Entice - By Ella Frank Page 0,120

chest, but she tried to remain steady as he reached up and cupped her face in his palms.

“I love the Shelly that made an outrageous deal with me one night in a club. I love the Shelly that brought me here to this very spot and showed me that she has a soft side that is so damn appealing I would never be able to look anywhere else ever again. I love the Shelly that was confused and angry and who kicked me out of her life because she was honest. She didn’t hold onto me and make me stay only to stray elsewhere.” He stopped, kissed her nose, and leaned down, whispering, “But, you know what, Georgia? I couldn’t leave you behind.”

Shelly looked up at Josh with tears shimmering in her eyes.

What a stupid woman I’ve been! Why did I wait so long to discover what kind of man he is?

As she was about to talk, she stopped as he stepped back, leaning down on one knee. Shelly felt her eyes widening and her mouth parting as she watched with something close to absolute wonder when he reached out and took her hand in his.

***

Josh stared up at Shelly from down on his knee.

He had thought about this moment for months. He had gone over and over in his head exactly what he wanted to say to her. As he knelt at her feet, looking up at her shocked face, he felt a slight shiver of anxiety run down his spine.

Josh watched as she shifted her eyes to Mutley, who thankfully was sitting on his haunches like an obedient dog, and then they came back to rest on his.

Well, Josh thought, it’s now or never.

“Over the past ten months, I have met and fallen in love with three different women.” He paused and watched as Shelly took a deep breath and swallowed. “A man-eater, who is gutsy, bold, and so scary she almost made me walk away. A professional, who is so smart and sophisticated that her brains and sheer knowledge of certain things in life leave me breathless and in awe.”

Shelly finally smiled down at him then, squeezing his hand. The shock had left her face, and he could see a tear sliding down her cheek.

Thatis definitely a good sign, Josh decided.

“Lastly Georgia. I met and fell in love with a sweet hometown girl, who has a terrible brave face and who sings the worst rendition of Shania Twain’s songs I’ve ever heard. Yet, she still managed to make me fall madly in love with her.”

Josh kept his eyes on hers as he dug into his jeans pocket with his free hand, pulling out a small box. Looking up at her, he let go of her hand, unsnapped the black velvet, and then looked once again at the most beautiful face he had ever seen.

“Georgia, will you marry me?”

***

Shelly was finally rendered speechless.

There was Josh, down on one knee with his big beast of a dog beside him, asking her to marry him.

As he waited patiently for her answer, Shelly kept running over all the important things she wanted to tell him. Like how much she had missed him when he had left Saturday night. Or how hard it had been to see him with his ex-girlfriend all those months ago. Or how the thought of him leaving her life when he’d moved away had ripped her heart out.

However, as she gazed down at the man before her, holding out his hand with a little black box, none of that was important.

All Shelly could do was whisper. “Yes.”

She watched as that sexy smile, that was all Delicious Daniels, spread across his lips, and those warm brown eyes lit up. Then, he stood, and she reached out to wrap her arms around his neck.

He gripped her around the waist and hauled her up against his body, kissing her mouth with a sweet desperation born of fear and finally ending with sweet joy of the outcome he had wished for so hard.

When Josh finally put her on her feet, he looked down at her and asked, “Yes?”

Shelly laughed and nodded before saying softly, “Yes, yes, yes!”

Then, as she moved in close to kiss him, the huge bells in the church behind them tolled loudly.

Both of them looked over their shoulders as the church doors opened, and a wedding party spilled outside into the street, making their way across to the park.

Shelly felt Josh reach out and take her hand, pulling