Entice (15 page)

Sighing, Josh ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, well, the deal changed. I think I’m going as a buffer, but she wants me to go with her, so I thought why the hell not.”

“Hmm, the deal changed how?” Cole questioned him in that cool serious tone he usually reserved for business.

Josh thought of the sexy doctor. “The deal changed in the fact that she asked, and there was no way in hell I was going to say no.”

“Oh shit,” Cole muttered.

“Oh shit indeed,” Josh replied. “I’ll see you Tuesday at 10:30. If the time needs to be changed, let me know.”

“Will do, Josh. Have fun down south.”

Chuckling, Josh asked, “Was that a sex joke, Cole? From you?”

Josh could have sworn he could see the lawyer’s eyes rolling.

“I’ll have you know I can tell a sex joke just like the next guy.”

“Sure you can, man. You just choose to be mysterious. Is that it?” Josh laughed.

“That’s exactly it. See you Tuesday, Joshua.”

“See you Tuesday,” he replied before he ended the call.

***

Thursday night turned up much quicker than Shelly had anticipated. She was in the process of packing her bag when her phone beeped.

Leaning over, she saw DD on the display and opened the message.

DD: Don’t pack much.

Smiling, Shelly texted back.

Why?

Throwing the phone on the bed, she moved to the closet and pulled out her cowgirl boots, grinning. She had a good feeling about this trip. Maybe not so much the eleven-hour car ride, but she was looking forward to spending time with Josh. She found she was a lot more excited than she had originally thought she would be. Walking back to the bed, she placed the boots in her suitcase and looked at the phone.

DD: You only need enough clothes for meals with your parents. Around me— nothing.

Shelly turned, resting her butt against the bed. She closed her eyes for a moment picturing Josh.
Hot damn! The guy pushes my buttons.
She couldn’t wait to get her hands on his naked body. Licking her lips, she wrote back.

We’re staying at my parents’ house. You plan to have me naked under my father’s roof?

There, take that!
She grinned, wickedly.

Moving to her chest of drawers, she opened it and looked at her panties.

Hmm
… Picking out the sexiest items she owned, she turned, throwing them in the bag, when the phone vibrated.

DD: I plan to have you naked under me. If that happens to be in your father’s house, then so be it.

Giggling, Shelly called Josh’s number.

He answered immediately. “I mean it, Shelly.”

“Is that right? But then you’d miss seeing all the pretty panties I just packed.” She took great delight in the soft groan she heard at the other end.

“What color are they?”

“My panties?”

“Yes, Shelly, your panties that you just packed. What color are they?”

Looking into the bag, she answered, “Black, white, hot pink.”

“Bikini or thong?”

“Why?” she asked, picking up the black lace thong that had a pearl in the middle of the waistband.

“Because I’m picturing the color disappearing between your perfect pale ass cheeks, and if they’re bikinis, I need to change the fantasy.”

Holding back her moan, Shelly dropped the panties. “How do you know my behind is pale? You haven’t seen it. And don’t change your fantasy. You’re spot on.”

Groaning louder this time, she could have sworn she felt it rumble through the phone.

“I’m picturing it in HD as we speak—your deliciously round ass with a sexy strip of lace running down the middle.”

Shelly laughed. “Oh yeah? And what am I doing? Just standing with my back to you?”

“No, you’re turned away from me, and my finger is pulling that little strip of lace out of the way as you ride my cock like a cowgirl in reverse, Georgia.”

Georgia?
Shelly thought with a smirk. Now
that
was a new nickname.

Shelly closed her eyes and bit her lip.
God, he was so damn sexy.

The man had her thighs clenching, and her palms sweating. “Is that right, cowboy?”

“Oh fuck yeah.” He paused, and then asked, “Shelly?”

She was breathing a little faster than usual when she answered. “Yes?”

“I’m loving this new deal, and I can’t wait to get inside you. Now, text me your address. We have an early start tomorrow.” With that, he hung up.

Shelly stared at her phone and shook her head. She had a feeling that this man-eater had just met her match in Joshua Daniels.

***

On Friday morning, Josh pulled up at the valet of Shelly’s condo at 3:55 a.m. It was dark, and the air was cool. As he sat in the cab of his truck, he found he didn’t care that it was so early because he couldn’t wait to see the doctor.

Pulling his phone out, he texted her, letting her know he was there, and then waited.

He watched the lobby for her, and then grinned as the doors opened.

Shelly came out wearing a tight white T-shirt with a loose-fitting black cardigan and jeans. As she made her way down the path with a small bag, he had to admit that the woman was stunning. Her blonde hair was flowing down and spilling over her shoulders. Although she wasn’t wearing anything flashy, he found this version of her much more appealing on so many levels.

Just as she reached the curb, Mutley chose to sit up behind him, putting his big head out the window. He watched as Shelly froze, looking at the dog with eyes so big Josh thought they might pop out of her head.

“What is
that
?” she asked from where she had stopped.

Josh had to smile. Her adorable nose that was usually tipped in the air was scrunched up in a look of disgust.

“Mutley, my dog.”

Her eyes went from him to the window behind him where Mutley still sat panting.

“I am
not
getting in the car with
that
.”

Josh laughed and opened his door, climbing out and moving several steps until he was just inches away from her. “Yes, you are.”

Shaking her head, she looked around his shoulder, and then turned her eyes back to him. “No, I’m not. He’s huge.”

Josh grinned and reached out, giving in to the urge to touch her hair. He picked up the ends of it, running his fingers through it.

“He’s harmless.”

She looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. “Like his owner?”

Josh shook his head and lowered it, his lips were brushing against hers. “Oh, no, he’s harmless.
I’m
not.”

With that, he kissed her.

***

Shelly forgot all about the gigantic dog in the back of Josh’s truck as he pressed his hot lips to hers.

Not even thinking twice, she opened her lips and felt his tongue slide deep inside to rub against her own. She moaned as she lifted her hands and gripped his leather jacket, feeling his muscular arms underneath. She heard him grunt softly, and then felt him wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against his jeans.

Oh yeah
, Shelly thought as his lips shifted and the kiss took a deeper dive toward hot, steamy sex. She felt his tongue trace over her teeth, and then come back to slide over her lips. He moved his head back, and she moaned at the loss of his mouth as he looked down at her.

“Where’s your suitcase?”

Shelly looked up into his deep brown eyes. “Huh?”

He chuckled and brought one of his hands up to cup under her chin.

“Your suitcase, Shelly. Where is it? If we don’t hit the road, we’ll never get there.”

That shook her out of her lust-clouded haze. “Josh, I’m not getting in there with him.”

Josh moved around her and walked toward the lobby, yelling over his shoulder. “Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!” she called back, staring at the huge animal that was looking at her intently.

“You got your keys and purse?” Josh asked her.

Shelly nodded and patted the bag on her arm. She heard him moving closer, and then he rolled the suitcase past her.

She took her eyes off the beast for a minute to watch Josh as he moved to the back of his truck.

Okay, so the suits I usually date don’t have the muscle and brawn to
—
oh my
, Shelly thought as she watched Josh’s biceps bunch and flex as he picked up the suitcase and threw it into the bed of the truck. Sheer animal magnetism and sexy-as-hell muscle
definitely
weren’t things a suit usually had. Shelly wanted to lick him.

“Come on,” he told her as he walked around the truck, opening the passenger door.

Shaking her head again, she could see him looking at her through both windows as he leaned his arms on the frame, the truck now separating them.

Her eyes drifted back to the huge dog that was now eyeing her with a raised brow.

Oh, so the dog has attitude, too? Forget that
, Shelly thought and crossed her arms.

“Get in the truck Shelly.”

“No.”

Grinning at her, Josh warned, “
Georgia
, get in the truck.”

She felt a grin tug on her lips, deciding she
really
liked that nickname on his lips. “I’m not getting in the car with
that
,” she told him, pointing to the dog that had now placed his head down so it was resting on the open window.

“Mutley’s harmless. You’re hurting his feelings.”

Ha!
Shelly thought.
The beast wants to eat me. Okay, so maybe not eat me, but definitely slobber on me.

“One more chance, Georgia.”

Shelly crossed her arms. “And then what happens? You leave?”

She watched him straighten up on the other side of the truck, and then he walked back around the front, making his way over to her.

His face was dead serious, not a smile in sight as he got closer to her.

Oh, shit, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.
She’d never seen him upset.

When he reached her, he didn’t stop walking. He just made his way over to her and hauled her up and over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry as though she didn’t weigh a thing.

***

Josh grinned when he heard Shelly shriek as he tossed her over his shoulder. Pivoting, he carried her down the path as she pummeled his back.

“Are you insane? Put me down right now, Joshua Daniels!”

He chuckled and continued around the truck. When he got to the passenger side, he slowly lowered her and stepped in close, giving her no other option than to step back with her butt against the passenger seat.

“Now, get in the car, Georgia, before I strip off your clothes and take you in the front seat of my truck in front of all your nosy neighbors.”

He watched her close her mouth, and then look around to make sure no one was outside.

“Maybe I’d like that,” she told him.

Josh grinned at her and leaned in, resting his arms on the roof of the truck. Trapping her between the seat and his body, he rubbed himself up nice and close against her.

“Oh, Georgia, I’d make sure you loved it. But do you really want Mutley to watch? His poor sensibilities might get hurt. Plus, we need to get going.”

Josh watched her look over her shoulder, and Mutley gave her a goofy doggy smile and whined.

“Oh, fine! But he better not come near me,” she said, giving up as she climbed into the truck.

Josh closed the door with a huge smile.
Yes, ma’am
.

He sure did like this Southern girl he’d met this morning, and he wanted to get to know her a
whole
lot better.

Chapter Eleven

Around five hours into the trip, Shelly was getting antsy. She started to understand why people took planes or, more importantly, why
she
took planes.

This trip was just too damn long. If you included the fact that there was a ninety-pound hairball sitting behind her and giving her the evil eye, then you not only had a long trip, you had a long trip from hell.

On the plus side, she had plenty of time to sit and study Delicious Daniels.

He’d put on a pair of black aviator glasses when the sun had made an appearance this morning. He had his arm resting by the window as they drove along the highway while his other hand lightly gripped the top of the steering wheel, giving her a lovely view of those strong, thick biceps of his.

He’d removed his jacket once they had gotten in the truck, and the black shirt he was wearing molded like a second skin to all of his bulging muscles. As she ran her eyes down to the jeans he seemed to live in, she had to catch herself from licking her lips. They cupped him like a lover’s hand, and then wrapped tightly around his thighs.

Unconsciously letting out a small grown, Shelly was mortified when he turned and caught her staring. She quickly brought her gaze up to his. Deciding
what the heck
, she gave him a flirty smile and a raised eyebrow.

“Keep your eyes on the road, Josh.”

He gave her a smug grin, and then turned back, facing the long stretch of road ahead of them.

The whole way out of Chicago Shelly had bitched at him about the hairy dog being in the truck until he had told her if she mentioned the dog once more he’d move him into the front seat.
That
had shut her up real quick.

They’d stopped for coffee with a quick breakfast at one of the fast food joints and had been driving straight through with no breaks since.

They had discussed everything from how he’d met Mason, which was in grade school during year seven to be exact, to when she had met Lena, which, of course, had been when they had started working at University Hospital.

She now knew he had one brother, Jeremy, who lived in Chicago, and their parents had retired to Florida. He now knew that she’d grown up in Savannah, Georgia and was an only child.

When they had exhausted all the small getting-to-know-each-other talk, he’d told her to relax and maybe try to sleep, but she had known that would be impossible with the dog staring at her. Instead, she had rested against the window, watching the scenery pass by, but she was getting antsy and needed a pick-me-up.