The Relationship Coach (21 page)

He smiled down at her. “You are a greedy wench.”

She smiled at him. “Only with you,” she said as the spirals of desire reignited. She guided him with her hands on his buttocks as they found each other’s rhythm. His mouth covered hers in a kiss that left her gasping for breath.

He lifted her hips, until they were pounding away at each other, the rhythm building inside her until she felt that she would explode.

And then suddenly he gasped, and she let herself go once again as the world tilted around her.

When he rolled off of her onto the bed, she lay there, slowing coming back to earth, wondering why she’d never before experienced anything like this with a man. Why had Reed been the only man to make her world explode around her?

If this was passion, God help her.

Chapter Twelve

S
unlight filtered through the open curtains, splashing across her face. Lacey opened her eyes and stretched…and realized she was naked. Startled, the memory of the night before crashed over her like a rogue wave, shattering the peaceful morning causing her chest to tense.

She glanced over and saw Reed had left. No note graced his pillow. Nothing to show he’d been here most of the night and had given her the most mind-blowing sexual experience of her life. The things he’d done to her had her blushing at the memory of the two of them, their bodies locked together. The sounds she’d uttered, shrieking his name as orgasm after orgasm rocked through her body.

What now? Where did they go from here? How did you walk up to a man you’d spent hours with, screaming in passion?

Good morning? How are you? How did you sleep last night? Was it as good for you as it was for me? Can we do it again sometime?

Yet, she’d gone against her own advice. Broken every rule in her program…and loved every minute.

She couldn’t call this a relationship. It’d just been the best sexual experience of her life, and they weren’t even dating.

A quick glance at the clock said it was time to get moving. Hopefully, she’d have time to grab a quick bite to eat with Amanda. Throwing off the covers, she jumped out of bed.

An hour later, Lacey sat in a booth in the noisy restaurant in front of a very sleepy Amanda. The clank of silverware and dishes filled the room as the waitresses hurried from one table to the next, taking orders and filling coffee cups.

“I could have slept for another thirty minutes,” Amanda groaned.

“You look hung over,” Lacey said, noting the pallor of her friend’s complexion.

“You look way too cheerful. What’s up?”

“Aren’t I always this cheerful?”

Amanda paused and then replied, “Yeah, you’re a morning person. But what’s going on. Your radiant beam is on high, and you seem even happier than normal. In fact, you’re blinding me. Can you turn down the sunshine just a little bit?”

“Very funny. Something happened last night.” How did she tell her friend she’d had the most mind-blowing sexual experience of her life?

“Oh, yeah? How much Botox did you have injected to get that permanent grin?”

“No Botox. I had dinner with Reed and then, well…let’s just say I didn’t do my normal safe routine when I go out with someone,” Lacey said unable to keep from smiling.

“He’s not a date. He’s business.”

Unease skittered down Lacey’s spine. But she had to tell someone and Amanda was her best friend. “I think maybe for the first time in my life I experienced passion.”

Amanda sat back, her eyes widening as understanding dawned. “Are you telling me you slept with Reed?”

“It just sort of happened.”

Amanda threw up her hands. “Oh, come on. You tell your clients that it never
just sort of happens,
and now you’re telling me that’s what happened? Did your brain have a momentary lapse last night and forget your years of training?”

Lacey shrugged, still unable to get the smile off of her face. She couldn’t help herself; it’d been great. “I know. I threw out my ‘dating rules and regulations’ and just went for it. In fact, I don’t think technically you could call last night a date.”

“Oh, Lacey,” her friend moaned. “What have you done? Tell me everything.”

Lacey spent the next ten minutes giving Amanda the PG-rated version of the night before, while her mind replayed the X-rated version.

“Why Reed?” Amanda asked. “You weren’t sure you could trust him to make the documentary, and now you’re sleeping with him. Have you lost your mind?”

“I know. But he’s an interesting man. We had so much fun at dinner last night. I like him. When we were saying good night at my hotel room, I kissed him. I initiated the sex, and then, wham, he took it from there. And oh, what a ride.”

Looking back maybe it hadn’t been her wisest decision, but the night had been fantastic. This morning she’d never felt better.

Amanda shook her head, clearly unhappy with Lacey.

“I couldn’t get his clothes off fast enough,” Lacey said, watching her friend. “For the first time in my life, I think I experienced passion.”

“You can’t do this.”

Lacey frowned. “Why not?”

“Think about your business. You’ve just complicated the situation with Reed. He’s filming you telling people to get to know the person before sex, and you’re boinking him?”

“I know Reed.”

“Yeah, and I know my mailman, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to screw him.”

The glow that had sustained Lacey all morning dimmed. “I know. I don’t know where we go from here. Part of me is all aglow from the experience, and the other part is screaming, ‘have you lost your mind.’”

“As the marketing manager of your company, I’m thinking of how this could affect the business. You need to do some damage control and quick. Think about it. He could tell everyone in this documentary that you don’t follow your own advice,” Amanda said in a voice that made Lacey realize the full impact of what she’d done.

Lacey bit her lip. It was true. She hadn’t followed her own advice last night. She’d done something she warned her clients against. She’d had spontaneous sex.

“If you’d picked up some Joe Schmoe down at the bar, it would have been better than sleeping with Reed,” Amanda exclaimed.

“I don’t have one-night stands or pick up men in bars.”

“Well, it sounds like you had a one-nighter.” Amanda cocked a brow at her. “Unless you think you’re a couple now?”

“No,” she said the word as the sunshine washed away all the great feelings left from the night before and reality stared her in the face.

“Honey, you just slept with the wrong man,” Amanda said quietly. “You made a mistake.”

“Damn, but it felt so good.”

“What is your motto? ‘Run the feelings by the head and do a gut check on the way.’”

“God, I hate it when you repeat what I’ve said to my clients.”

“This could become a publicity nightmare. Focus on the goal, which is the television show. Not a boinking session with the man filming you,” Amanda admonished.

Lacey sighed. “Maybe the break-up with Dean sent me over the edge.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you’re attracted to Reed.”

God, she had enough pure animal attraction to him to keep her pheromones on high alert.

Amanda watched her. “Now is not the time to be lured in by his charm.”

Lacey didn’t even question her fascination with Reed. The temptation had been there all along. Only now, she knew she liked Reed. And last night had strengthened her interest for him.

“I know.” Lacey sighed, the happy, sunshiny feelings slipping away. “So, how do I respond to him now?”

“I think you need to sit down and tell him you were vulnerable because of your break-up with Dean. With the wine, the sea and your vulnerability, you let down your guard.”

Lacey couldn’t help, but laugh. She hadn’t let down her guard. It was buried so deep within her conscious she didn’t know where it was hidden. It had yet to come out of hiding.

“Okay, I’ll have the talk with him once we get back to Dallas.”

“God, Lacey, I leave you alone for one night and you go all crazy on me,” Amanda said.

Lacey smiled. It had been the best kind of crazy she’d ever experienced. Maybe there was something to being a little
loco
. “I’ve never experienced crazy quite like that before.”

Amanda frowned. “No. He’s off limits. Stay away from him.”

***

The next day Reed sat at a Dallas sports bar with Ty, drinking a beer and eating a hamburger. They’d just finished their weekly game of tennis and were about to head over to Reed’s house to look at the dailies.

The night with Lacey had been incredible. They had spent the night tantalizing each other into one orgasm after another. And today, she’d intruded into his mind, his thoughts constantly turning to the time they’d spent together.

To his shock, he genuinely liked Lacey and had resisted the urge to call her all day. He couldn’t wait to see her again.

The TV over the bar showed the Red Sox batter had just hit a home run, and the crowd moaned as the Texas Rangers fell behind three to two. Reed’s eyes were focused on the television, when he heard the voice.

He tensed.

“Reed, oh my God, it’s so good to see you,” Blair cooed.

She stood before him, looking hot, her blonde hair shorter than the last time he’d seen her. She gazed at him with those crystal blue eyes and pouty mouth, which now just seemed whiney. Memories of the two of them flooded him, but unlike before, he wasn’t interested.

“Hi, Blair.”

Scene after scene played in his mind of the two of them arguing. Remembering made him queasy. All the reasons why he was doing the documentary on Lacey stared him in the face. Yet, he felt no sense of loss or even excitement at seeing her.

“I’m here with some friends. You look really well,” she said, moving closer to him.

“Thanks. Life is good.”

“You know, I’m free the rest of the afternoon. We could go back to your place…”

Reed almost choked on his food. The woman who wanted a ring on her finger in the next five minutes, who’d attended one of Lacey’s seminars and moved out, now wanted him to take her home with him?

He recognized her move. She wanted sex. “Sorry, I’m busy working on a documentary. Ty and I just stopped by to get a bite to eat, and then we’re off to work,” Reed said, not interested in picking up where they’d left off.

She cocked her head, studying him intently. A slow grin spread across her face. “You’ve got a girlfriend, don’t you?”

Her comment took him back.

He shook his head and stared at her in shock. Did he have a bite mark or something on his neck that he’d forgotten about?

“You have that satisfied air about you that you always had after sex.”

“I just played tennis. Does that count?” he countered.

She laughed. “No.” She paused. “We were good together.”

“Blair, I’m still the same guy who refuses to put that ring on your finger. You’re the one who went to that relationship seminar and decided to end us. I’ve moved on and maybe you should, too,” he said, wishing she’d go away.

“Yes, I did. But dating is frustrating.” She sighed and gazed at him, a quizzical expression on her face. “You never turn down sex.” She gave him a knowing smile as she pursed her red painted lips. “I hope it works out for you. Whoever she is, I hope she realizes you’re never going to marry her.”

Before Reed could respond, she walked back to her friends. Damn! He’d gotten off focus. He’d put his penis ahead of the film. He’d even thought about toning down what he’d filmed so far to make sure Lacey looked good.

His chest froze, ceasing his breath. What the hell was he doing?

He turned his gaze back to Ty, who sat staring at him, his hamburger halfway to his mouth. Waiting.

“She’s right. You never turn down tail.” He frowned. “Where were you last night? You were going to meet me in the bar.”

Reed took a deep breath. He couldn’t let what happened last night affect him. It was just another one-night stand, wasn’t it? But why did it feel different? “Okay, I screwed Lacey last night, and she had a damn good time.”

“Bullshit! Without her going through the relationship steps?” Ty questioned.

“Believe me, we didn’t do a lot of talking,” Reed said, wishing Ty wasn’t so observant and Reed could have kept this information to himself.

“Wow. You skipped steps one through nine and went straight to step ten.”

Reed laughed, the sound strained. “Yeah, I guess we did skip a few of the steps. Let’s just say a good time was had by all.”

“This could blow the documentary out of the water. All you have to do is tell the world that Relationship Coach, Lacey Morgan, doesn’t follow her own advice.”

Queasiness gripped Reed at the thought of using what they’d done last night against Lacey. He laid his hamburger down, no longer hungry. “Yeah, I could.”

“Are you going to?”

He glanced up at Ty and smiled. “No. And lose out on rocking hot sex? Later, in the final editing stages, I’ll mention Lacey Morgan doesn’t always follow her own rules, but right now, I’m going to sit back and enjoy what the good coach has to offer.”

Ty shook his head. “You are one lucky son of a bitch.”

A tight grin spread across Reed’s face. “Maybe so, but we have a documentary to complete on how Relationship Coaches are frauds. What happened between me and Ms. Morgan doesn’t change the focus of my film.” He glanced over at Blair, who sat chatting with her friends. “Nothing has changed. We’re getting close to the end of the filming. Let’s focus on the goal.”

Ty raised his beer. “To the Relationship Coach.”

Reed smiled. “The Relationship Coach.”

***

Lacey pulled into the parking lot of Dresses for Less and saw her mother and sister standing there, impatient frowns on their faces.

She parked the car and approached them. “Sorry, I’m late. I overslept.”

Her mother’s gaze raked her. “Sleeping in with Dean?”

“No, Mother,” Lacey said, determined not to get into a fight with her mother today.

“Let’s go try on wedding dresses,” Kerri said, opening the door.