Shelly winked at her over the rim of her glass and took a sip. “Sounds like a plan. So, when’s the big day?”
“Oh, we haven’t decided yet. But guess what? One of Mason’s old school friends is back in town, and he’s coming here tonight. It’s so exciting! I’ve never met any of his school friends. They all moved away after graduation.”
Shaking her head, Shelly felt the hair at the back of her neck start to rise as she slowly lowered her glass. “Please don’t tell me you’re—”
“He’s going to be the Best Man, if he agrees. Wouldn’t it be great if you two get along and—”
“Stop, stop,” Shelly interrupted, sitting forward in her chair. Lowering her voice a little, she glared at Lena and shook her head. “No. No, no, no, Lena-I’m-so-in-love-O’Donnell. Do not try to fix me up. Ugh, I hate being fixed up,” Shelly said, faking a shiver.
Lena’s brow raised. “Need I remind you that you were the one who told Mason to come stalk me at O’Malley’s. Look at how that turned out.”
Shelly rolled her eyes and picked up her drink. She was well on her way to feeling relaxed. “Yeah, but look at him. We knew, or let me say I knew, from having seen him that he was smokin’ hot and that you should grab him and take a bite.” Shelly licked the salt off her bottom lip and finished by adding, “This guy could be balding and fat for all we know. You do not get to set me up with anyone until I see him first.”
Lena’s eyes had moved, looking past her shoulder. They widened slightly, and Shelly thought she almost looked comical in her shock as though her eyes would pop out of her head.
“Well, maybe you should turn around because, as far as I can tell, Josh isn’t fat or anywhere close to balding.” Shelly heard Mason say from behind her.
Shutting her eyes on a groan, she shook her head at Lena, who was now biting her lip and trying hard not to laugh. Putting her glass down, Shelly slowly turned, ready to face the music.
So, Barbie has a mouth on her. Big surprise, Josh thought as he watched the blonde’s back stiffening. He knew from what Mason had told him that the woman currently facing him, trying to contain her laughter, was Lena. Her green eyes were smiling at him, and her long brown hair was spilling over her shoulders in a riot of curls.
Yep, Mason had described her right down to the smirk appearing across her mouth, so he knew this was the woman who’d won his friend over. That left the blonde, who must be Dr. Shelly Monroe. Josh looked back to the woman who was slowly placing her margarita glass on the table and turning toward them.
The first thing Josh noticed about her was the hair. Man, she has some perfect-looking hair. It landed just beneath her shoulders in a completely straight line. The color was almost what he’d describe as platinum, but it had several darker shades of gold through it, which could’ve only been achieved through a very high-end salon. He knew that courtesy of Melissa.
The second thing he noticed was her cherry-red skirt. Not only was it short enough to show off a good portion of her thigh, it was the same bright shade as, what he was presuming, was her Barbie convertible out in the parking lot. When she finally faced them on spiked black heels, she smoothed her matching black blouse and lifted her face. That was when he noticed her eyes. They were such a startling deep cerulean blue that he could barely take his eyes away from them, so he just stood there and watched as she flicked her now amused gaze to Mason.
“Didn’t anyone teach you it’s not nice to sneak up on people?”
Mason crossed his arms, looking down at the petite blonde. “Don’t try and wiggle your way out of this, Shel.”
Mason smiled and turned to face him while Josh watched her red lips tip up in return. “Josh, this is Dr. Shelly Monroe, and that gorgeous woman over there is my doctor, Lena.” Mason paused, and then looked back to Shelly. “This is my non-balding friend, Josh Daniels.”
Josh focused on her as she turned and looked him in the eye. Not only did she seem unembarrassed about what’d just happened, but she also seemed to be challenging him to make it an issue.
“Yes. I can see that,” she almost purred.
Josh felt her voice skate up along his spine. Oh, holy shit, this is not good.
He was not in the market for upper class and high maintenance. He wanted middle class and low maintenance. However, as Dr. Monroe ran her incredible eyes over his body, he felt all the blood in his brain disappearing quickly. Trying to stop the inevitable, he held out his hand to her. She looked down at it, and then reached forward with her own, sliding it gently against his. Her eyes moved up from their joined palms to meet his again as she bit her bottom lip slowly and continued with a grin.
“Not an ounce of fat either,” Shelly whispered seductively.
Beside him, Mason cleared his throat with a small laugh and shook his head. “Okay, Shel, leave the poor man alone.”
Letting go of his hand, she shrugged, turning back to her friend. She must’ve done something when she faced her because Lena let out a small giggle, and Mason sighed. Josh turned to find Mason shaking his head.
“Ignore them. Most of the time, they act like they’re in high school instead of behaving like two of the smartest women I’ve ever met.”
Josh nodded silently, still trying to work out what had just happened.
Shelly turned on her heel to face Lena, who was looking at her with a giant smirk. When she arched a brow and mouthed “no,” it sent her friend into a fit of giggles. Rolling her eyes, Shelly sat down and reached for her drink.
Delicious. That’d been the first word that came to mind when she’d seen him. The second had been a very loud no. No way was she going to get herself involved with a man like that. He was everything she swore she’d never go back to.
Wearing worn jeans with a rip across the knee, he had big broad shoulders that looked so strong and powerful he could possibly lift her above his head in a bench press. Add in all that amazing wavy brown hair that was just long enough to come down and curl behind his ears, she thought, Crap, I’m screwed.
Sitting very still and sipping her margarita, Shelly continued to discreetly watch him as he walked around the table with Mason. Even the way he walked was sexy. She closed her eyes, letting out a small groan.
“Something wrong, Shelly?”
Her eyes snapped open, and she glared across to her friend, who was now grinning with pure glee. Shelly decided right then that if she could’ve reached she would have kicked Lena right in the shin. She was about to respond when her phone buzzed. Looking down, she turned it over and noticed a text message from Lena.
Lena: You’ve seen him. So?
Shelly raised her eyes to see Lena had turned to face Mason and Josh, pretending to listen to their conversation. Sneaky little shit.
Hitting reply, Shelly lied.
Nope, not my type. You know me—suits and ties all the way.
Shelly put the phone back on the table, watching as Lena looked down at hers when it buzzed. As Lena arched her brow and typed back, acting like they actually were the teenagers Mason had accused them of, Shelly looked at the two men who were now discussing what sounded like a job proposal.
Mason caught her eye and winked while Josh reached forward for his glass. With an arched brow Mason cocked his head toward his friend in a so-what-do-you-think kind of way.