Entice (17 page)

Josh changed the angle of his head and used his free hand to wrap around her waist, pulling her in just a little bit closer. He felt her soft moan and slid his tongue gently inside her mouth to rub sinuously against her own.

Her hands came up, grasping behind his neck, and he could feel her fingers spread out, pushing up into his hair. She gripped it and tugged gently until he raised his head, his eyes locking with her beautiful blue ones.

“I like your hair like this,” she told him as she lightly dragged her fingers through it again.

“Long? I forget to get it cut, so it just keeps growing.”

She smiled at him, still running her fingers through it. “I like it. Very bad boyish.”

Josh couldn’t help but snort and chuckle at that. “Bad boy? Is that how you see me?”

He watched as she moved her eyes to his mouth, and then back up to meet his gaze, pulling again at the end of his hair.

“I was kind of hoping.”

“Oh yeah?”

She let out a breath across his mouth, and he could smell that intoxicating apple scent on her. Leaning in, he put his nose to her hair.
Ahh, it’s her shampoo.

“Apples,” he whispered.

“Huh?” she asked in a daze.

“You smell like apples.”

She grinned up at him. “It’s my shampoo.”

Josh nodded, and then backtracked their conversation. “Why do you think I’m bad?”

Her fingers traced down his neck, bringing them around so her palms were flat on his chest. She squeezed a little, and then raised an eyebrow at him.

“You gave me an orgasm in a parking lot. You think a good boy would do that?”

He felt a smirk tug at the corner of his mouth as he reached up to trace her arched brow with his fingertip.

“Well, you gave me a spectacular orgasm in your office. Do you think a good girl would do that?”

That familiar sexy smile appeared on her lips. Her eyelids lowered, so she was looking up at him from beneath her lashes. “I never said I was good.”

“Neither did I,” he replied, now tracing her lips with the same finger that had just been against her brow. “I just asked you why you think I’m bad.”

She let out a deep breath across his finger, and then whispered, “Because no one who is good could make me want to be so very bad.”

Josh felt his whole body stiffen, and he removed his finger from her face. Taking a step back, he reminded himself that he needed to watch it. Man-Eater Monroe was still there, just lurking beneath the surface. He needed to keep his wits about him and not get fooled by
Georgia
.

She was a lethal combination.

“Touché,
Georgia
. Now, we better hurry if we want to make it to your parents’ house by seven, like we told them.”

He watched her blink and then nod, seemingly shaking herself out of the daze she was in, as she turned to walk away.

Before she got too far, he called out her name. She stopped and turned around.

“Why this park and not the others?” he asked.

She looked at the huge church behind them, and then she turned back to him.

“My father used to bring me down here when I was a little girl. We’d always end up at the fountain. He chose this park because I was baptized in that church over there, St. John the Baptist. We would always come here and make a wish before tossing in a penny.” She paused, taking in a deep breath. “I just wanted to remind myself of that before I see him tonight. When you meet him, you’ll understand why.” Then, she turned, walking back through the park.

Mutley stood and looked up at him while Josh pulled a penny out of his pocket.

Staring at the huge cathedral that was lit up and peeking out above the trees, Josh was pretty sure he’d never seen anything so spectacular.

He thought about what Shelly had just told him and wondered what he was going to witness this weekend. Before he turned away, he brought the penny up to his mouth, closed his eyes, and made a wish. Then, he kissed the penny and tossed it into the fountain.

Chapter Twelve

As Josh turned the truck onto a small pebbled lane, all he could see was darkness.

“Are you sure you haven’t forgotten how to get there?” he asked around a laugh.

“Funny, Josh. It’s just up here around the bend.”

The truck crawled along slowly, bumping and swaying over a couple of potholes. As it made the final bend in the road, Josh felt his mouth drop open.

Right in front of him, like something out of
Gone with the Wind
, was a driveway lined by huge oak trees draped in Spanish Moss. They were stunning all on their own, but when the six light posts on both sides of the driveway illuminated them, they were absolutely spectacular.

As Josh turned into the drive, he saw a huge white plantation-style mansion at the end of the road. He abruptly stopped the truck.

He turned to the woman beside him and asked, “This is your house?”

She gave him a lopsided grin and nodded. “Yep. This is home.”

Josh turned back to the opulence in front of him, suddenly feeling extremely intimidated. “That is not a home, Georgia. That’s a damn mansion.”

He heard her chuckle beside him.

“Try not to be too impressed when we get there. My father loves to gloat.”

Josh could understand why. He looked down at his thirteen-hour worn shirt and jeans, and then back at Shelly.

“Maybe we should go somewhere and change.”

She looked him over quickly and raised her eyebrows. “If we go somewhere and you take your clothes off, I’m not going to leave until you’ve been inside of me.”

Josh felt himself harden, and his eyes widened. “We are right outside your family’s house. I don’t think now is the time to be acting that way.”

Suddenly, she started laughing, hard.

“What?” he demanded, knowing her laughter was at his expense.

“You.” She paused to giggle. “You’re so proper all of a sudden. It’s just a house.”

“Georgia. That is not a house. My place back in Chicago is
just
a house.”

He watched her bite her lip to keep from laughing.

“Well, I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen your house.”

He grunted at that. “Well, maybe you can visit when we get back.”

She moved across the truck, putting her hands on the middle seat to lean up to him. Josh looked down at her.

She whispered, “I have another deal for you.”

Josh shook his head and suddenly felt like this woman was weaving her hot Southern magic around him again.

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” he asked like the stupid lust-hazed fool he was.

“I don’t have to go back to work until Wednesday. So, when we arrive back in town, if you show me your house on Tuesday morning, I promise not to put on a stitch of clothing until I need to head home on Tuesday night at 10:00 p.m.”

Josh looked at the woman who was seducing him with her words, instantly deciding he could call Cole and postpone their meeting. He muttered, “You’re trouble.”

She leaned in and flicked her tongue across his bottom lip. “And you love it.” Sitting back up, she said, “Let’s get this show on the road, Josh. I suddenly want it to be Tuesday.”

***

Shelly took a deep breath as the truck made its way up the long driveway. Josh was right. This place was a
mansion
, and she knew it was extremely impressive whenever people saw it for the first time.

She had loved growing up here.

It was a cool night, but nowhere near cold when compared to Chicago.

A lovely breeze was blowing through the majestically large trees that were draped with moss. The leaves and branches danced with the wind giving off an almost eerie but beautiful quality.

The main house itself was a throwback to the days of the plantations. It was massive and had four white columns at the front, supporting a balcony on the second level and a huge roof.

It was remarkable and enormous. That was what mattered to her father.
Other
people were impressed.

Sighing as Josh pulled the truck to a stop, Shelly flipped the visor down and looked in the mirror. She was a mess, but there was nothing she could do about that. Running a hand through her hair, she opened the passenger door when her mother appeared on the landing.

“Well, I’ll be damned. You made it here on time.”

Shelly smiled at her and moved up the stairs to hug her tight. “Of course, ma, we told you seven.”

“Oh, I know, I know! I just thought the traffic might hold ya’ll up a bit.” Her mother’s charming Southern accent reached Shelly and wrapped around her like a warm embrace.

Her mother made a move, looking at the man and dog behind Shelly.

Shelly turned to stand beside her, so she could also look at the pair. They looked disheveled and tired, but all in all, Shelly thought they made a very fine team—even though one was a hairy beast.

“And who do we have here?” her mother asked, walking down the stairs.

Shelly had always thought of her mother as a tiny powerhouse. The only problem was that she was never strong enough against the steel force that resided in this house
—
her father.

“Ma, I’d like you to meet Josh Daniels and his dog, Mutley.”

Shelly noticed Josh raised an eyebrow when she finally referred to the dog as indeed a dog. He stepped forward and took her mother’s hand in his.

“Please excuse me, ma’am. We’ve been traveling for nearly thirteen hours now, and I’m not as clean as I’d like to be.”

“Oh, please! Don’t you worry yourself ‘bout that. You look mighty fine to me.”

“Ma!”

“Well, it’s true. Fine young man you have here, Shel.”

Shelly groaned, moving down the stairs to the grinning Josh.

“Yes, well, this fine young man is going to grab his suitcase, and I’ll grab mine. We’ll be inside in a minute.”

Her mother turned and walked back up the stairs, mumbling. “I don’t know why you insist on talking like you ain’t from the South.”

Chuckling beside her, she turned to glare at Josh before giving up and grinning.

She asked in the sweetest most Southern accent she could muster up, “Hey, Ma? Where’s Father tonight? I thought for sure he’d be out here to greet us at the door.”

She heard Josh suck in a deep breath, and she knew he was reacting to her accent.
Sucker
.

“He’ll be here, sweetheart. Don’t you worry yourself. He wouldn’t miss ya’ll for the world,” she replied, walking inside.

Shelly turned and leaned up against the truck. “Well?”

“Well what?” Josh questioned as he lifted the first bag out.

“I know you’re dying to say something to me, cowboy?” Shelly asked, still putting on the thick country accent.

“Hmm. All I’m going to say to you is the next time we’re all alone and you’re wrapped around me…I want you to talk just like that.”

“Why?” she teased in her Southern twang as she sidled up closer, wrapping her arms around his waist. Tipping her head back, she bumped her hips up against his. “Oh, I see. You like the way I talk all country. It that right,
Joshuahh
?” she asked, adding an extra-long drawl to his name.

He reached up, taking her face between his hands. “Yeah, I like this country girl.”

“Well, good, cowboy, ‘cause she likes you, too.”

She went up on her tiptoes and was about to kiss him when another truck drove up the driveway.

Letting go of him, Shelly took a step back, glancing at Josh with a tight smile. She dropped the accent altogether and straightened her spine.

“Good thing you didn’t have your lips on me, Josh. My father would have shot you on sight.”

With that comment, she walked around the truck to greet her father.

***

Josh watched as Shelly made her way over to the truck that had just pulled up. He leaned against the side of his own truck with his arms crossed, watching the man that got out of the Ford F-150.

He was tall and blonde, instantly reminding Josh of Robert Redford. The guy was good-looking, and Josh could see where Shelly had inherited the fair skin and blue eyes.

When the man kissed her cheek, Josh noticed Shelly was still and stiff, losing that relaxed air she’d had about her only five minutes earlier.

Mutley took the opportunity to run around the truck, heading over to the stranger. Josh watched as her father bent down, his hand reaching out to ruffle over the dog’s head. Mutley, of course, licked his hand and wagged his tail. With a smile, Josh noticed Shelly was discreetly taking a step away from the dog, still not quite comfortable with him.

Josh found himself grinning until her father stood and turned to look at him.

As their eyes locked, Josh felt the other man assess him straight away. Shrewd eyes took in the truck first, then they moved back to him, looking over the T-shirt and jeans, and then he turned back to the dog and his daughter.

Josh was left wondering if he had passed or failed.
Well, I’m about to find out
, he thought. With a pinched expression, the man made his way over to Josh with the dog trotting along one side and his daughter on the other. Stopping when they reached Josh, her father held out his hand.

“Hello. I’m Dr. Lawrence Monroe.”

Oh shit
, Josh thought as he looked to Shelly.
Her father is a doctor, too?

He wondered if that had anything to do with the cool relationship between the two of them.

Josh reached out, taking his hand in a firm clasp, and shook it. He had to look up at the man and found himself caught in a kind of stare down.

Josh had promised himself he would not be intimidated. After all, he was successful and owned his own company, not that Shelly knew that. Overall, he was a good guy.

A good guy who wants to sleep with this man’s daughter. So?

“Nice to meet you, sir. I’m Joshua Daniels.”

Since when did I start calling people sir and ma’am? When I entered the South?Who knows?

“Yes, so my daughter was just tellin’ me.” He paused, and then turned to look at Shelly, effectively dismissing him. “Dinner will be served at 7:30.”