Page 59 of All in with the Maverick Montana

Amy buzzed her lips together. “Better go get this over with.” She slipped on her shoes, stepping out onto the porch.

Her hand danced over her lower belly quickly. Here goes nothing, baby. Actually, here goes everything.

Tru lifted his hand in greeting and flashed her a brilliant smile.

She couldn’t believe she’d ever swooned over that smile. Though she’d grown quite partial to another smile lately. A closed-mouth smile with just a hint of mischief, lips curling at the edges. Eyes creased and twinkling. Every part of her wished it were Josh walking up the driveway toward her because this felt like a certain kind of nightmare. Amy never imagined seeing Tru again outside of a billboard or TV spot, and she’d certainly never envisioned him waltzing through tiny Tenacity. Her stomach flipped uncomfortably.

“Hey there, Hawkins,” Tru called. He’d always called her Hawkins with affection. Or maybe she’d only thought it was affection and he was using it to keep some semblance of polite distance between them.

“Hey,” Amy called, shifting from one foot to the other. She folded her arms across her chest to keep the nerves from unraveling. “You made good time.”

“I didn’t want to hang out in Billings too long. Once word gets out that I’m around it’s gonna be nonstop pictures and autographs.” He waved off the thought. “You know how it is.”

“Right,” she said. She did know how that was. Not to the same degree as Tru, of course. But that part of her life also felt so far away. Like it belonged to a different Amy. An Amy that hadn’t started to build a life in Tenacity.

“Besides, the only person I really wanted to see was here. So I might have been a little heavy on the gas pedal.”

Amy tried to smile but it didn’t come out right. Tru might wish that he’d taken his time when he found out what she had to say. Her hand fell to her stomach again. Just a momentary brush. She’d been doing that a lot since yesterday, suddenly conscious of this tiny life she had growing inside her.

Tru surged up the steps toward her, and before Amy had even opened her mouth to ask him to sit down, he’d swept her up into his arms. Amy’s skin crawled. It felt wrong. These arms. They didn’t belong to the right person. But suddenly Tru was kissing her, and Amy’s thoughts were ringing like alarms in her head.

Her eyes widened as she forced her head back. She hadn’t been expecting this kind of reception.

Tru must not have noticed the look of utter shock on her face because he was too busy hugging her, whispering words into her neck. “It’s so good to see you.” His breath tickled her ear and she shivered. Not the good kind of shiver. The warning bells kept ringing. This wasn’t going the way she’d planned. “I’ve missed you, Amy. So, so much.”

She wriggled out of his arms. Delicately. Trying not to hurt him despite the way he’d treated her. She knew the kind of shock this was about to be. “Tru—”

“I know. I know,” he said, shaking his head and dropping his hands to his hips. “What right do I have to swoop in here like this? To kiss you like this? I know what you must be thinking and what you’re going to say to me now, but I beg you to hear me out.” He snatched up her hands, squeezing them. Running his thumbs over her knuckles. “The marriage. It was wrong. I knew it was wrong the moment it happened. That the only person I wanted to be with was you. I knew we were making a huge mistake. I was making a huge mistake. I just didn’t know how to stop what I’d started. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, but I was a coward, calling that love when I knew it wasn’t.” He blinked at her, those big blue eyes like shimmery pools of deceit. Oh, he was good. Too bad she’d watched him do this act on the big screen. “Will you ever forgive me? Could you ever?”

“Tru, I—”

He wrapped his hands around her shoulders, pulling her close again, running his hands up and down her back. “I want us to be together, Amy. More than anything.”

Amy hesitated, overwhelmed by everything. All she could think about was Josh and the way he touched her, held her. His smile. The way he laughed. The way he made her feel. But this was a scenario she’d never considered when she’d called Tru. A few months ago, she might have been overjoyed at Tru’s declaration, but that was before Josh, before she’d really thought about who Tru was and what she deserved. Now, Josh was the only one consuming her thoughts. Still, if her baby’s father wanted to make this work, shouldn’t she want to try something? Shouldn’t they want to be at least cordial for this little life they’d created? She took a step back, breaking out of his hold again. She needed space to think.

Actually, she needed a stiff drink.

But that was a no-go for the foreseeable future.

“What do you say?” Tru said. “Forgive me?” He smiled that smile that made women across the country pull their hair out screaming. The same smile that had once had her desperate for his attention. Now it didn’t even set her heart racing.

“Tru,” she started again. “Before you make any big decisions or big declarations, there’s something you should know.” He beamed at her, nodding. “I’m pregnant and it’s yours. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I just found out myself.”

That beaming smile dropped from his face. “You’re… What?” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching like he expected her to shout “gotcha.”

“I’m pregnant,” Amy repeated, letting the words sink in.

Tru’s face fell further and further. The shock ended in a frown, his brow pinched. He looked like she’d just hit him over the head with a skillet. Guess he wasn’t as good of an actor as he thought. He turned pale and started stammering about dates and condoms and how could this have happened? Then he quieted, rubbing at the scruff on his jaw. “You say you’re pregnant, but how do I really even know it’s mine? I mean, it’s been months since we were together.”

Amy sucked in a sharp breath. This was not the response she was hoping for. Frankly, she didn’t know what she’d been hoping for. But it did clarify things in her mind. “I will try not to take offense at the accusation that I might have been sleeping around while I was with you.”

“That’s not what I—”

“It is what you meant,” Amy said pointedly. He didn’t argue. “Anyway, I will gladly submit to a paternity test, if this is something you want, Tru. But from the look on your face, it’s obvious that you don’t want this child. And if you don’t want this child, then you don’t really want me either.” She didn’t think he ever did. She was just some pretty thing to warm his bed.

“Look, Amy, I could…” Tru swallowed hard. He glanced around, like someone might overhear them at any moment. “…give you the money.”

“Money for what?”