Anne Rainey - Touching Lace (8 page)

When the elevator stopped, he stepped out and went to his office. His last thought before setting his mind to business was how perfect it’d be if he had all those things with Lacey. For the first time since he’d started seeing her as more than a friend, Nick felt like maybe, just maybe that dream wasn’t so implausible anymore.

Anne Rainey

Chapter Four

“Nick, as in your best friend, Nick?” Patty asked incredulously. “The very same,” Lacey answered as she finished off her second glass of diet cola

and dug into her salad.

Her friends Patty Baronette and Mary Riser both stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.

“Well, what did you tell him?” Mary asked, looking completely shocked by the idea that any man would suggest sex lessons.

“I told him I needed time to think about it.” Lacey dropped that bomb then dug back into her salad.

Patty laughed while Mary glanced around, as if afraid someone might hear their sinful conversation. “I can’t believe you’re even considering his offer,” Mary said, as if she were sixty instead of twenty-three.

“I think I’m going to accept.”
There, take that
, Lacey thought. She was so damn tired of Mary’s self-righteous attitude. It grated on her last nerve. She always looked at her as if she was some dirty little tramp. As if she needed to personally stitch a scarlet A across Lacey’s sweater to warn unsuspecting men. Why Lacey stayed friends with her was a mystery. She supposed it was partly because Mary had been part of their little group right from the beginning. And while she did get annoying at times, she still had some redeeming qualities, all of which Lacey was having a hard time remembering at the moment.

“Well, I for one am all for it,” Patty stated. “Hell, Nick is one delicious-looking man. If I wasn’t already so in love with Ralph and Nick had offered to give me sex lessons, you can bet your britches I’d jump on the offer. No pun intended, of course.”

Mary turned beet red, and Lacey chuckled. Patty laughed, too, and finally Mary offered a slight snicker.

Touching Lace

Lacey looked at her watch and sobered when she saw the time. In thirty minutes she would need to give Nick her answer. “Oh God, what if this screws everything up? I couldn’t live with it, you guys. He’s been there for me through so much, and I just don’t know what I’d do without him.”

Mary looked at her with thoughtful eyes. “You know, he has been there for you, and you’ve been there for him. Has it ever occurred to either of you that maybe you guys are already halfway to being a couple?”

Lacey dropped her fork. Patty swung her gaze toward Mary then back to Lacey. No way could she prevent the heat from searing her cheeks.

“You are way off there, Mary. We’re just friends. Nick is just doing me a favor, there’s nothing more to it. I know it.”

Mary shrugged, but Patty frowned. “If it were me, I’d want that confirmed.” “What do you mean?”

“Lay it all on the table. Make him tell you he’s only helping you before you slip between the sheets.”

Lacey nodded vehemently. “Yeah, good idea.”

“And don’t go into this thing thinking he’s only doing you a favor, hon,” Patty continued. “If he’s offering up his…services, you can bet he’s thought about this before. Probably more than once.”

Lacey licked her lips nervously, willing the waiter to bring her another diet cola— her version of liquid courage. “He said as much.”

Patty and Mary both leaned close. Patty asked, “Come again?”

Lacey tried to act nonchalant, as if they were talking about the weather, clothes, books, anything but sex with Nick Stone. It wasn’t an easy sham to pull off.

“He said he wanted me. That he wasn’t just doing me a favor, because he wants me naked, in bed, and all his.”

“Damn. That’s hot,” Patty groaned, as she began to fan her face. “That’s just so damn hot.”

Anne Rainey

Mary started fidgeting, as if the conversation was making her a little bit warm too. Hmm, maybe Mary wasn’t quite the goody-goody she always acted.

“Well, I’m not sure how this thing will play out, but I do need work on my…bedroom skills, or else Evan wouldn’t have bothered with Christy.”

Patty waved the words away. “That’s just crap. Evan was a weasel, and you deserve better. Period.”

“Evan was always eyeing Christy. I never did much care for her. She seemed to enjoy the way he stared at her. If she were a true friend, she would have told him to go suck an egg.” Mary’s words in her defense surprised Lacey.

Wow. That was the thing about Mary. Just when Lacey thought she had her friend figured out, she went and mixed it up again.

The three of them had met at the gym. Both women had come in looking to shed a few pounds and they’d hit it off. They weren’t clients of hers personally. Neither of the women made the kind of money that would afford them a personal trainer. Even though Lacey had offered them both a personal discount, they still declined, stating they were too lazy for that kind of commitment. Two years had gone by and they were still close friends.

While she knew a great deal about Patty’s life, she knew very little about Mary’s. Patty worked at a local grocery store and was happily engaged to a wonderful man. They wanted to get married in the fall and start right away on having kids. Mary lived alone. She worked as a Chiropractic Assistant, and from what Lacey could see she didn’t date much. She’d often tried to get her to open up, come out of her shell, but it never seemed to work. Mary had been raised in an extremely strict household, with sickeningly rigid parents. She never offered any other information. She supposed, given the way Mary grew up, she should cut her some slack, but sometimes her I’m-better-than-you attitude

wore on Lacey’s nerves. Depressing background or not.

Lacey’s diet cola finally arrived. “Oh, bless you.” She told the waiter. The guy gave her a wide smile and sauntered off. She sucked it down, glad to have at least that much to get her through the rest of the day. She had a feeling she’d need to stay alert and ready.

Touching Lace

Nick could be seriously persistent and extremely cunning when it came to a woman he wanted. She’d seen him in action with other women and she still wasn’t sure if the shiver running up her spine now was from fear or excitement.

“Damn, woman, are you trying to kill me?”

“What’s the matter, Nick? Am I too much woman for you?”

“Not a chance, baby. You and I are a perfect fit.” His voice dropped an octave as he leaned toward her to whisper, “You’ll soon see just how perfect.”

“Nick,” Lacey groused, “focus, damn it.”

They’d been working out for only half an hour and she was having the hardest time keeping his mind off her and on their exercise routine. Now, as they did crunches side by side, he kept looking over at her, groaning and saying completely inappropriate things. It obliterated her concentration, and she was growing increasingly warm. Unfortunately, the burn had nothing to do with their workout and everything to do with Nick.

“Oh believe me, I’m totally focused.”

“Nick,” she said in warning.

He placed his palm to her lower abs. The movement thrust Lacey back into her dream as she remembered him doing the very same thing while they made love. She dropped down onto the floor and looked at him. “What are you doing?”

“You promised an answer for me. I’ve yet to receive one.”

“Will you let me finish working out first?”

“I don’t think I can stand the suspense. Please, I need to know if you’re willing to let me help you get over this silly fear you have of being an inadequate lover.”

“Yes!” Lacey blurted.

“Yes?” Nick’s voice sounded harsh, as if raked over hot coals.

“Yes. I want you to…instruct me,” she explained, her stomach clenching tight. “Fuck, Lacey.”

Anne Rainey

Nick’s hand began to massage her stomach, and she nearly forgot where they were. She quickly put her palm over his, stopping his actions. “We’re in a gym full of people here.”

Nick looked around them then back at her, a cocky grin on his handsome face. “Everyone else is in the main area, baby. We’re all alone back here in your little private workout room.”

“We need to finish exercising. Don’t we?” All of a sudden, she wasn’t so sure. His hand had drifted downward and it cupped her mound through her black workout shorts.

“We’ll get a workout, don’t worry. For now, I just want to touch you. May I?” “Yes,” she said breathlessly. “I suppose that wouldn’t be too bad.” The carnal expression that spread across Nick’s face wasn’t at all reassuring. The