Page 18 of All in with the Maverick Montana

Her gaze almost made him squirm. Maybe he should have stuck with the lie.

“Well, I suppose you could ask her yourself,” Faith said. She inclined her head in the direction of the warehouse. “Amy’s out back.”

“Right,” Josh said. “Thanks.”

He could feel Faith’s eyes on him until he passed through a door and out of sight, disappearing into a back lot where a supply delivery was being unloaded from a large box truck. He spotted Amy right away, her dark hair hanging just past her shoulders, tapping a pen against her chin. She had a clipboard in hand and her lips moved like she was counting under her breath.

He cleared his throat as he approached so he didn’t startle her.

Amy’s eyes widened. He hoped it was a good surprise. Then her face broke into a smile. “Well, hey there, cowboy.”

He liked the way she called him cowboy. He liked it too much, probably.

“I didn’t think I’d see you again so soon.”

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Josh said. “I sort of just wanted to check in and see how you were doing.”

Amy flushed. “I’m actually feeling much better,” she said, tucking the clipboard under her arm. “And Faith wouldn’t let me leave the house this morning until I’d eaten a turkey bacon sandwich. So no spontaneous fits of dizziness either.”

“Turkey bacon?”

“I’ve been trying to sneak real bacon into the house since I got here back in February. Faith won’t budge.”

“Wow, you really are suffering.”

“Thank you,” Amy said. “No one else seems to understand my plight.”

“Really though, I don’t know how you can bear it.”

Amy laughed, and he caught a flash of teeth. She did look better. Brighter. Glowing even. It was such a sharp contrast to yesterday that Josh actually sighed, relief washing through him. He knew he’d been worried, he just hadn’t realized how worried. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

“Well, I’ve also been keeping up with my sweet tea and toast,” she said. “And it’s been working wonders.”

He chuckled under his breath, charmed that she remembered what he’d said about his grandmother.

“You didn’t come all the way here just to check up on me, did you?”

“I might have.”

Amy ducked her head, her hair obscuring the deepening flush in her cheeks. She held the clipboard to her front, like it might stop his words from reaching her. “You really didn’t have to do that. Your help yesterday was more than enough.”

“I know.” Josh shrugged. “But I wanted to.” And he wanted to keep talking to her. Even now. “Is it busy today?” He gestured to the skids of supplies. “I mean, do you still have a lot of work to be getting on with here?”

Amy glanced. “Not too much more actually. I was almost done when you turned up.”

“You think you could leave for a bit?”

She arched her brow.

“For lunch,” he clarified.

“Are you asking me out for lunch, Josh Aventura?”

“If that’s something you’d be open to,” he said. “If you’re not, then I will just be on my way. And we can both pretend I was never here asking awkward questions.” He started to back away but she caught him by the wrist. Warmth flooded through him at the touch.

“I’d love to go to lunch with you,” she said sweetly, and Josh’s heart lobbed against his ribs. It was so forceful he worried she might be able to see it beating right through his shirt.

“Great. That’s really… Okay then.” He waited for Amy to finish up her counting, then they headed back through the store together. Amy stopped briefly to speak with Faith who was eyeballing him over Amy’s shoulder, her eyebrows rising higher and higher. Josh wasn’t sure what that look meant, but he averted his eyes just in case.