Page 66 of Prime Time Romance

“I do?”

Spencer eyes me as if he’s uncertain if I’m joking. “Yeah, the Lobsterfest pageant meeting for all the contestants. I saw Poppy at your place as I was leaving. She said she was there to pick you up.” He rechecks his watch. “She mentioned the meeting starting at noon sharp. You might want to get going.”

This new information about Poppy only adds to my confusion, but all thoughts about her are temporarily put on hold as Spencer leans in, and for a terrifying moment, I think he’s going to kiss me.

To my relief, he instead reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. “I will catch up with you later.” He lowers his head so his eyes are level with mine. “I’ve got plans for us, Sloan. Big plans.” He winks before remounting his bike. I watch him ride off down the road, trying to will myself to feel something for him.

As soon as Spencer is out of sight, I run to the side of the road and pry back the branches of the bush.

Josh is lying on his back, hands folded behind his head. I ignore how my eyes are drawn to his lips and the stupid smirk on his face and the way his laid-back pose flexes his biceps and instead direct my attention to the fact that he’s staring up at me, making no effort to move.

“You pushed me into a bush.” His tone isn’t mad, but more matter-of-fact.

I hold out my hand. “Technically, I pushed you, and then you fell into a bush.”

He raises his brows, ignoring my hand.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him, fully meaning it. “I panicked. I honestly didn’t mean to shove you that hard.”

He nods as if accepting my apology and takes my hand, but instead of letting me pull him to his feet, he tugs hard and quick, and I pitch forward, the branches of the bush only slowing my fall as I topple directly onto him.

He’s grinning at me as if inviting a reaction and although my instinct is to roll off immediately, I find myself studying the tiny flecks of green in his eyes.

“Now it’s you who pushed me into the bush.”

He grins. “Technically, I pulled you. It’s quite nice in here. I thought you should experience it firsthand.”

He’s so close, and his cedary scent is mixing with the delicate sweetness of the flowery blossoms, lulling me into a trance where I almost consider burying my face in that place between his chin and his collarbone and just hanging here for a while.

Instead, I find the will to heave myself into the mound of dirt beside him. Sprigs of scented purple flowers spring up around both of us.

“You were right,” I tell Josh. “For a bush, it’s surprisingly comfortable. I’m almost tempted to stay here for a little while.”

Josh reaches up, picks a flower blossom from its stem, and inhales slowly before offering it to me. “So why don’t we? I have nowhere I need to be.”

I do. If Spencer was right, I’m expected to be at some pageant meeting, and we’re still some ways out of town.

I take the flower from Josh’s fingers and smell it like he did a moment ago. Its fragrance is so sweet and summery that I don’t even realize I’ve closed my eyes until I open them again and find Josh watching me.

I feel his gaze all the way to my toes. It zips through me like an electric shock.

“Here.” I shove the flower back into his hand, the feeling in my chest shifting from whatever it was just doing to more of a panic.

“We should get going.” I sit up a little too quickly, my vision clouding with the sudden head rush. “I have a Lobsterfest meeting to get to.”

Josh moves at a fraction of my speed, pushing up to his elbows. “Remind me again what you’re doing with the lobsters?”

“It’s a pageant. Sloan needs to win it, remember? Spencer was saying there’s a big meeting that I’m supposed to be at.”

“Sounds serious.” Josh eyes me momentarily, then gets to his feet in a single smooth rock and roll. He holds out his hand. “Shall we?”

He pulls me out of the bush and continues to hold my hand as we climb out of the ditch and back onto the road. When he finally does let go, my fingers tingle, filling me with this urge to touch him again.

“Hey, Brynn.” Josh steps toward me. His hand reaches for my face, his thumb skimming the line of my jaw as if he too was suddenly missing that contact. For a moment, I think he will cup my cheek and kiss me again.

I still.

But his hand finds my hair and pulls something from it. A tiny hydrangea blossom. He holds it up and twirls it between his fingers.