The Enforcer (7 page)

If she were honest with herself, she would admit that a little part of her wished it
was
her that he wanted. She needed to shake it off. It was just a kiss. Okay, so maybe it was an extraordinary kiss, but it was still just a kiss. Well, a kiss and a little ass grabbing. Whew.

Zoe walked over to collect Lacey since it seemed like she wasn’t capable of movement yet. “Damn Lacey, I said to help him out, not suck his face off.”

“Well, that was not exactly my plan, but I can’t say that it was the most horrible thing that’s ever happened to me. That kiss curled my toes. I just wonder what game he’s playing, you know? He could have anyone, and I’m sure he does all the time. I know I let myself get carried away, but I need to tell him that I was just trying to help him and that I’m not interested. I’m not going to be another notch on his bedpost. My fling is going to be on my terms.
I
will pick the guy, not vice versa.”

Vlad sauntered up and offered his arms to both girls. “Come on ladies, I’ll escort you to the meeting room. I’m sure Lacey here could use a drink … or maybe a cold shower.” He laughed to himself, even as Zoe gave him the evil eye. Vlad knew that Zoe preferred that he didn’t touch her, but he didn’t think she’d rebuff him in public. And hell, he liked touching her. She gave him a tight smile, and let him lead the way.

Most everyone could see that there was an attraction between Vlad and Zoe, but Zoe knew all too well what would happen if she let that attraction get out of control. Vlad knew, too, but he was more of a ‘fuck it, let’s see what happens’ kind of guy. Zoe, on the other hand knew that a relationship with him could cost her a great job that she loved.

While Zoe was trying not to think about the solid muscles in Vlad’s arm, which currently rested beneath her hand, he was telling her and Lacey why they called Jody a monk. Jody was never seen going anywhere with any of the puck bunnies, or anyone else for that matter. The guys actually speculated that he might be gay. Jody put that rumor to rest when he heard about it. It turned out that he was just a bit more discriminate than the other guys when it came to his relationships. Apparently Jody didn’t believe in casual sex. Most of the guys thought he was nuts, especially the young ones.

Vlad was looking expectantly at Lacey. “Why are you looking at me? It’s really none of my business what Jody does or doesn’t do. Really, I was just trying to help him out, and I guess we got a little carried away.”

Vlad stopped walking and turned Lacey toward him. “I’m looking at you because Chief’s one of my best friends, and he’s a hell of a guy. He deserves a good woman. He’s had his heart broken before, so he’s slow to trust and doesn’t take interest in too many women. I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looked at you when he saw you walking toward him. Listen, all I’m saying is, don’t shut the door to the possibilities without exploring your options, you know? Take a chance on him. I’m just making a pitch for my buddy. What you do is obviously up to you.”

The room in the back was darker than the main bar. There was one pool table with a Budweiser light illuminating it, a small jukebox and a bar about half the size as the main one. A couple of crooked tables were set up haphazardly around the bar area. It was small, but spacious enough.

When the three of them walked into the back room, the guys started clapping. Lacey’s face went up in flames amid shouts of “Nice job new chick!” and “Can you help me out like that, too?” Why couldn’t guys just be quiet and giggle like girls did? Lacey was mortified that they had had an audience at all, let alone how she shamelessly enjoyed Jody’s body for those couple of minutes.

Jody stood against the wall, pool cue in hand. A couple of the guys had a game going. When he caught Lacey’s eye, he winked at her, which made Lacey’s face flame up again. She walked over to the bar to order a drink with Zoe. Tonight she was sticking with good old diet soda. Even the smell of the alcohol was enough to turn her stomach after the previous night’s drinking binge.

Ian was Jody’s partner in the pool game. “So what’s up with you and Zoe’s friend? Don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a PDA.”

“PDA?” Jody asked.

“Public display of affection. What, do you live under a rock?” Ian stood there looking at Jody and shook his head. “Man, you must have it bad for this girl. Didn’t you just meet her?” Jody told him how they met and that he just felt something for her. He couldn’t explain it, but it was there. Ian knew Jody well enough to know that he didn’t mess around with girls. He knew Jody was a good guy and Lacey seemed like a nice girl. Ian told him to go for it. “Why don’t you ask her to the skating party?” Each year the team threw a skating party right before Training Camp as a way to kick off the season for the players and their friends and families.

“That’s actually not a bad idea Ian, thanks. It’s a shame Vlad can’t ask Zoe.” Jody looked over to where Vlad was and shook his head. Rules sucked sometimes, but they were there nonetheless. No doctor/client relationships. Everyone knew that Vlad had a serious crush on the doc, and sometimes, when she thought no one was paying attention, Zoe looked at Vlad with the same kind of interest – the kind of interest that went well beyond a doctor/client relationship.

There was one drawback to the Ian’s idea. The skating party was two weeks away. He didn’t want to wait that long to see Lacey again. It didn’t seem like he had much of a choice though, if he didn’t want to scare her off.

After he and Ian won their pool game, Jody went to find Lacey. He found her surrounded by some of the guys. In an attempt to get rid of some of them, he walked up and said, “Matty, Brian, the guys need someone else to play over at the pool table.” When they took off, Jody took up their spots next to Lacey.

“Hey Lace, could I talk to you for a sec?” Jody figured he should apologize for his ‘man take all’ behavior earlier. He could tell by her wary look that she either wanted no parts of him, or she wanted to drag him into the nearest janitor’s closet, and was ashamed to be thinking that. He was all for the closet idea.

“Um, sure, what’s up?” Lacey was
so
not going off alone with Jody, even if her lips wanted to. She had finally convinced herself that Vlad was wrong, and no good could come of giving Jody a chance. Still gun shy, she decided that jumping back into the dating pool with someone she had such an intense reaction to was a mistake. She’d find some nice guy whom she found pleasantly attractive and start there. Maybe she would even consider one of the other players. At least she knew what they would want out of her and vice versa.

“Would you take a walk with me?” He gave her what he hoped was a friendly smile at her hesitation. “I promise, I won’t lay a hand on you.” To give her a sense of security, he gave her the Boy Scout sign on honor and then put his hands in his pockets. Lacey might have felt reassured if he hadn’t given her the same sly smile that he had earlier, right before he’d licked her lips.

Because of that smile, she said, “It’s just a walk, right?” When she got the affirmative answer she was looking for, she should have felt relieved. But she was almost disappointed.
What the hell is wrong with me?

Jody was glad Lacey agreed to talk to him. He truly did want to apologize for his behavior. He was about to grab her hand as she stepped off of her bar stool, but he snatched it back at the last second, thinking she might not appreciate that.

As soon as Lacey stepped down from her seat, Jody started running off at the mouth again. “You smell like …” he leaned closer to her, “I don’t know … a spring day or something. It’s light and clean, and I like it.” Lacey rolled her eyes. “Shit, Yeah, okay, just a chat, let’s go.” Pausing for a second, Jody put on one of those irresistible smiles again and said, “You really do smell great though.”

Lacey looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes. Now
how
was she supposed to react to that? Even though it was a bit forward of him, she
had
picked that scent to attract a man, hadn’t she? Oh, this was going to be difficult, but it was the perfect opportunity to tell him that he wasn’t what she was looking for. Lacey prayed to God that he didn’t touch her because she was sure they both knew that her body would betray her again. “If you promise to keep your hands to yourself, I’ll take a walk with you. I’d like to talk to you, too, actually. I’d like to explain my behavior earlier.”

Lacey and Jody walked into the main bar and found a relatively quiet corner. As soon as they started talking, another puck bunny interrupted them. Jody quickly excused himself and went to the bar. He came back and pulled Lacey with him into a private office. “The bartender said we could talk in here for a minute. I’m sorry about that.” Nodding back to the bar, where the puck bunny was, he said, “ It seems to be part of the package.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Lacey put her hand up to stop Jody from saying anymore. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “Really, I do. Before you start, I need to tell you that while my body obviously enjoyed your attentions earlier, it will not be happening again. While I’d love to be your friend, I can’t have a relationship with you. It’s just not what I’m looking for right now.” Lacey had to take another breath and put on a convincing face for her next revelation, because in a perfect world, from what she’d seen of him so far, she would
love
to keep Jody around for a while. “To be perfectly honest, you’re really not my type. It’s just … been a while, and the body contact felt nice. That’s all it was. I’m truly sorry if I led you on.”

Jody took a minute to think about her comments. He knew she was skittish and if he fucked this up now, it could all be lost. He also knew that she was full of shit. He was pretty good at reading people; it was a part of what made him a good protector. There was no way that her reaction to him was just because it had been a while. That kind of instant sexual attraction did not happen with just anyone.

In his mind, he knew that even though he’d only known Lace for a few days, she could be
the one,
but he didn’t want to scare her off already by revealing too much. “Okay. I can understand why you say that. In your eyes, I’m a player. I make a lot of money, and girls throw themselves at me.” Lacey rolled her eyes at that one. “Seriously, I’m not full of myself; believe it or not, I hate it. I have two agendas for wanting to talk to you. Number one, I’d like to apologize for man handling you out there when you were nice enough to help me get rid of some unwanted attention.”

Jody paused to try to get a read on Lacey. Would she think he was sincere? Because if he were being truthful, he would tell her that he wasn’t sorry at all. He loved man handling her. He was, however, aware that it probably wasn’t the best thing he could have done. “I had no right to grab you like that. My only defense is that my mind stopped working, and I took what I wanted.” She seemed to accept that, even though her face was still closed off. “Number two is this – I would love to ask you out on a formal date, but I can see you’re not ready for that.” Pausing for a second he added, “So instead, would you please consider going to the friends and family skate with me in two weeks? The team does it every year just before Training Camp starts. It’s very casual, and we can get to know each other a little bit better with a lot of other people around. Friends do that, don’t they? At least think about it.”

Remembering Lace’s reaction to him earlier (and her denial that her reaction was to
him
and not just any guy), he threw caution to the wind. “Oh, one more thing. I didn’t mean to, but I lied … I’m going to put my hands on you again.” He gently placed his hands on either side of her face, giving her plenty of time to pull away. “Think of this as an experiment. You said it wasn’t me, but just physical contact that you’d been missing.” He ever so slowly lowered his lips to hers while looking right into her eyes. She muttered, “Aw hell,” right before she closed her eyes and slid her hands around his neck, pulling him down those final inches. Jody spared a second for a triumphant laugh, before he sealed his lips to hers.

Lacey was in heaven and didn’t even care that she gave in so easily. She was tired of always second guessing herself where men were concerned.
Body contact felt nice, my ass. It’s all Jody.
Maybe she could just keep it casual, but what if she couldn’t?

With her breathing more than a little unstable, Lacey pulled away. “All right, fine. I guess it’s obvious that we have a physical attraction. But here’s the thing. I’m not looking for a relationship. I’m just starting to recover from a nasty betrayal, and to be totally honest, my reaction to you scares me. Only days ago I finally decided to throw myself back in the dating pool, but I’m only looking for some casual dating.” Pointing at Jody and herself she continued. “The problem here is that I’m not sure if I’ll be able to see you as a casual fling. But I don’t want you to think that by saying that I’m ready for more, because I’m not. My body, however, seems to respond to you more intensely than it should.”