Entice - By Ella Frank Page 0,48

navigating his way through downtown Savannah, admiring how beautiful it was.

It was just going on 6:30 p.m., and there was a light breeze in the air. They’d made good time even with several pit stops along the way. As they rolled down the main street, Josh couldn’t help the smile that was stretching across his face.

Shelly had told him that she wanted to take him down through the Savannah Squares. At first, he didn’t have any idea what she had been talking about, but as they turned onto Charlton Street, it became very obvious.

Every couple of streets, he noticed a park was located in the center of them. The first one they passed was Pulaski Square, and then they drove by Madison Square. As they were approaching the third park, Lafayette Square, Shelly pointed and told him to pull over.

He parked the truck and watched her get out, stretching her hands above her head. She looked around with a soft smile as the wind whipped through her blonde hair. He found himself mesmerized, not by her sexiness that usually took aim at him like a fully loaded weapon, but by the simple beauty of her as she stood on the outskirts of the park with the wind blowing around her.

Josh opened the truck door and stepped down, letting Mutley out. He grabbed a leash, hooking it to his dog’s collar, and came around to stand beside this woman, who seemed to have morphed into a stranger.

She had transformed into a different version of herself, and he had to admit that he liked this version.

“These parks are amazing,” Josh commented, stopping beside her.

Shelly turned and smiled up at him. The sudden tightening in his chest from her radiant look shocked him.

“I know. This is one part of my hometown that I absolutely adore.”

She looked down at Mutley, who had taken a seat beside him on his haunches, and raised a brow. “The mutt has to come?”

Josh chuckled, shaking his head. “Well, yeah, he’s been cooped up as well, and this is a park. Kind of his thing.” He ended with a wink.

“Fine,” she sighed. Then, she shocked him by holding out her hand.

Josh reached over and took it, feeling her warm palm slip into his.

She squeezed his fingers, and they made their way down the path leading into the lush green park.

***

Shelly felt relaxed as she walked with Josh and the beast through her favorite Square.

As of 2012 twenty-two squares were littered throughout Savannah.

As a young girl, her father had often taken her to Lafayette Square where they had walked around for hours, sometimes taking a break to eat ice cream. On each occasion, he had brought her right here to this fountain where they had thrown pennies in, making wishes together.

Shelly stopped by the large water feature and looked over to Josh, who was looking around the park as the sun started to set.

The lights in the fountain and on the path where they were now standing started to blink on, and suddenly, the moment turned extremely romantic. This was not something Shelly had anticipated.

She turned to see Josh looking at her with a gentle and warm expression. She’d never seen that look on him before.

“Who are you?” he asked as he stepped closer, letting the leash go slack as his dog lay down on the ground.

Shelly immediately started to fidget with her hands, feeling nervous, which was very unlike her.

“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

He stopped when he was just a breath away from her, reaching out to run a finger down her cheek.

“Back in Chicago, you’re this sex goddess, who is so incredibly hot, but intimidating as hell—”

“I didn’t intimidate you,” she pointed out.

“Oh, yes, you did. Remember my nickname for you? Man-Eater Monroe—the kind of woman who would eat you up in one bite. I wasn’t going to touch you because I knew you’d burn me or rip me apart.”

Shelly licked her lips, becoming hypnotized by this man and his words.

All of a sudden, Shelly didn’t give two hoots what he did or did not do for a living. She wanted Joshua Daniels. The biggest shock, however, was that she wanted to keep him. For how long, she wasn’t sure, but she knew she wasn’t ready to let him go.

“And here in Savannah?” Shelly asked, wanting to know what he was getting at.

“Here,” he said, taking that final step to close the distance. “Here, you’re different. You’re relaxed and casual, still incredibly sexy, but in a