He smelled like the logging camp, as usual. I loved that scent. If I could bottle it up, I would, because it reminded me so much of him.
His thumb moved in slow circles against my arm, easy and comfortable.
We talked about nothing for a while, the way we always did when the night grew late.
The new shipment of books I’d been unpacking at Bookish, and about the unplanned trip he’d taken with Zane a few days ago to steal Mallory’s dog back.
His hand drifted up to my hair and he started working his fingers gently through my curls, and I felt myself go soft all the way through.
His momma’s Sunday roast, which was hella good.
“Amos,” I said quietly.
“Mm.”
I sat up a little and turned to look at him. His eyes were half-lidded and warm, his beard slightly rumpled from where I’d been leaning against him. He looked devastatingly handsome and completely unaware of what he did to me just by existing.
“Do you think your mom really liked me?”
He kissed my hand. “My mom wishes we were real so badly that she threatened to disown me if I don’t figure out how to make you my girlfriend. I only have a week left to trick you into it.”
I flushed. I never knew when he was being serious. But… I was also surprised he’d told his mom we were fake-dating. “So she knows about our agreement?”
“Yeah. Can’t lie to momma. That’s a rule in life.”
That made him agoodman. My heart warmed in his direction.
“Who else did you tell?”
He shrugged. “Zane. And Hall. And the guys, of course.”
By that he meant Nolan, Cedar, and Brady. I’d told their other halves, Hope, Jenna, and Kelly. We all played pool at the Bear Den every Friday, and we were all close.
“I’ve been thinking about tonight’s lesson,” I said.
One dark brow lifted. “Yeah?”
“There’s a kind of kiss a boyfriend gives his girlfriend at the end of aperfectdate.” I kept my voice careful, as if I were discussing something academic. “It’s not a crazy, desperate kiss. It’s more like anI-have-feelings-for-youkiss.”
He considered that for a moment. “There’s a difference?”
“Yeah,” I said. “There’s a big difference.”
His eyes dropped to my mouth. “Do you want to show me?”
I meant to keep it light. I leaned in slowly and pressed my lips to his, and for a moment it was exactly what I’d described, gentle and warm, full of love.
But then Amos made a low growl, and his hands settled around my waist, pulling me closer without any apparent thought about it, and the kiss shifted into something neither of us had planned.
It lingered the way only honest things linger, slow and deep and aching, his lips moving against mine like he was trying to say something he hadn’t found words for yet.
When we finally pulled apart, the air between us felt thick and charged, and I was breathing harder than I should have been from a fake-dating lesson.
Amos looked at me for a long moment, his hands still on my waist.
He was quiet for a beat, his thumb tracing a slow path along my hip. “I think there’s one more lesson you haven’t taught me yet, Shelly Bear.”
“Is that right?”
