The Relationship Coach

by Sylvia McDaniel

  Lacey shrugged, still unable to get the smile off of her face. She couldn’t help herself; it’d been great. “I know. I threw out my ‘dating rules and regulations’ and just went for it. In fact, I don’t think technically you could call last night a date.”

  “Oh, Lacey,” her friend moaned. “What have you done? Tell me everything.”

  Lacey spent the next ten minutes giving Amanda the PG-rated version of the night before, while her mind replayed the X-rated version.

  “Why Reed?” Amanda asked. “You weren’t sure you could trust him to make the documentary, and now you’re sleeping with him. Have you lost your mind?”

  “I know. But he’s an interesting man. We had so much fun at dinner last night. I like him. When we were saying good night at my hotel room, I kissed him. I initiated the sex, and then, wham, he took it from there. And oh, what a ride.”

  Looking back maybe it hadn’t been her wisest decision, but the night had been fantastic. This morning she’d never felt better.

  Amanda shook her head, clearly unhappy with Lacey.

  “I couldn’t get his clothes off fast enough,” Lacey said, watching her friend. “For the first time in my life, I think I experienced passion.”

  “You can’t do this.”

  Lacey frowned. “Why not?”

  “Think about your business. You’ve just complicated the situation with Reed. He’s filming you telling people to get to know the person before sex, and you’re boinking him?”

  “I know Reed.”

  “Yeah, and I know my mailman, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to screw him.”

  The glow that had sustained Lacey all morning dimmed. “I know. I don’t know where we go from here. Part of me is all aglow from the experience, and the other part is screaming, ‘have you lost your mind.’”

  “As the marketing manager of your company, I’m thinking of how this could affect the business. You need to do some damage control and quick. Think about it. He could tell everyone in this documentary that you don’t follow your own advice,” Amanda said in a voice that made Lacey realize the full impact of what she’d done.

  Lacey bit her lip. It was true. She hadn’t followed her own advice last night. She’d done something she warned her clients against. She’d had spontaneous sex.

  “If you’d picked up some Joe Schmoe down at the bar, it would have been better than sleeping with Reed,” Amanda exclaimed.

  “I don’t have one-night stands or pick up men in bars.”

  “Well, it sounds like you had a one-nighter.” Amanda cocked a brow at her. “Unless you think you’re a couple now?”

  “No,” she said the word as the sunshine washed away all the great feelings left from the night before and reality stared her in the face.

  “Honey, you just slept with the wrong man,” Amanda said quietly. “You made a mistake.”

  “Damn, but it felt so good.”

  “What is your motto? ‘Run the feelings by the head and do a gut check on the way.’”

  “God, I hate it when you repeat what I’ve said to my clients.”

  “This could become a publicity nightmare. Focus on the goal, which is the television show. Not a boinking session with the man filming you,” Amanda admonished.

  Lacey sighed. “Maybe the break-up with Dean sent me over the edge.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe you’re attracted to Reed.”

  God, she had enough pure animal attraction to him to keep her pheromones on high alert.

  Amanda watched her. “Now is not the time to be lured in by his charm.”

  Lacey didn’t even question her fascination with Reed. The temptation had been there all along. Only now, she knew she liked Reed. And last night had strengthened her interest for him.

  “I know.” Lacey sighed, the happy, sunshiny feelings slipping away. “So, how do I respond to him now?”

  “I think you need to sit down and tell him you were vulnerable because of your break-up with Dean. With the wine, the sea and your vulnerability, you let down your guard.”

  Lacey couldn’t help, but laugh. She hadn’t let down her guard. It was buried so deep within her conscious she didn’t know where it was hidden. It had yet to come out of hiding.

  “Okay, I’ll have the talk with him once we get back to Dallas.”

  “God, Lacey, I leave you alone for one night and you go all crazy on me,” Amanda said.

  Lacey smiled. It had been the best kind of crazy she’d ever experienced. Maybe there was something to being a little loco. “I’ve never experienced crazy quite like that before.”

  Amanda frowned. “No. He’s off limits. Stay away from him.”

  ***

  The next day Reed sat at a Dallas sports bar with Ty, drinking a beer and eating a hamburger. They’d just finished their weekly game of tennis and were about to head over to Reed’s house to look at the dailies.

  The night with Lacey had been incredible. They had spent the night tantalizing each other into one orgasm after another. And today, she’d intruded into his mind, his thoughts constantly turning to the time they’d spent together.

  To his shock, he genuinely liked Lacey and had resisted the urge to call her all day. He couldn’t wait to see her again.

  The TV over the bar showed the Red Sox batter had just hit a home run, and the crowd moaned as the Texas Rangers fell behind three to two. Reed’s eyes were focused on the television, when he heard the voice.

  He tensed.

  “Reed, oh my God, it’s so good to see you,” Blair cooed.

  She stood before him, looking hot, her blonde hair shorter than the last time he’d seen her. She gazed at him with those crystal blue eyes and pouty mouth, which now just seemed whiney. Memories of the two of them flooded him, but unlike before, he wasn’t interested.

  “Hi, Blair.”

  Scene after scene played in his mind of the two of them arguing. Remembering made him queasy. All the reasons why he was doing the documentary on Lacey stared him in the face. Yet, he felt no sense of loss or even excitement at seeing her.

  “I’m here with some friends. You look really well,” she said, moving closer to him.

  “Thanks. Life is good.”

  “You know, I’m free the rest of the afternoon. We could go back to your place…”

  Reed almost choked on his food. The woman who wanted a ring on her finger in the next five minutes, who’d attended one of Lacey’s seminars and moved out, now wanted him to take her home with him?

  He recognized her move. She wanted sex. “Sorry, I’m busy working on a documentary. Ty and I just stopped by to get a bite to eat, and then we’re off to work,” Reed said, not interested in picking up where they’d left off.

  She cocked her head, studying him intently. A slow grin spread across her face. “You’ve got a girlfriend, don’t you?”

  Her comment took him back.

  He shook his head and stared at her in shock. Did he have a bite mark or something on his neck that he’d forgotten about?

  “You have that satisfied air about you that you always had after sex.”

  “I just played tennis. Does that count?” he countered.

  She laughed. “No.” She paused. “We were good together.”

  “Blair, I’m still the same guy who refuses to put that ring on your finger. You’re the one who went to that relationship seminar and decided to end us. I’ve moved on and maybe you should, too,” he said, wishing she’d go away.

  “Yes, I did. But dating is frustrating.” She sighed and gazed at him, a quizzical expression on her face. “You never turn down sex.” She gave him a knowing smile as she pursed her red painted lips. “I hope it works out for you. Whoever she is, I hope she realizes you’re never going to marry her.”

  Before Reed could respond, she walked back to her friends. Damn! He’d gotten off focus. He’d put his penis ahead of the film. He’d even thought about toning down what he’d filmed so far to make sure Lacey looked good.

  H
is chest froze, ceasing his breath. What the hell was he doing?

  He turned his gaze back to Ty, who sat staring at him, his hamburger halfway to his mouth. Waiting.

  “She’s right. You never turn down tail.” He frowned. “Where were you last night? You were going to meet me in the bar.”

  Reed took a deep breath. He couldn’t let what happened last night affect him. It was just another one-night stand, wasn’t it? But why did it feel different? “Okay, I screwed Lacey last night, and she had a damn good time.”

  “Bullshit! Without her going through the relationship steps?” Ty questioned.

  “Believe me, we didn’t do a lot of talking,” Reed said, wishing Ty wasn’t so observant and Reed could have kept this information to himself.

  “Wow. You skipped steps one through nine and went straight to step ten.”

  Reed laughed, the sound strained. “Yeah, I guess we did skip a few of the steps. Let’s just say a good time was had by all.”

  “This could blow the documentary out of the water. All you have to do is tell the world that Relationship Coach, Lacey Morgan, doesn’t follow her own advice.”

  Queasiness gripped Reed at the thought of using what they’d done last night against Lacey. He laid his hamburger down, no longer hungry. “Yeah, I could.”

  “Are you going to?”

  He glanced up at Ty and smiled. “No. And lose out on rocking hot sex? Later, in the final editing stages, I’ll mention Lacey Morgan doesn’t always follow her own rules, but right now, I’m going to sit back and enjoy what the good coach has to offer.”

  Ty shook his head. “You are one lucky son of a bitch.”

  A tight grin spread across Reed’s face. “Maybe so, but we have a documentary to complete on how Relationship Coaches are frauds. What happened between me and Ms. Morgan doesn’t change the focus of my film.” He glanced over at Blair, who sat chatting with her friends. “Nothing has changed. We’re getting close to the end of the filming. Let’s focus on the goal.”

  Ty raised his beer. “To the Relationship Coach.”

  Reed smiled. “The Relationship Coach.”

  ***

  Lacey pulled into the parking lot of Dresses for Less and saw her mother and sister standing there, impatient frowns on their faces.

  She parked the car and approached them. “Sorry, I’m late. I overslept.”

  Her mother’s gaze raked her. “Sleeping in with Dean?”

  “No, Mother,” Lacey said, determined not to get into a fight with her mother today.

  “Let’s go try on wedding dresses,” Kerri said, opening the door.

  Lacey followed them into the shop where hundreds of white gowns filled over half the store. The other section was devoted to bridesmaids and mother of the bride gowns.

  “Wow,” Lacey said. “This place is really big.”

  Kerri smiled. “Okay, let’s get started. We need a sales consultant.”

  They began at the front of the store where some of the mannequins had samples of the more popular dresses.

  There were long ones, short ones, halter, bare-shouldered, long sleeves, full skirts, slim empire skirts, lots and lots of strapless, and anything else you could think of.

  Kerri found a consultant, and soon the woman had them ensconced in the fitting area with a rack of over twenty dresses for Kerri to try on. She went into the dressing room while Lacey and her mother sank into some chairs in the outer dressing area that was surrounded by mirrors.

  “You’ve got to quit trying to hold up this wedding. They’re getting married, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” her mother said, frowning at Lacey.

  Kerri came out of the dressing room and turned before them in the room. “What do you think?”

  “It’s okay. Keep trying on,” Lacey said.

  “Yes, we need to see the others.”

  Kerri went back into the room, and Lacey turned on her mother.

  “I’m no longer trying to stop her from getting married. It’s her life and if she wants to marry him, that’s fine. I’m not trying to be difficult; my life has just been crazy the last few days.”

  Her mother made a harrumphing sound, and Lacey glared at her. “I’m sure that searching for an apartment with Dean has kept you very busy.”

  Kerri came out of the dressing room. Her gaze flickered between the two of them. “Is everything all right?”

  “It’s perfect,” Lacey said, trying so hard to keep the focus on Kerri, knowing if she said she’d broken up with Dean, the focus would turn to her. “I really like that dress. It fits your body type and makes you look very slim.”

  “Keep trying on,” her mother responded, and Kerri returned to the changing area.

  “Now is not a good time for us to talk about Dean,” Lacey snapped, not wanting to tell them she’d broken up with Dean.

  “As far as I’m concerned, there never is a good time to talk about that man,” her mother said in a loud voice that made Lacey wince.

  Kerri came out of the dressing room. “What do you think of this one?”

  Her mother gushed. “I really like that style, dear. You look like a princess.”

  “All wrong for you,” Lacey decried. “You need a more form-fitting style.”

  Her sister frowned at the two of them. “Okay, we’ve still got at least seven more.”

  When Kerri disappeared, Lacey spun on her mother. “I wasn’t going to tell you—”

  “Hey, can one of you come in here? I’m stuck.”

  Her mother stood and strode toward the dressing room. She helped Kerri into the gown and then returned to her chair.

  When Kerri came out a few minutes later, Lacey looked at the dress as her sister spun around. “I like it.”

  “Not right for you,” her mother said. “Keep trying on.”

  “It’s modern, not old-fashioned,” Lacey said, realizing her mother would disagree with every dress she liked.

  “There’s nothing wrong with something a little old-fashioned. But then, I guess you consider marriage to be out-of-date,” her mother snapped.

  “What? I do not. I just don’t want to be married more than once!” Lacey took a deep breath more determined than ever to keep the dialogue between them civil and not ruin Kerri’s day.

  “And you think I wanted five marriages?”

  “Probably not.”

  “You think it was easy after your father died? You think that raising you girls alone, working a low-paying job, and paying the bills was easy? I made mistakes, but I always tried to do my best by you kids. I can’t help it if men turn out to be jerks or alcoholics or even worse,” her mother ranted, while Lacey stood back, determined not to argue.

  A sob came from behind them, and Lacey and her mother whirled around. Kerri stood there crying.

  “Oh, Kerri, I’m sorry,” Lacey said, knowing she would probably take the blame for this fiasco. She went towards her sister, who held up her hand to stop her.

  “We’re supposed to be having fun. I’m marrying the man I love. We’re picking out my wedding dress, and the two of you are making this a miserable trip.” She sniffed. “I’m going to go in and try on another dress, and when I come back out here, we better start having fun, or I’m going home.” She went into the dressing room and slammed the door.

  Lacey sighed. “Mom, we have to do this for Kerri. It’s not fair to her.”

  Her mother frowned. “You’re right. But you hurt me when you say things like that. I didn’t want to marry multiple times.”

  “I know. And later I’ll be happy to tell you I think you were right about something in my life, but not now. Kerri deserves to have fun today, so we have got to do this for her.”

  “I was right about something?” her mother said, her forehead wrinkled with surprise.

  “Yes, but drop it for now. Let’s find Kerri a wedding dress,” Lacey responded. God, she was trying; she really was trying to keep the focus on Kerri and her happy day.

  Her sister came out of the
room in a strapless dress that had a fitted bodice full of bead work and fell into an A-line skirt. The dress was stunning on Kerri, and she looked absolutely beautiful.

  Lacey and her mother gazed at Kerri and then at each other. Tears welled up in their eyes, and they wrapped their arms around each other’s waists. Together, they stared at Kerri and smiled. “That’s the one.”

  Kerri smiled at the two of them. “I thought so, too.”

  She came into their arms, and the three women stood there and hugged while tears flowed. Finally, Lacey said, “Oh, you look so beautiful, and I know that Matt is going to be a great husband for you.”

  Kerri sniffed. “You do? I mean you think I’m doing the right thing?”

  “If he makes you happy and you love him, then I think you two should make it official.”

  “Thanks, Lacey, to hear you say that means a lot to me.” She stepped away and looked at the back of the dress in the three-way mirror. “Do you think Dean would be a groomsman? I mean you and him are probably going to be married some day. I just thought it might be a nice touch to include him in the wedding.”

  Lacey smiled. “That’s very nice of you to consider him, but we’re no longer dating.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Amanda held onto Jason’s hand as they walked up the drive to her family reunion. “I’m so glad you came with me,” she said, staring into his brown eyes. “All of my cousins are married. I stick out ‘alone and available’ at the family picnic. Everyone else is showing off their kids, grandkids, and then there’s me.”

  He shrugged, his body tensing. “I’m not going to know any of these people.” He had been less than thrilled when she’d told him their date destination today.

  “You’ll know me,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze.

  “They’re not going to have a lot of strange food, are they?”

  “No, only the sacrificial goat on the altar of the barbeque.”

  He glanced at her, his forehead drew together in a frown. “I don’t like weird food.”

  “What’s weird to you may be normal to everyone else,” she said, realizing he was a real whiner when they weren’t doing something he wanted to do. “It’s a barbeque. Hot dogs, hamburgers, and the usual condiments. Plus, all the homemade ice cream you can eat.”