Laces and Lace (Assassins #6) (19 page)

Karson wasn’t sure, but for some crazy reason, his feet started moving and he brushed past JT, heading straight for the jewelry story that possibly held the ring he’d give to Lacey.

When he heard the footsteps behind him, he found JT running to catch up. Smiling at him, he said, “I get to pick it out.”

Karson rolled his eyes. “I’m not getting anything. Just checking things out.”

“Sure you are, but really, I get to pick it.”

“Fuck off, Thomas, you aren’t picking anything.”

JT laughed. “No, I am, and when you give it to her, make sure you let her know that your firstborn will be named Jordie.”

“You are fucking unbelievable,” Karson groaned as he pulled open the door to Tiffany’s.

JT’s laughter followed Karson in before he said, “What’s unbelievable is the fact that I convinced you to get a ring for a girl you haven’t seen in almost ten years!”

Yup, Jordie Thomas was an asshole.

And Karson might be an idiot for listening to him, but he couldn’t help but feel like his best friend was right. Now all he could do was hope and pray that Lacey would be on board.

In her trusty Martin, number twenty-one jersey, Lacey bit the inside of her cheek as she headed out the side door to the elevator that took her to the box where her father and Rachel and the boys would be. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She knew as soon as she got up there, everyone would know that something was up, and that made her body quiver with nerves. She really didn’t know what she was doing here because if her dad found out that something was going on with Karson, he would flip his lid. He had made it known through the years when she would bring him up or if he came up in conversation that he would die before he would let Karson King near his baby girl again.

Well, sorry, Daddy, but I’m in deep with whom you consider to be the devil.

And she didn’t feel the least bit wrong for it. She did, however, spend the whole day in knots about coming not only to the arena but going out for drinks afterward. She was nervous. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen. What he was going to say. What she was going to say. But she knew she had to go. Needed to go. After cleaning herself up and then being mad at herself for doubting him, she’d decided to take a trip down memory lane. She wasn’t sure why she did that, but for some reason, she felt the undying need to.

Getting out the red and black box she had decorated with pictures of them, she sat in the middle of her bed and looked at each picture, every single letter, email, and everything that had anything to do with their relationship. It was like she relived their relationship all over again through all the documentation she had. When she got to the bottom of the box that held the shirt she went home in after they had sex for the first and only time, her body caught on fire with the memory of that moment. She still remembered it like it was only yesterday.

“Karson,” Lacey whispered. He looked down to see her and smiled.

“Yeah?”

“If you asked me to go with you when you leave, I’d go without hesitation.”

She could see that that surprised him. “Really?”

She nodded. “I don’t want to be apart from you, and I can go to school wherever you get picked up. I’ll take out loans and get a job. It will work as long as we have each other, right?”

“Yeah, it will.”

With a grin, she said, “Good, ’cause I think so, too.”

As she cuddled into him, Karson wrapped his arms a little tighter around her, placing sweet kisses against her chest and then her neck before looking up into her eyes. “Hey, Lacey?”

“Yeah?” she whispered against his lips.

“Will you go with me wherever I go?”

She didn’t even hesitate; looking into the eyes she loved more than anything, she said, “Yes.”

“Good, baby,” he said against her lips, kissing her over and over again. She felt immersed in his love but yet scared for their future. It might be hard; it could go all wrong, but she couldn’t help but feel it would be all worth it as long as it was with him.

Kissing her chest, he ran his finger down the center on it, right down the spot that would be a valley if she had breasts. When he looked up at her, all she saw was love, and it left her breathless as he said, “As much as I want to sit here and just memorize your gorgeous body, I need you to get dressed before Grady gets back.”

She smiled as she agreed. He was right, and if Grady did find them like this, he would lose his shit. Getting out of the bed, she helped him get dressed and then he did the same to her, but instead of reaching for her shirt, he reached for his Chicago Cats tee that had his number on the back. Sliding it over her body, he smiled when he met her gaze.

“I love seeing my number on you.”

She cuddled into the large shirt before cuddling into his chest. “I love you so much.”

He moved his nose slowly up hers, his eyes never leaving hers as he whispered, “Nothing could ever measure the amount of love I have for you, and nothing in this world could change that. I love you, Lacey Martin, and I am going to give you the life you deserve. Me and you, against everything.”

Pausing at the door, Lacey let her head drop back as she swallowed the tears that were begging to fall. It had all seemed so perfect, almost magical, and honestly she didn’t know how it went so fucking wrong. Shaking her head, she took in a deep breath before reaching for the door that led to the box where her family would be. As soon as the door opened, everyone turned to look, and while the boys were happy to see her, her father and Rachel both looked as if they had just seen a ghost.

“Aunt Lacey!” the boys chimed as they ran to her, hugging her tightly around the legs. She grinned as she bent down, kissing them both on their noses. They both wore their daddy’s jersey, matching Lacey and Rachel. Her father wore an expensive, Italian suit, always wanting to make an impression.

“Hey guys,” she said, kissing them again. “Ready for the game?”

They both nodded quickly. “We are gonna win!” Zander exclaimed.

“Daddy is going to score us a goal!” Flynn informed her.

“What a good daddy,” she said before standing up and ruffling their hair. “Rachel, they need haircuts.”

“We do not!” they exclaimed, running away from her to the window where they could watch warm-ups.

“Yeah, they do, but they won’t let me touch their heads, or anyone else, for that matter,” she said, standing up and coming toward her. “And to what do we owe this pleasure? I’m pretty sure all I see on the ice besides the gorgeous red jersey of my husband is a whole team of purple and black and a certain number sixteen.”

Lacey ignored her and said, “Man, Rachel, don’t you look stunning tonight? Doesn’t she look beautiful tonight, Daddy?”

“Of course she does. My girls are the prettiest in the state of Illinois,” Nate said with a grin. “Didn’t know you were coming tonight,” he said, coming over and kissing her softly on the temple. “You look happy.”

He said it like he was stunned, and it pleased her how much spending the night with Karson showed. He brought out the good in her—the greatest, even—and she just felt amazing. Complete. And she couldn’t lose that. She had prepared herself for the worst tonight. She had even convinced herself that he may have left her for another woman, which was probably so freaking dumb, but she thought it and thought how she would react. It was the only thing she didn’t think she could forgive, so everything else was good, and she had a chance at happiness. A chance she couldn’t let go of. She had no clue what was going to happen because both their lives were so busy and insane, but they would figure it out. And things would be right because they were together, and together, they could do anything. She still believed that. No time apart could change that.

“Thanks, Daddy,” she said before taking the glass of wine he offered.

“Anytime, honey,” he said, toasting his drink with hers and then both of them taking a sip of their respective beverages. Clearing his throat, he asked, “I thought you didn’t go to Assassins and Hawks games?”

Lacey shrugged. “I didn’t want to be home alone today.”

He nodded. “So it has nothing to do with Karson King why you’re here now?”

Lacey had never lied to her father. She respected him way more than that, but as she looked deep in his green eyes, she shook her head slowly and lied. “Not at all, Daddy.”

“Good,” he said, obviously satisfied with her answer. “He is bad news, Lacey, and will do nothing but hurt you.”

Swallowing, she nodded her head before taking a long sip of her drink and walking toward where Rachel sat so she could see the ice. Her heart was pounding against her ribs as she looked out on the ice for Karson, and she hated that she had to lie. She wished she could just tell him that, yes, Karson was back in her life and she didn’t intend on letting him go, but he wouldn’t understand that. He would get mad and raise hell. Something she wasn’t in the mood for yet, not until she figured out what was going to happen between them.

It didn’t take long for her to find him. He basically took up the whole ice, his number sixteen the only number she saw. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, his brown hair gleaming in the light. He looked huge, the pads always making him seem even bigger than he already was. He was such a presence on the ice, and off it, for that matter. She knew she couldn’t keep her eyes off him.

“You look kind of dressed up to be at a hockey game. Hoping to run into someone?” Rachel asked as Flynn crawled into Lacey’s lap. She wrapped her arms around her sweet little guy and kissed him on the back of the head.

She wished she had thought that maybe Rachel would notice that she was more dressed up than normal. She did spend a good three hours to make sure she was practically perfect. In a thigh-length, high-waisted, black skirt, she’d tucked her blue long-sleeved blouse into the skirt before tossing her Martin jersey over the top and putting on black tights with black ankle boots. Her hair was down in big curls with a black knit hat. She wore her makeup dramatic with dark eyes but yet very elegant, with a light pink on her lips. She knew she was sophisticated but sexy and hoped to God that Karson would appreciate it.

“Don’t know what you are talking about,” she answered, her eyes following Karson across the ice. He deked around people, passed the puck, ran into his teammates playfully, and just looked so resplendent. He was honestly stunning.

“By the way your eyes haven’t left a certain someone, I’m pretty sure you do,” Rachel said in hushed tones.

Lacey looked over to meet Rachel’s knowing gaze and shrugged. “Actually, I don’t.”

Rachel glared, seeing right through her lie. “You do, and I know you just lied to your dad.”

“Leave it alone, Rachel,” Lacey warned as she kissed Flynn again, her eyes back on Karson. She should have known better than to even try to lie to Rachel. She could see through her like she was a pane of glass. It was disconcerting how good she was at it, and one would think Lacey would remember that, but she hadn’t. The thing was, she just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. Rachel would freak out and tell her how bad of an idea it was to get involved with Karson.

Which she had every right to. She was there when Lacey would cry herself to sleep or when her skin would prune from where she sat in the shower crying till all she did was heave for breath. It wasn’t a pretty sight, and she knew that Rachel would only think that she was heading straight for that outcome again, but Lacey knew it wouldn’t happen.

She trusted Karson.

She loved him.

“Flynn, Zander, come on, let’s go to the pro shop before the game starts,” her father said, and Flynn was out of her lap before her father was even done with his sentence.

“Don’t spend all your grandfather’s money,” Rachel called out, but Lacey didn’t think anyone heard her as the door shut, leaving them alone.

Leaning on the edge of her chair, Lacey watched as Karson shot hard at the net, getting it through the goalie’s legs. He had a breathtaking grin on his face as he backed away, skating to the boards where bottles of water sat. Grabbing for his bottle, he squirted some water in his mouth as he looked around the arena. She was sure he couldn’t see her, and she wished she could stand up and wave her arms in the air, but that would sure set Rachel off, blowing her charade of trying to hide the fact that she was seeing Karson again.

“Looks like he is looking for you. Might want to wave,” she said and Lacey closed her eyes.