Nikki Worrell - The Enforcer (NHL Scorpions)

It would be so much easier to go through it the first time with girls who had been there before. “God, yes; that would be great. I’m still not sure about my dress, though. Zoe made me buy it. It’s much more her style than mine. Any chance you might be willing to come over and look at it?”

“Absolutely! The guys won’t be home for a while, so how about if I drive over there now?” Lacey gave Kelly directions to the house and went upstairs to get her dress and shoes out.

Kelly arrived looking fresh and perky, as usual. She was a beautiful girl. Her long blonde hair was perfect for California. She had flawless, porcelain skin that she left natural, except for some mascara and a dab of lip-gloss. “Okay, let’s see the dress.”

Lacey motioned for Kelly to follow her up the stars. “I have it laid out on my bed.”

“No! Let me see it on you. Go put it on, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure. I’ll just be a sec.” Kelly took a seat at the breakfast bar while Lacey ran up the stairs to put her dress on. Trying it on again didn’t make her feel any better. It was still super skimpy.

“Okay, here I come. Be honest, please. Remember, wild Zoe picked it out.” Lacey walked carefully down the steps and held her breath.

“Oh my God. Spin around.” Kelly thought Lacey looked gorgeous. It was ultra sexy, but the lines of the dress were still classy. It hinted everywhere, but revealed nothing overly scandalous. The rhinestones gave it just the right amount of sparkle. It would look fabulous under the right lighting. “Has Jody seen that?”

“No, and I’m debating on letting him see it before we go. This dress could push him over the edge. He tends to be a bit, shall we say, unappreciative if another man looks at me a certain way.” It was just a dress, though, right?

“Well, make no mistake. Every man there will be looking, including Keith. Damn, Lacey, I should go buy a sexier dress!” Kelly could admit that she was a little envious of Lacey’s dress. No one would be able to compare to her in that.

“Thanks, but Jody’s gonna freak, don’t you think?”

“Lacey. Do you feel good in it? Do you like it?” Kelly thought that Jody needed to learn to accept that his girl was a hottie. He should be preening and showing her off!

Smiling a smile only another woman could understand, she answered her, “Yeah. I feel like a goddess. I mean, I’m a little uncomfortable with the amount of skin that it shows, but why? I go to the beach, you know?” Looking down at herself again, she made her decision. “You know what? I am going to wear it and I’m not going to show Jody beforehand. He’ll just have to deal with my sex appeal!”

“That’s the way to go. He’ll get over it, and then he’ll be beaming with pride.” Kelly left her to her thoughts, and they agreed to meet at Kelly’s house at two in the afternoon the day of the party.

Jody couldn’t wait to see Lacey dressed up for the party. He had already donned his penguin suit. As much as he hated wearing it, he supposed he looked pretty good.

He was picking her up at Zoe’s in a limo. Since he went to the trouble of getting his hair trimmed and wore a tux, he decided to go all out.

When he pulled up to the house, he saw Lacey through the window. All he saw was a lot of skin and something that sparkled. He tried to get a better peek, but Lacey saw him looking in and quickly put her black, floor length cape on to cover up.

Lacey came out of the house and gave him her award-winning smile. “Wow, Jody. You look magnificent. I mean, drop dead gorgeous.” Lacey fanned herself as her face flushed with appreciation of the male specimen standing before her.

Jody bowed before her. “Thank you, ma’am. I wish I could say the same, but I only got a look at lots of skin through the window. Am I going to approve of that dress, dear?”

Lacey laughed at his haughty behavior. “Probably not, but you’re going to pretend to and tell me how nice I look, got it?”

Jody played along for now. “Yeah, I got it.” He offered her his arm, and that’s when she saw the limo.

“Wow, a limo? I’ve only been in one once before when I went to the prom.” Lacey was surprised by the limo, but pleased. Their way home from the party held lots of potential. She hoped it was a long drive.

“Nothing but the best for my girl. Speaking of which, I got something for you. I have to admit, I asked Zoe for advice. She wouldn’t tell me what you were wearing, but gave me an idea of what might look nice.” He handed her a thin, black velvet box.

When Lacey opened the box, her eyes went wide. She had never seen anything as beautiful as the necklace inside. It was a thick silver chain with a dozen or so diamonds creating a V and an oblong ruby dangling from the end. She allowed Jody to put it on her and peeked down into her cape to see that the ruby rested right at the tip of her cleavage. Wow.

“I don’t know what to say. Jody, it’s exquisite. Thank you so much, but you didn’t have to do that. You don’t need to buy me expensive jewels; I’m already yours.”

“I know I don’t, Lace. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I want to. You don’t expect anything from me, and I know that you don’t care about my money. I love making you smile like that. Do you really like it? We can return it and buy something …”

Lacey stopped him by putting her lips on his. “I love it, Jody. Thank you for picking it out for me. It’s perfect.”

When they got to the hotel where the party was being held, Lacey felt her nerves go on alert. She was worried about Jody’s reaction to her dress. “Um, Jody, maybe I should warn you. My dress is a bit skimpy. But Zoe made me try it on, and when I did, all I could think about was how much I thought you might like it on me. I didn’t think enough about what other people would see. I don’t really care about that, but I know you …”

Jody took a page from her book and placed his lips on hers this time to quiet her. “Lace … Angel, it’s okay. I’ll be good, I promise. I am proud to have you on my arm. Let them look, let them all look and be jealous of what is mine.”

His? Hmmm, yeah, okay. His. “Then let’s go.”

Jody took her hand in his, anticipation etched on his face. He couldn’t wait to see what she had on under that cape. When they reached the coatroom, Jody held her cape and let her untie it. As it slipped off, he inhaled sharply. “Holy hell, Lace.” He could certainly tell that she wore no panties with the dress. It just covered her backside. With his voice hoarse, he commanded, “Turn around.” When he saw the front, he thought he might hyperventilate.

Lacey was holding her breath. This was it. Would he embrace it or make a scene? “Well? God, tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Lace, I’m thinking I’m the luckiest guy in the room. I can’t say the looks you’ll get won’t bother me, but damn honey. I get to take you home with me. You take my breath away, Angel.” Putting his hand on the small of her back, he led her into the banquet room.

Lacey did indeed get quite a few looks, and even though Jody glowered at each and every one (including the females), he didn’t say a word. She was extremely proud of him and couldn’t wait to reward him on the way home.

As soon as the door was shut in the limo, Jody pulled her onto his lap and slipped his hand inside her dress to cup her breast. With his lips against hers, he murmured, “Been wanting to do that all night.”