The Enforcer (31 page)

Lacey spent the night at Jody’s and got up before him to make him a big breakfast. She called Zoe so they could chat while she cooked.

“Hey Lace, how’s the big guy?” Zoe was so happy that Lacey seemed to have given in and was honestly giving Jody a chance.

“Still sigh worthy.” Looking around, making sure Jody wasn’t there, Lacey told her, “God Zoe, he absolutely rocked my world last night – right on the breakfast bar!”

Zoe squealed on the other end of the line. “I’m so jealous! That’s awesome. You’ve been in need of a good, world rocking shag. That’s what, twice now you two have bumped uglies?”

“Bumped uglies? Nice, Zoe.” Zoe’s sense of humor was one of the things Lacey loved most about her. “It was the second occasion, but we’ve ‘bumped uglies’ way more than twice.” Lacey knew she was bragging, but she couldn’t help herself. “I am telling you, no one could compare to that man in the sack. I don’t think it’s possible.”

Zoe was insanely jealous, but in a ‘still happy for Lacey’ way. “So have you admitted to yourself that you’re in love with him yet, or are you still convincing yourself it’s just casual?”

“I am definitely falling for him, I think that’s pretty obvious, but I’m not ready to give him the L word yet. Does that make me awful?” Lacey spun around to get eggs out of the refrigerator and saw Jody leaning against the wall, arms crossed, with a big sappy smile on his face.

He answered her, “No, it does not. You couldn’t be awful on your worst day, Angel.”

Zoe heard Jody talking in the background and felt another stab of envy. “Lacey, call me later, and we’ll make plans for the game, k?”

“Okay, bye Zoe.” Lacey ended the call and walked over to Jody. “So, how much did you hear?” She wished she could rewind time. Feeling shy all of the sudden, she stared down at her toes.

Jody thought about telling her that he had just walked in, but decided to tell her the truth. He put a finger under her chin and lifted her head up. The smile that was on his face wouldn’t leave. “Everything. I know I should be ashamed of listening in, but I’m really not. You have no idea how happy you make me.” Puffing out his chest with pride he continued, “I admit that it strokes my ego to hear that I ‘rocked your world,’ Lace.” He gave her that wink that always made her heart flutter. “As for the other thing, I can wait until you’re ready for any serious conversation about our relationship. I realize we haven’t known each other that long, and I don’t want you to ever feel forced to say anything you’re not ready to. But I think that it’s only fair that you know how I feel.”

“Okay …” Lacey thought she knew where he was going with that, but she wanted to hear it anyway.

“I am one hundred percent, head over heels in love with you. But that’s not something for you to be afraid of, okay? I’m not going to demand or expect anything from you that you’re not ready to give. I’m simply going to love you.” He took her into his arms and hugged her, giving her a sweet kiss in the crook of her neck. Backing up, he cupped her face and said, “Now, what’s for breakfast? It smells great, and I’m starving. My woman kept me busy last night, and I need nourishment.” Jody pinched her bottom and took a seat at the breakfast bar. The breakfast bar – he’d never look at it the same again.

Lacey didn’t know what to say to him – especially after the way he just looked at the counter and rubbed his hand along it. Just that gesture made her flush. She finally decided she would think about everything later and got busy dishing up his breakfast.

After they cleaned up the dishes from breakfast, Jody drove her home. She wouldn’t see him again until after the game. Even though it was only a pre-season game, it was going to be a good one. They were playing the San Jose Sharks. Not only were the Sharks the Scorpions’ number one rival, but they were also the team that Jody had been traded from. Leaning over, she gave him a soft, sweet kiss, wished him good luck and jumped out of the truck.

When Lacey walked into the house, she got an unexpected surprise. Aidan was there, and he wasn’t alone. He looked so much happier than the last time she had seen him.

Aidan stood at the kitchen counter with his arms spread wide. Lacey immediately went into them. “Zoe didn’t tell me you were coming, Aidan. I’m so glad to see you!” Lacey loved him like he was her brother, too, and she was relieved that he wasn’t the sad kid that she had seen a couple of weeks ago.

“My sister doesn’t tell anyone anything, you know that. Sometimes she’s in her own little world.” Giving her a smile that lit up his whole face, he gestured to the gorgeous man standing next to him and introduced her. “Lacey, this is Gary; Gary, this is my Lacey.”

Lacey stuck her hand out, but Gary enveloped her in a hug that immediately made her feel like she’d just gained another family member. Just like that, she knew that he’d be great for Aidan. Aidan needed someone who wasn’t afraid to show affection.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lacey. I feel like I already know you; Aidan talks about you so much.” Gary was almost an exact opposite of Aidan in physical appearance, except that they were both beautiful men. He was tall like Aidan, but he had lean muscles. His eyes were light brown, whereas Aidan’s were startlingly blue, and he had wavy blonde hair that stopped just at his collar. Aidan’s hair was dark and went well past his shoulder blades. Dressed in khaki pants, a polo shirt and loafers, Gary could have just stepped of the golf course. Lacey decided he looked comfortable, like a well worn robe that made you feel good when you had it wrapped around you.

“Zoe got us a suite for the game. This will be Gary’s first hockey game ever. I mean, he hasn’t even watched a game on TV.” Aidan looked at Gary and rolled his eyes. “We’re going to have to teach him everything.”

Gary patted Aidan on the back, muttering, “Poor Aidan.”

“No problem.” Lacey never minded helping people understand the game. “You just stick with me, Gary. It’ll be fun. Hockey is a hell of a sport. It’s almost constant excitement, but neither Aidan nor Zoe have the patience to teach a newbie.” She couldn’t wait to get there. Just being in the arena got her blood going.

Jody got to the arena about two hours early, as was his habit when they played on home ice. He liked to sit in the stands and look at the ice by himself. It was his way of getting his head in game mode. Playing the Sharks was going to be strange, but he’d been there before.

He had been traded in the past, and it was always weird the first time he played the team that traded him. Getting traded stung a bit, but he understood that it was nothing personal. It didn’t always mean that the team wasn’t happy with a player’s performance. In his most recent trade, the Sharks had needed a strong defenseman, and the Scorpions had wanted to add some physical presence to their team and needed a draft pick, so the trade was made.

Jody heard a noise behind him. He turned around to see the head coach, Craig DeLeon, walking down the steps toward him.

“Hey Jody, how are you feeling about the game today? Any nerves about playing the Sharks?” Craig was a former enforcer himself. He’d been out of the league eight years now and had just been made head coach the previous year.

“Nah, not really. It’s a little strange, but that feeling goes away with the first faceoff. You know how it is.”

“I just got their final roster for the game. Grayson’s in the lineup, so we’re going to need you to be extra vigilant tonight, even though it’s still pre-season. I don’t want Grayson injuring any of the boys, and you know better than most what a hot head he is.” Craig wasn’t concerned about Jody being able to handle Grayson; he just wanted to give him a heads up.

Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson was an asshole. He was the player that needed to be watched at all times. Good old Dick had gotten two suspensions the previous year. One was for a slew foot on the captain of the Penguins. It was a seriously stupid player to pick for a slew foot. The officials always protected the Penguins’ captain. If someone gave him a dirty look, and he cried about it to the officials, they’d wind up taking some BS penalty at some point. The other was for a knee on knee hit. He got ten games for that one since he was a repeat offender.

“No problem, Coach, I can take care of him.” Jody wasn’t worried about Grayson. Grayson lost all control when he got mad, and it was almost too easy to piss him off. He particularly hated it if someone talked about how ugly his mother was. Jody had never met the woman, of course, and she could be the sweetest woman in the world, but smack talk worked with some guys, and Grayson was one of them. He also didn’t like it when Jody told him he hit like his little sister. Hockey was so much damn fun. He couldn’t wait ‘til game time.

The coach slapped Jody on the back and left to go back to the locker room. Jody took one last look at the arena that would be loud as hell in just about an hour and followed him.

Zoe told Lacey that she would meet them all at the arena.

“Why? We can all go in Gary’s SUV. And then Jody can drive you and me home.”

Zoe looked at Lacey with a huge grin. “I’m bringing a date.”

Lacey was shocked. Not that Zoe got a date, but that she didn’t say anything to her about it. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Don’t be mad. I just didn’t want you to say anything that might get back to Vlad. I mean, it’s not a secret or anything. I just kind of don’t want to mess up his first game, you know?” Maybe Zoe was giving herself too much credit, but it seemed like Vlad was seriously interested in her, and not just for sex. Even though she’d been honest with him from the start, she still felt guilty.

“I guess I can understand that, but you can’t let Vlad’s feelings for you guilt you into hiding a date. He’s just going to have to learn to accept it.” Everyone deserved to be happy, Zoe included. She shouldn’t have to hide anything from anyone. Vlad was going to have to suck it up and move on. “Okay, so who’s the mystery guy? Is it Sebastian? ‘Cause he was kinda yummy.”

“Yup. We actually had lunch last week. He’s nice.” Zoe hadn’t told Lacey about that either, and now that she was she felt guilty for keeping secrets from her.

“Holy shit, Zoe! You went out with him already, and I didn’t know about it? Who are you? You can never keep your mouth shut about anything if it’s not client related. Wow, you really feel bad about Vlad, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do, but I’ve got to stop. I can’t help our situation, and I’m not going to stop dating until he retires, you know? Zoe Millis is a hot chick, and I need a little something-something, if you know what I mean.” What Zoe meant was that she was horny. That was a word Zoe had no trouble with. “Lace, I feel guilty, I do, but the bottom line is that I need to get laid.”