Shelly watched as a wolfish grin appeared on his mouth. “Not since the last time I checked. Would you like a closer look?”

Returning his slow grin, she shook her head and squeezed Paul’s arm, trying to reassure him that she was with him tonight. “No, I’ll take your word for it.”

Looking over Josh’s shoulder, she caught the bartender’s eye and ordered, “One Cosmo.” She then turned to Paul, who was looking around as though he’d never set foot in a club before. Poor guy probably hasn’t.

“Paul? What do you want?”

He turned his head to her and smiled. “I’m driving, Shel. That means water.”

Turning back to the bartender, she rolled her eyes and heard Josh chuckle. Her eyes moved to his as he picked up his beer, toasting her with a mocking look.

“I just saw Mason and Lena walk in, Rach. I’m going to go get’em,” he said as he turned and walked away, leaving Shelly at the bar muttering under her breath.

* * *

Why on earth would a woman like her be dating Paul the Bore?

Josh shook it off as he finally got to his friend. He smiled, looking at Mason who had a proprietary arm wrapped around Lena. Josh had to admit he could see why. Lena looked smoking hot tonight. She’d left her hair out in a riot of curls and was dressed in a corset top and tiny skirt with tall boots.

“Hey,” Mason said, reaching out to shake his hand.

It reminded him of Rachel a minute ago, and he grinned.

“What?” his friend questioned.

Shaking his head, Josh laughed and answered quickly, “It’s nothing. I was just thinking about something that happened a minute ago with Shelly’s date.”

Lena tried to look around him but obviously didn’t succeed in what she was trying to see because she then peered up at him.

“Shelly ended up bringing a date?”

Josh nodded, lifting his beer to take a sip. Lowering it, he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and nodded. “Yep. He’s a real winner, too. Paul, I think his name is.”

“Oh god,” Lena sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, I see you’ve met Paul, too.” Josh laughed.

“Ah, well…technically, no, I haven’t. I only saw him once as he was exiting her office after being ‘kicked to the curb,’ I think is what Shelly called it.”

Josh took another swig of his beer as Mason tugged Lena in against his side.

He looked down at her asking, “Isn’t that the guy that wouldn’t put out?”

Coughing, Josh lowered the bottle, and he felt his eyes widen.

Seriously? The guy is holding out? On her?

He watched as Lena nodded.

“Geez, she must be hard up then. She doesn’t do repeats.” Mason chuckled.

Lena whacked his chest. “That’s not nice.”

“Well, it’s true! I mean, I tried to get Josh to take her out.”

Raising his bottle, Josh interjected, “That woman is hotter than hell, but I’m not touching her. She’ll burn me to a crisp.”

Lena’s eyes widened, and then she smiled slowly.

Josh shook his head. “No.”

“Oh, come on, just dance with her. That’s all.”

Rolling his eyes, Josh looked at Mason for help.

His friend shrugged. “Don’t look at me. You’re on your own.”

Josh saw Lena smiling with her bottom lip caught between her teeth, looking so adorable he knew he was about to cave.

“Do you ever win an argument, Mason?”

“Only when she’s close by, and I can shut her up.”

Whacking him again, Lena protested, “Hey!”

Rubbing his chest, Mason grinned down and leaned in, whispering against her mouth, “With kisses.”

“No other way with a hot woman,” Josh replied softly as he turned and made his way back to the bar.

* * *

Shelly was starting to think that reconnecting with Paul had been a terrible mistake.

He was sitting beside her drinking water. Water in a bar. He was asking her how her day was when she really just wanted to dance. She wanted to lose herself in the music and forget about her long day—not rehash it.

She felt slightly guilty, too, because she knew she was being overly judgmental with Paul this evening. But, in all fairness, she had dated him before, and on those dates, she’d given him the benefit of the doubt. Now, she knew it didn’t get better than this. Why did I call him back? Because I’m a lonely and confused moron apparently.

She turned to look at Paul, and that’s when she saw Josh take the seat on the other side of her date. And that right there is another reason why I had called Paul. She’d known that tonight had been a not-so-subtle way for Lena to try and set her and Josh up. Really, the idea was extremely appealing to all of her bad decision-making neurons. The good decision-making neurons were trying in vain to push her to Paul, who had now turned and was asking Josh what he did for a living.

Not wanting to listen to “work” talk, she turned and saw Lena walking toward her, dressed as she had been many months ago when she’d been trying to seduce Mason. Judging by the death stares he was shooting at everyone glancing in Lena’s direction, he planned to put a big “do not touch” sign on Lena. And, the grip he had on her said that later he’d let her seduce the hell out of him.

Sighing, Shelly smiled when they got to her, noticing Lena’s eyes stray to the back of Paul’s head.

Mason grinned like a bad schoolboy, and then asked loudly, “So, Shelly, who’s your boyfriend?”

Glaring daggers at him, she grimaced as Paul turned, and then she forced a smile as she introduced Paul to her closest friends. “Mason and Lena, this is Paul. A friend of mine.” So she happened to stress friend a little more than she probably should have, but she wanted it to be clear.

Mason released his grip on Lena and held his hand out for Paul to take. Standing, Paul shook it as Mason shouted over the music, “Nice to meet you, man. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Paul turned to Shelly with a questioning look, and she just grinned at him, watching as he turned back and told Mason he hoped it was all good. She almost died when Mason replied.

“Oh, yes, Shelly told me you’re nothing but respectful and treat her like she’s very special.”

Shelly heard a chuckle from down the bar and turned to see Josh’s eyes on her as he tried unsuccessfully to conceal his laughter. Raising a brow at him, she tipped her chin up and watched as he lifted his beer to take a sip. His throat mesmerized her as he swallowed, and she felt her thighs twitch.

Stop looking at him, she ordered herself.

Turning back to the three in front of her, she was about to stand up and ask Paul to dance when Rachel bounced out of the crowd and over to them.

“Come on, Paul! You look like you could use some fun! Come dance with me.”

Paul looked over his shoulder to her, and Shelly nodded, trying not to laugh at his worried expression.

“Go, you’ll have fun. I’ll be here when you’re done.”

Rachel grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the sea of people.

Mason moved closer to Shelly and leaned down, asking her with a devious grin, “So, has he put out yet, or is he still making you feel special by waiting?”

Shelly turned her head so her mouth was right over his ear when she promised, “I’m going to kill you if you don’t shut it.”

Standing up straight, he nudged her under her chin, and then grabbed Lena’s hand, who grinned at Shelly as she was tugged into the crowd.

That left her and—oh, terrific—Josh Daniels sitting at the bar.

* * *

Watching her closely, Josh noticed the minute she realized she was stuck with him. He almost laughed out loud as he watched her turn on the bar stool to face him. Picking up his beer, he finished it as he stood and moved down to sit on the stool vacated by Paul.

He’d told himself over and over that he would not get involved with her. As he slid onto the seat, their knees brushing against one another, he also convinced himself sex did not require involvement.

She turned and picked up her drink, bringing it to her shiny, wet lips to take a sip.

Oh yeah, you don’t need to be involved to hit the sheets.

She watched him over the glass, and her blue eyes lowered in a slow, sensual blink as she seemed to size him up.

“What are you looking at?” she asked boldly.

“There’s only one thing in front of me,” he returned, deciding to forget about his brain and all of its flashing neon warning signals for a minute.

She put the glass down on the bar top, and then made a show of licking her bottom lip. He knew she was one-hundred percent aware of her own sensuality and how to use it to draw his eyes to her mouth as she finished the sexy move by biting her bottom lip.

“And do you like what you see?”

Feeling a grin pull up on his mouth, he nodded. “You certainly aren’t hard to look at.”

Leaning an arm on the bar’s counter, she crossed one of her bare legs, flashing him more of her thigh. His eyes drifted down to look at them, and then came back up to meet her fiery gaze.

“So, why aren’t you dancing, Shelly?” he questioned teasingly.

She let her eyes roam all over him, and he felt them as if they were her hands, stroking over his suddenly very aware body.

“There’s no one to dance with,” she answered him in that sexy voice of hers.

He tilted his head to the side as she reached for her glass again. He watched while she lifted it to her mouth and noticed for the first time how perfect the skin was on her neck. It was a perfect shade of creamy white that he suddenly wanted to suck.

“And what am I?” he finally asked her.

* * *

Shelly looked at Josh as he sat there with his legs spread and booted feet on the floor, facing her with one arm on the bar while the other rested on his knee.

The man was pure temptation, and she was finding him hard to resist. So hard in fact that she was trying to think of a way to have him—at least for a night.

“You are not an option,” she replied.

His eyes narrowed, and she watched him as he very carefully slid off the stool and took a step closer, still resting his palm on the bar.

Not one to cave to a man, Shelly looked up at him with a questioning expression. To anyone looking, she knew it just looked like he was asking her to dance, but that was so not the case.

“Why? I can tell you want me. Your eyes are all over me, and your breathing is just a little too hard for some woman sitting at a bar. Come on, Shel, you can admit it. Just like I can almost guarantee you’re getting all hot and bothered down between—”

“Okay,” she interrupted before he voiced what she knew was true.

Looking up at him, she had to admit that the man was sexier than anyone she’d ever met. He attracted her like a bee to honey, and as she locked gazes with him, she knew she was going to have him between her legs at some point in the very near future.

“Okay, what?” he asked as he stood still, barely making a move with each breath.

Not into self-delusion, Shelly always went after what she wanted—and want him she did. She raised her eyes to his, speaking loud enough for him to hear, “You’re right. I do want you.” She watched that panty-dropping smile appear on his face. “I’ve wanted you since the moment I turned around in Mason’s bar. Happy?”

* * *

Josh couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of this woman’s mouth. He didn’t understand why he was so surprised. He’d known from the get-go that she was sexy, confident, and the kind of woman to eat a man alive. But to hear her stating so bluntly that she wanted him? Well, that sent all the blood left in his head straight to his cock.

Trying to remember what she’d just said, he leaned down until they were almost nose to nose, and then moved at the last second to her ear.

To someone watching, he looked like he was just trying to talk to her over the loud music, but to the hot woman in front of him and to his out-of-control body, they both knew it was more like adding a spark to a stick of dynamite.

“I’m horny, not happy. You’re so fucking sexy that all the blood in my body is in my cock. But you already know that because you keep aiming your eyes down there to check.”

Leaning back, he looked down at her as she smiled and licked her lips again, which automatically made him think of her mouth and his cock. Together. Right now.