Crissy Smith: Lacey's Seduction

Lacey waited as the cab driver took her suitcase out of the trunk. Her stomach was jumping, and her hands were sweating. The hot July sun glared down at her. It had to be over a hundred and ten degrees here. Why would anyone want to live somewhere it was so damn hot?

The heat had nothing to do with her bad mood though. She was nervous about being here. For three months, she had avoided author conventions, and Brent, by sending her assistant Paige in her place.

Paige had refused to come this time. Her new live-in boyfriend had complained about her leaving one weekend a month and had made romantic plans at the lake for them. So Lacey was stuck attending. And she would have rather been anywhere but in the same city with Brent—the man who, she admitted to herself, had broken her heart.

Walking into the hotel, she was hit with a blast of cold air. She stood and let it sink in to her body. The sounds of the casino rang out as people dropped coins in machines, cheered when they won, and booed when they lost. The fabulousLas Vegas . Well, she was feeling anything but fabulous.

Lacey managed to check into her room without snapping at anyone. Paige had been after her for months, trying to find out what had happened that weekend with Brent. Lacey hadn’t told a soul. She would keep the secret of her stupidly with her until she died.

Her room was beautiful and should have been able to cheer her up. It was only a bedroom with a large king-sized bed, small bathroom, and balcony, but Lacey was determined to enjoy herself.

She had a ticket to the main conference with the meet and greet with authors. Plus a ticket to the evening parties and dinners. The parties had always been her favourite part of attending, and she wasn’t going to let Brent take that away from her.

Tonight’s black tie party was not something she was looking forward to, though. Brent would be there, looking amazing in black like he always did. He’d probably brought a date with him, she thought, even though he never had in the past.

It was already past five by the time she had unpacked. She needed to start to get ready if she wanted to make the dinner. She had purposely taken the latest flight she could so she wouldn’t have much time to wander around. She didn’t want to accidentally bump into Brent in a casino or restaurant.

Sighing, she grabbed her bathroom supply bag and headed in to take a shower. She might as well look her best. She didn’t want Brent to think she had been pining away for him the last three months. Three months with no word from him. No email apologising or explaining. Nothing.

Brent pulled at the collar of his shirt. He hated these formal dinners. He didn’t like to dress up, and he hated to dance even more. He frowned at the three young women who walked by him giggling and whispering to each other.

“Buddy, you need to relax,” his friend, Matt Adams, told him, handing him a glass half full with dark liquid.

Brent just frowned at him. “How long is acceptable to stay before we can take off and find a bar?” He took a swig of his drink and felt it burn down to his intestines.

“Hey, free booze, chicks, and music. What else could you ask for?”

“Not being drooled over like a piece of meat.”

His old friend laughed at him again. “Man, you must be getting old.” Brent turned his head to tell Matt where to stick it when he saw her. She had just entered the room with another woman. She laughed at something the woman said, and he could feel his muscles tighten.

“Lacey,” he whispered.

“What?” Matt asked, looking around.

“Nothing. I’ll be right back.”

“Hey! Where are you going?” Matt called after him, but Brent ignored him, picking up his pace to where Lacey had disappeared into the crowd.

He found her in a small circle of six women. She was wearing a short backless dress and had her hair pulled up on top of her head, revealing her slender neck and enticing back.

Lacey was teasing him, he thought bitterly. She’d stopped coming for a couple months then showed up in a dress that should have been consider illegal. Maybe not illegal, he corrected himself. It didn’t show half of what the other dresses in the room did, but it was sexy. Too damn sexy to wear around all these men.

Brent took a step forward but halted when Sam Hamilton stepped behind Lacey and placed a hand on her bare back. His entire body flared with jealousy. How dare he put his hands on her? She was his.

Before Brent could do anything stupid, like pound Sam into the ground in front of everyone and throw Lacey over his shoulder, a strong hand clamped his shoulder.

“Ah, and there’s our girl,” Matt said in a very low tone.

Brent tried to shake Matt’s hand off of him, but his friend only tightened it and pulled him in the other direction.

One desperate night when he couldn’t get Lacey out of his head, he had gone down to the bar he played pool at. Brent had managed to get himself wasted, and the bartender had called Matt to come pick him up. His friend had been relentless, demanding to know what had put him in this funk for the last month.

Brent had spilled the entire story to his best friend.

“You can let go of me,” he protested.

“Nope, not until I get you as far away as possible.” Reaching the bar on the other side of the room, Brent planted himself against a stool and turned his head towards Lacey. She was making her way around the room, probably trying to find her table. She would smile and wave, or give hugs, even kisses on cheeks. His entire body tightened as he watched her.

Matt placed another drink in his hand. “Don’t do anything stupid, man.” Brent grunted at him without taking his eyes off Lacey.

“Hey, you were already a complete ass once. She’d really think something of you if you pounded every guy in the room.”

That statement got Brent’s attention. “I was not a complete ass,” he grumbled.

“Yeah, man, you were.”

So far so good Lacey thought as she made her way to her assigned table. There hadn’t been a sign of Brent, and she was beginning to feel more relaxed. She even had a moment of anger that she had stopped coming to the conventions because of the man.

As she reached her table, she was relieved to find the others already seated were friends she’d made throughout the years. Cara Livley was the first to greet her with a big hug.

“It’s been forever,” the other woman said as Lacey hugged her back.

“I know.” Lacey laughed and greeted everyone else.

Cara pulled her into the seat next to her. “Well, I have to say I am glad to see you.” Lacey leaned back in her chair and smiled, feeling the huge weight that had been threatening to crush her chest lift around the other woman. She had always enjoyed Cara and was glad she was seated next to her.

It wasn’t until Cara mentioned her husband that she remembered how she became such good friends with Cara. Cara’s husband and Brent had been in the military together. Brent had been the one to first introduce the two women.

And if Cara was seated at the table that meant…

Lacey didn’t finish the thought before Brent stood on the other side of the table, looking down at her.

Lacey shivered, but it wasn’t from cold as her eyes met his. The heated look in his couldn’t be missed—even Cara stopped talking. He raised his glass to Lacey before drinking down the dark liquid and taking a seat directly in front of her.

“Look who I found,” Cara told Brent and her husband.

Matt reached over and took Cara’s hand, placing a kiss on it before taking the seat on the other side of Cara and next to Brent. The two women between Lacey and Brent continued to talk in low voices and didn’t pay them any attention.