Entice - By Ella Frank Page 0,88

being.” He paused, raising an eyebrow. “Stubborn maybe, but not an idiot. Why would you even think that?”

She looked away, and Josh felt his heart tighten in his chest.

He didn’t want to feel like this for her, not for a woman who didn’t want him. But as she sat there, looking like a young girl lost, he couldn’t help but reach out, stroking the back of his finger down her cheek to her chin.

He tipped her face up toward him, and as her blue eyes blurred with tears, he let his emotions show as well.

***

Shelly watched as his eyes roamed all over her face as though he was memorizing every little feature. She couldn’t help the tear that had slipped from her eye, falling down her cheek.

“Talk to me,” he told her.

Shelly wanted to. She wanted to tell him everything she was thinking. How much it had hurt to watch him with Jenny. How much she had wished it was her. How every time he had touched his date tonight, Shelly had pretended he was touching her instead.

But, as he looked at her so intently, she knew she couldn’t do that to him.

He had moved on. He was dating a wonderful woman, who really was the sweetest woman Shelly had probably ever met.

So, instead of telling him everything in her heart, she whispered, “Mason was right, huh? Blondes really are your type.”

Josh dropped his hand and took a deep breath before standing. Shelly stood beside him as he raised a hand for a cab.

When one pulled up, he stepped forward, opening the door for her. Shelly took a step and was about to get in the cab when he gripped her arm gently.

She turned as he softly said, “She is the imitation of what I want. Unfortunately, the original is not available.”

With that, he let go, taking a step back onto the sidewalk.

Shelly looked him over, feeling another tear slide down her cheek, and then she slid into the cab’s back seat.

As it pulled away from the curb, she turned around inside the cab and watched as Josh faded away into the night.

Chapter Twenty

June

Two weeks later, Shelly was standing in front of a full-length mirror, looking at the dress Lena had picked out for her.

She had to admit that the dress was gorgeous. It was pastel blue, strapless, and flowed gently over her curves, ending just an inch or so above the knee. The dress complemented both Rachel and her perfectly. With eyes on the mirror, Shelly looked at the two women who were standing behind her.

“So? What do you think?” she asked, raising a brow.

“Are you serious? It looks fantastic,” Lena exclaimed, stepping forward to run a hand down the material covering her hip. “It is seriously unfair how you sometimes resemble a Barbie.”

Rachel laughed behind them. “I don’t know if that’s a compliment or an insult.”

Lena looked over at Rachel, who stood next to her in a long purple, blue, and pink tie- dyed shirt and cutoff denim shorts that were frayed around the thigh. The girl sure does have an eclectic choice of clothes, Shelly thought.

“It was a compliment. Didn’t every little girl want to be Barbie when they were younger?” Lena responded.

“Not if she wanted to get laid. Ken always had his tighty whiteys on.” Rachel pointed out with a wicked smirk.

Shelly chuckled, and Lena burst out laughing.

“Okay, okay. Forget the Barbie reference. We all definitely like sex,” Lena said.

“Although it’s been a while for some of us,” Shelly mumbled.

All of a sudden, she had two pairs of eyes on her as she stood in the center of the pedestal.

“How long?” Lena asked quietly.

Shelly moved her eyes to Rachel, who seemed intent on her answer as well.

Oh, what the hell?

“Since Josh.” Both of her friends’ eyes widened, and Shelly shrugged. “Don’t read anything into it. I just haven’t wanted to date after that whole thing.”

Rachel stepped up close behind her, still keeping their gazes locked. For a minute, Shelly thought Super Domme was making an appearance, but then Rachel’s eyes softened.

“What happened with you two? He won’t tell me shit, and that’s not like him.”

Shelly looked to Lena, who was the only person who knew the whole story. Then, her eyes moved back to Rachel. “He wanted more. I didn’t. So, we ended it.”

It was silent for a moment. Shelly took the opportunity to step down from the small round platform, turning around to move into the dressing room.

“Are you high? Why wouldn’t you want something