“You.” She paused to giggle. “You’re so proper all of a sudden. It’s just a house.”
“Georgia. That is not a house. My place back in Chicago is just a house.”
He watched her bite her lip to keep from laughing.
“Well, I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen your house.”
He grunted at that. “Well, maybe you can visit when we get back.”
She moved across the truck, putting her hands on the middle seat to lean up to him. Josh looked down at her.
She whispered, “I have another deal for you.”
Josh shook his head and suddenly felt like this woman was weaving her hot Southern magic around him again.
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” he asked like the stupid lust-hazed fool he was.
“I don’t have to go back to work until Wednesday. So, when we arrive back in town, if you show me your house on Tuesday morning, I promise not to put on a stitch of clothing until I need to head home on Tuesday night at 10:00 p.m.”
Josh looked at the woman who was seducing him with her words, instantly deciding he could call Cole and postpone their meeting. He muttered, “You’re trouble.”
She leaned in and flicked her tongue across his bottom lip. “And you love it.” Sitting back up, she said, “Let’s get this show on the road, Josh. I suddenly want it to be Tuesday.”
Shelly took a deep breath as the truck made its way up the long driveway. Josh was right. This place was a mansion, and she knew it was extremely impressive whenever people saw it for the first time.
She had loved growing up here.
It was a cool night, but nowhere near cold when compared to Chicago.
A lovely breeze was blowing through the majestically large trees that were draped with moss. The leaves and branches danced with the wind giving off an almost eerie but beautiful quality.
The main house itself was a throwback to the days of the plantations. It was massive and had four white columns at the front, supporting a balcony on the second level and a huge roof.
It was remarkable and enormous. That was what mattered to her father. Other people were impressed.
Sighing as Josh pulled the truck to a stop, Shelly flipped the visor down and looked in the mirror. She was a mess, but there was nothing she could do about that. Running a hand through her hair, she opened the passenger door when her mother appeared on the landing.
“Well, I’ll be damned. You made it here on time.”
Shelly smiled at her and moved up the stairs to hug her tight. “Of course, ma, we told you seven.”
“Oh, I know, I know! I just thought the traffic might hold ya’ll up a bit.” Her mother’s charming Southern accent reached Shelly and wrapped around her like a warm embrace.
Her mother made a move, looking at the man and dog behind Shelly.
Shelly turned to stand beside her, so she could also look at the pair. They looked disheveled and tired, but all in all, Shelly thought they made a very fine team—even though one was a hairy beast.
“And who do we have here?” her mother asked, walking down the stairs.
Shelly had always thought of her mother as a tiny powerhouse. The only problem was that she was never strong enough against the steel force that resided in this house—her father.
“Ma, I’d like you to meet Josh Daniels and his dog, Mutley.”
Shelly noticed Josh raised an eyebrow when she finally referred to the dog as indeed a dog. He stepped forward and took her mother’s hand in his.
“Please excuse me, ma’am. We’ve been traveling for nearly thirteen hours now, and I’m not as clean as I’d like to be.”
“Oh, please! Don’t you worry yourself ‘bout that. You look mighty fine to me.”
“Ma!”
“Well, it’s true. Fine young man you have here, Shel.”
Shelly groaned, moving down the stairs to the grinning Josh.
“Yes, well, this fine young man is going to grab his suitcase, and I’ll grab mine. We’ll be inside in a minute.”
Her mother turned and walked back up the stairs, mumbling. “I don’t know why you insist on talking like you ain’t from the South.”
Chuckling beside her, she turned to glare at Josh before giving up and grinning.
She asked in the sweetest most Southern accent she could muster up, “Hey, Ma? Where’s Father tonight? I thought for sure he’d be out here to greet us at the door.”
She heard Josh suck in a deep breath, and she knew he was reacting to her accent. Sucker.
“He’ll be here, sweetheart. Don’t you worry yourself. He wouldn’t miss ya’ll for the world,” she replied, walking inside.
Shelly turned and leaned up against the truck. “Well?”
“Well what?” Josh questioned as he lifted the first bag out.
“I know you’re dying to say something to me, cowboy?” Shelly asked, still putting on the thick country accent.
“Hmm. All I’m going to say to you is the next time we’re all alone and you’re wrapped around me…I want you to talk just like that.”
“Why?” she teased in her Southern twang as she sidled up closer, wrapping her arms around his waist. Tipping her head back, she bumped her hips up against his. “Oh, I see. You like the way I talk all country. It that right, Joshuahh?” she asked, adding an extra-long drawl to his name.
He reached up, taking her face between his hands. “Yeah, I like this country girl.”
“Well, good, cowboy, ‘cause she likes you, too.”
She went up on her tiptoes and was about to kiss him when another truck drove up the driveway.
Letting go of him, Shelly took a step back, glancing at Josh with a tight smile. She dropped the accent altogether and straightened her spine.
“Good thing you didn’t have your lips on me, Josh. My father would have shot you on sight.”
With that comment, she walked around the truck to greet her father.
Josh watched as Shelly made her way over to the truck that had just pulled up. He leaned against the side of his own truck with his arms crossed, watching the man that got out of the Ford F-150.
He was tall and blonde, instantly reminding Josh of Robert Redford. The guy was good-looking, and Josh could see where Shelly had inherited the fair skin and blue eyes.
When the man kissed her cheek, Josh noticed Shelly was still and stiff, losing that relaxed air she’d had about her only five minutes earlier.
Mutley took the opportunity to run around the truck, heading over to the stranger. Josh watched as her father bent down, his hand reaching out to ruffle over the dog’s head. Mutley, of course, licked his hand and wagged his tail. With a smile, Josh noticed Shelly was discreetly taking a step away from the dog, still not quite comfortable with him.
Josh found himself grinning until her father stood and turned to look at him.
As their eyes locked, Josh felt the other man assess him straight away. Shrewd eyes took in the truck first, then they moved back to him, looking over the T-shirt and jeans, and then he turned back to the dog and his daughter.
Josh was left wondering if he had passed or failed. Well, I’m about to find out, he thought. With a pinched expression, the man made his way over to Josh with the dog trotting along one side and his daughter on the other. Stopping when they reached Josh, her father held out his hand.
“Hello. I’m Dr. Lawrence Monroe.”
Oh shit, Josh thought as he looked to Shelly. Her father is a doctor, too?
He wondered if that had anything to do with the cool relationship between the two of them.
Josh reached out, taking his hand in a firm clasp, and shook it. He had to look up at the man and found himself caught in a kind of stare down.