Page 40 of All in with the Maverick Montana

“Well, I like this Josh,” Amy assured him. The corner of his mouth quirked, and a coil of desire swept through her. It was getting harder to shoo these feelings away when she was with him. She wanted to run her fingers along his stubbled jawline and taste the heat of the day on his lips.

“What are you thinking?” Josh said, peering deeply into her eyes.

Amy huffed. “About how strange fate can be.”

“You mean how you can stumble into the right person when you least expect it?”

“Something like that,” she said.

“You feel like the right person.”

Amy opened her mouth, closed it, swallowing down her gasp.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “Sometimes you say awfully sweet things, cowboy. And it catches me off guard.”

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“No, you didn’t,” Amy said. “I just—”

“What?”

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. There were a lot of things she wanted to say right now. But what if they ruined everything? What if Josh didn’t really mean those words? Tru had used pretty words too. You feel like the right person. If she was wrong, this would devastate her. She caught Josh’s eye, trying to untangle her thoughts. Do you like me the way I like you, Josh Aventura? “I guess I’m worried I’m going to say something that’ll ruin this. And I’ve come to the realization that I don’t want to lose you.”

“Why would you lose me?” he asked.

“You’ve been really sweet to me these past weeks, Josh.” His brow pinched as she said it. “But I’m not sure I like you as a friend. As only a friend, I should say. I’m not sure I ever did.” The words left her in a rush, and suddenly her insides felt hollow and achy. She wanted to fill the space, fill the silence, with something. Anything. But there was nothing to do but watch the emotions shift across Josh’s face. His brow furrowed, and his mouth opened, but no words came out as he struggled through confusion and then another emotion Amy couldn’t confidently identify. Surprise, maybe? Was there a hint of a smile on his lips?

“So what you’re saying is…”

“That I like you an awful lot,” she whispered. “More than should be possible this soon.” God, she wanted to bury her face in her hands, but she resisted the urge. Resisted the urge to get up and run right off the porch. Had she ever felt this way about Tru? Filled with this heart-pounding, edge-of-her-seat desire and fear and hope? She couldn’t remember. Tru felt like lifetimes ago. Lifetimes that didn’t matter in a world where Josh existed.

“Amy.” Josh reached between them and caught her hand. “I want you to know that being here, with you, feels right in a way that I’m not sure I’ve ever felt.”

Her breath caught. “I feel the same way.”

Josh rose from his chair, crossed the short distance and leaned down, giving her plenty of time to stop him. To push him away. To tell him he’d gotten his wires crossed, but she didn’t, and Josh cupped her jaw with his hand and kissed her softly.

It was only a brush of lips.

Barely even a kiss.

But it was everything.

“Was that okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” she breathed.

“Good. I didn’t want you to leave here tonight not knowing how I felt.”

He kissed her again.

Sensation shot through her. It was electric, just that touch, and she gasped. If it all went downhill from here, then so be it. But at least she’d told him—shown him—how she felt too.

As Josh pulled away, Amy rose out of her chair. He gathered her into his arms, pulling her in for another kiss. She was reasonably tall, but he was taller, and she had to press up on her toes to deepen the kiss, tilting her head and sinking into the feel of him.

Josh’s hands smoothed up and down her back. Then he turned his head slightly, breaking the kiss. Amy heaved in a breath of air as Josh pulled away enough to lean against the railing. He kept his hands on her hips, but the distance between them left room for conversation again.