Page 38 of Christmas with the Denton Billionaires

She’d been dreaming. That much was sure. But something else had stirred her to consciousness. She yawned, stretching. The clock on the nightstand read 8:15. This was the definition of sleeping in. As she turned over, enjoying more of the warmth of her bed, she picked up a bass undertone from a conversation downstairs.

Her eyes shot open, and she lifted her head a little, listening as hard as she could.

Her mother laughed.

More bass.

Parts of her dream came back to her. Josh had been there, speaking to her. She couldn’t hear him in her dream though. It was like he was too far away or mumbling or something. She pushed up onto a hand as the voice continued, and then she could hear the tones of her father’s voice.

Someone was here, that much was certain. But who?

It’s probably just a neighbor or Rob.She rolled out of bed, tugging on clothes as she did. It was ridiculous to hope that it was Josh and even stupider to think that her dream had somehow been right.

She continued listening as she headed toward the bathroom. Searching out sounds of a toddler shriek—which would signal Rob and Rebecca—or the notable guffaw of their elderly neighbor, Mr. Jones.

None of that.

In fact, now? Total silence.

Still, Amelia hurried to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she headed downstairs, she noticed a foreign pair of shoes by the door.

Black leather boots. And very expensive looking.

She swallowed a knot in her throat as she walked down the hall. Nobody in the kitchen. As she rounded the corner into the living room, the sight there about stopped her heart.

Josh sat on a couch, facing both of her parents on the adjacent sofa. He had a grin a mile wide on his face, and when he spotted her his entire face lit up.

The way her heart started racing told her everything she needed to know. Tears immediately came to her eyes, and she drifted into the living room, unable to speak.

“Wh—”

“Oh, honey!” Her mother twisted around to see her. “Good morning! Your Christmas Eve surprise is here!”

Josh was off the couch a second later, making big, confident strides toward her. He was dressed in slacks and a button-down, his brown hair expertly styled and sexy. The second those icy blue eyes found hers, the strength in her legs disappeared. The intensity of his attention was enough to knock her over.

“Amelia,” he breathed as he wrapped her in a hug. She clung to him, wonder and disbelief cycling through her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, pushing against his chest so she could look up at him. To make sure he was real. “I thought you went home.”

He shook his head, running his fingers along the shell of her ear. “I was going to, but I didn’t want to leave you. Even though you wanted some time. I hope a few days was enough because that’s all I could manage.”

“Awww,” her mom cooed from the couch.

“Why didn’t either of you come to wake me up?” she demanded, peering around the gorgeous wall of man in front of her.

“We were talking!” her mom insisted.

“Your boyfriend here wanted to make sure we were all clear about what happened at the hotel,” her dad added.

Amelia couldn’t fight the smile. She narrowed her eyes at Josh. “My boyfriend, huh?”

“Their words, not mine.” He slid a hand along the slope of her waist, down over the small of her back, cinching her closer. “But I’m not opposed to the title.”

“I might have told him about our conversation last night,” her mother quipped.

Amelia dissolved into laughter, burying her face in his chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed as tightly as she could. “Oh jeez, Mom!”

“Don’t worry. She only spilled most of your secrets,” Josh said, his breath hot at her ear. “Can we get out of here? I need to take you somewhere.”

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