Nikki Worrell - The Enforcer (NHL Scorpions)

“Zoe! I totally forgot to tell you to call Jody LaGrange. He called to see if he could reschedule for a later time tomorrow.”

“Jody called?“

“Yeah, when you were out. He said to call him back anytime. Let’s call him now. His voice is dreamy.”

“Absolutely not! You’re drunk.” Looking at the glass of wine in her own hand, she added “I may be, too.”

“Oh come on Zoe, what’s the big deal? We’re just celebrating. I’ll text him instead, okay? That way if he’s asleep, I won’t wake him up. We wouldn’t want him to think you’re unprofessional if you don’t get back to him before tomorrow. If he gets mad at me, so what? He’s nothing to me. Hockey player, remember? I have rules.” She had to admit – at least to herself – that she wouldn’t have hated to hear his voice again, but texting was safer anyway. Drinking was not her friend, which is why she didn’t over imbibe too often. She tended to get flirty … possibly even a bit more than flirty.

“Well, okay. But be nice, and reschedule for whatever time he wants. I’m free all day.” Looking at her drink again and thinking about all the previous ones, she added, “Later might be better though. Morning could be ugly.”

Jody hadn’t slept well in years. Several doctors had suggested that his concussions could be the reason for that. They said his brain waves were different now since he started taking so many shots to the head. In any case, he was up and flipping through cable channels when he heard his phone play the goal horn indicating he had a text. Huh, someone else who can’t sleep. Jody didn’t recognize the number but opened the text anyway.

Lacey: This is Lacey. Dr. Millis can reschedule for anytime tomorrow, preferably later in the afternoon, but she will be available earlier if that fits your schedule better.

Ah, it’s ‘just Lacey,’ Jody thought, wondering what she was still doing up.

Jody: Great. How about 3:00 pm?

Lacey: That’s fine. I’m glad I didn’t wake you. That’s why I texted, just in case.

Jody: I appreciate it. Tell Dr. Millis thank you, and I’ll see her tomorrow.

Lacey: Will do. Good night Jody. See? Lacey thought, I can be a good girl.

Jody: Night Lace

“Night Lace,” She could just hear him saying that in his sexy voice. Oh, what did it matter what he sounded like or looked like anyway? He was probably married or had a girlfriend … or hell, maybe both. With that thought, Lacey decided to actively search out a man ( not associated with hockey, of course) to start her dating life up again. The hard part was figuring out how to go about that.

Putting those thoughts to the back of her mind for later, Lacey went back to celebrating with Zoe. They looked through old pictures of the two of them in Halloween outfits, pictures of them in those awful Christmas clothes their mothers used to dress them in and pictures from their college days. But the best pictures were, by far, those God awful school pictures. Oh the awkward years. Zoe was always much cooler than Lacey, so Lacey looked even less cooler than she actually was.

Zoe had a sense of style as far back as Lacey could remember. Zoe would be dressed in designer jeans and a pretty blouse, while Lacey would be in a pair of sweats and a ratty t-shirt. Zoe’s short hair would be perfectly coiffed, while Lacey’s long hair was forever in a ponytail. More times than not, Lacey would have some kind of animal hair on her clothes from volunteering at the local animal shelter, while not even a wrinkle could be found on Zoe’s clothes. She was a well put together kind of person. Lacey tried to be more stylish, but even with her OCD, her clothes were usually rumpled a bit. And she was the first to admit that she could use some help in the fashion style area.

They got some good laughs from those photos. When they were done laughing about the good old days and had a few more drinks, they decided to wind down for the night. After Lacey popped some popcorn, Zoe put in their favorite move, Ever After . By the time they got to bed, it was almost four o’clock in the morning. Friday was going to be a bitch.

Lacey woke up entirely too soon after she had passed out. She gingerly sat up and put her head in her hands. God I can’t wait until my bed gets here, she thought. With her head spinning, she slowly got up off the floor and went into the bathroom for a glass of water and a bottle of Advil. How people could live like that on a regular basis was a mystery.

Hours later, Lacey woke up again feeling marginally better. When she looked at the clock, she was shocked to see that it was almost three o’clock in the afternoon. Lacey raced to get Zoe up. Zoe would kill her if she wasn’t ready for her appointment with Jody. When Lacey found Zoe’s bedroom empty, she rushed into Zoe’s office and threw open the door. “Zoe! It’s almost three o’clock.”

Lacey was relieved to see Zoe awake, dressed and making notes at her desk. That relief was short-lived. Sitting in the chair across from Zoe was a man. Well, not just a man; that made him sound average. There was nothing average about him. He was gorgeous – out of this world gorgeous.

Zoe looked up at her and said, “Nice of you to barge in Lacey. This is Jody LaGrange; Jody this is my friend Lacey.” Jody got up and stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you in person, Lace.” Laughing a little, he looked her up and down and said, “Late night?”

Holy shit on a shingle … Lacey shook his hand and then simply stood there and gawked at him. His six-foot three-inch frame held his two hundred thirty pounds perfectly. He had beautiful light blue/grey eyes that crinkled a little as he smiled. His sandy blonde hair looked like he’d just run his fingers through it, and he had a crooked smile that went along with a crooked nose. You could tell this man’s nose had been broken once, twice or six times. But it worked for him. The team logo was stamped on the front of his grey t-shirt, which fit him like a second skin. Her eyes traveled down to take in his jeans. Holy cow, those jeans. Oh his jeans hung on his hips like they were honored to be on him. I know I would be, Lacey thought. He … was … absolutely … delicious.

Lacey finally found her tongue, and before rushing out of the office muttered something that resembled an apology. “Uh, hi. Sorry I barged in. I was afraid you’d be late Zoe. Okay, bye.” As she was leaving, Zoe yelled out, “Maybe put some pants on, huh?” Lacey looked down. Oh my God. When she passed out in the wee hours of the morning, she just crashed in the clothes she had on. But apparently she did take the time to strip off her pants. So there it was. She met Jody LaGrange wearing nothing but her sweatshirt, panties and socks that had little frogs on them. What a stellar moment for her.

When Lacey got back to her room, she made the mistake of looking in the mirror. Her hair was sticking up everywhere, she had a huge pizza stain right between her boobs and yes, that was crusty mascara goop on her cheek. It really couldn’t get much worse.

Back in Zoe’s office, Jody was smiling. He said, “Your friend Lace partied a little too hard, eh? Or does she always walk around half dressed?” Zoe grimaced and shook her head. “I’m sorry about that. Honestly, Lacey’s the best of the best. We just stayed up too late celebrating her move out here. She celebrated a bit more than me.” Thank God hockey players were so laid back. Lacey barging in like that was a major faux pas. That couldn’t happen again. She’d have to get a sign to hang on the door when she had a client in there.