Shelly had been sitting at the bar next to Paul, who had his hand resting on her bare knee, and Rachel had pulled him straight out onto the dance floor. Knowing he’d owed Rachel, Josh had gone reluctantly, considering all he’d wanted to do was get close enough to Shelly to smell her. Or to smell myself on her.
However, no such luck. For the rest of the night, which had been three more excruciating hours, she’d managed to completely avoid him and spent the whole time pretending to be interested in Paul.
Just sex, he kept repeating to himself. It’s all about sex. Great sex, but just sex.
He gripped the bar above his head and did five reps before placing it back.
I can do just sex, right?
Granted, he’d never done it before, and honestly, he had never even thought of it as a possibility. After all, how can two people be so close with one another yet remain uninvolved? And how does this work anyway? Am I supposed to just dial for a booty call? Or is she going to call me? The hell if he knew.
Staring at the ceiling, he was about to reach up and grip the weight again when the phone rang beside him.
Reaching out, he grabbed it, answering, “Daniels.”
“Joshua, its Cole,” his lawyer and friend announced, even though the stern tone at the other end could never be mistaken for anyone else.
“Hey, man. How’s it going?”
“Good. I have no reason to complain. I just wanted to touch base and let you know that the disgruntled—”
“Asshole?” Josh injected.
“Well, yes, I was going to say employer, but asshole will work. He called and dropped the case. He’s going to pay you the full amount.”
Sighing a huge breath of relief, Josh asked, “How’d you get him to change his mind?”
“Threats and lies. All threats and lies,” Cole told him in an almost sinister tone, which was only lightened by the dark chuckle he added on the end.
“Ahh, just the kind of lawyer I want on my side.”
“That’s right. Now, tell me, are we all still going to your brother’s for poker?”
Josh sat up, grabbed the towel he’d slung over the end of the bench, and wiped his face.
“Yep. Jeremy told everyone to come by at noon.”
“Okay, I’ll be there. Should I bring anything?”
“Maybe some beer? It is poker, sooo maybe some luck? Last time you played, we killed you.”
Josh got the reaction he’d been waiting for in the ever so serious tone he’d become accustomed to from Cole.
“Be careful, my friend. I read up on it and now know all the rules.”
Laughing, Josh threw the towel into the dirty clothes basket. “Is that right? Could you sound any more like a nerd? Or a lawyer?”
“I’ll have you know, Daniels, this nerd just saved you ten-thousand dollars.”
Conceding this round to his friend and business associate, Josh nodded. “You sure did, so I’ll go easy on you.”
“How accommodating of you.” Cole laughed, good-naturedly. “See you soon.”
“Yep. I’ll be the one taking all your money.”
Shelly was standing outside the door to Mason and Lena’s home. It was strength training day, and every second Saturday, they went down to the local gym to do an hour of weights. Shelly had been let into the building by Ed at the front door and had now knocked twice. Still, there was no answer. She moved closer and pressed her ear up to the door.
That was when she heard Lena giggle and say emphatically, “Mason, stop.”
Shelly moved back just as the handle twisted, and the big door was pulled opened by a flush-faced Lena.
“Getting in some early morning cardio?” Shelly asked with a raised brow.
Mason strolled forward in a white T-shirt and some low-riding sweats, placing a hand on Lena’s shoulder. “I was trying, but she’s conserving all her strength for you,” he told Shelly with a smirk.
Poking her tongue out at him, Shelly strolled into the loft. “Lucky me.”
Stopping at the kitchen, the usual OJ was sitting on the counter. She picked it up, taking a sip. “Oh, Mason! Forget Lena. Come live with me and squeeze my oranges.”
Mason let out a loud laugh as Lena punched her lightly on the arm.
“That did not sound right,” Lena muttered. “He better not squeeze anything of anybody’s, except mine.”
Smiling, Shelly took another sip and shrugged at her friend. “Hey, it was worth a shot.”
“Yeah, well, you can forget it. This chef, playboy, and charmer is all mine.”
“Ahh, ladies? I’m still in the room. Although I have to tell you, being fought over is kind of hot. Can you maybe start pulling hair? Ripping clothes?” Mason pretended to look around, and then opened the fridge. “I’m sure I can find some Jello for you to both roll in.”
They all started laughing.
“Perv,” Shelly told him as she finished the glass of OJ.
She watched Mason move around the kitchen, cooking them breakfast. This had become a ritual for them. She would come over to pick up Lena, and Mason would cook them a healthy and scrumptious breakfast, and then send them on their way. The man was a genius in the kitchen, so it certainly wasn’t a hardship to eat his food. He also wasn’t hard to watch.
Shelly bet he and Josh had broken hearts all through school. Two good-looking guys—one a complete charmer, all polished and smooth around the edges, and the other a little wild with sharp, jagged edges—who were the perfect good boy and bad boy. And they just happened to be best friends.
Hell, if her friend wasn’t engaged to the pretty boy, Shelly may have found herself entertaining a hot ménage à trois scenario. However, her friend was in love with him, so that was an automatic no-go fantasy. So, she settled for being friends with the sizzling hot chef, who was currently wrapped around Lena, kissing the hell out of her.
Clearing her throat, Shelly watched with amusement as the two lovebirds pulled apart. They were so happy with one another; it was hard not to envy what they had. Shelly was woman enough to admit to feeling a small stab of jealousy.
“Hello? I’m still here. Wait until I leave to get naked, please,” Shelly teased with a grin.
Lena moved away from Mason and came over to the counter, leaning up against it.
“So?” she asked, and then paused. “Where’d you disappear to last night?”
Busted, Shelly thought with a wince. “Nowhere. What do you mean?”
Lena’s mouth pulled up in a smug I-got-you smirk. “It means that while we were dancing—”
“And making out,” Mason injected into the sentence.
“Yes. Thanks, babe. While we were dancing and making out, we noticed you had disappeared. Did you have a fight with Paul?”
Shelly thought about it for all of two seconds before she latched onto that excuse. “Yeah, he was annoying me. Not even having one drink. And then, did you see the way he danced?”
“Yep,” Mason said, looking over his shoulder at her with a grin. “Boy cannot move.”
Shelly nodded, feeling bad for throwing Paul under the bus. When he’d dropped her off last night, they’d decided that theirs was a relationship better left in the past. Way in the past.
“Yes. So, anyway, I went to the little girls’ room for a breather.”
Lena picked up a slice of apple from a fruit platter in front of them and bit down into the crisp segment, nodding.
“Huh, well, that’s too bad. I was hoping it’d work out for you,” she stated, moving away from the counter to walk over to her bedroom. “I’ll be right back, just going to put on my shoes.”