Элла Франк - Entice

“Can’t we go inside?”

Clenching his jaw, Josh shook his head once. “No, we can’t go inside. You can tell me why you’ve turned up here. Did you run out of money?”

Josh watched as her brown eyes widened in feigned shock, and he couldn’t help but compare them to a startling blue pair he had come to adore. Melissa’s were suddenly lacking.

“No. What a horrible thing to say to me!”

Raising a hand, Josh ran it through his hair. “Look, Melissa. I’m tired, annoyed, and just want to go inside and get some sleep. Stop jerking me around and tell me what you want.” He paused, and then added in an annoyed tone. “Or leave.”

She looked around, and then finally her eyes came back to his. “Fine. A friend of ours saw you the other day with the blonde.”

Josh blinked once slowly, trying to comprehend what she was telling him, and then he shook his head again. “Are you serious? You came all the way here because someone told you I was out with another woman?” Beyond incredulous now, Josh demanded, “Where did they even see me? No, wait a minute. Who cares? Tell me you didn’t come back here because of that.”

She bit her bottom lip in a gesture that had once worked every time, but suddenly, all Josh could think of was a certain man-eater.

What the fuck is wrong with me? He internally berated himself and his poor choices in women. He was obviously delirious from lack of sleep.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it for a while—how much I missed you—”

“That must have been when Dave was at home with his wife, right?” Josh asked coolly.

“Being an asshole doesn’t suit you, Joshua.”

“Well, I didn’t think being a cheater would suit you, but you made it work,” he told her, watching as she registered his words. Then, he said what he had wanted to say for years. “I wanted a life with you, Melissa. I wanted to make it work. Hell, I moved across the country to try and make it work.” Shaking his head, he looked over his shoulder and whistled at Mutley. He watched his dog’s ears prick up, and then he trotted over and sat by his legs. “It was you who chose otherwise. So, please don’t come back here, pretending to care because you heard I might be moving on. Get in your car, drive away, and please don’t ever look back.”

“But, Josh—”

“No,” he said, effectively cutting her off. “There’s nothing else to say except goodbye.”

He spun on his heel without waiting for an answer and made his way to his door. When he got there, he turned and watched as Melissa, the first woman he thought he had loved, reversed down the driveway. As she pulled away from the curb, he realized he felt nothing as she drove away. He wondered if that had anything to do with the fact that he’d left his broken heart at a certain blonde’s feet as he had driven away from her not even an hour earlier.

It had just turned 10:00 p.m. when Shelly’s intercom sounded.

Buzzing the girls up, she applied one last coat of gloss to her lips, and then headed to the door to unlock it. Several minutes later, the door opened and in walked Lena and Rachel. Shelly tried to smile at them both.

With her hair flowing over her shoulders, Lena was dressed in a tight black dress and bright red shoes. It was her go-to dress as Lena liked to joke. Hey, it works, and she looks gorgeous.

Then, Rachel moved from behind Lena and shook her head as she looked over Shelly. “No,” she told her pointedly.

“No?” Shelly questioned, looking down at her black strappy top and flirty pink skirt. “What’s wrong with it?”

Rachel rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

She was dressed tonight in a black backless halter top and skintight black leather pants. Her dark hair was pulled up in a tight, high ponytail, and the purple tips were brushing the nape of her neck.

As Rachel walked around her, Shelly noticed for the first time a wicked-looking tattoo, running vertically along the length of her spine and disappearing beneath her leather pants.

Shelly looked over to Lena, mouth hanging open, and her friend shook her head.

“I didn’t know she had it either.” Lena paused, and then chuckled. “She has a whole bunch. She was showing me on the way over here.”

Shelly turned back to look at Rachel, who was still frowning at her.

“What’s wrong with my outfit?”

“You look like you’re going to a high school dance,” Rachel told her with a smirk.

Shelly tried not to be offended. She decided if Rachel was going to turn up looking like the sexiest version of a goth dominatrix, then she needed a drink to deal with the fashion advice.

Most of the time Shelly was the one handing out the opinions. Tonight, apparently, it appeared she was totally out of her depth.

Moving to the kitchen, Shelly poured them all a lemon-drop martini. She then turned, handing the drinks to the girls, and looked over at Goth Barbie in the corner.

“Well, I’m sorry I don’t know how to dress appropriately for a place called Whip Me.”

Lena laughed as Rachel raised a brow.

“It’s Whipped, Monroe, and don’t be so quick to judge. I hear your nickname is Man-Eater,” Rachel said with a grin.

Shelly felt her mouth drop, and then she shut it, shooting a quick glare to Lena. “I’m killing Mason. Next time I see him, he’s dead.”

Lena gave her a pretend pout as Shelly turned back to face this morphed version of Rachel. Gone was the fun-loving pastry chef, and in her place seemed someone slightly detached and cool.

Almost as though she was removed from the entire discussion, Rachel looked over Shelly. “You want to bring sex.”

Shelly raised a brow and put a hand on her hip. “Excuse me? This isn’t sexy?”

Rachel nodded. “It is. But it’s not the right tone. You want dirty sex.”

Narrowing her eyes at Rachel, Shelly turned 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.

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.”