“They want new stuff, they want it updated. It’s been the same event every year since the place opened. The membership has gotten younger over the years and they want new stuff. Sure, a barbecue and dance are nice, but that doesn’t draw in sponsors, it doesn’t draw in people from the outside and as much as the party is about the members, we’re also running a business here, and this event is the perfect way to draw new clients. They’re tired of the sit down meal in the restaurant, followed by the same tired band playing the same tired songs. The only good thing is the fireworks display. Everyone loves the fireworks. But as I’m sure he made you aware, this is Doc Barnes’ party, you do it his way.”
“Yes, he’s made that perfectly clear.”
“Is this the file for the party?” Jake said, reaching a hand across the table and snatching up the manila folder. “Shit!” He dropped the folder on the desk and picked it back up with is other hand. “Sorry,” he said, wiping a drop of blood off the folder. “Forgot about the cut.”
Lacy had forgotten also, she’d been listening so intently to what he was saying about the party that she’d forgotten why they’d come up here in the first place.
There was a knock at the door and Jake went to it. He opened the door a sliver and took the coffee mug Jenny had returned with. “Thanks, hon,” he said before closing the door in her face quickly.
“What the hell?” Jenny said incredulously behind the closed door and went to her desk to pout.
Jake took a seat on the light gray loveseat on the other side of the room. “This is your chance to make this event into something people actually look forward to. I’m sure Doc Barnes told you that everyone looks forward to it, but again, I can tell you they don’t. If you want to make a name for yourself here, Lacy, this is your chance.”
“Even if I could come up with something, we both know he’d never agree to it.” Her mind was racing in several directions.
“Convince the mean asshole.” There was something about Jake’s voice that told Lacy there was more going on with him and Doc Barnes than she knew. Well, whatever it was, she was all for outfoxing the ole’ weasel.
She was staring at Jake, considering the possibilities when she realized what was about to happen. She watched in horror as Jake was about to put his bleeding hand on the arm of the couch. “No!” she hollered. “Blood! I mean, don’t bleed on my couch.”
Jake regarded his hand. “Oh yeah, that. I wouldn’t be bleeding still if you’d take care of me like you said you were gonna.”
She gave him a death-stare. “Well, get over here and I will.”
Jake’s blood pressure spiked. Damn, this little girl was feisty. At first she seemed to be tripping over her words, fumbling around like most women did in his presence, but a sudden flash of confidence had come through in her voice and he liked it.
He offered her a smile. “Yes, ma’am.” He walked over to her at the desk.
Lacy, who only minutes ago had been dumbstruck by this man and his sexiness, now felt a slight bit of annoyance with him. He suddenly appeared cocky to her and for the moment, it wasn’t as endearing as she imagined he thought it was.
“You’re used to getting your way,” Lacy said, wiping the blood from Jake’s hand. “Aren’t you?”
My God. She was actually a little put out with him. Jake’s cock flexed in his pants and he shuffled on his feet to hide the sudden surge. “Not all the time.”
“I bet.”
Lacy turned a bottle of peroxide over onto a swab of cotton and dabbed it around Jake’s cut. Jake yanked his hand back with a wince.
“Oh, don’t be such a big baby,” Lacy fussed, hiding a hint of a smile.
She washed away the blood with a few wipes and then dumped a splash of peroxide directly on the cut. Jake recoiled in pain, the disinfectant searing the nerves of the open wound. “You know, you don’t have to enjoy it so much,” he grumbled with a hiss.
Lacy snatched gauze out of the kit and began wrapping his hand. The blood had stopped flowing, but Lacy was still teed off. She didn’t know if it was just because he’d been so careless and almost ruined her couch or if it was because she wanted him to make a move on her so bad she could taste it—and he hadn’t. What the hell was he waiting for?
“What’s wrong with you?” Jake asked as Lacy wrapped.
“I don’t know what you mean.” She avoided his gaze.
He placed a hand onto of hers, stopping her mid-wrap. “I mean a minute ago we were having a good time and then you just go and throw this switch and turn into a whole other person.”
“You almost got blood all over my couch and...” Lacy started to confess, but caught herself before she said more.
“It’s a fucking couch,” Jake snapped. “I’m sure it would’ve cleaned up even if I’d messed it up.”
“Of course. It’s just a ‘fucking couch’ to guys like you.”
“Guys like me?”
It was the first time Lacy had looked up at him since she’d started tending to his wound and she regretted it. Sure, guys as gorgeous as Jake were used to getting their way and they usually only cared about themselves, but Jake was different, she knew that and it hit her like a train. She was only frustrated because she wanted him and it had been a trying couple of days. First there was the failed attempt at masturbating and then the unpleasant meeting with Doc Barnes. It wasn’t Jake’s fault he was hot or that Doc Barnes was an asshole and it certainly wasn’t Jake’s fault Lacy had never had an orgasm and she felt terrible for having taken it out on him like she had over something so trivial. “I’m sorry,” Lacy offered with a weak voice. “I’m just frustrated. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”
The thought of Lacy taking her frustrations out on him made Jake’s cock twitch again. “You’re frustrated?” He chuckled, unbidden naughty thoughts coming to mind. “You need some sort of stress reliever,” he said with a sly grin. “I’d say go whack some balls around. But you might decide to do that right here and now and I don’t want to be on the receiving end of your angry little swing.”
“Oh, my God,” Lacy said with a blush. “Did you just say that?”
“I did.”
She swatted him on the arm. “You’re bad.”
Good. They were back to playing and having fun. If only he knew how much she wanted to get her hands on his balls right now. Hopefully the tightening of her nipples under her blouse wasn’t giving Lacy away, because the thought of what Jake had between his legs had her almost mindless with need.
“You’re not gonna report me to HR, are you?” Jake asked. He was studying his injured hand, opening and closing it, testing to see if he could go back to work.
“No, of course not, even if you’re annoying.” Lacy watched him swirl his wrist, flexing the big dirt covered fingers and imagined them on her body. Jake’s strong hands, roving up and down her skin, his rough, callused hands finding pleasure zones on her body she didn’t even know existed. If everything she’d heard was true, Jake Knight had expert hands on and off the golf course and knew what to do with them. What she wouldn’t have given to feel them on her right now. She would’ve run to the door and locked it if he’d told her to. Hell, she’d probably do anything he asked right now, as long as he kept staring into her eyes the way he was doing right this second.
“Have dinner with me tomorrow night,” Jake blurted out, surprising even himself.
Lacy didn’t think, she didn’t have time to, her mouth just opened. “Okay,” she agreed.
Hallelujah!
*****
Eden Comeaux listened intently to every word which came out of DeQuincy Trahan’s mouth. His beautiful mouth. He was conducting an interview on the phone with Channel 12 news out of New Orleans. They’d just cracked a cold case for the New Orleans Police Department while researching the decades old mystery of who assassinated the infamous Kingfish, Huey P. Long. While gathering information on the supposed murderer, Carl Weiss, they’d questioned a few retired policemen who’d known some of t
he original investigators and bodyguards, eyewitnesses, and stumbled upon some evidence which linked one of those lawmen to a series of strangulation deaths of young women, some very near the police headquarters. “I was glad to do it, Henry.”
With a sigh, Eden listened to Quince take all the credit—again. Even though she’d been the one to actually make the connection and draw it to his attention. Today was supposed to be her reward for a job well done, but he hadn’t said two words to her since they sat down. The whole thing would’ve made her mad, but she was used to it and really didn’t expect much more from him. Why did she put up with his infuriating ways? Eden pushed her food across the plate. She’d been so excited to come with him today, she should’ve known better.
And it wouldn’t hurt so much if she didn’t love him more than life itself.
“Hey, Miss Comeaux, how are you?” Eden looked up to see Jake Knight standing by their table. She couldn’t help but notice several things—a group of young men were filing by on their way to the golf course, his hand was bandaged and every female’s eyes in the place were eating him up.
“I’m good, Jake. Are you okay?” She pointed to his hand.
“Sure, I’m all fixed up. Will you give your boss a message from me?”
Eden bristled a bit. Technically, he wasn’t her boss. They shared the grant money and the assignment. Both were equally qualified and more times than not, she was the one who uncovered the answer to whatever they were after. The people who worked with them knew the truth, but the public who ate up the tales of their exploits had put DeQuincy on a pedestal, and she couldn’t blame them. She kept him up high on one herself. “Of course, I’ll be glad to. What’s the message?”
“Tell him we tee off at seven in the morning and he’d better bring a lot of money, cause he’s gonna owe me big time before we’re through.” Jake glanced down at Trahan as he fed some poor fella a load of malarkey. Slapping his friend on the back, he nodded his head at Eden. “You sure look nice today, by the way.”
Eden beamed, sitting up straighter and giving Jake a grateful smile. “Thank you, Jake. How kind of you to notice.”
“Notice what?” DeQuincy hung up the phone. Not giving them a chance to answer, he just started talking. “Hey, Jake, good to see you. Are you ready to get beat tomorrow?”
“Fat chance.” Jake snorted. “And I was paying your lady a compliment on how nice she looked today.”
“Who?” DeQuincy had a blank look on his face.
Eden thought she’d just die.
Jake wasn’t the most gallant man ever to walk the Earth but he did have some manners. “Eden, numbskull. She’s as pretty as a picture today.”
DeQuincy focused on his dinner companion. “You got your hair cut.”
Three months ago. “Yes, I did.” It used to hang to her waist and now it came just to the top of her shoulders.
And that was the end of that. He turned his attention back to Jake. “Don’t you want to sit? We’re just grabbing a bite, nothing special.”
Jake saw Eden’s face fall. It might not have been special to Jackass Trahan but it had been special to her. “No, I have to get back to work.” He decided to stir the pot a little. “Eden, there was a man staring at you from across the room, he wanted to buy you a drink. I told him this wasn’t a good time.”
Eden blushed and DeQuincy turned to look around. “Who? Where?”
His disbelieving tone made Eden angry. She knew exactly what Jake was doing and even though it was humiliating, she appreciated it. Cole Cassidy, owner of the lumber yard, had been after Eden for months. She’d always been polite, but she had no intention of going out with him. He was a heavy drinker. In fact, she rarely saw him sober. Unfortunately, there was only one man she was interested in, and right now she wanted to brain him with a frying pan. “I saw him, Jake. But you’re right, it wasn’t a good time. DeQuincy brought me here special for lunch because I discovered the identity of a serial killer this morning, all by myself.”
“Outstanding!” Jake congratulated her. “You’re very lucky to have her on your team, Quince.”
DeQuincy took off his hat and sat it in a vacant chair. “Eden does a fine job,” he admitted.
Begrudgingly, he’d acknowledged her. “Thank you, both of you,” Eden whispered. Actually, she’d just lost her appetite. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.” Eden rose and walked calmly from the patio, carefully avoiding Cassidy’s table. “Dr. Trahan,” she called behind her. “I’m going to check on making reservations for the Fourth of July celebration, I don’t want to miss the fireworks. I’ll meet you at the car.”
Jake watched her leave. “See you tomorrow, Trahan, try to stay out of trouble,” he said with a smirk, figuring he’d done enough.
DeQuincy looked a little perplexed. “Sure thing, Knight.”
Jake headed out onto the course, looking forward to his time with Lacy.
*****
“What am I going to wear?” Lacy fretted as she stood in front of her bed.
Today had been the longest day of her life. She’d spend the entire day thinking about dinner with Jake tonight.
She’d laid out all of her going-out clothes and she and Kay were sitting in her room, analyzing each article of clothing.
“How about the red top?” Kay asked, fingering the soft material.
Lacy grabbed it off the bed. The blouse was deep red with a plunging neckline which would make it hard for Jake not to know what she had on her mind if she wore it.
“Kinda slutty for a first date,” Lacy said. “Don’t you think?”
Kay walked over to her and took the top out of her hands. “Lacy, sweetie. If I was going out with Jake Knight, I wouldn’t want there to be any chance for a miscommunication. Getting down and dirty with him is exactly what I’d have in mind. And this top, with a pair of tight low-rise jeans, he’d have no way of misreading my message.”
Lacy’s skin vibrated at the thought of getting close to Jake. She’d love nothing more than to have him tear the clothes right off of her and fuck her into next week, and that was probably what would happen if she wore what Kay suggested. And even though she wanted it to happen, she was still nervous. The man just excited her too much.
“What about this one?” Lacy asked, reaching for a more conservative blue blouse that she could pair with a short jacket.
Kay took the top from her. “This? Really?”
“What?” Lacy whined. “It’s cute.”
“Maybe, but it doesn’t exactly say, ‘Fuck my brains out, Jakey.’”
“I don’t want him to fuck my brains out,” she lied like a dog.
“Oh, come on!” Kay said with a snort. “There isn’t a woman on Earth who doesn’t want a guy like Jake Knight to nail her to the wall. If I thought I could get his attention, I’d let that hunk of man have me anyway he wanted. As many times as he wanted. And from what I’ve heard, he can go many times.”
A wave of jealousy assailed her when she thought Kay might want Jake, but she ignored it. He didn’t belong to her and Jake would do what Jake wanted to do. But the other part of her statement intrigued Lacy. “How many?” She asked without thinking.
Kay laughed at her friend. “Well, rumor had it that last year, one of the waitresses who went out to dinner with Jake, missed the next two days of work because she was too sore to walk.”
Lacy put her hand over her mouth with a gasp. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
“It means he’s got a big cock and knows how to use it. I’d be careful, a little girl like you might be permanently injured by a stud like Jake.”
Lacy felt her nervousness expand. Stephen was the only man she’d been with and he was average, she supposed. How big was Jake? She licked her lip and couldn’t help but tremble at the thought.
“Oh, Lacy,” Kay said, seeing her friend shiver. “Don’t worry so much.”
Lacy let her think what she would. “So, that’s not a true story?”
“No, it’s true, but let�
��s be honest, there are worse things in the world than being a little sore after being fucked by a gorgeous guy with a big cock.”
Her own words caused Kay to laugh and Lacy joined in for a second. “I guess you’re right.”
But Lacy couldn’t shake her jitters and it wasn’t just Jake’s size on her mind. Could she please him? More importantly, was he attracted to her? Would he even try to make a move on her? And if he did, would she humiliate herself by not cumming? Maybe she could fake it, if she didn’t. Yea, that seemed like a good solution.
The inner conflict waged a war in her head while she prepared for the date. Lacy pampered herself from top to bottom. She wanted to be perfect. She wanted to be tempting and desirable. Heck, she wanted to be irresistible. Her mother had always cautioned her about sex outside of marriage, but how lucky she was she’d discovered how incompatible she and Stephen were. What if they’d had their first disastrous encounter on their honeymoon?
But Jake was perfect and she needed to know once and for all if something was wrong with her or not. If she couldn’t enjoy sex with Jake, she’d have to face the fact that she couldn’t enjoy it at all. Ever.
As Lacy put the finishing touches on her hair, she gazed at herself in the mirror and faced the most important truth. She liked Jake. She really liked him. His asking her out meant more than just a possible sexual encounter. Lacy wanted to spend time with him. Her heart pounded at the thought.
Chapter Four
“You look great,” Jake said with a smile when Lacy opened her door.
She bounced up on her toes. “Thanks. You look nice too.”
Jake brought a hand from behind his back. “For you,” he said, handing her a bouquet of roses he’d picked from the edge of the patio next to the 18th hole.
“Belinda’s Dream, my favorite.” She sighed. Lacy took the flowers from him and buried her nose in the fragrant soft petals. “Thank you so much, Jake.”
“Sorry,” Jake said. “They wilted a bit.”
“They’re beautiful.” Lacy beamed. “If you’ll wait here, I’ll just be a moment. I want to put them in some water so they’ll still be pretty when I get back.”
Red Hot and BOOM! A Sizzling Hot Collection of Stories from the Red Hot Authors Page 19
