Nikki Worrell - The Enforcer (NHL Scorpions)

Sunlight filtered in through the blinds onto Jody’s face as he slowly awoke. His first thoughts upon waking were of Lacey. She was definitely not herself on their date, and he hoped she was feeling better today. Just in case it was more than her not feeling well, he thought he’d give her a Jody-free day. He didn’t want to suffocate her.

After his morning routine and a quick jog to warm up for practice, he hit the road for the rink. A lot of the guys were already there. Cars and trucks of all kinds filled the lot. They ranged from the young kids with their Hondas and Fords, to the veterans with their Audis and BMWs. There was a Harley parked next to Lacey’s car, which reminded him that she used to have one.

The idea of Lacey riding a Harley was hot. Admittedly, it did surprise him a bit when she told him she previously owned one. She didn’t have one of the smaller ones, like a Sportster, either. He looked it up. A Fat Boy was a big bike. It wasn’t that he didn’t think she was capable, but he just couldn’t picture her as a tough biker chick. But that was stereotyping, wasn’t it? Now he could picture her wearing leather. Oh yeah, that wasn’t a problem.

Almost as if she knew he was thinking about her, she called. His phone started playing “Take My Breath Away” from the movie, Top Gun . He knew it was corny, but he felt like they were just like Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis. They had an instant, hot connection. God help him if the guys heard it, though.

Lacey felt more human after a good night’s rest and a hot shower. It occurred to her in the shower that she really needed to tell Jody about Steven soon. She had checked her e-mail account that morning and saw that Steven had e-mailed her the night before saying he would see her on Saturday. She responded and said he shouldn’t come because she wouldn’t see him; she also thought about blocking his e-mail address, but ultimately decided not to, just so that she would know where he was in case he decided to e-mail her again telling her when he would be there on Saturday. She didn’t want to be caught unaware.

Now she had to decide how to tell Jody – and more importantly, where to tell him about Steven coming back. A restaurant seemed like an ideal setting. Maybe Jody wouldn’t freak out if they were in a public place. Fingers crossed, she called him to see if he could meet her for lunch.

He picked up on the second ring. “Hey Lace, how are you feeling today?”

Lacey was still somewhat embarrassed over her mushy tears the previous night. “I’m fine. I’m sorry about the old gloom and doom last night.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for. I don’t want you to ever pretend with me. If you weren’t feeling well, you weren’t feeling well. I just hope I didn’t do anything to make it worse.” Even though he controlled himself for the most part, he felt bad about his constant wayward thoughts after finding out she was uncomfortable.

“God no! You were wonderful. I’m going to make it up to you, but right now, I’d like to know if I could take you out to lunch. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

That sounded ominous. “We have practice until noon. Can we go after that, or is that too late?” Jody would say yes anytime he had a chance to see her.

Since Lacey was in the administrative building next to the rink, she told him to meet her by her at her car at half past noon. She knew there was an Olive Garden right down the street that seemed like it was usually crowded. Being in a crowd would be good for this conversation.

“Yeah, that’d be perfect. See you then, Lace.”

“Bye, Jody.”

Ugh, she was not looking forward to this.

The morning dragged on for Lacey. She had plenty of work to do but she was a tad nervous and just wanted to get her conversation with Jody out of the way. He had told her he was working on his temper, but she knew he wouldn’t have it under control overnight.

The clock finally told her it was time to leave for lunch. Gathering her purse, she walked out to her car. It only took a minute or two to get there, and she smiled at the sight of Jody waiting for her. His hair was still damp from his shower, and he smelled heavenly. No cologne, just man and soap. Maybe a little fabric softener, too.

Jody took in Lacey’s black, high-waisted slacks and her silky, deep purple blouse. The high waist on her pants made her legs look a mile long, and her long, dark hair looked as silky as her blouse. He couldn’t wait to feel her hair draped around him. Jesus, stop, Jody thought. He honestly couldn’t help where his thoughts went when she was around.

Lacey walked right up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Looking up at him with a smile, she rested her chin on his chest and said, “Hi.”

Jody ran his thumb under her bottom lip and gave her a gentle kiss. “Hi back.” He stuck his face in her hair and inhaled. “Oranges?”

He seemed to make a game out of guessing what soap she used. “Yup. Orange sage. Citrus with a little spice.” Ready to get her news out of the way, she let go of him and got into her car. “Let’s go.”

Jody got in and asked her what she wanted to talk about. “Let’s wait until we’re seated at the restaurant, okay? How was practice?”

“Fine. Same old thing. Keith had us working on passing and deflecting pucks into the net mostly.” He went on to tell her about some of the drills they did. It was another hard practice. But getting to see Lacey afterward made all thoughts of that go away.

An empty spot opened up just as they were pulling into the parking lot, and Lacey zipped her car into it. Jody got out and went around to her side to help her out of the car. He was always thoughtful like that.

The restaurant was mostly full, and Lacey was relieved. People gave Jody looks as the hostess took them to a table. They looked like they knew he was somebody, but weren’t sure whom exactly.

Drinks were ordered, and the waitress left them again to give them time to look over the menu. “I’m just having the bread and salad. I imagine you’re going to get a week’s worth of food to refuel after that practice, huh? You guys sure can eat.”

Jody chuckled. “Yeah, we do eat a lot during the season. Why are you only getting salad? You’re not one of those girls.” One of the things Jody liked about Lacey was that she ate real food, which gave her lush curves.

“Actually, I happen to love salad. And believe me, my salad is plenty fattening. I like to add blue cheese and bacon. Does that make you feel better? And I’ll eat bread, too. That stuff is covered in butter.” And she wouldn’t have just one plate of salad either. Jody was right about that. She may skip a meal here and there, but she ate like a real human being.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t even have said that. You should eat whatever you want to. So, what did you want to talk to me about? I have to admit, I’m burning with curiosity.” The waitress appeared with their drinks. A glass of chardonnay for Jody to go with his pasta, and Lacey had ordered a diet soda. She ordered her salad, and Jody ordered soup, salad and fettuccini alfredo with shrimp and chicken. As the waitress left, Lacey’s nerves went on alert.

Shit. Here we go. “Okay, here’s the thing. I’ve been getting a lot of hang-ups on my cell phone. I went to the store to get a new number, and while I was there, that number called again. I answered it for the last time, and it was Steven.” Lacey stopped and looked at him. He just stared at her with a weird look on his face. “What are you doing?” she asked him.