Entice - By Ella Frank Page 0,77

to Lena, who was grinning like a fool.

“Does Mason know where we are going tonight?” Shelly asked Lena.

“Um...he knows we’re going clubbing,” Lena answered with a smile, and then tacked on, “Plus, Rachel doesn’t want him in her business.”

Shelly turned back to Rachel. “What is this place? You’re freaking me out, Rach.”

Rachel took a sip of her martini, and then told Shelly. “Just a place I go to escape. It’s nothing illegal or bad. I just don’t want my big brother there. Is that cool?”

Shelly shrugged but sensed there was more to this than she knew. The three of them had been out before and had even gone out with Mason. Heck, they had all been to the Blue Moon that night with Josh.

Yes, that amazing night in the parking lot with—no! She was not going to think about him tonight.

Instead, she focused on Rachel. Usually, she was relaxed, happy, and fun. Tonight, she seemed edgy and wired, almost as though she was going to explode if the fuse was lit.

Shelly raised her glass, toasting them. “Tonight is a girls’ night out! No men allowed!”

They clinked their glasses and gulped down the rest of their drinks.

Shelly turned to Rachel and tried for a real smile this time.

“Okay, come and find me a dress that screams dirty sex, Rach.”

***

Josh was climbing into bed at around 10:30 p.m. when the phone rang. Reaching out, he picked it up, almost hoping it was Shelly.

“Daniels.”

“Hello, Joshua,” Cole’s voice greeted him over the phone.

“Hey, man. What’s up?”

“I was just looking over my work schedule and called to remind you about our 10:30 meeting.”

Josh sighed and then yawned. “It’s 10:30 p.m. And you’re working?”

Cole chuckled over the phone. “I’m always working, Daniels. That’s why you hired me.”

“No. I hired you because you are mean, ruthless, and scare the shit out of me.”

“Oh good. My image is intact. Have a good night. I will see you tomorrow.”

“Night, man,” Josh told him and hung up the phone, wondering what Shelly was doing at this very moment.

Chapter Eighteen

Whipped was definitely not what Shelly had been expecting.

As the cab pulled up to the curb, Rachel got out first as Shelly turned to Lena.

“Do you know anything about this place?” she whispered in her friend’s ear.

Lena looked over at her and shrugged. “I think it may be a little S&M.”

“What?!” Shelly squeaked, as they got out clutching their coats around them to fight off the chill of the late March air.

When they were all standing on the pavement, Shelly stated, “Alright, look, before I walk in the door...” Then, she stopped and looked over Rachel’s shoulder. “Ah, where’s the door?” Shelly paused, giggling, and moved closer, inquiring quietly, “Or is it like a dungeon?”

Rachel raised her eyebrow and shook her head, her sleek ponytail swishing from side to side.

“You, my friend, are an idiot,” she told Shelly. “The door is around the side of the building. No dungeons and no cages.”

Shelly frowned, and then asked seriously, “Um, Rach? What should we be expecting?”

Rachel smirked, walking past her toward the corner of the building where a crowd was loitering. “Just drinks and dancing.”

Shelly turned to Lena. “I don’t believe her.”

Lena slipped her arm through Shelly’s and grinned. “Neither do I, but you did say you wanted drinks to forget Jos—”

“Don’t say his name,” Shelly told her friend as they finally reached where Rachel had taken a place in line.

“Okay, I won’t say his name, but it is a shame. I thought things would work out.”

Rolling her eyes, Shelly sighed. “Just because you’re happy and boning Langley every night—”

“Eww,” Rachel chimed in. “That’s my brother you’re talking about.”

Shelly grinned unashamedly. “Okay, Miss Dirty Sex.”

Then, she continued speaking to Lena. “Not everyone is as lucky as you and Mase.”

Lena nodded before telling her softly, “I wish you could have been.”

Shelly turned to face the front of the line, muttering, “For a moment, I was.”

The line moved fairly quickly, and they were inside before they knew it.

The lights in the entryway were dim, and Shelly wondered why it mattered that she had changed. It was so dark that it would be impossible to see the blue skintight tube dress Rachel had picked out for her.

Rachel had also insisted on tying a black ribbon around her throat, resembling a choker necklace. After she had been dressed like a human-sized Barbie doll, Rachel had handed her a tall pair of spiked stilettos and had declared Shelly ready for dirty sex.

Now, where is Josh when I need him?

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