Jody took a minute to think about her comments. He knew she was skittish and if he fucked this up now, it could all be lost. He also knew that she was full of shit. He was pretty good at reading people; it was a part of what made him a good protector. There was no way that her reaction to him was just because it had been a while. That kind of instant sexual attraction did not happen with just anyone.
In his mind, he knew that even though he’d only known Lace for a few days, she could be the one, but he didn’t want to scare her off already by revealing too much. “Okay. I can understand why you say that. In your eyes, I’m a player. I make a lot of money, and girls throw themselves at me.” Lacey rolled her eyes at that one. “Seriously, I’m not full of myself; believe it or not, I hate it. I have two agendas for wanting to talk to you. Number one, I’d like to apologize for man handling you out there when you were nice enough to help me get rid of some unwanted attention.”
Jody paused to try to get a read on Lacey. Would she think he was sincere? Because if he were being truthful, he would tell her that he wasn’t sorry at all. He loved man handling her. He was, however, aware that it probably wasn’t the best thing he could have done. “I had no right to grab you like that. My only defense is that my mind stopped working, and I took what I wanted.” She seemed to accept that, even though her face was still closed off. “Number two is this – I would love to ask you out on a formal date, but I can see you’re not ready for that.” Pausing for a second he added, “So instead, would you please consider going to the friends and family skate with me in two weeks? The team does it every year just before Training Camp starts. It’s very casual, and we can get to know each other a little bit better with a lot of other people around. Friends do that, don’t they? At least think about it.”
Remembering Lace’s reaction to him earlier (and her denial that her reaction was to him and not just any guy), he threw caution to the wind. “Oh, one more thing. I didn’t mean to, but I lied … I’m going to put my hands on you again.” He gently placed his hands on either side of her face, giving her plenty of time to pull away. “Think of this as an experiment. You said it wasn’t me, but just physical contact that you’d been missing.” He ever so slowly lowered his lips to hers while looking right into her eyes. She muttered, “Aw hell,” right before she closed her eyes and slid her hands around his neck, pulling him down those final inches. Jody spared a second for a triumphant laugh, before he sealed his lips to hers.
Lacey was in heaven and didn’t even care that she gave in so easily. She was tired of always second guessing herself where men were concerned. Body contact felt nice, my ass. It’s all Jody. Maybe she could just keep it casual, but what if she couldn’t?
With her breathing more than a little unstable, Lacey pulled away. “All right, fine. I guess it’s obvious that we have a physical attraction. But here’s the thing. I’m not looking for a relationship. I’m just starting to recover from a nasty betrayal, and to be totally honest, my reaction to you scares me. Only days ago I finally decided to throw myself back in the dating pool, but I’m only looking for some casual dating.” Pointing at Jody and herself she continued. “The problem here is that I’m not sure if I’ll be able to see you as a casual fling. But I don’t want you to think that by saying that I’m ready for more, because I’m not. My body, however, seems to respond to you more intensely than it should.”
“So what’s wrong with that? I think intensity is a good thing.” Jody liked that he could get her to respond to him so well. What man wouldn’t?
“Look Jody, I’ve had a bumpy past. The bottom line is that I’m not looking for anything serious right now.”
He’d been hurt in the past too, and would never hurt someone else like that if he could help it. He sure as hell didn’t want to hurt Lacey; however, he’d do whatever he could to get her naked beneath him. Was that all it was for him? If it was, he could assure her that he was just looking for something casual too. Was it simply plain old-fashioned lust? If so, maybe they could slake their thirst with each other. They were both consenting adults and had one hell of an attraction to each other.
He really didn’t think that’s all there was though. They had some kind of instant connection from the moment they first spoke; he just knew it. Maybe he could try a different approach. “Okay,” Jody said. “Let’s do this. Let’s just get to know each other better. I promise to do everything in my power to keep my hands to myself.” Holding his hands up in surrender he gave her another one of those sly smiles. He was such a contradiction!
“And lips!”
Jody laughed. “And lips.” He winked at her, but added, “I’ll try. Lace, I like you. We know the chemistry is there. I want to date you, become good friends with you. Come to the skating party with me. If nothing else, you’ll have a good time. I promise. No pressure.”
Lacey thought about it, but there was one big problem. Looking down at her feet, Lacey admitted, “I can’t skate.”
Jody didn’t think he’d ever heard sweeter words. Another opportunity to be with Lace. She’d need my hands on her a lot! “No problem. We have two weeks. I can teach you to skate so well that you could dress for a game. And it’ll be fun. Trust me?”
Trust him? Lacey thought. That was a tall order. But she came out here to start a new life, right? Take a chance, Lace. “Okay Jody, I’ll trust you.” Trust him to teach me to skate? That’s easy. Trust him with my heart? Not so much, but I’ll give it a try. Poking him in the chest she said, “You get one chance, Buddy.”
Smiling in typical mischievous Jody fashion he replied, “I’ll take it, Sweetheart.” He knew she meant more than just one chance to teach her how to skate. He had one chance not to screw whatever this was up.
When Lacey was done talking to Jody, she was ready to go home. She walked back to the meeting room to find Zoe, who was, as usual, surrounded by people. She just had that kind of personality. Not just with guys, but girls too. Everyone wanted to be around her. Why couldn’t Lacey be more like that? She wanted to be fun and carefree. It was high time she started truly enjoying her life. And she was beginning to do just that, wasn’t she? Agreeing to let Jody teach her how to skate was a step in the right direction. As was letting him get away with grabbing her ass in the bar.
As they walked out to the car, Lacey looked up at the sky and sighed. There was something peaceful about a clear night and a full moon. Seeing millions of stars twinkling made life seem better, less frantic. Looking at them made her think of how insignificant her fears were. The world was so vast and people had but a short time in it. Why was she sitting in the background watching everyone else live?
“That was a pretty big sigh,” Zoe said to her. “Was that Jody inspired?”
Lacey shook her head. “No. Well, not really. I was just thinking that I’m tired of watching everyone else live the good life, while I cower in the corner. I’m so afraid that I might get my heart broken again that I’m missing all the good stuff. Jody is sigh-worthy though.” With a dreamy look on her face, Lacey let out another gusty sigh.
Zoe was not yet privy to their conversation and was trying to give Lacey a little space, but she couldn’t wait any longer. If Lacey didn’t start talking soon, Zoe was going to implode. “Out with it, Lacey. Tell me what you talked about. It’s killing me. I have to know.” Phew, she felt better.
Giving Zoe a devilish smile, Lacey asked her, “Do you want to know what we talked about before or after he kissed me again?” Lacey slid into the car and buckled her seat belt, leaving Zoe standing outside gaping at her. Lacey lowered her window. “You getting in, or are you walking home?”
Zoe got in the car and punched Lacey in the arm. “How come you waited so long to tell me? Was it as hot as the first one? Did he do that ass grabbing thing again? Cause that made my girl parts all tingly. I need details.” Lacey rubbed her arm and shot Zoe a dirty look.
“Long story short, I agreed to go to the skating party with him. Since I don’t know how to skate, he’s
going to teach me. I have two weeks to learn. He promised that he would keep his hands and lips off me.” Thinking back over the conversation, Lacey realized that wasn’t quite true. “Well he promised he’d try. I want to get to know him before I get naked with him, but when he touches me I seem to forget that. I might change my mind about the casual fling. I’m just not a casual fling kind of person. Maybe it’s time to move on with my love life. I think I’m going to try to give Jody a chance.”
Zoe was so happy for Lacey that her eyes filled up. “Oh no you don’t,” Lacey said to her. “No tears. This is a good thing.” Zoe wiped her eyes and said, “I know Lace, I know. You just don’t know how much I want you to be happy, and Jody seems to put some color back in your cheeks, you know? And I’m not just talking about the sucking face thing. I’m really proud of you; I know how hard it is for you to take this step.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Let’s just see how it goes. I don’t want to go through that kind of heart break ever again. But hey, for now it’s just skating, right? I told him that I wanted to become friends. He said he wanted that, too. That was right before he put his hands on my cheeks, and I put my fingers in his hair and pulled him down for a wee little kiss. I’m so weak …”
Laughing at that, Zoe asked, “When is your first skating lesson?” Lacey was busy the following day preparing for her interview. Monday her furniture was to arrive, and Jody was busy with hockey stuff on Tuesday. Wednesday was their first chance to go skating. “It’s looking like it’ll be on Wednesday night. If anything changes with his schedule, he’s going to text me.”
When they got home, they decided to go their separate ways and retreat to their rooms for the night. It had been a long night after such a homecoming celebration the night before. They were both beat. After tossing and turning on her floor for half an hour, Lacey got up, grabbed a blanket and went out to sit on the deck. Just as she turned the doorknob to go out, she heard her phone beep. She had a new text.
Jody: Hi Lace. Just wanted to thank you for talking with me tonight.
Lacey:Why are you still up? Don’t you start work outs early tomorrow?
Jody:Yeah, I do. I was just thinking of you so…
Lacey couldn’t have stopped the butterflies in her stomach if her life depended on it. This man, this beautiful man thought about her. Isn’t that every girl’s dream – to have a gorgeous hunk thinking about her?
Lacey: Thanks Jody. It’s nice to have someone thinking of me.
She would absolutely not tell him that she thought about him just about every second of each moment since she met him in Zoe’s office.
Jody: So why are you still up? I thought you were beat.
Lacey: Couldn’t sleep. I’m just going out to sit on the deck for a bit.
Jody: What are you wearing?
Lacey burst out laughing. Was he serious? She didn’t know what to say to that. Should she tell him that she was wearing a pair of raggedy old sweatpants and a shirt with a hole in it? Or should she lie and try to be sexy? It had been so long since she’d done the flirting thing.
Jody: Lace? I was just joking. Unless you want to answer that. Or don’t, I can make it up in my own mind. :)
Lacey: I’m still here, just trying to decide what to tell you.
Jody: You know what? Don’t tell me anything. I like using my imagination better. I’ll call you tomorrow. Nice panties btw. Nite Lace.
Lacey: Sweet dreams Chief ;) And nice try, but I’m not wearing panties. :-)
Jody: You’re killing me.
Lacey closed her phone with a chuckle. She hadn’t felt this carefree in years. How could she have forgotten how much fun flirting could be? She wondered where exactly Jody was and what he was doing. Was he lying in bed or watching TV? Hmm, what was he wearing? She closed her eyes and pictured him in her favorite outfit for a man. Jeans. That’s it. Jeans with the top button undone. And she’d already seen how his jeans hung on his hips. Wow, what a picture he made. Picturing him half naked made her whole body pulsate. Maybe she’d go on up to bed after all and let her mind wander where it would.
The next day, Lacey prepared for her interview at the Scorpions’ office. She typed out her questions, made several copies of her resume and put everything together in her portfolio. First impressions were of the utmost importance, and Lacey wanted to present a professional appearance without being too stuffy. She decided to forgo the typical office suit and instead went with a pair of black dress pants, a red blouse and her open-toed, one-inch heels. Even though they were only one-inch high, she loved them because they were leopard print. Leopard print always looked fabulous with red and black and looked especially nice when her toenails were painted red.
After laying out her clothes and packing her portfolio, she still had over four hours to kill. Zoe had pre-season appointments all day, so Lacey decided to take a brisk walk on the beach to work off some of those extra calories that she’d eaten the past couple of days. Leaving a note for Zoe, she gathered up her iPod and took off down the street.
Jamming away to some Aerosmith, she didn’t notice the car creeping up along side of her. It followed her for half a block before pulling over. The driver jumped out and followed Lacey for a bit, thankful that she couldn’t hear him. She smelled like oranges today. God he missed that. He just wanted to get close to her again. Why couldn’t she understand that? If only she would give him a chance to explain. He was so close he could almost touch her, but he needed to bide his time. This wasn’t the right time to tell her that he’d found her.
Steven turned around and went back to his rental car. Finding that receipt from the moving company when he went to see Lacey was a sign to him. What were the chances of that happening? It was just stuck at the foot of the stairs on the porch. He never would have known where she’d gone without that piece of paper. He knew then that he had to make one more effort to win her back.
What he did was not that big of a deal anyway. He knew she’d see how she overreacted to the whole issue now. Lacey was just too good for him to let go. She didn’t nag, she cooked, she cleaned, and she looked pretty in a cocktail dress when he had to schmooze people at black tie events. Until she freaked at his little indiscretion, she was perfect.
Thinking back on what had happened, Steven almost felt bad. Almost. But really, when her friend (he didn’t even remember her name now) came on to him in the pool house, he fucked her. What red-blooded man wouldn’t take what she was offering? Sex was a good way to take his wedding day jitters away. It didn’t mean anything, and it certainly wasn’t the first time he’d been unfaithful. He was a man who traveled a lot. Those things happened, and he knew that he could make Lacey understand. Men needed sex more than women; it was a simple as that.
As Lacey was jogging along the beach, she had an amazing feeling that everything was going to be great for her out there. She fantasized about having a perfect life – one she never even dreamed of before. Jody wouldn’t put any pressure on her for a serious relationship. He would be the perfect man; they’d have fun together all the time and have fantastic sex. That seemed to be a recurring thought with her whenever she thought about Jody. She wondered how long she really had to wait to jump his bones. What was the acceptable time frame to not be considered easy, or worse, sleazy? With a smile, she thought, a couple days after meeting him was probably too soon. What a shame, because she wanted nothing more than to climb all over him like he was her own personal jungle gym.
With a peaceful feeling and a clear head, Lacey started making her way back home. Home. Even though she would get her own place as soon as she was settled with her new job, she loved staying at Zoe’s, and it had immediately felt like home. Yes, she was going to be happy here.
As she was nearing the driveway, she noticed a slow moving vehicle coming up alongside her. She stopped and turned to see if they needed help or directions (not that she could give any yet), but they took off. That was weird, she thought. She ran up the stairs and headed for her bathroo
m to shower and get ready for her interview.
Lacey had already taken her sweaty clothes off and was just about to get into the shower when her phone rang. She knew it was Jody because she had programmed his ring tone to Aerosmith’s “The Grind.” That was the sexiest song she knew, and it was just fitting for Jody’s ring tone. She was enjoying flirting with him.
“Hey Jody, how are you?”
Jody was sitting on a picnic table behind the rink. “Hey Lace. I’m great. I just got done running some drills with the guys. It’s great to be back on the ice.” He’d rather be sitting somewhere with Lacey, but he wasn’t sure if she was really interested; although she would be if he had anything to do with it. “I called to wish you good luck on your interview today. Zoe mentioned it to me.”
“Thanks, that’s sweet. I certainly hope I get the job but if not, I’ll land on my feet. My first interview with Donna, the current HR manager, went great. If I hit it off with Kyle then I should be good to go.” Lacey was confident that she’d get the job. She knew her resume was strong, and she’d always been a good interviewee.
Jody said something else, but Lacey couldn’t hear him. “Hold on,” Jody yelled into the phone. A couple more seconds went by and he said, “Sorry about that. One of the security guards just left on his Harley. Those things are obnoxiously loud.”
The Enforcer (NHL Scorpions) Page 5
