Page 11 of Christmas with the Denton Billionaires

Amelia laughed and thanked her, moving out of the way so the line could continue. She took a sip of the punch—delicious and cherry-infused. She hummed and then took a gulp. Extremely refreshing. She needed to ask Judy for the recipe. She’d downed the entire first cup before she started the walk back to her family and started in on the second as she rejoined the group.

Josh was in the middle of telling a story that had everyone on pins and needles, even Elise. Amelia watched as he spoke, admiring his perfect hairline and his dark, bushy brows. Everything about him was perfect—at least what she’d seen of him so far.

Prickles of heat swept through her, and she laughed just as hard as everyone else once Josh finished his story. The anxiety was slowly dissipating now, bleeding out into a contented buzz. When Josh put his arm around her this time, she burrowed into his embrace. Feeling exactly like she belonged there.

“You two are just so cute,” her mom cooed, squeezing Amelia’s arm. “So in love. Come on, let’s take some pictures!” Her mom pulled her phone out and gestured for everyone to stand closer together. Flagging down a passing server, she handed him her phone and they spent the next couple of minutes posing for a group photo. When the server handed her phone back, her mom had tears in her eyes when she swiped through the different pics.

Amelia’s phone pinged with a text and she found that her mom had sent her some of the pics. “Awww, check us out. You really stand out in the Christmas sweater,” she teased as she showed Josh.

“If, by stand out, you mean devilishly handsome, then yes, you are definitely correct.”

She couldn’t help snorting. “Well, I wouldn’t gothatfar.”

“I’m pretty sure you told me that recently,” he said, as he grinned.

Rolling her eyes, she swatted his arm. “No, I said you were easy on the eyes. Not devilishly handsome. Keep up, Joshie.”

Wrapping his arms around her, he hugged her from behind. “It’s hard not to be in love with your daughter, the way she keeps me on my toes,” Josh said, looking down at Amelia. He sent her a smile that would have erased every doubt and confirmed every desire…if only this weren’t acting.

Still, Amelia let herself get lost in his gaze. Get lost in the fantasy. Because soon enough, reality would set in and they’d be back to nothing more than work colleagues, and Amelia suspected that was going to be far more painful than having to explain the deception to her family.

7

JOSH

Stan and Betty Lewis joined their group a bit later, with handshakes all around. Josh was relieved that Stan had organically run into them while with Amelia’s family. Turned out that Stan had gone to the same school as Amelia’s father and they were friendly with each other still, which was all the better.

Amelia laughed into his arm, prompted by nothing. She’d been a little giggly this evening. He glanced down at her.

“Everything okay?”

She snorted and righted herself. “Everything’s fine.” A moment went by, and then she burst into laughter again.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Just, all of it.” She waved her hand in front of her. “Hey, this punch is really good.” She lifted her empty cup. “You want some? I’m gonna go get another one.”

“Wait.” He grabbed her hand, bringing his face level with hers, even though he had to hunch to do it. “What’s in that punch?”

“I dunno, it was the punch they had over there.” Her cheeks were ruddy, but that could have been from the cold. But he would swear she was slurring. It was slight, but there.

“Are you sure it’s not spiked?”

She narrowed her eyes, then her mouth rounded. “Ooooh, I wonder. Because I was nervous, and the punch made me feel better.”

“Uh-huh.” He straightened, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “You stay here with me, drunkie. I don’t want you falling on the icy ground or deciding to crawl under the Christmas tree to take a nap.”

She snickered again, wrapping both her arms around his waist. He couldn’t ignore the thrill of contentment this prompted. Had it been so long since he’d been touched by a woman? Or was it just because it was Amelia finally touching him in the way he’d denied wanting from her?

Stan stepped closer to them, a big smile on his face. “Look at you two lovebirds. You remind me of me and my wife when we were young.”

His wife swatted Stan’s chest. “He doesn’t mean to say married life goes downhill. It keeps getting better, we promise.”

“When’s the big date?” Stan asked.

“Uhh,” Josh started.

“June third,” Amelia blurted.

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