Nikki Worrell - The Enforcer (NHL Scorpions)

Jody: Hi Lace. Just wanted to thank you for talking with me tonight.

Lacey:Why are you still up? Don’t you start work outs early tomorrow?

Jody:Yeah, I do. I was just thinking of you so…

Lacey couldn’t have stopped the butterflies in her stomach if her life depended on it. This man, this beautiful man thought about her. Isn’t that every girl’s dream – to have a gorgeous hunk thinking about her?

Lacey: Thanks Jody. It’s nice to have someone thinking of me.

She would absolutely not tell him that she thought about him just about every second of each moment since she met him in Zoe’s office.

Jody: So why are you still up? I thought you were beat.

Lacey: Couldn’t sleep. I’m just going out to sit on the deck for a bit.

Jody: What are you wearing?

Lacey burst out laughing. Was he serious? She didn’t know what to say to that. Should she tell him that she was wearing a pair of raggedy old sweatpants and a shirt with a hole in it? Or should she lie and try to be sexy? It had been so long since she’d done the flirting thing.

Jody: Lace? I was just joking. Unless you want to answer that. Or don’t, I can make it up in my own mind. :)

Lacey: I’m still here, just trying to decide what to tell you.

Jody: You know what? Don’t tell me anything. I like using my imagination better. I’ll call you tomorrow. Nice panties btw. Nite Lace.

Lacey: Sweet dreams Chief ;) And nice try, but I’m not wearing panties. :-)

Jody: You’re killing me.

Lacey closed her phone with a chuckle. She hadn’t felt this carefree in years. How could she have forgotten how much fun flirting could be? She wondered where exactly Jody was and what he was doing. Was he lying in bed or watching TV? Hmm, what was he wearing? She closed her eyes and pictured him in her favorite outfit for a man. Jeans. That’s it. Jeans with the top button undone. And she’d already seen how his jeans hung on his hips. Wow, what a picture he made. Picturing him half naked made her whole body pulsate. Maybe she’d go on up to bed after all and let her mind wander where it would.

The next day, Lacey prepared for her interview at the Scorpions’ office. She typed out her questions, made several copies of her resume and put everything together in her portfolio. First impressions were of the utmost importance, and Lacey wanted to present a professional appearance without being too stuffy. She decided to forgo the typical office suit and instead went with a pair of black dress pants, a red blouse and her open-toed, one-inch heels. Even though they were only one-inch high, she loved them because they were leopard print. Leopard print always looked fabulous with red and black and looked especially nice when her toenails were painted red.

After laying out her clothes and packing her portfolio, she still had over four hours to kill. Zoe had pre-season appointments all day, so Lacey decided to take a brisk walk on the beach to work off some of those extra calories that she’d eaten the past couple of days. Leaving a note for Zoe, she gathered up her iPod and took off down the street.

Jamming away to some Aerosmith, she didn’t notice the car creeping up along side of her. It followed her for half a block before pulling over. The driver jumped out and followed Lacey for a bit, thankful that she couldn’t hear him. She smelled like oranges today. God he missed that. He just wanted to get close to her again. Why couldn’t she understand that? If only she would give him a chance to explain. He was so close he could almost touch her, but he needed to bide his time. This wasn’t the right time to tell her that he’d found her.

Steven turned around and went back to his rental car. Finding that receipt from the moving company when he went to see Lacey was a sign to him. What were the chances of that happening? It was just stuck at the foot of the stairs on the porch. He never would have known where she’d gone without that piece of paper. He knew then that he had to make one more effort to win her back.

What he did was not that big of a deal anyway. He knew she’d see how she overreacted to the whole issue now. Lacey was just too good for him to let go. She didn’t nag, she cooked, she cleaned, and she looked pretty in a cocktail dress when he had to schmooze people at black tie events. Until she freaked at his little indiscretion, she was perfect.

Thinking back on what had happened, Steven almost felt bad. Almost. But really, when her friend (he didn’t even remember her name now) came on to him in the pool house, he fucked her. What red-blooded man wouldn’t take what she was offering? Sex was a good way to take his wedding day jitters away. It didn’t mean anything, and it certainly wasn’t the first time he’d been unfaithful. He was a man who traveled a lot. Those things happened, and he knew that he could make Lacey understand. Men needed sex more than women; it was a simple as that.

As Lacey was jogging along the beach, she had an amazing feeling that everything was going to be great for her out there. She fantasized about having a perfect life – one she never even dreamed of before. Jody wouldn’t put any pressure on her for a serious relationship. He would be the perfect man; they’d have fun together all the time and have fantastic sex. That seemed to be a recurring thought with her whenever she thought about Jody. She wondered how long she really had to wait to jump his bones. What was the acceptable time frame to not be considered easy, or worse, sleazy? With a smile, she thought, a couple days after meeting him was probably too soon. What a shame, because she wanted nothing more than to climb all over him like he was her own personal jungle gym.

With a peaceful feeling and a clear head, Lacey started making her way back home. Home. Even though she would get her own place as soon as she was settled with her new job, she loved staying at Zoe’s, and it had immediately felt like home. Yes, she was going to be happy here.

As she was nearing the driveway, she noticed a slow moving vehicle coming up alongside her. She stopped and turned to see if they needed help or directions (not that she could give any yet), but they took off. That was weird, she thought. She ran up the stairs and headed for her bathroom to shower and get ready for her interview.

Lacey had already taken her sweaty clothes off and was just about to get into the shower when her phone rang. She knew it was Jody because she had programmed his ring tone to Aerosmith’s “ The Grind .” That was the sexiest song she knew, and it was just fitting for Jody’s ring tone. She was enjoying flirting with him.

“Hey Jody, how are you?”

Jody was sitting on a picnic table behind the rink. “Hey Lace. I’m great. I just got done running some drills with the guys. It’s great to be back on the ice.” He’d rather be sitting somewhere with Lacey, but he wasn’t sure if she was really interested; although she would be if he had anything to do with it. “I called to wish you good luck on your interview today. Zoe mentioned it to me.”

“Thanks, that’s sweet. I certainly hope I get the job but if not, I’ll land on my feet. My first interview with Donna, the current HR manager, went great. If I hit it off with Kyle then I should be good to go.” Lacey was confident that she’d get the job. She knew her resume was strong, and she’d always been a good interviewee.