Entice (24 page)

Josh looked across the truck at Shelly as she lay with her eyes closed, her head leaning back against the seat. Mutley was lying down on the back seat, and Josh had to smile at the fact that Shelly now seemed okay with his mutt. They had talked all the way home about her mother and father, and Josh had gotten a much better understanding of the way Dr. Shelly Monroe’s mind worked.

He was happy she had been able to confront her father and maybe set some demons to rest. He also hoped, somewhat selfishly, that it had opened the possibility in her mind that they could have a real shot at this.

Everything had happened so suddenly between them, but for Josh, it felt so incredibly real. He couldn’t explain why, but he just knew this was meant to be. He knew he had to come clean and tell her he owned the construction company. She would probably be pissed at him, but it was nothing they couldn’t get past. He was sure of it.

As they rounded the final street, Josh couldn’t help but feel completely excited about the next day and a half. Shelly had agreed to spend that time with him at his house and in his bed.
Hell yeah.
Can anything be better than that?

He pulled the truck to a stop at the curb of the street, got out, and walked around to Shelly’s side where she was now sleeping. The sun was just starting to come up, and it was going on 7:00 a.m. Josh had plans, and they involved carrying the sleeping doctor inside, cuddling up with her, and then waking in a few hours to make love to her.

***

Shelly heard her door unlock, and she opened her eyes, noticing the truck had come to a stop. She turned her head and saw Josh outside her door, smiling at her through the window. Sitting up, she let him open the door. He placed his hands on the roof and leaned in to kiss her.

“We’re here.”

Josh moved back from the truck, allowing Shelly to get out. Once she was free, she stretched her arms over her head, yawning, and then stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck.

“I believe we have specific plans for the next couple of days,” she told him, planting a sweet kiss on his lips.

He grinned and hugged her tightly before humming against her mouth. “Hmm, I believe you may be right. You and me naked in my bed sounds familiar.”

That was when Shelly looked over Josh’s shoulder to the house behind them. It was a nice house that looked like he had bought it with restoration in mind, knowing his background. As her eyes moved to the driveway, they stopped and zeroed in on a blue Ford Fusion and a tall brunette woman, who was leaning against the driver’s side, staring at them.

“Josh?” Shelly questioned as she pulled away from him.

He looked down at her. “Yeah, Miz Monroe?” he asked in a deep voice, sweet-talking her.

But Shelly had left the sexy thought process behind. Suddenly, she had a new one.

Who the hell is that woman?

***

Josh noticed Shelly had stiffened, and he moved a step back, wondering what was going on. He was about to ask when he heard a familiar voice call out.

“Joshua!”

Now, it was Josh’s turn to stiffen. He saw Shelly’s eyes narrow and her shoulders straighten, and he wanted to explain something, anything, but he was interrupted when he heard his name being called for the second time in that annoying high-pitched voice. He pivoted on his heel and saw the last person on earth he wanted to see.

“Melissa,” he replied in a tone so defeated he didn’t even know where it had come from.

He just knew Shelly was thinking the worst, and right at this moment, he didn’t blame her.
But she needs to let me explain. She has to, right?

As he watched his ex-girlfriend strut down the driveway and make her way toward them, he felt Shelly retreat further back, as he turned to look at her. Her eyes were so glacial that they pretty much froze him on the spot.

“I can explain,” he told her quietly.

“Why would you need to?” Shelly asked coolly.

Josh wanted to scream.
Because you are jumping to the wrong conclusion!
He looked to Shelly and then to the woman fast approaching.
What the hell is she doing here?

“Melissa is her name, huh? The woman who did a number on you?” Shelly queried, regaining his attention as she climbed back into his truck.

“What are you doing?” he asked without answering her first question.

“I’m going to wait in your truck until you do whatever you do to get rid of a woman, and then you are going to drive me home because I don’t have a car.”

“Shelly...” Josh tried again.

“I don’t want to hear it,” she told him before slamming the truck door shut between them.

Josh was staring at the side of her perfect, angry face when Melissa stopped in front of him.

“Where have you been? I have been coming by since Friday,” she said.

Josh shook his head, not quite believing how shitty this morning was turning out.

“Who’s that?” Melissa asked, gesturing to the truck. “You looked nice and friendly.”

“What are you doing here, Melissa?” he asked her through a stiff jaw and clenched teeth.

She flashed the smile he used to adore and do anything for. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Josh shook his head and kept glancing at the car door. All he continued to see was Shelly’s side profile.

When he finally looked back at Melissa, he was beyond pissed. “What? Why are you here?”

She grinned and shrugged. “Because I made a mistake. I want you back, Josh.”

Chapter Seventeen

Shit, shit, shit.
So, it wasn’t the most eloquent moment of her life, but as she sat in the passenger seat of Josh’s truck, that was all Shelly could come up with. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Josh standing there by the window, talking to the leggy brunette,
Melissa
.

Over and over, Shelly kept chastising herself and her quick fall into la-la love land.
Had I really thought for one moment that it would be that easy? When had I become so naive? Fairy tales didn’t happen overnight. Heck, they rarely happened at all!
She just had to look at her parents for that wonderful reality check.

Pulling out her phone, Shelly texted Lena.

Need to talk…NOW.

Almost immediately, she received a response.

Lena: Are you okay?

Shelly shook her head, and then noticed out of the corner of her eye Josh was walking around the truck. Looking down at her phone, Shelly texted back quickly.

Will call in thirty minutes to talk.

The driver’s door was pulled opened, and Josh climbed inside the truck. Mutley whined and sat up on the back seat.

“Shelly…” Josh started hesitantly.

Turning to face him, Shelly plastered on the most painfully fake smile she had ever given.

She responded, “Josh…”

He sighed, shaking his head. “Are you going to talk to me about this?”

“Nope,” she answered and stared out the window, avoiding his gaze.

That was when she noticed the leggy brunette leaning up against the little Ford again, glaring at them. So, Shelly gave in to a sudden impulse and offered her a perky little wave that screamed,
I’m in the car with your man, biotch.

“She doesn’t mean anything,” Josh told her as he started up the truck.

Shelly rolled her head along the headrest, so she was facing him. “Really? To me either,” she told him, her voice dripping with saccharine sweetness.

“Why are you being like this?” Josh questioned, pulling the truck away from the curb.

Shelly looked back out the window and muttered. “I’m not being like anything.”

***

Josh looked at the silent woman sitting beside him. Gone was the soft country Georgia he had been with all weekend, and in her place was Man-Eater Monroe. She wouldn’t look at him, she wouldn’t talk to him, and he had to believe that as she sat there staring out at nothing in particular, she sure as hell wouldn’t let him touch her either.

How could this morning have gone so wrong?
He had been five minutes away from having a naked Shelly beneath him, over him, all around him, and then
Melissa
had happened. As if this weekend hadn’t been stressful enough, the arrival of his ex had to top it off.  

There was no way Shelly was going to let this go, especially after her parents’ confessions on the delicate subject of cheating. The real kicker, however, was that even though she
knew
Melissa was his ex, being confronted with another woman was not what she was ready to deal with now.

Josh turned to look at her again. She was beautiful in her silence as she stared, fuming out the window.
Hell
, he thought,
she is beautiful all the time, including the moment she confessed her feelings to him down by the river.

“Are you really going to sit there and pretend I don’t exist?” he asked her, no longer able to bare the silence.
How did this woman slip under his skin so damn quickly?

“I’m not pretending you don’t exist. In fact, I am very aware you are right there. I am pointedly ignoring you.” She told him while she continued to stare at nothing.

“Is that right?” Josh asked, starting to get annoyed.

“Yes, it is. I don’t understand what you expect me to say,” she told him, finally turning to face him. “Is she leaving?” she asked.

Josh knew his answer was not going to be what she wanted to hear, but he wasn’t going to lie.

“No, she wants to talk to me,” he told her.

Then, he watched as she rolled her eyes.

“What?” he questioned.

“Nothing.”

Josh stopped at a red light and looked to Shelly. “Tell me.”

“That’s what all women say when they want to get a guy back,” she informed.

Josh sighed, moving the car forward when the light turned green. “Well, I don’t want her back. I left her, remember?” he told her pointedly.

As he sat there waiting for her response, he thought this was probably a good time to confess about owning the construction business, too. After all, she was already pissed.
Probably best to get it out and just let her get over all the bad at once. Then, we can focus on the good, right?

“Look, I don’t want Melissa. She has some stupid idea that she wants to discuss things with me. Shelly, she
cheated
on me. Why would I go back?”

“But you’re going to go and talk to her?” she asked again as if driving home a point.

“Yes. I told her I would.”

“Fine,” she responded and went back to silently looking out the window.

He drove them the rest of the way without saying a word. When he pulled up at the parking zone in front of her building, he parked the truck and watched as she unlatched the door. She seemed ready to get out without saying a word to him.

Josh suddenly felt it was crucial to stop her. For some reason, it seemed imperative that he make her talk to him
now
before he drove away. He didn’t know why, but he felt as though something was slipping away from him.

“Wait,” he told her.

Josh watched as she stopped her movements.

“What, Josh?” she asked coolly.

Josh swallowed.
What the hell? I’m already in the bad books, might as well lay it all on the table. Here goes nothing…
“If this weekend meant anything to you, anything at all, then please let me take care of this, and then come and get you.”

***

Shelly pushed open the truck door and climbed out without answering him. Her chest felt tight, and she wanted to scream,
It meant everything!
However, as her feet hit the pavement and she walked to the end of the truck, all she could think of was her mother’s sad face as she told her how she loved a man who didn’t love her. Then, as she banished that thought, she was swamped with visuals of her father calmly telling her that it was an arrangement between them, like it was some damn contract.

Now, here she was, standing on the curb in front of her building, with a man who had to leave her to go and appease another woman.
No, thank you!
That was
not
what she had in mind for herself—
not ever.

She watched as Josh pulled her bag out of the truck and put it down in front of her, extending the handle. Reaching out, Shelly gripped it, and suddenly, he put his hand on top of hers. Looking up at him, his anxious eyes gazed down at her, but Shelly steeled herself against it.

“Don’t end us like this,” he said softly.

Standing tall, Shelly swallowed and asked, “End what, Josh? Nothing began. We had a fling.”

He stood back. Removing his hand from hers, he lifted it and ran it through his hair. “Wow. Just like that, huh?” He paused, and then bent down to get nose to nose with her. “You sure don’t have any trouble writing off people as you judge them, do you?”

Shelly raised a brow. “Excuse me?”

“I was worried you’d be pissed when I told you about my job. But I didn’t even need to do that because you’re pissed for no reason at all, aren’t you?” he asked in angry disbelief.

Shelly straightened her spine and tilted her head. “What about your job? You don’t work in construction now?”

He shook his head at her. “What do you care, Shelly? You’re done with me
,
isn’t that right?” He questioned.

Shelly felt her heart clench.
Am I really done with him?

However, before she could even answer herself, he continued.

“Fine, go ahead and keep lying to yourself. Go and date Dr. Drab and the most boring men you can find because I tell you what—any man worth his weight would not stand here and be judged for something he didn’t do.”

He went to move around her, to walk away, but he stopped beside her, telling her softly, “I own the construction business Mason hired, and this weekend meant everything to me. Have a nice life, Shelly Monroe, and do me a favor—lose my number.”

Shelly watched him march over to his truck’s door, haul it open, and get in. Just as he pulled out from the curb, that stupid mutt poked his goofy head out the window. Shelly tried to remind herself that this was all Josh’s fault, but as they drove away, she was finding it harder and harder to convince herself.