Nikki Worrell - The Enforcer (NHL Scorpions)

“You have your big date tomorrow, don’t you?” Vlad knew Jody had been thinking about taking Lacey on a date since the day he met her. Jody was a romantic. That surprised most people before they got to know him. He was tough as nails on the ice, and no one wanted to go a round with ‘Chief,’ but where girls were concerned, he was a big old softy. It was an interesting combination.

“Yeah. Man I have to tell you, I love this girl. I know that sounds crazy. I know I don’t know her that well, but I feel like I’ve known her all my life. She’s the one for me. This date has to be perfect.”

Vlad smiled. “There’s not one of us that doesn’t know how you feel about her. You wear your heart on your sleeve, man. How do you do that? How can you be such a bruiser on the ice and such a marshmallow off it?”

Jody threw a bottle cap at him. “Marshmallow? Am I really that bad?”

“Dude … as soon as she walks in the room you go all gooey- eyed and shit. It’s embarrassing.” Vlad was just messing with him. In truth, he was jealous as hell at Jody’s budding relationship with Lacey.

Ignoring Vlad’s snarky comment, Jody told him what he had planned. “I’m going to take her horseback riding on the beach. After that, we’re going to have an evening picnic. I’m packing a cooler with Grey Goose, strawberries and cream. I’m going to go sit with my girl on the beach and do all that romantic stuff you tease me about.” Jody couldn’t wait. He couldn’t think of anything better than riding on the beach, watching the sunset and then sitting on a blanket under the stars with Lacey tucked in his arms, feeding her strawberries and cream. Okay, that’s not entirely true. He could think of one thing that might be even better, and he was going to try for that, too.

“Grey Goose? Aren’t you supposed to give girls that champagne crap?” Vlad was surprised that Jody wouldn’t know that. Champagne was almost another word for romance.

“My girl likes vodka. I don’t even know if she likes champagne. But you’re right; I should have a bottle of that, too. I read in some women’s magazine that strawberries go well with champagne.“

Vlad laughed, knowing that Jody had probably read stacks of chick magazines doing research for his date. Getting up, he collected his trash from dinner and said, “Well, I’m outta here man. Keith killed us today, and I’m beat.” On the way out, he gave Izzy a pat on the head. She, in turn, leaned fully into him, rubbed her head on him and caused him to stumble sideways. “Good Lord this dog is a menace to society.” Smiling, he added, “She sure is a sweetheart, though. See you tomorrow, Chief.”

Lacey and Zoe were sitting on the deck enjoying an after-dinner drink together. Lacey’s first day of work was great, and coming home to Zoe being there was even better. She’d forgotten how nice it was to have companionship after being alone for almost a year.

“This is the life, isn’t it? Are you glad you moved out here, Lacey?”

“Are you kidding? I love being here with you. I think this was the best decision you ever made me make in my entire life.” Lacey laughed when Zoe gave her an incredulous look.

“I am not that bad. All I did was ask you to move out here. Okay, maybe more than once.” Lacey tilted her head and raised her brows. “Oh fine, I bugged the shit out of you on a weekly basis for a year. But it worked!” Zoe held up her glass of wine and toasted. “To us, for being awesome and being together again. I love ya, Lace.”

They clinked glasses, and Lacey told her she loved her, too. Zoe was the one constant in her life, and Lacey was thankful for her every day. Lacey confided to Zoe that she was nervous about her date the next night.

“He’s sucking me in. I don’t know how I’m going to keep resisting these feelings I’m starting to have for him. Now, I’m telling you this as my friend, not my therapist.” Lacey could tell Zoe was biting her tongue. Rolling her eyes, Lacey pointed at her and said, “God Zoe, you’re head’s gonna explode. Go ahead, therapy me.”

“Okay, but remember you said I could. I honestly don’t think that this qualm you have about not dating guys who travel has all that much to do with Steven. I believe it comes from a fear of being alone. You are afraid of people leaving you, and why wouldn’t you be? First, I moved to San Diego, and then David was killed. After that, your parents moved back to Canada, and the very last person you had around you broke your heart. Jody represents something else that you could lose. It’s fear of being alone again that’s holding you back, not Steven’s cheating.” Zoe took a deep breath. “But you’re not alone now. We’re back together, and you’re so much closer to your parents out here. Just think about what I said, and see if there’s any truth to it. If not, then I’ll tell you I was wrong and back off. If I’m right, though, you need to find it inside yourself to take another chance at loving someone.”

After their little chat, Lacey went inside to get them both a refresher on their drinks. She noticed that she had a missed call. On her way back out to the deck, Lacey grabbed her phone.

Zoe saw the phone in Lacey’s hand. “Jody texting again?”

“Didn’t look yet.” Taking a look at her missed call, she sighed. “Nope, not Jody. It’s some idiot who obviously has the wrong number but keeps calling. They never leave a message and even when I pick up, they just hang up.”

“So call them back, and tell them to stop calling you,” Zoe stated, matter of factly.

“Damn! Why did I not think of that myself?”

Zoe snorted at her. “Okay, that was a stupid thing to say. So what happened when you called the number?”

“I didn’t call. I can’t. The number is ‘unavailable.’ It’s getting annoying too. I wonder if the phone company can block it for me, even though it comes up unavailable. I’ll have to call them.” Lacey hated dealing with stuff like that. Customer service centers rarely employed anyone she could actually understand anyway. It was almost not worth it, even if it meant she’d get the number blocked.

Steven could not fucking believe it. He’d been in London for a day, and the orchestra already wanted him to compose a new piece. They loved him. He knew they would of course, but as great as that was, he had a problem. He hadn’t composed an entire new piece since he was with Lacey.

He tried to start coming up with a melody – just a few notes to get him started in the right direction. The keys on the piano just stared at him. His hands rested there, but nothing came to him. Nothing. He drew a complete blank. After spending three hours sitting at the piano, Steven thought he knew what the problem was. Lacey was his muse! He needed to talk to her pronto.

Steven called Lacey’s cell phone, but as soon as it rang, he hung up. He doubted she’d talk to him over the phone. But he had to talk to her. It was still shocking to him that she turned him down. Well, he couldn’t think about that right now. He had two months before he was actually required to be in London. He went there so early to do some sightseeing and get the lay of the land.

Over the next couple of days, Steven called Lacey’s phone at least a dozen times. He’d hang up if she answered. Just hearing her voice allowed him to compose a bar or two. If he got her voice mail he got to hear her voice for longer than “hello?” But he needed more. He was going to call her right now and talk to her.