The Enforcer (13 page)

“Continue,” she said.

“As far as birth control goes, I can’t get you pregnant. Even though I was vaccinated and it’s rare, I had the mumps about ten years ago, and now I have no swimmers to speak of. So I propose that if you would be willing, maybe you would also go through some testing, and we could enjoy condom free sex? I know it seems like a lot to ask, but I’m thinking of long term. I’m not looking for a casual relationship, Lace.” Jody held his breath. Would she freak out at the mention of a long-term relationship? And he also didn’t know how she’d take the suggestion that she should be tested, but since he knew that Steven had cheated on her, there was always a chance that he had given her a gift that she didn’t want. “Lace? Say something. You’re not offended, are you? I’m only asking because you told me that Steven cheated …”

Smiling and shaking her head at Jody’s insecurity (because really, it was kind of sweet), she said, “After I found Steven with Jessica, I also had every test known to man run on myself to make sure that he didn’t give me anything. And I am also one hundred percent clean.” In a more serious tone, Lacey also told him, “I can’t tell you that I’m looking for more than a casual relationship right now though, Jody. I like you, I do, but I’ve known you for less than a week, and I just don’t know what I want. I’m sorry; I’m not trying to give you mixed signals.”

Jody just smiled at her, and told her that he was okay with that, as long as she knew that he wasn’t going to give up on the idea of something more.

“I can live with that,” she said. Touching his arm, Lacey told him that she was sorry that he couldn’t have children. “Is that hard for you?”

“Yes and no. It sucks to have the option taken away, but I can’t say I’ve sat around moping about it. And if I had a woman who loved me that wanted children, there is always adoption. Plenty of kids need good homes, you know?” Could she like this man anymore?

Jody noticed that it was getting late, and he had an early morning practice. The bed dipped as he leaned over to place a gentle kiss on both of Lacey’s cheeks, inhaling her scent. Coconuts would forever remind him of the first time he’d been with Lacey. “Thanks for tonight, Lace. I think I could get addicted to your touch pretty quick.” The way Jody looked at her made Lacey want to ask him to stay all night. How great would it feel to be wrapped in this man’s arms all night? Of course it was way too soon for those kinds of thoughts … right?

Flushing scarlet yet again, Lacey told him, “Trust me, it was my pleasure.” Jody winked at her, and with his cocky attitude back, said, “Yeah, I could tell.” Lacey threw a pillow at him. “Don’t you need to be getting home?” Reluctant to go, he replied, “Yeah, I guess I do.”

Lacey got off the bed, still smiling at Jody, “Come on big guy, let’s get you home so you’re ready for practice tomorrow.” Practice was going to start getting more intense. It was finally September, and even though training camp didn’t start for almost three weeks, most of the guys were already upping the intensity of their workouts and practicing on their own when they could get the ice.

When Lacey opened the garage door, Jody gave her just the reaction she thought he would. Guys loved her car. Girls too. It
was
a pretty sweet ride. “Whoa. You like hockey, you drink beer, eat pizza,” winking he added, “have a great rack …
and
you have an Audi R8?” Putting his hand to his heart he said, “Marry me now.”

“You’re going to have to work a little harder than that Jody. One mind blowing orgasm won’t keep me for long.”

“Mind blowing, eh? I can live with that for now. Take me home woman; apparently I need to rest up.”

Tuesday morning brought more beautiful weather. The ever present ocean breeze ruffled Lacey’s curtains, allowing the sun to peek in. It was a great way to be woken up. Stretching from head to toe, Lacey enjoyed the feeling of her girl parts having actually been used the night before. She was a tad sore from Jody’s administrations, which could only mean one thing – they needed to keep doing those kinds of things so that she could get her body used to receiving such dedicated attention.

It was time to go walking. Lacey rolled out of bed and threw on some workout clothes. Hockey season was starting soon, which meant more beer consumption and junk food. She was determined to get on a regimented exercise routine before then and figured walking on the beach was a good start. Jogging could come later, and if she really got into it, she’d add in some weight training or Pilates. Since she now had someone interested in seeing her sans clothing, she wanted to do a little work on tweaking the areas of her body that she wasn’t comfortable with. Although Zoe said she was nuts, Lacey knew she could stand to lose a couple of pounds in her rear area. She tended to carry a bit of ‘junk in the trunk.’

When Lacey got back from her walk she went into Zoe’s room and jumped on her bed. “What? What happened? Huh?”

“Wake up, Zoe. It’s another gorgeous day, and we never got to go shopping yesterday. I’ve already done my morning exercise. I’m gonna go hop in the shower. Come on, wake up so we can go shopping.”

Sleepily rubbing her face, Zoe told Lacey that she couldn’t go until after twelve o’clock because she had two appointments. “I can go after that if you want to wait for me.”

“Sounds like a plan. I want to buy a pair of ice skates, too. Maybe I’ll go to the sporting goods store while you’re seeing clients and get that out of the way. I know we passed one, didn’t we?” Zoe gave her directions to the closest sporting goods store and then told her to get the hell out of her room so she could get a couple more minutes of sleep. “Go away, I’ll see you later.”

Lacey laughed good-naturedly and left to take her shower. Zoe was one of the happiest, most upbeat people alive, but she was
not
safe to be around until she had her first cup of coffee in the morning.

As Lacey was standing in front of the skate selection trying to decide if she wanted to forgo toe picks and get real hockey skates, she noticed a little boy who all by himself. When she walked over to him, he looked up at her and said, “Are you gonna buy hockey skates? I love hockey. I can skate real good, too.”

“I’ll bet you can. My name’s Lacey, what’s yours?”

“Ben,” he answered, putting his little hand out to her.

Taking his hand Lacey asked him, “Are you lost hun? Can I help you find your parents?”

“No, I’m not lost. My dad’s looking at hockey sticks. I’m five now, so I can go over two whole aisles alone, as long as I keep checking back in with him. I like looking at the skates. Dad says mine are almost too small, so I’ll need new ones soon.” That said, Ben ran his hands over all the skates, appreciating each one.

A man peeked around the corner looking at Ben. “Ben, you’re not bothering the lady, are you?” Ben scampered away from Lacey, looking like he got caught doing something he shouldn’t have been doing.

Lacey piped up immediately. “Oh no, not at all. I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t lost.”

Ben’s father (who looked like he frequented the tanning salon
and
the steroid department) looked Lacey up and down with a lecherous grin. “Well sweets, we’re all good here then. How about I buy you dinner to thank you for looking out for my kid?”

Not wanting to be rude, she replied, “Oh, no thank you.” Stretching the truth a bit, she added, “I’m seeing someone.”

Eyes riveted to her chest he replied, “Sure you are. Come on, one dinner.”

“No really. I’m seeing someone, but thanks anyway. Well, I’m going to go try these on. I start my skating lessons tomorrow. Bye.” Lacey didn’t much care for the creep and wanted him to leave. She picked up a pair of skates and walked away to try them on.

He followed her, still talking. “Oh yeah? I’ll teach you to skate, Doll. I actually play hockey on a league.” When she told him that her ‘boyfriend’ was an NHL hockey player he said, “Oh, okay. And what’s his name?” He doubted that she even knew how the game was played. She was too cute and curvy to be into sports. If she knew anything about hockey, he’d be willing to bet she knew how to be a puck bunny, and that was about it. Why was it that girls always played hard to get with him?

Why not tell him,
she thought;
maybe it’ll make him go away.
“Jody LaGrange. He just came here from San Jose.”

Still not believing her, he smiled at her with condescension. “The Goon? That’s the first name you came up with? Oh, come on, Honey. With looks like yours, you could at least go for the captain. The girls seem to go nuts for that Keith Lambert.”

Right when Lacey was going to tell him to get lost, Ian walked into the store. What impeccable timing. She remembered briefly meeting him at the pub and waved him over, hoping he remembered her. “Hey Ian. How are you? Are the guys done practicing already?”

Ian could tell immediately that the guy she was talking to was making her uncomfortable. He was standing pretty close to her, and she was trying to inch away from him. “Hi Lacey. Practice won’t start for another forty-five minutes. I just stopped by to pick something up for my son.”

“Great. I’m here buying skates. Jody’s going to start teaching me how to skate tomorrow.” Turning to Ben’s father she said, “I guess you’ll be going now.” Just as she thought he might make one more advance towards her, Ian stepped closer to her, and he changed his mind. “Sure, nice talking to you.”

When he was gone, Lacey turned to Ian to thank him. “That guy just wouldn’t take no for an answer. Sorry I called you over.”

“No problem. Glad it wasn’t Jody who walked in. Being new to the Scorpions and coming from a rival team, he doesn’t need any bad press, that’s for sure.”

“What do you mean by that? Why would walking in here give him bad press?”

“Well it’s like this. Let’s say, Jody is a tad overprotective of what’s his. Or what he thinks of as his. He just wouldn’t take it well if he saw some guy giving you a hard time, that’s all.” Just as Lacey was about to speak up, Ian held up a hand and continued, “I know you’ve only known each other for a short time, but believe me, there’s not a guy on the team who doesn’t know Jody’s staked a claim on you. You can get annoyed over that if you want, but it won’t change the fact. I’ve known Jody for years, and even the guys who don’t know him very well know that you’re off limits.”

Off limits?
Lacey wasn’t sure if she should feel warm and fuzzy or pissed off. She had seen a little bit of that behavior from Jody already. No one was perfect, and she guessed his Achilles heel was his need to possess and protect. As long as he didn’t go too far, she thought she could be okay with that. She wasn’t a huge feminist who needed to strut her independence at all times. Maybe she could just roll with it for now and see what happened.

“Well, let’s not mention this then, huh? It wasn’t that big of a deal; he was just being an ass. I think he probably hears ‘no’ a lot. And to be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about Jody thinking he needs to protect me. So I’d rather avoid that issue for now. I mean, I’ve only known him for a week.”

“Sure. Mum’s the word. So, you going to get real hockey skates? Good choice. Go big or go home, right?” Ian helped her pick out a good pair that fit her well, and then they left the store together.