Jodi Redford - The Naughty List

“It’s not your fault she’s a moron.” They both knew that wasn’t what he’d been apologizing for, but she couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge the real reason his expression looked agonized and uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, Bram didn’t feel so inclined. “She doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about. You’re not boring. Or a goody-goody. Dan was— is —a damn fool for what he did.”

“I know that.”

Bram stared into her eyes, apparently not completely buying her assertion. “Lace, you’re a desirable woman. Any man with half a brain wouldn’t do anything to fuck up his future with you.”

She gave a crooked smile. “Well there you go. Dan did have half a brain. Too bad he carted it around in the wrong head.” Not giving Bram an opportunity to voice any further pearls of wisdom, she turned toward the door and wrestled the lock open. She had to get out of there before she gave in to the tears prickling at the backs of her eyelids.

“Lace—”

She escaped the office and sealed off the remainder of Bram’s words by shutting the door behind her. Praying no one noticed her fierce trembling, she dashed toward the restrooms.

“I’m going to kill that damn Olivia.”

Ry rubbed the grogginess from his eyes as Bram snicked Lacey’s office door shut. It was a miracle Bram hadn’t slammed it, judging from the way he white-knuckled the knob. Ry cracked a yawn. “What’d psycho Barbie do now?”

“She brought up Dan. In front of Lacey.”

Ry stopped in mid-stretch. A growl slipped past his throat. “She did what ?”

“She insinuated that the engagement ended because Lace was boring.”

“You’ve got to be shittin’ me.” He gave his head a shake. “Jesus, Olivia is one stupid broad.” It was beyond him what Bram had seen in her. Well, other than the obvious—enormous tits and legs that didn’t know the meaning of the word shut.

“You’ll get no argument from me there. I kicked her ass out and told her to stay gone. For good.”

Ry nodded. “Where’s Lace?”

“She ducked into the women’s restroom.” Bram’s eyes clouded. “She looked like she was seconds away from crying when she hightailed it away from me.”

Ry swore beneath his breath. It was a damn good thing Olivia had heeded Bram’s advice and not stuck around. Because she sure as shit didn’t want to cross Ry’s path right now.

Bram parked his butt on the arm of the couch. “Do you think we should send one of the waitresses to check on Lace?”

He met the agonized uncertainty in Bram’s eyes. No doubt it was a mirror of Ry’s own expression. Desperate as he was to ensure that she was okay, he remembered the pain Lacey went through following her decision to break her engagement. Most folks had been kind and sympathetic to the situation. But there’d been those who’d whispered and snickered behind her back. She’d tried her best to hold her head high and pretend those gossiping fuckers meant nothing to her. But he’d known better.

“No, we’ll give her a minute.” He wouldn’t draw any nosy attention to Lacey’s predicament if he could help it.

Bram nodded solemnly. They were silent for a long stretch, the tension slowly escalating with each tick of the wall clock situated near the Elvis painting. The uneasiness percolated in Ry’s gut. What if Lacey had taken off? She was in no condition to drive, not as upset as she likely was. He glanced toward her desk and noticed her purse was still on the floor. Okay, one problem solved. She couldn’t go anywhere without her keys.

Even as he processed the thought, the door swung open and Lacey walked inside the office. Her eyes looked red and puffy. Motherfucker . His chest vising, he leapt to his feet and wrapped her in his arms. He sensed her struggle to hold in more tears but eventually a soft sob escaped, nearly muffled by his shirt. Running his palms in soothing circles along her back, he kissed the top of her head. Bram stepped to the other side of Lacey and rubbed her trembling shoulders before also ducking and kissing her temple.

She sighed, accepting their comfort. Her hand clutched his waist, the other reaching for Bram. She snuggled close, her breasts pillowing against Ry’s chest. The delicious floral scent she always wore clung to every inch of her. Even her honey-blonde hair seemed to be infused with the luscious essence that was Lacey. The aroma invaded his senses, adding its own brand of torment as he reeled under the heady intoxication of her.

Christ, would there ever be a woman who affected him the same way as Lacey? Doubtful. God knows he’d searched all these years to find another to cure him of his obsession with the woman in his arms. He’d found plenty of willing participants more than happy to warm his sheets, but not one of them made his heart beat faster or left him woozy with punch-drunk love. A million times he’d wanted to make Lacey his, stake his claim. But he couldn’t.

Because of the man across from him. Bram.

Almost from the moment they’d both laid eyes on Lacey, they’d fallen hard. There’d only been one time he and Bram ever raised fists to each other. It happened the day they finally came clean about their feelings regarding Lacey. Being young and arrogant, Ry had fully expected to kick Bram’s ass, even though his best friend clearly held the advantage of additional height and muscle. But Bram hadn’t backed down. It’d infuriated Ry, until he realized the reason for Bram’s stubbornness. Bram was just as crazy about Lacey—he would have fought to the death for her. The knowledge had acted like a kick to the balls. For them both.

There was no way either of them could be the bigger man and step aside. Which left them only one alternative.

Neither one of them could have Lacey. Not if their friendship held any hope of surviving.

So for the past fifteen years Ry and Bram kept their hands to themselves. And suffered the biggest case of blue balls known to mankind. Something that Ry was all too familiar with at the moment. He angled his hips away from Lacey, not wanting her to notice the rising state of his erection.

Son of a bitch. He felt like a giant dick—no pun intended. Here she was devastated and crying her eyes out over that fucktard ex of hers. Definitely not an ideal time for Ry to be sporting the mother of all boners. He glanced at Bram and noticed that his best friend was wearing a wry grin. No doubt he was dealing with a similar predicament and could empathize with Ry.

Lacey sniffled and swiped a hand over her cheeks. Juvenile as it was, Ry couldn’t help the flash of satisfaction that streaked through him over the knowledge that she’d let go of Bram but not him. She looked up at Ry, those beautiful blue eyes swimming with the remnants of her tears. It took every ounce of his control not to lean down and kiss her. Properly. No chaste peck of his lips on the crown of her head, but a full-on devouring of her mouth. That luscious mouth he’d imagined wrapped around his cock countless times.

Somehow he snuffed his groan before it could give him away. He was without a doubt the biggest asshole alive to be lusting over Lacey like this. She needed friendship and a healthy dose of comforting. His damn dick would just have to stay the hell out of the equation.

She patted his waist before shuffling out from between him and Bram. “Okay, I have no idea why I let any of this upset me. Dan is ancient history, for Pete’s sake.”

Thank God for that too. When he and Bram had found out about what that motherfucker did, they’d paid Dan a visit and gave him a good ass kicking. The shithead was lucky they didn’t do more than break his nose and bruise a few of his ribs, as well as his ego. It’d been mighty tempting to shatter the bastard’s kneecaps for making Lacey cry. It was beyond incomprehensible to Ry why any man would cheat on her. Christ, Lacey was a walking wet dream. All she had to do was smile—hell, breathe —and he was close to busting a nut. She’d starred in thousands of his raunchiest and sweetest late-night fantasies while he was lying in bed, his dick so hard it could hammer nails. Half the time he didn’t even need to stroke his cock for it to shoot off like a cannon. The mental image of Lacey riding him, her wet pussy gliding along his length, was always enough to do the trick.