The key to being successful, Jody assured her, was getting over the mental barrier. She needed to keep enough momentum going in the direction she was skating in to do a successful sliding stop. If there wasn’t enough forward momentum, she either just fell as soon as she put her foot sideways, or she started to do a 360 and fell anyway. The hell with it; she went back to the ‘grab onto Jody’ method. That way was more fun anyway. She even accidentally took him down once or twice so that he was lying on top of her. Who knew learning to skate could be so fun? She might never learn!
After a couple of hours, Lacey called it quits. Her feet were aching to the point of no return. She was sure she had bruises on her ass, too. Lots of junk in the trunk just didn’t help enough when it came to hitting the ice. And she did … a lot. Maybe skating wasn’t her thing. She sure did enjoy watching Jody skate though. Hockey players were incredible on skates. Of course, most of them could probably skate before they started walking – especially those Canadians, which a huge portion of NHLers were, including Jody.
The rink was pretty much booked for private parties until the weekend, so Lacey had a couple of days to recover. She didn’t see Jody for those days, and she was surprised at how much she missed him. She did get a few texts from him, but he was busy getting ready for the season. By the time he got home from practicing and then working out in the gym, he had just enough time to take Izzy for a walk, throw some food down his throat and go to bed. He swore that getting back into playing shape was actually harder than playing all season.
By the time Saturday rolled around, Lacey’s bruises had faded, and she was ready for another lesson.
Jody had missed Lacey and couldn’t wait to pick her up. He wasn’t quite as busy as he had led her to believe over the last couple of days. He was trying to give her some space. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but he wondered if he should have at least sent her a text to let her know he was thinking about her.
Lacey was definitely not ready for a serious relationship like he was. Jody knew, without a shadow of a doubt now, that she was the one. He just felt it whenever she was around. The feeling was unlike anything he’d ever felt before, and he didn’t want to take it slow. But he knew if he told Lacey that, she’d freak. He decided to let her catch her breath, but he wouldn’t be able to do that forever (okay, yes, he knew it had only been two days, but dammit, he missed her).
Before picking Lacey up for their next skating lesson, Jody had stopped at the sporting goods store and bought her a pair of padded hockey shorts. She’d look ridiculous but she might be more comfortable when she fell. And fall she would! He honestly wasn’t sure if she would get much better. Athletics did not seem to be her thing.
He smiled thinking about her. She was such a breath of fresh air. She didn’t care that she wasn’t athletic. Lacey told him that in high school, she had tried out for everything and never made the team. Instead of letting that bother her, she did other things, like learned to ride a motorcycle and drive fast cars. His girl had it all as far as he was concerned. She didn’t need to be athletic. Of course, having his hands all over her and getting pulled down on top of her when she fell was no hardship for him. He thought that she might have been falling just so that she could grab on to him. Well, a man could hope anyway.
When Jody got to the house and gave Lacey her gift, she laughed. “Oh my God, I am so not wearing them. Take them back. My ass is big enough without extra padding!” Turning Lacey around so he could look at said ass, Jody responded with a growl. “Yes, your ass looks fine just like it is, Lace. Perfectly fine.” He then turned her around again and grabbed her ass to pull her close, as was his habit.
Lacey had on another great top. This one was baby blue and snug like the red sweater. It had a low V-neck with a tiny piece of lace right at the lowest point. With her so close and his height advantage, he had a great view. Even with the great view, he still wanted to rip that lace off with his teeth to uncover her breasts. Why did women want to cover them up? There was nothing prettier than some great cleavage – made a man’s mouth water just thinking about it. He wondered how she’d be when he finally got her naked beneath him.
Would she be shy, or would she be brazen like before? Would she be a hellcat and rake her nails down his back, or would she want to make love sweetly? He’d take a little of both. But the first couple of times, he wanted to take her hard. He wanted to pick her up and make her wrap her gorgeous legs around him and thrust into her as he pinned her against the wall. He wanted to make her beg him to let her come. She’d be so crazed with desire that she wouldn’t even think about holding back. Maybe she’d nip at his lip while he …
Snapping her fingers Lacey said, “Jody? What in the world are you thinking about?” She had been asking him if he was ready to go, and he was just staring at her. Then his thumbs started brushing the undersides of her breasts. Jesus, he looked like he wanted to devour her. It was a great look on him.
Jody quickly dropped his hands and turned around. He was rock hard and knew it would be painfully obvious should she glance in the general area. “Huh? Nothing. Sorry, let’s go.” After grabbing the hockey shorts he had bought her (and holding them in front of him as camouflage), he went back out the door. His truck was parked at the curb with Izzy inside. She gave a short howl when she saw Lacey, which made her laugh. “Oh, who’s a cutie? Who’s a cutie?” By the fierce wagging of her tail, it was obvious that Izzy knew she was the cutie.
“I hope you don’t mind riding with Izzy. She’ll stay in the back. I’ve been gone so much the past couple of days that I hate to leave her home if I don’t have to. The security guards let me bring her. They keep an eye on her for me. Izzy pretty much wins over anyone who has even a remote liking for dogs.” Jody opened Lacey’s door for her and scratched Izzy’s ears before telling her to get in her seat in the back, which she immediately did.
“So are you looking forward to today’s lesson or dreading it?” She had to be sore after her first lesson, but she’d had a couple of days for her muscles to relax.
“I’m looking forward to it. I’m not so sore today. But I have to tell you, I’m not sure I’ll ever improve. It’s fun though.” Lacey would like to become a better skater, but it wasn’t a must. She just enjoyed being out, doing something fun. Hopefully Jody didn’t care if she could skate or not. She’d never be a good athlete.
When they pulled into the back lot of the rink that was reserved for the team, Lacey noticed that there were quite a few cars there. Jody remarked, “Looks like some of the other guys are here.” Grabbing her gear, Jody ran around and opened Lacey’s door for her. As soon as Lacey hopped out, Izzy followed. Jody linked his pinkie with Lacey’s (which she thought was adorable), and they walked into the rink.
Ian was there with his wife Kathy and their three-year-old son, Zach. They were already out on the ice, and it looked to Lacey like Zach skated better than she did. But hey, those hockey people had different DNA, didn’t they? No need to feel embarrassed. But maybe she’d just watch today.
Jody saw Lacey watching little Zach skate, and he knew what she was thinking. He turned to her and said, “You are going to skate today Lace.” Grinning he added, “Don’t worry, I’m sure with a couple more weeks of practice you’ll be up to Zach’s speed.” Lacey gave him the old evil eye, but laughed at the same time, while she said, “Give me the padded pants, smartass, and let’s go.”
Lacey did marginally better her second time out. Some of the other team members came in with their wives/girlfriends/children, and it became a little party. Sadly enough, Lacey was still the worst skater, even among the children. She was having a great time though. It was nice getting to know some of the other women in the group. She discovered that she had a lot in common with Keith Lambert’s girlfriend, Kelly.
It had to be tough being the captain’s girl. All of the players got entirely too much female attention just because they were professional athletes, but the captain got the lion’s share. Kelly had a gr
eat outlook on it all though. Her mantra was, “He comes home to me, girls.” Whatever they were doing, however they handled the attention, it seemed to be working for them. They were very much in tune with each other.
Kelly worked as an accountant in a financial company. They both shared a love of numbers and right and wrong. That was one of Lacey’s favorite things about being in the accounting field. In accounting, you either balanced or you didn’t. When you did, you knew your work was correct with no loose ends (except for the in the tax accounting area, which she didn’t do). Not having a grey area worked out well with Lacey’s OCD. She could do something, have it balance, and file it away.
Kelly also loved animals and did some volunteer work at the local animal shelter. She told Lacey that she would take her there to help sometime if she wanted. Kelly spent time at the shelter when the boys were traveling. It helped fill her weekends when Keith wasn’t home. Lacey told Kelly that she would be watching Jody’s pup Izzy when he was away and invited Kelly to come to his house so she could play with Izzy, too. It looked like Lacey had just made a new friend.
Looking around, Lacey saw that all of these people were like a family. They were all laughing together and helping each other’s kids on the ice. When someone fell down, someone else was there to help them get up. It was very satisfying watching these people. She enjoyed seeing them interact with each other. Lacey decided to take a seat in the player’s box and rest her feet a bit while she continued to people watch.
While she was sitting there relaxing, Heidi (who she found out was defenseman Matt Johnson’s girlfriend) came over and hooked an iPod into the PA system. She introduced herself to Lacey and said, “Wanna see the boys have some fun?” Lacey just smiled as Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean came out of the speakers, and she saw what Heidi was talking about.
Some of the guys started dancing, Jody being one of them. They all looked ridiculous. Those not dancing stood at the boards to give the guys the ice. Keith grabbed a stick that was on the bench next to Lacey and twirled Matt around, using it as a big hook. Jody did a pirouette, but fell on his ass. That was when Lacey lost it. She was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. This was the kind of fun she was missing. This was what she wanted back in her life. A good group of friends who knew how to cut loose and have a good time.
Jody saw Lacey laughing at him and skated over to the bench. Pulling her up, he dragged her back out onto the ice. “Come on Lace, dance with me.” There was no way she could dance with him; she could barely stay upright! “Funny, you know very well that I can’t do that. Go dance with Ian. He looks like he needs a partner.” Jody smiled at her, and her heart hitched a little. She was in dangerous territory if Jody kept this up. He was so cute and sweet. “I’d rather just stand here not even moving with you than do just about anything else.”
Keith skated by and said, “Oh for God’s sake, just kiss her already. You two are disgusting the way you make eyes at each other.” Punching Jody on the arm, he said, “I’ll show you how it’s done, Chief.” Keith skated over to Kelly, took her in his arms and bent her backwards, while he kissed her senseless amid cheers from the others.
Even though it was a hot kiss, Lacey knew if Jody tried that she’d be lying on the ice … again. “Don’t even think about it. I’m already cold from lying on the ice too much today.” Jody put his arm around her and led her off the ice. “Poor Lace. Let’s go get you warmed up.”
Jody took her upstairs to the team’s break room, snagging Izzy along the way. There wasn’t a whole lot to it – just some tables with benches attached to them, like picnic tables and a couple of vending machines. A small kitchenette was off to the side with a refrigerator and a small stove/oven combination. Izzy went out the door and across the hallway to investigate the workout room. Jody watched her go and informed Lacey that Izzy liked to look at herself in the mirrors that lined the back wall.
Lacey was sitting at one of the tables straddling the bench when Jody joined her with a cup of hot chocolate from the vending machine. He set it down in front of her and then sat down facing her. Reaching over, he pulled her legs over his and put his hands around her waist to pull her in tight. Lacey locked her legs around his hips. They fit together like matching puzzle pieces.
“You know what I’m going to do now, right?” Oh, she hoped she did. She licked her lips and met him halfway. They were making out like they couldn’t get enough of each other when Vlad walked in.
“Hey, knock that off. No one wants to see that shit.” Vlad walked over and took Lacey’s hot chocolate. “I love this stuff.” He sat down on the other side of the table and sighed.
“What’s up Vlad? You here to get a workout in?” Jody was not all that pleased that Vlad came in when he did. He was hoping to at least get to cop a feel. And with how cold Lacey was, her nipples were nice and hard. He’d love nothing more that to lock his lips around them and warm them up for her. God, he had to get her in bed again. And this time he’d keep her there for hours.
“Nah. Just bored or lonely. Lonely, bored, take your pick.” The weeks right before training camp started were an adjustment for some of the guys. Vlad went home to the Ukraine after the season ended to visit his family. He liked to be back a month or so early so that he could concentrate on getting back into hockey shape; at the same time though, he got lonely. All of his family lived in the Ukraine, and there were only so many hours a day that a guy could work out. Then what was he supposed to do? Vlad did have the guys over a lot, but he was just missing something. He figured that something was the very something that he couldn’t have.
“Well I was just going to see if Lacey wanted to head over to the pub with me. A bunch of us were talking about going there to get something to eat. Wanna go?” His question was aimed at both Lacey and Vlad.
Lacey wanted to go home first and get changed into something more summery since it was still so warm. Vlad was just about to decline when Lacey said, “I’d like to see if Zoe wants to go, too, if you don’t mind.” Vlad immediately perked up. “Count me in. What time are you all going over?”
“I’ll take Lacey home and then go drop Izzy off. We’ll be there in about an hour or so I guess.” Jody would have preferred to just take Lacey somewhere so he could try getting her naked, but he felt bad for Vlad so he decided on the pub route. Besides that, it would be nice to take Lacey out. And by the end of the night, he was going to have their first real date nailed down. He’d been thinking about it all week. After she agreed to go out with him, he’d start putting his plans in motion.
Jody pulled up to Zoe’s house and got out of the truck to walk Lacey to the door. “I’ll be back in about half an hour. Is that okay?” He wanted to touch her again, but kept some space between them. He was struggling with the whole ‘don’t rush things with Lacey’ idea, so he put his hands behind his back. “That sounds good. I’ll go get changed and see if Zoe wants to go.” Lacey peeked around Jody and yelled “Bye pretty girl,” to Izzy who gave her an appreciative bark. Then she gave Jody a quick peck on the cheek and went into the house. You would have thought she just told him she’d marry him, he was so happy. Her kissing him was a good sign in his book.
The pub was packed as was expected for a Saturday night. Speaking of things that were expected, Jody was having a hard time keeping his hands to himself. Really, if he thought about it, it was Lacey’s fault. She was just too sexy. She had ditched her jeans and sweater in favor of a pair of those yoga pants and a V-neck t-shirt.
Yoga pants had to have been invented by a man – a brilliant, gifted man. They hugged a girl’s curves like a second skin and because they did, Jody suspected that a lot of the girls wore a thong, or better yet, went without panties. As Jody stood there staring at Lacey’s ass looking for panty lines, Zoe commandeered a small table by the bar. Jody gestured for Lacey to walk in front of him so he could enjoy the view as long as possible.
Lacey and Jody sat on the bench together while Zoe sat on one of the chairs across from t
hem. While they waited for a waitress, Jody idly started rubbing Lacey’s thigh under the table. At his first touch, she gave a start. She was going to remove his hand but decided first to see what else he would do. She wasn’t against a little petting under the table.
She’s going to be the death of me, Jody thought. Since he didn’t think he should suffer alone, he continued his quest up and down Lacey’s leg. On each up stroke, he got closer and closer to one of his favorite parts of her that he was dying to further explore. He wanted to bury himself inside her so badly that he couldn’t think straight. Being so close to her was torturous. When he finally did get Lacey naked beneath him – and he would – it was going to be earth shattering for him. If he did everything right, it would be for her, too.
Zoe’s phone rang. She looked at the number with a look of concern. “I have to take this. Just order me a beer, Lace.” She got up and went outside to speak to the caller.
Lacey had to put a stop to Jody’s wandering hand. He was driving her mad, and she was either going to make him stop or tell him to throw her up on the table and have at it. She reached under the table and grabbed Jody’s hand. “You have to stop that; you’re driving me crazy.”
“Yeah well, that’s kinda the idea.” He gave her his trademark cocky grin and put her hand on his thigh – his extreme upper thigh. Lacey let out a little squeak and excused herself. “I’m going to run to the ladies room, and when I get back, you’re going to behave yourself.”
Lacey got up and unbeknownst to her, Jody did too. He gave up on the idea of not rushing her. She would tell him to back off if he pushed her too fast. He wasn’t strong enough to keep his hands off of her so he followed her down the hallway, and grabbed her right before she went into the bathroom. “If I have to behave myself when you get back, you have to give me a reward beforehand.” He backed her up against the wall until there wasn’t an inch between them. Not even giving her a second to respond, his lips covered hers.
The Enforcer (NHL Scorpions) Page 10
