Entice - By Ella Frank Page 0,64

blonde hair whip around her shoulders under the cowgirl hat. Then, he thought of something and only hoped he had what he wanted in the truck.

“Can you wait here for one second?”

She nodded and waited by the riverbank while he jogged back to his truck. He held his breath as he opened the toolbox in the bed of the Ford F-250, and sitting inside, he found an old blanket. He grabbed it, smiling, and walked back over to the woman he was about to make love to.

***

Shelly turned when she heard him coming back toward her. Her heart thundered inside her chest as she watched him stride down to the riverbank with a blanket beneath his arm.

He was dressed in a white T-shirt and the usual jeans and boots. She looked him up and down and smiled.

“It’s too early for a picnic, isn’t it?”

Josh stopped in front of her and held out a hand. “That’s not what I had in mind.”

“No? Then, what?” she questioned.

He tugged her forward, kissing her mouth a little harder than the previous two kisses they had shared this morning.

“Tell me what else you would dream about under your dreaming tree,” he requested with curious eyes.

Shelly looked up at him, dazed and caught under his spell. “I would lie under the tree and dream about the man I’d end up with—who he would be and what he would look like.”

She watched as a grin appeared on his face—that panty-dropping smile from the first time she had ever seen him.

“Oh yeah?”

Nodding, Shelly stepped forward, placing her hands on his chest. “Oh yeah.”

“And?”

Shelly moved to step around him, walking toward the tree. She looked over her shoulder and winked. As he groaned, letting his head fall back, she felt a shiver run all the way down to her toes.

“And he turned out much better than anything I could have imagined.”

Chapter Fifteen

When he reached a spot under the tree, Josh spread the blanket out as Shelly leaned against the thick trunk, watching him. After he arranged it the way he wanted, he moved around the edge to where she stood. He watched as a sexy smile appeared on her lips.

“What are you thinking about, Georgia?”

Keeping a little space between them, he watched as she reached up and removed her hat, tossing it on the ground beside her.

“I was just thinking about how right this feels, even though it’s so sudden.”

Letting his eyes wander down over her, he nodded, holding out a hand. She reached her small palm out, sliding it against his. He tugged her forward, pulling her away from the tree, until she was close enough for him to hold.

Tilting her head just a little, she whispered, “I was determined not to fall for you, and somehow, I don’t think I ever had a chance of resisting.”

Josh raised his free hand and stroked it down her blonde hair.

“Sometimes things just happen,” he told her.

“Like fate?”

“Fate, or in my case, good goddamn luck.” He chuckled a little at that, and then sobered as he said, “I looked at you and instantly wanted you, but my past was telling me not to touch.”

He watched as she tilted her head to the side.

“Why? Am I allowed to ask what happened?”

He nodded. “Of course. It was nothing out of the ordinary. I was involved with a woman, a beautiful woman who used her beauty to get where she wanted to go, and she used me as a bankroll.”

Josh watched as Shelly’s face tightened, and he felt her stiffen in his arms. He let go of their joined hands and reached around to rub a soothing hand up her spine.

“I’ve had boyfriends who have been all about my money, too,” she confessed.

Suddenly, things started to fall into place for Josh. She had dated rich, successful men because she’d been burned just as bad as he had. However, his ammo had been to steer clear from the beauties, and hers had been to steer clear of the ones who looked at her profession as a cash advance.

Leaning down by her ear, Josh clarified, “I don’t want a single penny from you, Shelly Monroe. I want your mind, your heart, and your sexy-as-hell body, but not your money.”

Josh felt her take a deep breath, letting it out with a whoosh.

He placed a gentle kiss against her neck just below her ear, smiling against her soft skin as she tilted her head to give him better access. He made his way back to her earlobe, sucking