Entice (36 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

October

September had been dubbed the longest month of Shelly’s year.

After Josh had left the night of the wedding, Shelly had done something she had never done before. She went home and cried.

Never had she felt so helpless. She’d wanted to express the thoughts that had been running through her mind when Josh had been standing in front of her that night. But she couldn’t.

Thinking you’re in love with someone and just saying it seems so easy
, Shelly thought as she lay in bed. However, the reality—a man telling you that he wants
you
to be everything that makes his world—is just completely terrifying.

What if I fail?

That was all Shelly had thought about for days—hell, weeks now. What if for some reason she was like her father? It wasn’t too far of a stretch. She obviously resembled him in many ways.
Why not personality flaws as well?

Sighing, Shelly closed her eyes and pictured Josh as she had last seen him, standing in front of her with his heart on his sleeve, looking at her like she had just let him down.

And she had.

She knew it, and he did, too.

So, what if I do that after we’re committed?

Well, lying here isn’t getting me anywhere
, she thought as she climbed out of bed. Booting up her computer, she went to her closet and pulled out a black satin robe. Pulling it on, she sighed as the material slid over her bare skin. When the computer was up and humming, she immediately went to her email, and there
it
was—the usual nightly letter he still sent her, sitting in her inbox. This one had a subject header,
Halloween
.

Sitting down in her reading chair, she placed the laptop on her thighs and clicked to open it.

Georgia,

Mason is having a Halloween party down at Exquisite on Saturday. I’ll be in town. Do you want to be the Sandy to my Danny?

Josh

Shelly smiled and responded with seven words.

Yes. You’re the one that I want.

Clicking send, she was shocked when she got an almost immediate response in her mail.

You’re awake early, considering you worked last night.

Josh

Shelly noticed he was online. Forgetting about email, she clicked the instant message bar and typed.

Couldn’t sleep. Someone won’t get out of my head.

Josh: I’m annoying like that.

Yes, you kind of are. Are you sure you want to go to the party with me?

Josh: I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t sure, Georgia. Nothing for me has changed. Just know that I’ll be leaving after the weekend.

Shelly sat, staring at the screen.
Nothing has changed for him.

Over the last month and a half, this had been his very obvious approach, letting her know he still wanted to be with her, and that it was
her
holding up this leg of the race.

She also had a distinct feeling that her time would soon run out if she didn’t
catch up
.

He had been clear in all their emails since the wedding. Until she knew one-hundred percent what she wanted, he didn’t want to hear it.

Shelly would like to argue that it wasn’t fair.
But is it really fair to ask him to settle for anything less?
So, here she was—stuck in a conundrum.

She had a man who loved her and wanted everything, and she had a terrifying fear that she would fail him
. How do I get over that?

So, at the party, am I allowed to touch you?

Josh: I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.

Well, that’s something at least.

Josh: Don’t mistake me walking away as me not wanting you. I’m just sure of what I want, and I have been for a very long time. I refuse to let you go on thinking this can’t be more.

Shelly thought about that last sentence.
Is that what I’m doing?

She had been looking for the perfect man in so many places, yet it seems he may have turned up in the last spot she would have thought to check.

Josh: So, see you on Saturday? I’ll be there around 4:00 p.m.

Sounds good. Josh?

Josh: Yes, Georgia?

I’m trying.

Josh: Try harder.

With that, she watched him sign off.

***

Josh was sitting on Cole’s couch, staring at his computer screen.

Josh had known if he’d mentioned he was in town, Shelly would have invited him to stay at her place, and Josh was pretty sure his resistance was failing. Instead, he was going to let her believe he was arriving in two days. Meanwhile, he was going to hang out on his friend’s couch.

Cole had gone out for the night and still had not returned. When Josh had asked where he was headed, he had just told him, “Out.”

Seeing as how he was such a tight-lipped guy, Josh had decided not to push it further. He was just happy he could bum for a few days on the man’s couch. He was exhausted.

This new project had him working around the clock like a dog. He hadn’t known at the beginning just how much work it was going to be to have his vision come to life, but in the end, he knew it would fulfill that part of him that was gaping wide open. Just knowing that he could go to work and use his hands to create a perfect structure was so satisfying. He couldn’t even begin to explain it.

He was also happy that the expansion on Exquisite was going as planned. It seemed like they were on schedule, and within a few months, it would be ready to open.

Sometimes life handed you the perfect opportunity to do something that you feel is vitally important, as well as the right thing, and for Josh that had happened. It had also given him the perfect excuse to get away and think about what he wanted.

With Melissa, he had been so caught up at first that he had dropped all of his thoughts and plans and followed her to L.A. so she could pursue her dream. When he had met Shelly, he felt himself doing the same thing. He had decided to change tactics, switching gears in a sense.

So, before he could even begin to invite her inside where he wanted to keep her, he left, knowing that he needed to sort out his own feelings without her clouding his mind.

He knew she was scared. Hell, he was scared, too, but he wasn’t about to let her make their relationship less than what it was. As far as Josh was concerned, it was everything.

***

Saturday afternoon rolled around, and just as the clock hit 4:00 p.m., there was a loud buzzing through the condo. Shelly ran over, and pressed the button to let Josh in, and then waited.

She was seated on the couch, tapping her foot. She was nervous. The party didn’t start until 9:00 p.m., and Josh was here now.

So, what does that mean?

Every single time Shelly had made a move on him recently, he had flat out told her “no.” But, now that he would be here, she was starting to wonder if she was expected to just hold hands and watch TV with the man. She wanted him, and she wanted to know what he thought about that—or if he intended to
do
anything about it.

When the knock sounded, she stood and made her way to the door, wiping her hands down her black leggings. Opening the door, she found him leaning against her doorjamb, looking more delicious than ever. He had a sports bag in one hand with his leather jacket draped across it, and Shelly assumed it held his costume.

Holding onto the door, she crossed one leg in front of the other, allowing herself to look him over. Her eyes traveled to the ripped knee of his overly washed jeans, and then up to the nice display of tanned, bulging muscles where the midnight blue T-shirt hugged his biceps. He had a blue baseball cap on backwards, and as he raised his arm with the bag, slinging it back over his shoulder, Shelly was even more determined to convince him to let her touch.

“Hey, Georgia. Gonna let me in?” he asked in a voice so low and gruff that Shelly felt it rub all over her naughty bits.

Shelly nodded without saying a word and moved aside.

As he brushed by her, she took a deep breath and realized she had even missed how he smelled. He dumped the bag on the floor as she shut the door, and when she turned, she noticed he was looking right at her. That was when he gave her a full on DD smile.

“You look really good, Shel.”

Shelly finally found her brain
and
her tongue. “You look hot as hell.”

He seemed shocked at first, but then laughed as he stuck his hands in his pockets. “Oh yeah?”

She unconsciously licked her lips and moved toward him. When she got close enough to raise her palms to his chest, he took his hands out from his pockets and gripped her wrists before she could physically touch him.

“Please don’t stop me,” she begged.

***

Josh held her by the wrists and looked down into eyes that were pleading with him.

How can I continue saying no to her?
The answer was simple. He couldn’t.

Finally giving in to his own desire, he tugged her forward and dipped his head, crushing his mouth down onto hers.

Immediately, she parted her lips, and he slid his tongue inside to taste her.

God, she is sweet
, and it had been too long.

Months without touching her, kissing her, or just being near her had made him ravenous. With her hands trapped between their bodies, she could do nothing but go along with his demands. Taking the kiss deeper, he felt her sensuous little tongue slip forward between his parted lips, flirting and tangling with his own, until she had him groaning deep inside his chest. Pulling his head back, he looked down at her.

“Why can’t you hurry up and decide what you want? It’s killing me not having you with me,” he growled.

Just as she was about to respond, he pulled her arms behind her back, arching her whole body toward him.

Josh trembled as he looked down at her. She was dressed in sexy little black leggings and a cream sweater that was falling off her shoulder. Her hair was swept into a messy notch at the back of her head, and wisps of hair were all around her face.

Her feet were bare, and as he pulled her forward, a little rougher than he had intended, she went up on her toes, and those magnificent breasts were crushed against his chest.

She gasped, and then pushed herself harder against him. Moaning, she tipped her head back, parting her lips as the sensuous noise broke free.

Leaning forward so he was bending down into her, he whispered against her mouth, “I
need
to be in you, Shelly.”

Her eyes tried to focus on his, but she seemed to be having trouble keeping them open.

“I’m going to pull you down onto this carpet, get rid of those sexy tights, and then I’m going to bury myself so deep you’ll never
not
think of me again.”

***

Shelly could barely breathe, let alone answer.

The man holding her arms behind her back and leaning down into her was desperate. This man was strung tight on emotions, and this man was going to consume her.

Licking her bottom lip, she watched his eyes focus on her tongue, and then he released his grip, dropping to his knees. Reaching up under her loose sweater, he gripped the leggings and her panties around the waist, and with one smooth move, he removed them from her body. When they were at her ankles, she stepped out of them, and then dropped to her own knees, tugging the sweater over her head and throwing it to the floor.

He was kneeling opposite her, still fully dressed while she was now completely naked. His eyes couldn’t seem to get enough of her as they looked her up and down, and then up and down again. He finally went into action, lunging across the short distance to grip her face between his large palms.

Moaning, Shelly let him push her down onto her back, humming in sensual delight as he laid his fully clothed body against hers.
The friction is amazing
, she thought as she arched up and rubbed her aching breasts and pelvis against the fabric covering him.

“Oh fuck,” he groaned into her mouth, pushing his denim-covered erection gently against her bare mound.

***

Josh was dying. He could swear his blood was leaving his brain and going straight to his cock. And because it was confined behind his zipper, it would explode, and he
would
die.

Beneath him on the carpet was a naked, writhing Shelly, and she was on fire. She was making the sexiest noises he had ever heard as she arched up against him, rubbing all of that perfect naked skin against his tense body.

Then, her eyes snapped open, and she reached up, taking his hat off and flinging it behind them. Running her hands through his hair, she gripped it tightly. He watched her lick her lips as she leaned up slowly to slide her tongue across the stubble on his cheek.

“I can feel your heart going crazy,” she whispered against his ear.

Josh let out a puff of air. “That’s because you’re rubbing yourself all over me.”

Shelly giggled. “Want me to stop?”

Pushing his hips down, Josh turned his head and gently bit her grinning bottom lip. “Not even a little bit.”

He heard her moan as he kissed her hard, rolling them so she was now straddling him.

***

Shelly was now sitting astride a fully clothed Josh.

She herself was completely naked, and as she rocked against the bulge behind his zipper, she reached down to unbutton and unzip him. She looked at his face and smiled slowly as she parted the jeans, and then left them to smooth her hands up under his shirt.

Pushing up the blue material over all those ridged and tight muscles, Shelly couldn’t help but lick her lips, bending down to drag her tongue over his impressive six-pack.

She felt his abs quiver as she pushed the shirt higher, tracing every dip and valley up along his ribs until she got to his nipple where she gently bit his solid pec.