by Tanya Kelly
Lace & More
When Lacey Fulton wakes up to find a young, mouth-watering hunk in her bed, she thinks she’s died and gone to heaven. While the sexy, carefree, playful and much younger bartender meets none of the requirements on her Mr. Right checklist, Lacey figures he could be her Mr. Right Now.
Reilly Callaghan wants Lacey in his bed and not just for a short time. He will stop at nothing to have her, including exploring all of Lacey’s X-rated fantasies. From the bed to the shower and every room in between, the normally shy and self-conscious Lacey transforms into a bold, confident woman. Now Reilly must convince her that he is Mr. Right and to forget her damn list.
When things go from casual to complicated, Lacey must decide whether to play it safe or take a chance. Can she let go of her past and find happiness with Reilly?
Genre: Contemporary, May-December
Length: 73,049 words
LACE & MORE
Tanya Kelly
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
LACE & MORE
Copyright © 2015 by Tanya Kelly
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-914-9
First E-book Publication: January 2015
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
If you have purchased this copy of Lace & More by Tanya Kelly from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
Regarding E-book Piracy
This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.
The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.
This is Tanya Kelly’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Tanya Kelly’s right to earn a living from her work.
Amanda Hilton, Publisher
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www.BookStrand.com
DEDICATION
We dedicated our lives to each other and now, I dedicate this book to you, husband. Thanks for making me realize that dreams do come true.
To my wonderful circle of friends and family whose words encouraged, cheered me on and whose adventures inspire me.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
About the Author
LACE & MORE
TANYA KELLY
Copyright © 2015
Chapter One
Somewhere in the distance, Lacey Fulton heard a buzzing—or was it a beeping? She lifted her head and winced. A jackhammer had taken up residence inside her skull, encouraging her to sink back down onto the cool memory foam pillow. She was intent on not moving but the stupid noise started again. She realized it was her phone on the nightstand. Lacey cautiously opened one eye and reached for the offensive object but in her clumsiness, knocked it off and it landed with a thud on the soft carpet.
“Dammit,” she muttered.
A groan sounded beside her. Wow, she must be really out of it because that sounded like a dude. A second groan had her swing her head around. Pain reverberated in the sides of her temples, reassuring her that she really was awake. Holy shit. There was a guy beside her. A large guy. Lacey gasped and sat up, blinking multiple times and rubbing her eyes. Still the sight remained the same. She couldn’t possibly be dreaming, not while in this much pain. Her gaze roamed over his long body stretched across her bed. He had to be over six feet tall. She focused on his face. Even the cliché “drop-dead gorgeous” didn’t do this man justice. His partly opened blue eyes looked back at her it seemed in amusement and his brown hair was tousled like someone, perhaps she, had been running their hands through it. Dark stubble covered his jaw and surrounded full lips. Lacey blinked again, noticing he also looked considerably younger than her. Damn, he was mouth-watering, even first thing in the morning—if indeed it was morning.
His lips quirked in beguilement, like he was reading her thoughts.
Shit! Her mind scrambled over the events of the previous evening. Think, Lacey. Okay, she and Kim had gone out for dinner and then to Flanaghan’s for drinks and live music. She may have indulged in a few too many cocktails because she’d been seriously crushing on the super-hot bartender. She was never drinking again.
She focused again on his face and her mouth fell open in recognition. How did the super-hot bartender from the pub end up in her bed?
Lacey stared, mouth hanging open and wide eyes. He chuckled and pulled her into his arms before she could react. “Love, you are not awake yet. Come back to bed.” His voice and pulse-racing Irish accent were even sexier than he was—which was saying a lot.
Incoherent and dazed, Lacey lay on her side and let him wrap his long muscled arms around her. Tingling sensations shot through her body causing her toes to curl. Oh, wow. Apparently she’d gotten drunk for the first time and taken a complete stranger to bed with her. Another first. Two rules broken in one night. She normally never drank alcohol in excess and certainly never brought strange men home. That was her mother’s style, and she steered clear of being anything like her mother.
Lacey took a deep breath to calm herself. It wasn’t the end of the world, after all. He was gorgeous and she was single. Just because it was completely out of character for her, didn’t mean she was incapable of being a bad girl. She only wished she remembered the torrid deta
ils because she was fairly certain sex with this man would be—or had been mind-blowing.
His arms tightened, pulling her closer and cocooning her against his body. She sighed and leaned into his solid chest, giving into a little self-indulgence. His body molded to hers. Lacey’s eyes flew open as she felt him. Specifically, his erection. Rock hard against her—and enormous. She bit her bottom lip as her nipples tingled with awareness, hypersensitive to his hand just below the swell of her breast. Her heartbeat drummed in her chest as she imagined that hand moving up an inch and cupping her aching breast.
Sweet Jesus, she didn’t even know his name! With a little squeak, Lacey tried to pull away but with his strong arm holding her tight, only managed to wiggle against him. His cock jerked against her in response and her own body betrayed her as the throbbing moved to her core.
Oh my God! Rational returned and she pushed his arm off and scrambled from the bed.
“What? Not a cuddler?” he mumbled, his voice heavy with sleep—or desire?
Lacey’s gaze darted around the room before coming back to the man in her bed. “Bathroom. I, um, have to use the bathroom,” she croaked. Her heart hammered in her chest, the staccato beat drumming loudly in her ears.
“Okay, then come back to bed, love,” he replied, seeming not the least bit alarmed by her erratic behavior. He stretched his gorgeous six plus frame and Lacey’s brain registered that he was fully clothed. Faded T-shirt and equally faded jeans hugged his lean body. Glancing down, she thankfully noted she was fully clothed as well in her jeans, shirt, bra and underwear.
Lacey opened the door and dashed to the bathroom. First thing she did was look in the mirror. Big mistake. A tangled mess of hair and blackened raccoon eyes stared back, not to mention huge sleep lines on one side of her face. She closed her eyes against her reflection and groaned. Just lovely. Lacey’s cheeks burned as memories of last night slowly emerged from her hazy memory. Had she actually thrown herself at the bartender? Oh yeah, she’d done that.
Splashing cold water over her face, she washed away the makeup but none of her embarrassment. After a quick brush of her hair and teeth, she ventured out of the bathroom and crept back into the bedroom. She poked her head through the opening and eyeballed the bed, particularly the man in it. His eyes were closed and she took a moment to admire him. He looked like he stepped off the pages of a magazine ad with the dark stubble covering his prominent jaw and unbelievably long lashes. But what set her pulse racing were his luscious lips. Full lips she could lose herself in while kissing him.
She shook her head and concentrated hard, willing herself to remember exactly how he got there. She relaxed at the door, seeing he was sound asleep. Only men fell asleep in minutes. Definitely the bartender from the pub, but for the life of her, she had no recollection of how they ended up sharing a bed. They’d been at the pub until last call and Kim had been determined to take home the other sexy bartender. At the end of the evening, Kim’s perseverance paid off when the object of her desires offered them a ride home. They’d all climbed into his car, including the man in her bed and Kim invited them inside for a drink but that’s where Lacey’s mind went a bit fuzzy. Her phone beeped again where it had fallen to the floor. He stirred from the sound and moved his arm, causing his T-shirt to hike up, and showing a strip of perfect six-pack abs. Lacey swallowed. Okay, seeing that, she knew why she’d brought him to her bed…just not how.
She edged closer to the nightstand, her eyes glued to him. Once close enough, she bent over and grabbed her phone before almost running back out. Chicken! She went to the kitchen and grabbed water for the fuzz growing in her poor mouth. After downing an entire bottle, she brewed coffee. Lacey groaned in pleasure at the first sip and moved to the living room where she curled up on a chair and checked her phone. It was a couple missed text messages from an unknown number.
Hi beautiful. Can’t stop thinking about you.
Lacey almost spilt hot coffee in her lap as she sat up further. Her head throbbed from the sudden movement. Who in the world sent this if the bartender was in her bed? She held the phone like it might bite as she read the second text.
Hey sleeping beauty. Wake up and call me. Breakfast?
Shit, shit, shit! She’d met lots of people, well, mostly guys last night.
One other guy stood out and she grasped for his name. He was handsome and wore a suit having come straight from work. Kim knew him and made introductions. They talked for a while and she recalled Kim giving pointed looks and whispering that he would be the perfect Mr. Right. Was he texting her?
As Lacey tried to make sense of the evening, the phone vibrated in her hand, startling her. She quickly hit answer before registering the call display.
“Hello?”
“Did I wake you?” a voice said.
“Um, no, I’m enjoying my coffee.”
“It’s David, by the way,” he replied, chuckling. “I enjoyed meeting you last night. I wanted to take you to breakfast?”
Bingo. David was his name. She recognized his voice as the Mr. Right Kim had introduced her to. One problem. She had to deal with the situation in her bed first. Oh, she was so not equipped to handle this shit this morning, or anytime for that matter. Lacey’s experience with playing the field was minimal or she was honest, more like nonexistent.
“Um, it sounds great. But I can’t. I have a lot to do today.”
“Dinner instead?”
Lacey racked her brain for another excuse. From what she remembered of last night, he was handsome, gentlemanly and easy to talk to. So why was she intent on declining? Because that was her normal M.O. She immersed herself in work and kept relationships at distant second. But, she’d recently taken her boring-ass life into a completely opposite direction in order to find happiness, and actually experience fun, excitement and romance. Which would hopefully lead to finding Mr. Right—before her dreaded fortieth birthday. Mr. Right was not a man at least ten years younger. No matter how sexy.
“Lacey?” She realized David waited for an answer.
“Sounds great,” she responded before talking herself out of it.
“Perfect. How about El Dante’s at 7 p.m.?” he suggested.
“Um, sure, that works. I’ll meet you there.”
“Great. See you then.”
Gulping down the rest of her coffee, Lacey went in search of Kim. She knocked on the door to her room.
“Yeah?”
Upon hearing Kim’s voice, which sounded rougher than her own, Lacey pushed open the door. Her mouth dropped open in shock for the second time that morning. Her best friend, Kim Morrison, was lying in bed, barely clothed and her hair a mess. Standing beside the bed clad in a pair of Calvin Klein boxer briefs, a smile and nothing else, was the other bartender, the one Kim had been intent on bringing home. Clearly she’d gotten her man.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize...umm...Kim...can we…umm...” Unable to take her eyes off him, she stammered over her words like an idiot.
“It’s okay. Come in,” he said and turned to face her full frontal. Did he say come in or did he just say come? Lacey’s breath hitched in her throat and her feet were frozen to the spot. She wasn’t sure movement was possible however was pretty sure another squeeze of her thighs to her sensitive clit would cause a nice orgasm. Way too much eye candy this morning.
“Lacey, stop drooling.” Kim’s voice rang out and she reluctantly dragged her eyes away from the man’s cock, which seemed to grow bigger from her ogling. She focused instead on her friend’s face. Kim stretched under the covers, smiling from ear to ear, looking like the cat that swallowed the canary—or swallowed something. She wore the signs of woman who’d thoroughly enjoyed herself.
“You’re up early.” She ran her hand through her messy blonde hair. “And you don’t look good. Too many cocktails last night?” Kim fixed narrowed eyes toward the Calvin Klein hottie. “I told you she doesn’t handle alcohol as well as me.”
The man chuckled and shook his head. �
�Hey, she wasn’t easy to say no to.”
Great, Lacey had forgotten his sexy Irish accent as well. Two gorgeous men with sexy accents. Didn’t this kind of stuff only happen in the movies?
“I made coffee and was hoping to talk to you, Kim. In private please.”
“Sure.” She hopped out of bed, completely unabashed by her nakedness. She did have a sick body. Bitch!
“One minute.”
With snail-like movements, Lacey backed out of the bedroom, sneaking glances at Mr. Calvin Klein. Such a nice sight in the morning.
She crept down the hallway toward the kitchen to make more coffee but stopped to peek into her bedroom. She poked her head, almost afraid to look. Maybe he had magically disappeared.
Nope. Still sound asleep in bed. Vivid images of crawling naked into the bed and letting him have his wicked way with her flashed through her mind. She imagined those full lips covering hers…or sucking her sensitive nipple. Or even better if they traveled lower. With an inward groan, she gently closed the door and went back to the kitchen. All these lustful thoughts were crowding in because she’d been seriously deprived sexually. While sex had never been on her list of priorities, she’d also never had such temptation right in front of her.
“Finally,” Lacey huffed, when Kim joined her. “What the hell went down last night? Why do we each have the gorgeous bartenders from the pub in our beds? Tell me we didn’t have some crazy orgy.”
Kim threw her head back and laughed. “So Reilly is in your bed. He was determined to get there. And no, there was no orgy, although that might be an idea to explore…” Kim gave her a sly smile but must have seen the confusion on Lacey’s face. “You really don’t remember?”
