The Enforcer by Nikki Worrell Read Free Book Online Page A

sec?” Jody figured he should apologize for his ‘man take all’ behavior earlier. He could tell by her wary look that she either wanted no parts of him, or she wanted to drag him into the nearest janitor’s closet, and was ashamed to be thinking that. He was all for the closet idea.
    “Um, sure, what’s up?” Lacey was so not going off alone with Jody, even if her lips wanted to. She had finally convinced herself that Vlad was wrong, and no good could come of giving Jody a chance. Still gun shy, she decided that jumping back into the dating pool with someone she had such an intense reaction to was a mistake. She’d find some nice guy whom she found pleasantly attractive and start there. Maybe she would even consider one of the other players. At least she knew what they would want out of her and vice versa.
    “Would you take a walk with me?” He gave her what he hoped was a friendly smile at her hesitation. “I promise, I won’t lay a hand on you.” To give her a sense of security, he gave her the Boy Scout sign on honor and then put his hands in his pockets. Lacey might have felt reassured if he hadn’t given her the same sly smile that he had earlier, right before he’d licked her lips.
    Because of that smile, she said, “It’s just a walk, right?” When she got the affirmative answer she was looking for, she should have felt relieved. But she was almost disappointed. What the hell is wrong with me?
    Jody was glad Lacey agreed to talk to him. He truly did want to apologize for his behavior. He was about to grab her hand as she stepped off of her bar stool, but he snatched it back at the last second, thinking she might not appreciate that.
    As soon as Lacey stepped down from her seat, Jody started running off at the mouth again. “You smell like …” he leaned closer to her, “I don’t know … a spring day or something. It’s light and clean, and I like it.” Lacey rolled her eyes. “Shit, Yeah, okay, just a chat, let’s go.” Pausing for a second, Jody put on one of those irresistible smiles again and said, “You really do smell great though.”
    Lacey looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes. Now how was she supposed to react to that? Even though it was a bit forward of him, she had picked that scent to attract a man, hadn’t she? Oh, this was going to be difficult, but it was the perfect opportunity to tell him that he wasn’t what she was looking for. Lacey prayed to God that he didn’t touch her because she was sure they both knew that her body would betray her again. “If you promise to keep your hands to yourself, I’ll take a walk with you. I’d like to talk to you, too, actually. I’d like to explain my behavior earlier.”
    Lacey and Jody walked into the main bar and found a relatively quiet corner. As soon as they started talking, another puck bunny interrupted them. Jody quickly excused himself and went to the bar. He came back and pulled Lacey with him into a private office. “The bartender said we could talk in here for a minute. I’m sorry about that.” Nodding back to the bar, where the puck bunny was, he said, “ It seems to be part of the package.”
    “Yeah, I get that.” Lacey put her hand up to stop Jody from saying anymore. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “Really, I do. Before you start, I need to tell you that while my body obviously enjoyed your attentions earlier, it will not be happening again. While I’d love to be your friend, I can’t have a relationship with you. It’s just not what I’m looking for right now.” Lacey had to take another breath and put on a convincing face for her next revelation, because in a perfect world, from what she’d seen of him so far, she would love to keep Jody around for a while. “To be perfectly honest, you’re really not my type. It’s just … been a while, and the body contact felt nice. That’s all it was. I’m truly sorry if I led you on.”
    Jody took a minute to think about her comments. He knew