding their way through to stop and visit. Des had easily integrated herself with the people of Hope. And it wasn’t because they were starstruck, either. Okay, maybe some of the folks in the town might be, but not his brother or his best friend, and not Emma or Jane or Chelsea. They lived way too much in the real world that had real-life problems to fawn over celebrities, especially any who were arrogant and full of themselves. So it said a lot about Des—and her friends—that they had been so easily accepted into their circle.

Logan liked the people Des associated herself with. Colt, of course, was an actor, but the other people weren’t. She didn’t need to be seen with people who only graced the covers of magazines. She was comfortable with people from all walks of life, and as she sat having an intense conversation with Chelsea, a high school math teacher, Samantha Reasor, who owned the local flower shop in town, as well as Megan Lee, who ran the bakery and coffee shop, it looked like they had all become the best of friends already. One of them would say something and the rest of them would nod, then the other would speak, and they all would laugh. But the one thing Logan noticed was that Des wasn’t the one doing all the talking. She was mainly listening while the others talked, unlike a lot of Hollywood types who liked to talk about themselves.