Chapter Twenty-One
Josh kissed her back, feeling her lips part in a gasp. It felt like it had been ages since he’d kissed her, and he sank into her touch like a starving man into a meal. He wanted to devour her. To make her tremble in his arms. To make up for all the moments he’d made her question his intentions.
Josh deepened the kiss until it was all tongue and teeth, soft and sweet. When Amy finally turned her head to gasp for air, he pulled back, giving them both some space.
“Is this okay?” he asked, stroking his thumbs along her cheekbones. There were unshed tears in her eyes. “Are you… Are you okay?”
She nodded, her smile watery. “It’s better than okay.”
“You’re sure?”
She laughed a little. “I’m just so happy.”
“Good,” he said, pecking her on the lips again. “I want to keep making you happy, for as long as you’ll let me.”
“I mean it, Josh,” she said, her hand pressing gently against his chest, her fingertips brushing over the place where his heart beat. “ You make me so happy.”
Josh wanted to laugh and scream and cry. He didn’t know where to start first. Mostly he just planned to keep kissing her. Then he was going to make Amy feel all the ways in which he wanted her. He was going to make her feel good and safe. He was going to make sure she knew that she belonged with him and only him.
Her and her baby.
“Come inside?” he asked, his voice low.
She bit her bottom lip, grinning as he kissed her cheek, nuzzling against her. “Why? You have something fun in mind, cowboy?”
“I think I could come up with an activity that we might both enjoy.”
“Oh, yeah?” She slid her hand beneath his shirt, her fingers sliding around to his back, smoothing across his skin. “Dinner and a movie?”
“Not quite.”
“Too bad. I’m quite ravenous.”
“Well, I’m ravenous for something else.”
Amy giggled as he pulled her close, kissing his way down her neck.
He hummed against her, feeling more than hearing the soft sigh that left her lips.
She smiled at him. No, she beamed at him, and Josh knew right then that he wanted to spend the rest of his life waking up beside that smile. Amy followed him through the door. He closed it after her, and she surprised him by pressing him up against the back of the door. She ran her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, lifting up on her toes to whisper her lips along his jaw.
“God, I missed you,” he grumbled.
“I missed you more.”
“Not possible.” Sure he’d missed this, but it was more than that. He’d missed having Amy in his space. He wanted traces of her in the bathroom and touches of her in the living room. He wanted to find her books left by the couch and her dishes in the sink and her hair ties around the gearshift in his truck.
And one day soon he wanted to be tripping over baby toys and looking for the last clean bottle in the middle of the night. He wanted to live that life with her. That hectic, crazy life filled with so much love that he’d gladly lie awake all night just listening to these people breathe.
He wanted little feet on the stairs and in the barn. He wanted this family so much it was a pain between his ribs.
“You okay?” Amy asked, looking up at him.
“I’m perfect,” he said. He caught her hand and kissed every one of her fingers. Then he nudged her with his hips, and Amy backed them toward the couch, stripping out of her clothes.
“Thought we were aiming for the bedroom?”
“You should have known we were never going to make it that far,” Amy laughed. She tugged Josh down to the couch and climbed into his lap.
Josh took his time with her, lingering in places that made her squirm and listening to the way her breath hitched as his fingers danced across her skin. He was gentle and reverential and unhurried, knowing, somehow, that they had forever to do this now. He had all the time in the world to worship her the way he wanted, to love her.
Amy threw her head back, and he lavished her neck with kisses.
“Touch me,” she begged. “ Please .”
So he did. When they came together Amy let out a pretty little sigh and Josh echoed it, relieved as the blood rushed past his ears.
He moved against her and Amy moved against him, finding a rhythm that worked, that left them both wanting more, and when Amy cried out, Josh stilled long enough to watch her unravel. It was quickly becoming one of his favorite sights in the world.
Josh followed her into oblivion a moment later, then pulled her close, simply breathing in the moment as bliss washed through him.
They lay like that for a while, Amy tracing patterns into his forearm, humming contentedly whenever he pressed a kiss to her shoulder. She shivered as he ran his stubbled chin over her soft skin.
“That feels nice,” she murmured.
He reached up and kissed the space behind her ear, then her throat, then shifted, so she was lying beneath him.
He studied her face.
All he saw there was contentment. How had he gotten so lucky?
Amy ran her hands through his hair, smoothing it back from his forehead. “What are you thinking?”
“That one day I’ll be old and you’ll be gray, and I’ll still be looking at you like this.”
Amy opened her mouth but no words came out. Instead she kissed him again, softly, stirring warmth in his gut. “That sounds lovely.”
Josh wormed his way down her body, pressing his hand to her belly. Her breath hitched again as he kissed her stomach. There was a small, soft bump and he considered the fact that he was going to be a father to this baby. He grinned against Amy’s stomach. He thought about how Amy had healed the wounded part of his heart, the same way he’d proven that she could trust him, and how wonderful it was that he’d found someone content to share this simple little life with him.
“I can still feel you thinking very hard,” she said.
“I want us to be married before the baby comes.” He heard her sharp intake of breath. “So the child can have my name.”
Her lips twisted. “Is that a proposal, Josh Aventura?”
“It will be, if it’s something you want?”
Amy hummed happily. “I think I could warm up to the idea.”
“Only warm up to it?” he said, climbing back up her body. She giggled as he took her in his arms, nibbling at her neck. “You know, I didn’t think I’d be able to give you a life filled with adventure, but now I think that life with you and our baby”—their baby!— “will be the best damn adventure either of us has ever gone on.”
Amy looked at him, her eyes glassy. She pressed her hand to his cheek. “I would marry you tomorrow, but maybe we should wait until we can arrange for the families to be here.”
“How about next month?”
Amy laughed. “Eager there, cowboy?”
“Eager to spend all the days of my life calling you my wife.”
Amy kissed him again. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Hopefully many wonderful things,” he said, eyeing her in a way that made them both laugh. And he smiled, knowing he would get to hear that laughter every day for the rest of his life.
***
Twilight spilled across Tenacity, painting the Strom and Son Feed and Farm Supply sign in soft yellow shadows. The bell rang over the door in the feed store as Josh pushed inside, Amy right behind him. He’d hardly let her go since she showed up at the ranch, her hand still entwined with his own.
“You sure you want to do this now?”
“Yes.” She squeezed his hand and he could feel her certainty and her joy radiate through him. Josh didn’t think he’d stopped floating all afternoon. He was going to be a husband and a father.
“We’re closing up shortly!” he heard Caleb call from somewhere in the store.
“So make it snappy,” Faith added.
“It’s just us,” Amy called.
“Us?” Faith poked her head out of an aisle, a massive grin splitting her face as she eyeballed their joined hands. “Us as in…”
“We talked,” Amy said. “Sorted ourselves out.”
“Thank God.” Faith came toward them. “Caleb, get out here! It’s about damn time.”
Josh chuckled at her antics. “Made some big decisions, too.”
“Oh?” Faith said as Caleb jogged over.
“What’s happening?” he asked, breathless.
“Big things supposedly,” Faith said.
“In that case,” Caleb waved them over to the cash desk, “step into our office. And tell us all about these big decisions.”
Amy sucked in a breath, then let it out as she announced, “We’re getting married.”
Faith put her hand to her forehead and feigned shock.
Amy broke down laughing and hugged her sister. “You out of anyone should not be surprised. You’ve been meddling in this relationship the entire time.”
“She is very good at meddling,” Caleb said, pecking Faith on the temple with his lips.
“Because I could see this moment coming from a mile away,” Faith agreed. She squeezed Amy tightly. “Congratulations. I’m so happy for you.” She reached for Josh, finding his hand. “And for you too.”
Amy pulled away as Caleb clapped Josh on the shoulder. “We need to tell the families, obviously. And it’ll probably be a small, quick little thing.” She glanced at Josh and he nodded. That suited him just fine. If Amy wanted a fuss, he’d give her a fuss, but he was just as happy with something small. Something with their favorite people and each other. “But you’ll be my maid of honor?” Amy continued.
“Of course,” Faith said. “The others would have had to fight me for it.”
Amy chuckled.
“Sure you’re gonna be able to handle all the Hawkins sisters?” Caleb asked Josh. “They can be a lot.”
He reached for Amy and pulled her close. “I think it’ll be one hell of an adventure.”
* * * * *