Nikki Worrell - The Enforcer (NHL Scorpions)

Lacey: This one time, I won’t argue, because I honestly don’t know if we could get my headboard up there.

Jody: We’ll be over in about 30 minutes. Just out of curiosity … did you already take some of the furniture up all those stairs?

Lacey: No, why?

Jody: Just wondering if you’re all sweaty … maybe you stripped down to a skimpy tank top to beat the heat?

Lacey: Guess you’ll find out when you get here :)

Jody: Be there in 10 minutes.

Lacey: I thought you said 30.

Jody: That was before I thought about you wearing a skimpy tank top and short shorts.

Lacey: I didn’t say anything about short shorts.

Jody: No? Huh…

With her phone back in her pocket, Lacey turned to Zoe to give her the good news. “We’re saved! Jody and Vlad are coming over to carry my furniture up for us.” Zoe gave her a peculiar look and said, “Vlad’s coming, too?” Lacey tilted her head to the side and frowned at Zoe. “Yeah, why? Is there a problem with Vlad?” Zoe sighed and told her that there was some tension between them. Of the sexual nature and maybe more. Sometimes those ‘no dating clients’ rules seriously sucked. The devil in Zoe said that rules were made to be broken, but her rational part knew better. “I don’t want to talk about it, okay? I know I can’t go there.”

Well, well, well … Zoe’s actually falling for someone? Zoe was the consummate playgirl. That’s not saying she was easy or had loose morals or anything; she just liked to play the field a bit. She wasn’t (or so she said) the ‘settling down’ type. This could be interesting, indeed, but probably not in a good way. Rules were rules.

The guys brought an extra treat with them when they came over: beer and pizza. The two main food groups. Lacey thought that maybe she needed to start playing hockey if they could eat beer and pizza so often and still look that good. She knew they burned a ton of calories, but come on! No fair … if she ate that many carbs on a regular basis, she’d be as big as a house. Men sucked …

With those thoughts going around her head, she took the pizza boxes (four of them for four people … really?) and sniffed them all the way up the stairs and out to the deck. “Must eat first.” The rest of them agreed. Carrying the beer, Jody followed closely behind, enjoying the view and Lacey’s scent. Why did her scent get to him so much? Today she smelled like coconuts but with some kind of citrusy twist. Whatever it was, he liked it.

Zoe grabbed plates and napkins from the kitchen and joined the others out on the deck. Lacey was just pulling out her first piece with onions and peppers when she sighed in delight. “Besides chips and dip, I don’t think there is anything on the planet better than pizza.” Jody leaned over and handed her his ice cold beer. “Take a swig of this with it. Heaven …” As he leaned in, he again caught the sweet tang of coconut and citrus.

Lacey could feel her face flush at the thought that Jody’s lips had been on that bottle. God she was pathetic. Now she was jealous of a beer bottle. Making a show of licking her bottom lip, she met Jody’s eyes and took a long pull on the bottle. Jody immediately felt his groin tighten. He was amazed that with one simple movement, Lace could make him feel like a virginal teen again. He wanted her so badly that he was tempted to grab her right off her chair and drag her to her bedroom. Who cared if there was no bed in there yet? There were walls, a floor, hell … there was a door he could press her up against.

Seeing the way Lacey and Jody were undressing each other with their eyes was making Zoe crazy. She looked everywhere but in Vlad’s direction, because she knew if she looked at him, she’d be doing the same thing. She needed something to do. Noticing that all but about half of one pizza was gone, she started gathering up the boxes. She walked into the kitchen with Vlad following her, his arms full of plates and bottles.

“Getting pretty intense out there, isn’t it?” Vlad said standing directly behind Zoe. And way too close. “Chief’s nervous as hell that he’s going to scare Lacey off. They’ve known each other for less than a week, but he swears she’s the one. ” Zoe just nodded and kept herself busy by searching in cabinet drawers for tinfoil to wrap the pizza in. Where the hell was the foil? She could not remember for the life of her. Vlad’s presence was addling her brain.

Vlad grabbed Zoe’s arm. “Hey, is something wrong? I thought we were all for Lacey and Chief getting together.” Zoe looked down at Vlad’s hand on her arm. She liked feeling the warmth from his hand. Vlad noticed the heat in her eyes. “There is no we , Vlad.” But as she said that, she looked at his lips and licked her own. “Aw hell Zoe, you know we can’t.”

“Yes, I do know. I just wish we didn’t have this … thing between us, you know?” Maybe she should just kiss him. Maybe this attraction was just a freak thing that they could get out of their system. How many times could it take? Once … okay, more than once. Twice? It had been a while … okay, not that long. “You know what? We probably only think there’s a thing between us. It’s probably just because we know we can’t. When you’re told you can’t have something, you want it even more. The forbidden fruit syndrome.”

Vlad thought about that and knew it wasn’t true. They’d be incredible together. “Fuck that.” He grabbed her and kissed her hard.

Zoe tried to push him away, but her hands didn’t obey her mind. She did place her hands on his chest, but instead of pushing him away, she pulled him in closer. After a minute or so, they both pulled back. Breathing hard, Vlad sarcastically said, “Yup, you were right, I felt nothing. How ‘bout you?”

Zoe rolled her eyes at him. “Ditto. Seriously, though, Vlad – I can’t do this. I could lose my job. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Zoe. I understand. Let’s not let it get weird. I don’t want to lose your friendship, okay? I promise I won’t do that again.” They finished cleaning up the dinner mess and went back out onto the deck. “Come on Chief, stop ogling your girl, and get off your lazy ass. Let’s get this furniture moved in.”

After they got all the furniture in, Zoe and Vlad went out to the deck to drink some iced tea and cool off. Lacey and Jody were finishing up, tightening the last of the screws on the bed. When Lacey bent over to grab some packing material to put in the trash, Jody groaned. “Jesus Lace, you can’t bend over like that in those little shorts and expect me to keep my hands to myself.” He walked over to her, put both of his hands on her hips and pulled her back against him.

Lacey let out a little squeak, but backed right into him. She could feel him getting hard for her already. His cock was rubbing up against her ass. She wanted to turn around and rip his damn clothes off. Never in her life had she been so hot for a man so quickly. Just thinking about getting him naked made her slick and ready for more full body contact.

Still standing behind her, Jody pulled her hair aside to gain access to her neck. As he was kissing her neck, he ran his lips down to her collarbone and gently bit her. “Oh God, I love that.” He laughed and said, “Good to know. Any other special spots?” Lacey could only whimper in response. Continuing to lavish more attention to the special spot he had found, he let his hands travel up to cup her breasts. Jody thought he could die a happy man right then and there. Her breasts felt fucking fantastic. If only he could see them … taste them. Christ! He couldn’t get enough of her. If they kept this up, he was going to embarrass himself like an untried teenager.