Nikki Worrell - The Enforcer (NHL Scorpions)

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.”

“So what’s wrong with that? I think intensity is a good thing.” Jody liked that he could get her to respond to him so well. What man wouldn’t?

“Look Jody, I’ve had a bumpy past. The bottom line is that I’m not looking for anything serious right now.”

He’d been hurt in the past too, and would never hurt someone else like that if he could help it. He sure as hell didn’t want to hurt Lacey; however, he’d do whatever he could to get her naked beneath him. Was that all it was for him? If it was, he could assure her that he was just looking for something casual too. Was it simply plain old-fashioned lust? If so, maybe they could slake their thirst with each other. They were both consenting adults and had one hell of an attraction to each other.

He really didn’t think that’s all there was though. They had some kind of instant connection from the moment they first spoke; he just knew it. Maybe he could try a different approach. “Okay,” Jody said. “Let’s do this. Let’s just get to know each other better. I promise to do everything in my power to keep my hands to myself.” Holding his hands up in surrender he gave her another one of those sly smiles. He was such a contradiction!

“And lips!”

Jody laughed. “And lips.” He winked at her, but added, “I’ll try . Lace, I like you. We know the chemistry is there. I want to date you, become good friends with you. Come to the skating party with me. If nothing else, you’ll have a good time. I promise. No pressure.”

Lacey thought about it, but there was one big problem. Looking down at her feet, Lacey admitted, “I can’t skate.”

Jody didn’t think he’d ever heard sweeter words. Another opportunity to be with Lace. She’d need my hands on her a lot! “No problem. We have two weeks. I can teach you to skate so well that you could dress for a game. And it’ll be fun. Trust me?”

Trust him? Lacey thought. That was a tall order. But she came out here to start a new life, right? Take a chance, Lace. “Okay Jody, I’ll trust you.” Trust him to teach me to skate? That’s easy. Trust him with my heart? Not so much, but I’ll give it a try. Poking him in the chest she said, “You get one chance, Buddy.”

Smiling in typical mischievous Jody fashion he replied, “I’ll take it, Sweetheart.” He knew she meant more than just one chance to teach her how to skate. He had one chance not to screw whatever this was up.

When Lacey was done talking to Jody, she was ready to go home. She walked back to the meeting room to find Zoe, who was, as usual, surrounded by people. She just had that kind of personality. Not just with guys, but girls too. Everyone wanted to be around her. Why couldn’t Lacey be more like that? She wanted to be fun and carefree. It was high time she started truly enjoying her life. And she was beginning to do just that, wasn’t she? Agreeing to let Jody teach her how to skate was a step in the right direction. As was letting him get away with grabbing her ass in the bar.

As they walked out to the car, Lacey looked up at the sky and sighed. There was something peaceful about a clear night and a full moon. Seeing millions of stars twinkling made life seem better, less frantic. Looking at them made her think of how insignificant her fears were. The world was so vast and people had but a short time in it. Why was she sitting in the background watching everyone else live?

“That was a pretty big sigh,” Zoe said to her. “Was that Jody inspired?”

Lacey shook her head. “No. Well, not really. I was just thinking that I’m tired of watching everyone else live the good life, while I cower in the corner. I’m so afraid that I might get my heart broken again that I’m missing all the good stuff. Jody is sigh-worthy though.” With a dreamy look on her face, Lacey let out another gusty sigh.

Zoe was not yet privy to their conversation and was trying to give Lacey a little space, but she couldn’t wait any longer. If Lacey didn’t start talking soon, Zoe was going to implode. “Out with it, Lacey. Tell me what you talked about. It’s killing me. I have to know.” Phew, she felt better.

Giving Zoe a devilish smile, Lacey asked her, “Do you want to know what we talked about before or after he kissed me again?” Lacey slid into the car and buckled her seat belt, leaving Zoe standing outside gaping at her. Lacey lowered her window. “You getting in, or are you walking home?”

Zoe got in the car and punched Lacey in the arm. “How come you waited so long to tell me? Was it as hot as the first one? Did he do that ass grabbing thing again? Cause that made my girl parts all tingly. I need details.” Lacey rubbed her arm and shot Zoe a dirty look.

“Long story short, I agreed to go to the skating party with him. Since I don’t know how to skate, he’s going to teach me. I have two weeks to learn. He promised that he would keep his hands and lips off me.” Thinking back over the conversation, Lacey realized that wasn’t quite true. “Well he promised he’d try. I want to get to know him before I get naked with him, but when he touches me I seem to forget that. I might change my mind about the casual fling. I’m just not a casual fling kind of person. Maybe it’s time to move on with my love life. I think I’m going to try to give Jody a chance.”

Zoe was so happy for Lacey that her eyes filled up. “Oh no you don’t,” Lacey said to her. “No tears. This is a good thing.” Zoe wiped her eyes and said, “I know Lace, I know. You just don’t know how much I want you to be happy, and Jody seems to put some color back in your cheeks, you know? And I’m not just talking about the sucking face thing. I’m really proud of you; I know how hard it is for you to take this step.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Let’s just see how it goes. I don’t want to go through that kind of heart break ever again. But hey, for now it’s just skating, right? I told him that I wanted to become friends. He said he wanted that, too. That was right before he put his hands on my cheeks, and I put my fingers in his hair and pulled him down for a wee little kiss. I’m so weak …”

Laughing at that, Zoe asked, “When is your first skating lesson?” Lacey was busy the following day preparing for her interview. Monday her furniture was to arrive, and Jody was busy with hockey stuff on Tuesday. Wednesday was their first chance to go skating. “It’s looking like it’ll be on Wednesday night. If anything changes with his schedule, he’s going to text me.”

When they got home, they decided to go their separate ways and retreat to their rooms for the night. It had been a long night after such a homecoming celebration the night before. They were both beat. After tossing and turning on her floor for half an hour, Lacey got up, grabbed a blanket and went out to sit on the deck. Just as she turned the doorknob to go out, she heard her phone beep. She had a new text.