Entice - By Ella Frank Page 0,14

to his friend. He smiled, looking at Mason who had a proprietary arm wrapped around Lena. Josh had to admit he could see why. Lena looked smoking hot tonight. She’d left her hair out in a riot of curls and was dressed in a corset top and tiny skirt with tall boots.

“Hey,” Mason said, reaching out to shake his hand.

It reminded him of Rachel a minute ago, and he grinned.

“What?” his friend questioned.

Shaking his head, Josh laughed and answered quickly, “It’s nothing. I was just thinking about something that happened a minute ago with Shelly’s date.”

Lena tried to look around him but obviously didn’t succeed in what she was trying to see because she then peered up at him.

“Shelly ended up bringing a date?”

Josh nodded, lifting his beer to take a sip. Lowering it, he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and nodded. “Yep. He’s a real winner, too. Paul, I think his name is.”

“Oh god,” Lena sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, I see you’ve met Paul, too.” Josh laughed.

“Ah, well…technically, no, I haven’t. I only saw him once as he was exiting her office after being ‘kicked to the curb,’ I think is what Shelly called it.”

Josh took another swig of his beer as Mason tugged Lena in against his side.

He looked down at her asking, “Isn’t that the guy that wouldn’t put out?”

Coughing, Josh lowered the bottle, and he felt his eyes widen.

Seriously? The guy is holding out? On her?

He watched as Lena nodded.

“Geez, she must be hard up then. She doesn’t do repeats.” Mason chuckled.

Lena whacked his chest. “That’s not nice.”

“Well, it’s true! I mean, I tried to get Josh to take her out.”

Raising his bottle, Josh interjected, “That woman is hotter than hell, but I’m not touching her. She’ll burn me to a crisp.”

Lena’s eyes widened, and then she smiled slowly.

Josh shook his head. “No.”

“Oh, come on, just dance with her. That’s all.”

Rolling his eyes, Josh looked at Mason for help.

His friend shrugged. “Don’t look at me. You’re on your own.”

Josh saw Lena smiling with her bottom lip caught between her teeth, looking so adorable he knew he was about to cave.

“Do you ever win an argument, Mason?”

“Only when she’s close by, and I can shut her up.”

Whacking him again, Lena protested, “Hey!”

Rubbing his chest, Mason grinned down and leaned in, whispering against her mouth, “With kisses.”

“No other way with a hot woman,” Josh replied softly as he turned and made his way back to the bar.

***

Shelly was starting to think that reconnecting with Paul had been a terrible mistake.

He was sitting beside her drinking water. Water in a bar. He was asking her how her day was when she really just wanted to dance. She wanted to lose herself in the music and forget about her long day—not rehash it.

She felt slightly guilty, too, because she knew she was being overly judgmental with Paul this evening. But, in all fairness, she had dated him before, and on those dates, she’d given him the benefit of the doubt. Now, she knew it didn’t get better than this. Why did I call him back? Because I’m a lonely and confused moron apparently.

She turned to look at Paul, and that’s when she saw Josh take the seat on the other side of her date. And that right there is another reason why I had called Paul. She’d known that tonight had been a not-so-subtle way for Lena to try and set her and Josh up. Really, the idea was extremely appealing to all of her bad decision-making neurons. The good decision-making neurons were trying in vain to push her to Paul, who had now turned and was asking Josh what he did for a living.

Not wanting to listen to “work” talk, she turned and saw Lena walking toward her, dressed as she had been many months ago when she’d been trying to seduce Mason. Judging by the death stares he was shooting at everyone glancing in Lena’s direction, he planned to put a big “do not touch” sign on Lena. And, the grip he had on her said that later he’d let her seduce the hell out of him.

Sighing, Shelly smiled when they got to her, noticing Lena’s eyes stray to the back of Paul’s head.

Mason grinned like a bad schoolboy, and then asked loudly, “So, Shelly, who’s your boyfriend?”

Glaring daggers at him, she grimaced as Paul turned, and then she forced a smile as she introduced Paul to her closest friends. “Mason and Lena, this