“That’s not what I meant,” he said.
No one would ever think such a thing about Lacey and she knew it.
“I know what you meant. You’ve gotten yourself in a pickle with your family and now you’re looking for a way out. If you want my help, just ask. I’m not one of your sisters.”
“Okay, I need your help. But I don’t expect you to lie to them. We could just act normal and let them draw their own conclusions,” he said. “Please?” he asked.
“It’s not like I’ve got much of a choice, is it?” she said as she moved beside him. “I guess we’ll just have to hope they have the good manners not to say anything about where we’ve been, because if they do...”
She didn’t have to finish the sentence. He already knew he owed her for keeping his sisters off his back.
CHAPTER SEVEN
LACEY SPENT THE rest of the day and early evening with Scott plastered to her side. She’d wanted to needle him in front of his sisters, but she’d decided against it. If Scott needed her to protect him against his sisters’ constant matchmaking, she would do it. Not that he’d really given her much of a choice.
As they moved from group to group she wasn’t surprised by the looks they received from his various family members. While everyone had always been nice to Lacey, now that they thought there was something between the two of them his family seemed to have opened their arms to receive her.
By the time she had rounded up Alston and got him into the car she was looking forward to the peaceful quiet of her own home. She could feel the eyes of everyone on her back as Scott walked her to her car.
“Make sure your mother knows what a good time I had,” Lacey told Scott, then leaned in closer to him and whispered, “You know everyone is watching us, right?”
“They’re waiting to see if I kiss you goodnight,” Scott said as he moved in closer to her.
She looked into the back seat, where Alston was buckled in and had started a video.
“I hate to disappoint them,” she said—and realized too late that Scott had taken her words wrong when he dipped his head towards hers.
His lips touched hers for a moment and then were gone, leaving her wishing for more.
“That should make them happy,” Scott said as he smiled down at her.
She didn’t understand what was happening between the two of them. No matter how she wished it wasn’t true, Scott was proving her wrong about their attraction to each other. It wasn’t something that was going to go away if they ignored it, but she was afraid if they let it run its course there would only be pieces of their friendship left to pick up.
Still, looking up at him now, she couldn’t help but think of what she’d experienced with him earlier. Just the thought of his hands on her sent a hot blush rushing up her face.
She turned her face away from him, hoping that he wouldn’t notice. He’d proved to her that it was her attraction to him that set her on fire. She would never have been able to let another man touch her like he had, and that scared her. She’d only experienced that depth of desire before with Ben, and that had been so long ago.
If only she could accept what Scott offered her, but it was too hard for her to make that next move in her life. Was she ready for a romantic relationship? She couldn’t deny the desire she felt for Scott, but where would that lead them? Their friendship was so important to both of them, and adding more to the mix, even if it was just sex, could be dangerous.
“Lacey, are you okay?” Scott asked.
She realized he’d been talking to her but she couldn’t remember a word.
“I’m sorry. I must be more tired than I thought,” she said.
“Do you want me to drive you home? You didn’t drink any of that stuff my mom made, did you?” he asked.
He’d moved back from her now and she bent to open the car door. She needed to get Alston home. She needed to get away from Scott. A warm bath and a glass of wine would help to relax her and clear her mind. She had to figure out where she and Scott went from tonight.
“I’m fine,” she said as she climbed into the car and started it up.
“I wanted to ask you if you’re busy Thursday night,” he said. “Jack called me yesterday and invited us to Baby Blues. Pop’s playing there and he wants us to come.”
Baby Blues was one of the top blues and jazz places in the city. The fact that they had invited Pop to play was amazing, and she couldn’t help but want to see him perform there.
“Are you taking my momma out on a date?” Alston asked from the backseat.
When was she going to learn to watch what she said in front of her son? It didn’t matter how involved he was with something else, he seemed always to be listening to her conversations—something that had gotten her into trouble more than once.
“Would it bother you if I took your mother out on a date?” Scott asked as he leaned into the car to talk to her son.
She started to interrupt him. Her son loved Scott like a favorite uncle—which was really what Scott was to him. She didn’t want to confuse him, which gave her another reason to slow down and be careful before her relationship with Scott went any further.
“If you marry my momma would that make me and Jason cousins?” her son asked.
The shock of her son’s question took her breath away. No one had been talking about marriage. Where had he gotten that idea from?
“Why would you ask that?” Lacey’s voice was a high-pitched squeak.
“How about we save that conversation till later? Your mother is looking a little sick right now,” Scott said.
The smile he gave her took her breath away, except this time it had nothing to do with embarrassment.
“Go home, Lacey. You can tell me if you’re free to go out on a date—” he turned his head toward Alston and winked at her son “—tomorrow at work.”
Lacey put the car in Drive and pulled away, heading home to her hot bath and wine, all the while trying to make an inventory of her wine collection in her head. Because at some point in the afternoon she’d realized that Scott’s family were right to worry about her and Scott’s relationship.
Over the last few years Scott had taken Ben’s place in her life everywhere except in her bedroom—and now she was considering letting him in there too. She was definitely going to need more than one glass of wine tonight.
* * *
Lacey sat next to Scott as they drove toward the club where Pop would be playing and wondered for the hundredth time why she hadn’t canceled this “date” with Scott.
The ER had been busy all week, and she’d been too tired to take the time to discuss it with Scott—though she had taken the time to tell her son that she and Scott had gone out together many times, and calling their time out together by another word didn’t mean that things were going to change between the three of them.
When her son had asked her again about marriage she had tried to explain to him that she didn’t know if she would marry again. She’d never hidden from him the heartbreak she had gone through after his father had died.
She knew that in some ways her explanation to her son made her a coward, but unlike Scott she had never felt that was something she needed to overcome. Fear was a healthy emotion that kept you from doing stupid things that could get you hurt or killed, and there was no reason she should have to be embarrassed by it.
Scott was quiet while they drove into the warehouse district of the city, where some of the newer clubs and restaurants were located. They’d both dressed up tonight, and Scott wore a dark charcoal dress suit that showed off his wide shoulders and trim waist.
Unable to find anything in her closet that she’d felt appropriate, she’d made a quick trip the day before to one of the trendy shops in the French Quarter and bought a short cocktail dress in a dark emerald green. Putting it on tonight, she had felt like a princess, and she’
d forced her embarrassed son to dance a waltz with her in the foyer before being picked up by one of their neighbors.
She’d had second thoughts about the dress while she’d waited for Scott. The short hem and the low cut of the dress were made for seduction, and she didn’t want Scott to get the wrong impression.
Or did she?
She didn’t even know her own mind. The memories of Scott’s hands on her as he’d brought her to orgasm had played through her memory a thousand times now, and still she didn’t know how she felt about this newest change in their relationship.
She didn’t like change. She liked a nice, orderly life. But now it seemed everything but orderly, with emotions she hadn’t felt in years flooding through her. And while she went through this repeat of puberty she had to make sure she didn’t give Scott any false hope of their relationship leading to something more serious.
Lacey would never want to hurt him, but she had no plans of marrying again. And even if she did, it certainly wouldn’t be to a man who was just like her husband—a man that would put his life on the line while he had a wife and son at home, worrying about him. No, she didn’t need another thrill-seeker. It had only been a year since she had been able to stop seeing her grief counselor. She couldn’t take the loss of someone else she loved.
They pulled into the valet parking and she caught herself playing with the ruffled hem of the dress. She did feel like a princess tonight, and she couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Ben had called her the queen of his life, but she’d never understood why. She’d been an everyday wife and mother who’d spent her time washing socks and cleaning bathrooms when she hadn’t been off working at her very unqueenly job of mopping up blood and dealing with drunks.
The doorman opened her car door and she stepped out into a gated courtyard glittering with fairy lights. With its big pots of blooming pink and purple flowers, the place resembled a magical garden.
Scott took her arm and they were ushered inside by the staff. Here, too, there were pots and hanging baskets overflowing with beautiful flowers.
The sound of piano music greeted them as they entered, but it didn’t sound the same as the music they had heard that first night they had gone to hear Pop. This music didn’t pull at her emotions like the blues she had experienced then. This music was intended to be only part of the background of the magical room they entered. The real music would start when Pop took the stage.
They were taken to a table in a corner, where they would have a good view of the stage but still have some privacy from the rest of the room.
“I thought we would be sitting with Jack,” she said, breaking the silence.
“Pop’s sister and his nephew’s family have come into town for the show. I’m sure we’ll see them before the night is done,” he said, as he took the wine list from the server and then passed it to her. Scott had always been more of a beer kind of man.
She’d always been happy to let Ben choose the wine when they were out. But after Ben had died she’d gone through the wine he had stored in the small butler pantry in their house rather quickly. Though it hadn’t necessarily been a healthy way to research wine, she had learned what she liked and what she didn’t.
She ordered something she thought Scott would like, then handed the list back to the server. This was ridiculous. If Scott hadn’t called this a date, they’d both be enjoying the night. Now everything felt magical and beautiful, but not quite the same. Where was that comfortable way the two of them used to talk together about anything and everything?
“Relax,” Scott said, and then looked down pointedly to where she was wringing the linen napkin between her hands.
She made her fingers let go of the napkin and smoothed it back in place on the table, then replaced the silverware she had moved. Why was she so nervous? Maybe because all she had thought about since that day at his parents’ house was how much she wanted him?
Her hand knocked against a crystal glass, splashing water onto the table.
Scott reached over and took her hand, then rested it in his palm. She took a deep breath and made her body relax. She was going to make a fool of herself if she didn’t get her nerves under control.
The piano music stopped and she turned as Pop took the stage. Applause filled the room, then quieted as Pop began to play. The music he played was all blues, and it tugged at her heartstrings. A young woman took to the stage with him, and applause broke out again. When the woman started to sing Lacey began to understand the true magic of the blues.
Couples were taking to the dance floor, and when Scott rose and held his hand out to her she placed hers in his.
Lacey let the music carry her off into another world, where the blues had been born. She could see a room filled with smoke, where the smell of bourbon and whisky drowned out the smell of spicy dishes and sweat. A younger version of Pop sat at the piano, playing, and a woman told a story of love and loss that brought tears to Lacey’s eyes.
“There’s something magical about his music, isn’t there?” she said as they swayed together in time with the song.
“I believe so. He has a special talent. There’s no way to know how long he’ll be able to continue to play, but Jack’s going to help his father enjoy the rest of the time he has doing what he loves, and fortunately we get to enjoy it too.”
She relaxed her body against Scott’s and let the music guide her.
As soon as Pop had finished playing his first set Jack brought him around to see them. Jack once more thanked Scott for all his help before returning to their table, where Pop’s sister was wiping her eyes with one of the linen napkins.
The soft piano music once more in the background soothed Lacey’s nerves and she relaxed as they ate, finding it easy to fall back into the kind of friendly conversation they had come to enjoy with each other. The music and the wine were doing their job and, combined with good food and conversation, she had to say that for a first date, if they were counting it as one, it had been perfect.
They left the restaurant with Scott holding her hand, and she felt none of the tension that had filled her earlier in the night as they drove to her house.
She had prepared herself for Scott to kiss her goodnight at the door, but as they stepped onto the porch she admitted to herself that she didn’t want the night to end. But it had been years since she had gone out on a first date, and she wasn’t really sure what acceptable behavior was now. She didn’t want Scott to think she was inviting him in for more than conversation...
“Would you like to come in?” she asked as she opened the door. She tried to make her words sound casual. “I can make some coffee if you’d like.”
Turning around, she found that Scott had moved closer. Without waiting for his answer she turned back and walked into the house. She felt his eyes on her body and she couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, she knew she looked good in this dress. It had been worth every penny she’d paid for it.
He closed the door quietly behind them. Turning again, she admired him. He moved with a stride that reminded her of a large tiger, stalking its prey. The look in his eyes quickly told her she was the prey.
“Coffee?” she asked, and managed to slip through his arms right before he could have her pinned against the counter.
Moving around the kitchen, she started a pot of coffee. She’d thought he’d follow her, and was surprised to see him punching buttons on her entertainment center. He took his phone out and hit some more buttons, and a few moments later she heard the unmistakable voice of Louis Armstrong.
“Nice,” she said as she moved over to the couch. Sitting down, she straightened her dress.
“Yes, very nice,” he said as he leaned against the mantel of the fireplace and stared at her. “Did you enjoy yourself tonight?” he asked.
“You know I did,” she said. “Everything from the food to the service was perfect—and, of
course, the music.”
The song changed and she recognized the next song—“A Kiss to Build a Dream On”—as it filled the room.
She smiled as Scott took a seat beside her. “One of my favorites,” she said.
“I know,” Scott said, then moved in closer. “Face it, Lacey, you’re a romantic.”
“Me?” she said. “You’re the one who picked the music.”
She’d known this moment would come when she’d asked him in. She wanted Scott to kiss her, to hold her. She’d had only a small taste of what sex with Scott could be and she wanted more, even though she knew she might regret it tomorrow.
She moved into his arms, no longer willing to wait. His lips touched hers as Louis sang about his sweetheart’s lips and a kiss that only she could give him. Lacey let herself melt into the music and into Scott’s arms.
One kiss stretched into another as the songs changed again and again. Desire for more filled her. Scott had removed his coat when he’d come into the room and her hands unknotted his tie, then moved down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt. She felt his hand slide up her leg and under her dress. She’d dressed in stockings and garters tonight—something she had never done before.
Scott’s mouth moved down her face, then he nipped at her earlobe. “You are driving me crazy,” he whispered into her ear.
He let go of her, then turned her so that her legs were draped over his lap. He worked his hands up her thighs, unhooking each stocking and rolling them down inch by inch. Then he pulled her into his lap. The cold air cooled her warm flesh as he pushed the straps of her dress down, exposing her breasts.
She moaned as he cupped her breasts in his hands. She wiggled in his lap and his hands left her breasts and clamped on her hips. She fought back her need to move against him, but lost.
He moaned as she moved against the hard length of him. “Lacey, I can’t take anymore. Either I leave now or I stay the night,” he said as he looked into her eyes. “I don’t want to pressure you. If you’re not ready for this, tell me now.”
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