Shelly shook her head, and then noticed out of the corner of her eye Josh was walking around the truck. Looking down at her phone, Shelly texted back quickly.
Will call in thirty minutes to talk.
The driver’s door was pulled opened, and Josh climbed inside the truck. Mutley whined and sat up on the back seat.
“Shelly…” Josh started hesitantly.
Turning to face him, Shelly plastered on the most painfully fake smile she had ever given.
She responded, “Josh…”
He sighed, shaking his head. “Are you going to talk to me about this?”
“Nope,” she answered and stared out the window, avoiding his gaze.
That was when she noticed the leggy brunette leaning up against the little Ford again, glaring at them. So, Shelly gave in to a sudden impulse and offered her a perky little wave that screamed, I’m in the car with your man, biotch.
“She doesn’t mean anything,” Josh told her as he started up the truck.
Shelly rolled her head along the headrest, so she was facing him. “Really? To me either,” she told him, her voice dripping with saccharine sweetness.
“Why are you being like this?” Josh questioned, pulling the truck away from the curb.
Shelly looked back out the window and muttered. “I’m not being like anything.”
Josh looked at the silent woman sitting beside him. Gone was the soft country Georgia he had been with all weekend, and in her place was Man-Eater Monroe. She wouldn’t look at him, she wouldn’t talk to him, and he had to believe that as she sat there staring out at nothing in particular, she sure as hell wouldn’t let him touch her either.
How could this morning have gone so wrong? He had been five minutes away from having a naked Shelly beneath him, over him, all around him, and then Melissa had happened. As if this weekend hadn’t been stressful enough, the arrival of his ex had to top it off.
There was no way Shelly was going to let this go, especially after her parents’ confessions on the delicate subject of cheating. The real kicker, however, was that even though she knew Melissa was his ex, being confronted with another woman was not what she was ready to deal with now.
Josh turned to look at her again. She was beautiful in her silence as she stared, fuming out the window. Hell, he thought, she is beautiful all the time, including the moment she confessed her feelings to him down by the river.
“Are you really going to sit there and pretend I don’t exist?” he asked her, no longer able to bare the silence. How did this woman slip under his skin so damn quickly?
“I’m not pretending you don’t exist. In fact, I am very aware you are right there. I am pointedly ignoring you.” She told him while she continued to stare at nothing.
“Is that right?” Josh asked, starting to get annoyed.
“Yes, it is. I don’t understand what you expect me to say,” she told him, finally turning to face him. “Is she leaving?” she asked.
Josh knew his answer was not going to be what she wanted to hear, but he wasn’t going to lie.
“No, she wants to talk to me,” he told her.
Then, he watched as she rolled her eyes.
“What?” he questioned.
“Nothing.”
Josh stopped at a red light and looked to Shelly. “Tell me.”
“That’s what all women say when they want to get a guy back,” she informed.
Josh sighed, moving the car forward when the light turned green. “Well, I don’t want her back. I left her, remember?” he told her pointedly.
As he sat there waiting for her response, he thought this was probably a good time to confess about owning the construction business, too. After all, she was already pissed. Probably best to get it out and just let her get over all the bad at once. Then, we can focus on the good, right?
“Look, I don’t want Melissa. She has some stupid idea that she wants to discuss things with me. Shelly, she cheated on me. Why would I go back?”
“But you’re going to go and talk to her?” she asked again as if driving home a point.
“Yes. I told her I would.”
“Fine,” she responded and went back to silently looking out the window.
He drove them the rest of the way without saying a word. When he pulled up at the parking zone in front of her building, he parked the truck and watched as she unlatched the door. She seemed ready to get out without saying a word to him.
Josh suddenly felt it was crucial to stop her. For some reason, it seemed imperative that he make her talk to him now before he drove away. He didn’t know why, but he felt as though something was slipping away from him.
“Wait,” he told her.
Josh watched as she stopped her movements.
“What, Josh?” she asked coolly.
Josh swallowed. What the hell? I’m already in the bad books, might as well lay it all on the table. Here goes nothing… “If this weekend meant anything to you, anything at all, then please let me take care of this, and then come and get you.”
Shelly pushed open the truck door and climbed out without answering him. Her chest felt tight, and she wanted to scream, It meant everything! However, as her feet hit the pavement and she walked to the end of the truck, all she could think of was her mother’s sad face as she told her how she loved a man who didn’t love her. Then, as she banished that thought, she was swamped with visuals of her father calmly telling her that it was an arrangement between them, like it was some damn contract.
Now, here she was, standing on the curb in front of her building, with a man who had to leave her to go and appease another woman. No, thank you! That was not what she had in mind for herself—not ever.
She watched as Josh pulled her bag out of the truck and put it down in front of her, extending the handle. Reaching out, Shelly gripped it, and suddenly, he put his hand on top of hers. Looking up at him, his anxious eyes gazed down at her, but Shelly steeled herself against it.
“Don’t end us like this,” he said softly.
Standing tall, Shelly swallowed and asked, “End what, Josh? Nothing began. We had a fling.”
He stood back. Removing his hand from hers, he lifted it and ran it through his hair. “Wow. Just like that, huh?” He paused, and then bent down to get nose to nose with her. “You sure don’t have any trouble writing off people as you judge them, do you?”
Shelly raised a brow. “Excuse me?”
“I was worried you’d be pissed when I told you about my job. But I didn’t even need to do that because you’re pissed for no reason at all, aren’t you?” he asked in angry disbelief.
Shelly straightened her spine and tilted her head. “What about your job? You don’t work in construction now?”
He shook his head at her. “What do you care, Shelly? You’re done with me, isn’t that right?” He questioned.
Shelly felt her heart clench. Am I really done with him?
However, before she could even answer herself, he continued.
“Fine, go ahead and keep lying to yourself. Go and date Dr. Drab and the most boring men you can find because I tell you what—any man worth his weight would not stand here and be judged for something he didn’t do.”
He went to move around her, to walk away, but he stopped beside her, telling her softly, “I own the construction business Mason hired, and this weekend meant everything to me. Have a nice life, Shelly Monroe, and do me a favor—lose my number.”
Shelly watched him march over to his truck’s door, haul it open, and get in. Just as he pulled out from the curb, that stupid mutt poked his goofy head out the window. Shelly tried to remind herself that this was all Josh’s fault, but as they drove away, she was finding it harder and harder to convince herself.