The Enforcer (26 page)

“I warned you once about touching her. I’ve thought about what I would do to you if you came back, and here you are. I’m not going to beat you until you’re bloody like I want to. No, the next time you touch her, I’m going to break every one of your fingers. Do you understand what that means? No more piano. I will break them all.” Jody was clenching his hands into fists so hard he was shaking. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t snapped yet, but he was close. “You need to get out of here now before I change my mind and beat the ever loving shit out of you anyway.” With a hearty push Jody helped him along the way to his car. “Get the hell out of here!”

Finally, Steven did the smart thing and left. But as he was getting into his rental car, he yelled to Lacey. “I’ll come around when he’s not here so we can talk.”

With Steven gone, Lacey relaxed a bit. Vlad took up his vigil on the steps, and Jody asked Lacey to go home with him and leave for the skating party from there. Deciding not to push his control anymore for that day (she was very proud of him), she gathered her overnight bag and said goodbye to Zoe.

“Bye Zoe. Vlad’s sitting on the steps if you want to throw him some dinner later.” Lacey couldn’t help but enjoy the Zoe/Vlad saga a bit. She
knew
Zoe enjoyed the Lacey/Jody saga so turn about was fair play.

“Bye Lacey, have a great night. Do you have your special things?” Knowing that tonight was
the night,
Zoe wanted to give Jody something to think about and watch Lacey blush. It was fun messing with your friends.

Lacey walked over to Zoe and gave her a hug. She also informed her that if she said another word, Lacey would tell Vlad that Zoe secretly wanted him to bust the door down and take her on the kitchen table. “So shut your mouth girlfriend. It’s a surprise.” Zoe laughed and smacked Lacey’s butt.

“Have fun tonight,” she said to both of them.

Jody had to admit, when Lacey walked over to him carrying a good-sized duffle bag, he was intrigued. When they got to his truck, he took it and asked her, “What’s in the bag?”

“Well, I thought maybe I could sleep over?” Lacey knew that he wanted her, but it was still a little scary putting herself out there. He didn’t say a word as he put her bag in the back. When he turned around to open her door for her, she had a new understanding of seeing desire in someone’s eyes. His looked more intense than she’d ever seen them. She could tell just by the way he looked at her that he was robbed of speech at the thought of her spending the night with him.

“Oh Angel, you are most welcome to spend the night with me, but I can’t guarantee that you’ll get much sleep. I’ve dreamt about all the ways I can make you feel good, and I want to try every goddamn one … repeatedly.” Lacey’s body trembled at the thought of Jody pleasuring her. She’d done a lot of that kind of thinking herself.

“That’s good, because I don’t think I’ll be all that sleepy tonight.” The anticipation was killing her. It was going to be a long skating party, but it kind of added to the excitement. “So, I was thinking … if this is going to be an awesome night for me, let’s start it off right.” She scooted closer to him and seductively whispered in his ear, “I could kill for some pizza and beer.”

Jody couldn’t help it. As turned on as he was at the thought of having her under, over and around him, he laughed at her request. “My girl demands the best, eh? Your wish … my command. Let’s go get some pizza and take it back to my house. We can eat on the deck and let Izzy eat the crust from yours.”

That was one of the things Lacey loved about Jody. He remembered the little things, like the fact that she didn’t eat the crust off her pizza. It might be insignificant in the scheme of things, but it showed how much he paid attention to her. “That sounds great. But maybe I better go run in and get a sweatshirt, since it’s getting cooler out.”

“Don’t bother. You’ll wear my sweatshirt.” At Lacey’s raised eyebrows, he amended that, “I mean, I would be happy to loan you something warm to wear.” He gave her a crooked smile and helped her into the truck.

After pizza, beer and a game of fetch with Izzy, Jody and Lacey got ready to go skating. Lacey changed into a tight pair of skinny jeans and yet another V-neck sweater. Her sweater was black with a grey swirly pattern in it, and it was snug, like Jody liked it. She paired the outfit with black ballet flats.

Jody was waiting for her when she came out of his room. The thought of her getting undressed in
his
bedroom had him semi-hard by the time she was done. And when he saw her, his condition only worsened. Her jeans were snug and made her legs look fantastic. “Do you have any idea of how much I want those legs wrapped around me?”

Lacey immediately felt her cheeks (and other areas) heat up. “Jeez Jody …”

Before she could finish her statement he apologized. “Sorry, Lace, my mouth gets ahead of my brain sometimes … you know that. Jesus, you look hot.”

She walked over to him and poked him in the chest. “Actually, big guy, I was going to say that if you kept talking like that, we’d never make it to the skating party. And that’s not in my seduction plans for this evening.” The more he looked at her like he wanted to strip her clothes away, the more empowered and less shy she felt.

“Plans? You actually have seduction plans? Fuck the party.” He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her up to his room.

“No! Absolutely not. I have this all planned out, and we’re going to the party.” Jody got that sneaky look in his eyes. She knew she had to back away or all would be lost. If she allowed those lips on her, she wasn’t going anywhere except into his arms.

Tugging on Jody’s hand she led him to the door. “Let’s go.” He reluctantly followed.

Due to their playtime with Izzy and their bout of flirting at the house, they were a little late getting to the rink. The party was already in full swing. The whole team was there with their families, so it was pretty crowded. “Wow, I forget how many players there are on the roster, not to mention the behind the scenes people.”

“There are actually a couple of players here that I haven’t officially met yet. I do see some guys that I’ve beat up, though.” Grinning like he actually enjoyed it, he added, “And a couple who have handed me my ass on the ice. I’d really like to have another go at Gunderson, but I guess that’ll have to wait until we’re not on the same team again, eh?”

Chase “Gunner” Gunderson was a center that the Scorpions acquired from Philadelphia. He was a typical Philly style player. He hit hard and wasn’t afraid to drop his gloves. He wasn’t just a dominating physical presence either; he had some mad skills at the same time. Last year, he was third in the NHL for total points and total ice time.

After lacing up their skates, Jody and Lacey made their way over to the ice. Ian intercepted them and gave Lacey a peck on the cheek-which had Jody tightening his grip on her … really? “Have you guys seen Vlad? I thought he’d be here by now.”

Jody gave him a quick breakdown of Lacey’s situation (which she didn’t overly appreciate) and told him that Vlad wouldn’t leave Zoe.

“Those two are destined for heartbreak,” Ian said. “What a crappy situation they’re in, but Vlad really needs to let her go.” Even though Zoe had tried to keep her feelings a secret, Vlad was similar to Jody, meaning he wore his heart on his sleeve.

“I don’t know Ian,” Lacey told him. “There’s got to be a way to work it out. I’m telling you, Zoe has never felt this way about a man. She’s a love ‘em and leave ‘em type of girl, and she hasn’t had a real date in a long time. She met a great guy about a week ago, but now she won’t return his calls. I agree that it’s a crappy situation, but I think they should find a way to make it work.”

“Well, I hope they can.” Spying another new member of the team, Ian asked Jody, “Have you met the new backup goalie yet? That’s why I was looking for Vlad.”

Jody had not met him yet, but he’d certainly heard a lot about Cage Booker. Cage was a twenty-five year old hothead. He got in trouble on and off the ice. He’d even been arrested once for a bar room brawl, but his saving grace was that the kid had tons of potential – if he could learn to control himself. Jody certainly understood that control could be difficult, but this kid was just too damn cocky for his own good.

Lacey looked over to where they were looking and gasped a little. Thankfully, Jody didn’t notice. Cage was hot! His hair was a bit on the long side and shaggy in a way that made him look like he’d just had some girl running her fingers through it. His five o’clock shadow made a woman want to have whisker burns
everywhere.
To add to the overall image, he had a look on his face that just reeked of bad boy attitude.

Ian’s wife walked up and saw where Lacey’s gaze was directed. “I know, right? More eye candy for us.” Ian laughed and tugged on her ponytail, but Jody didn’t see the humor.

Lacey knew Jody was pretending he couldn’t hear the girls commenting on Cage while he was talking to Ian. Since Lacey wanted the night to be perfect, she pretended not to notice he was listening in and said, “He’s not too bad on the eyes, but he’s got nothing on Jody. Jody’s ten times hotter than Cage.” Lacey winked at Kathy, and she smiled back at her in understanding. It was so easy to stroke a man’s ego. Besides that, she meant every word. Cage was hot, but Jody, well Jody just made her weak in the knees.

The skating party dragged on, and Lacey noticed Jody frequently looking up at the clock. She was as anxious as he was to get out of there. Finally, around eight o’clock, she’d had enough. She walked up to Jody, put her arm around him, and said, “Are you ready to go? I can’t skate another second. My feet are killing me.”

Jody’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Hell yes, let’s go.” They said their goodbyes and walked out to the truck. The sexual tension when they got into the truck was off the charts. Jody couldn’t last another second. He pulled Lacey over to him and slid his fingers into her hair. “I can’t believe we lasted that long in there. When I get you into my bed, I’m not letting you leave for hours.”

“That’s not fair. What if I want a change of scenery? Like the shower? Or the kitchen table?” Lacey knew she was playing with fire. She wouldn’t put it past Jody to try to start things up right there in rink’s parking lot.

“Angel, I will take you on every available surface in my house, but first, I want you beneath me in my bed. I want you to want me as much as I have wanted you these past couple of weeks. You have no idea how far I’m willing to go to have you begging for me.” Jody wanted her to be desperate for him to be inside of her.

Lacey knew Jody was more than ready to have her in his bed, but wow – he was intense, and she loved every word he spoke. She was already close to begging him, and if that’s what he wanted, then that’s what she’d give him.