Page 25 of Surprised By Love

“Mommy, run!” Amelia yells and takes off behind the car. Little coward leaving me out here to defend myself. I laugh, turning to run and I get a snowball in the leg. I look back to see Jake hiding behind Josh.

I grin at him. “Don’t think you can hide behind your daddy all the time. I’m going to get you.” Running at him, he squeals and takes off across the yard, trying to hide behind our large pine tree. I’m coming after him, and I can hear Amelia close by when she yells. “Mommy behind you.”

I don’t even have time to turn when large hands wrap around my waist and lift me up into the air.

“No one goes after my boy.” Josh spins me away from Jake.

I laugh, and he sets me down, noticing the kids running towards us. I look at Josh and he shakes his head. “Traitors. All of them.” The three of them, snowballs in their little hands, start tossing them our way.

I run backwards, so I can see what’s going on when I trip and fall flat on my back. A second later, Josh trips on my boot, landing right on me. His hands catch his fall so he doesn’t crush me, but it doesn’t matter because right after that I hear Emily. “Dogpile!”

I close my eyes. Josh is laying right on top of me, his face inches away from mine. If he leaned in, our lips would meet. The kids are piling on top of him, crushing us closer together.

I open my eyes and look into his. His eyes smile back at me. He’s enjoying this?

“You okay?” he chuckles.

“Yeah, you?” I say, a little breathless.

He nods, his body shaking in laughter. Oh. My. God. I can feel every inch of him and damn if I don’t want to feel more.

The kids cry out in laughter as he rolls over me, their tiny bodies tumbling down into the snow. I turn over, grabbing Amelia and start tickling her.

“Okay mommy. Okay! Stop. Stop!” Her laughter fills the air.

I push onto my knees and Josh is there with a hand to help me up. Is he for real? First with the jacket, and now this? Are there still nice gentlemen around? From the horror stories I’ve heard from my so-called friends in Ottawa, they are hard to find.

Although I know he doesn’t date girls from town, part of me wishes I could find out just how gentlemanly he can be.

Josh

Sam invites us in for some hot chocolate and I graciously accept the invitation.

Now, as we walk inside, I’m wondering whether I made the right choice. I don’t want to give her the wrong impression. As much as I would love to see if her lips are as soft as they look, I’m not looking to settle down and she doesn’t seem the type of girl who’s willing to have a one-night stand or a casual relationship. Not that I could, even if I wanted to, since she’s from town.

We help the kids get their wet snowsuits and boots off and they take off upstairs to Amelia’s bedroom, leaving me alone with Sam.

I follow her into the kitchen, and she pulls out a pot and places it on the stove.

“You’re making homemade hot chocolate?” I ask, coming up beside her.

She turns to me, smiling. “I am.”

“Anything I can help you with?”

“You can grab the milk from the fridge, if you like.” I open the fridge door and grab the milk. Turning back around, I see her stretching to reach for a bag of chocolate chips. I know I shouldn’t, but I take a slow look from her delicate hands down her back, past her curvy hips, to her perfectly round ass. Damn, the girl looks good in jeans.

I watch for a moment before my manners kick in and I go up behind her and grab the bag of chocolate chips above her.

This may have been a mistake. I hear her gasp as my body brushes against hers. My hands briefly touch hers as I bring the bag down from the cupboard.

I clear my throat. “Anything else I can help you with?”

She turns to face me, our bodies so close, a feather couldn’t pass between us.

“Um, no I got it,” she says as she slips out from between me and the counter. I can’t help but notice the shakiness in her voice. It seems like I’m affecting her as much as she is me.

I take a seat at the island, watching her pour the milk into a measuring cup, then into the pot. She then goes into the pantry and comes out with cocoa powder, sugar, and vanilla extract. She whisks the cocoa powder and sugar into the pot. Whisking until the liquid boils.

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