by Sable Hunter
“Not gonna join us?” Jake asked as he came walking through the door as she was about to go out. He was also holding a tray with a chicken Caesar wrap on it and a large orange juice. Lacy looked him up and down. His shirt was smudged with mud and so was his left cheek. It looked like he’d washed his hands, but there was still dirt under his fingernails. “Sometimes I enjoy getting my hands dirty,” Jake said as Lacy stared at them.
They looked so strong, so powerful, like he could use them and them alone to reshape the course instead of all his big equipment. “No, no. Don’t apologize to me,” she spoke quickly. “I like the way your hands look.” When she compared Jake’s manly hands to Stephen’s soft, weak ones, she wondered how she’d ever allowed him to touch her. How would Jake’s hands feel on her body? Just the thought of him rubbing his calloused fingers over her nipples made her shiver with delight.
“Lacy?” he asked. “Where did you go?”
“What?” Lacy jumped and blushed. If he only knew. “You got the wrap too, I see,” Lacy said in response, trying desperately to regain her composure.
Jake could sense the nervous energy in her voice as a beautiful blush rose up from her chest. She’d been thinking about something else entirely. The thought intrigued him. He made a practice to not get seriously involved with women, choosing instead to stay unencumbered, enjoying only the most casual of female companionship. But Jake was finding Lacy to be a temptation he hadn’t planned on. “How did the meeting with Doc Barnes go?”
“It could have been better,” Lacy admitted, sounding resigned. “He wanted me to use the same plan as my predecessor used in the past. Apparently my ideas aren’t worth considering.”
Jake felt bad. She sounded depressed. Who could blame her? He’d had the misfortune of dealing with Barnes in the past and he knew it could be an unnerving event. The old man was stubborn and looked at life with tunnel vision. He could still remember the run-ins his granddad would have with him on the streets of Natchitoches.
Hunting something to say that would get both his and her mind off their troubles, he latched onto food. It was a safe topic. For some reason, it was important he keep her near him just as long as possible. “I love when the customers don’t finish their leftovers. You know, at my last course, we had this group of lawyers who came in every other Wednesday morning. Never failed, they’d rent out one of the conference rooms and come in and just sit there and talk and eat.”
“Aren’t the lawyers usually the ones who are out golfing early in the mornings?”
Jake smiled. “Worked at a course before I see?” He couldn’t help but notice how pretty her eyes were. They were blue, a dark blue. And her lips were soft. Kissable.
“No,” Lacy responded with a laugh. “This is my first time, but I’m a quick study.” In some things, she admitted. Not erotic pursuits, apparently. Unless the problem was that she’d never had the right teacher. There was no mistaking it, the ache in her sex had returned. Lacy could feel her nipples tighten and her pussy start to moisten. Just talking to Jake for a few moments had already lightened her mood and gotten her mind off her disaster of a morning.
And most importantly, he’d turned her on.
“Before I came here, I worked at a tourist bureau in Omaha.”
“They have tourists in Omaha?” Jake joked dryly.
Lacy laughed. “Not many.”
“Were you going to eat in your office?” Jake questioned casually.
“Yeah, it’s kind of crowded in here.” Lacy shifted from one foot to another, trying to decide what he was getting at.
Jake looked over the noisy crowd of workers he’d brought in with him. It was no place for someone as feminine as Lacy. “I don’t know who it was, but some yahoo brought a bunch of roughnecks into the building. Why don’t you sit with me on the patio? I could use the company of the fairer sex after dealing with these guys all morning.” He didn’t let on, but her answer was important to him. Jake wanted to spend some time with Lacy.
A luncheon invitation? Her heart started pounding. Lacy thought it over for a few seconds. The smart thing would probably be to politely decline and go back to her office. Surely she must be grinning like a fool while this gorgeous man gave her a little bit of attention. He wasn’t offering to buy her lunch, just keep her company while she ate it. But no one since her fourth grade math teacher had ever accused her of being smart. Glancing down at her blouse, she saw her body was reacting to him. He could probably tell how he affected her. Lacy doubted she was doing a good job hiding the pleasure radiating out from every nerve cell in her body. But that reaction was the catalyst that finally drew out her answer. “Thank you. Yes, I’d like to join you,” she said with a smile, not wanting to let go of the amazing way he was making her feel.
“Follow me.” He led her out onto the wide patio, holding the door as she stepped through. “No one’s out here today. I love the view. From here I can see the course and evaluate how things are going.” Jake placed his tray down on the marble topped wrought iron table and pulled out a chair for Lacy. “I’ll let you face the flowers.”
“Thank you, a gentleman. I’m impressed,” Lacy murmured with a shy smile. Tiny quivers of excitement made her voice shaky. If just sitting down to have lunch with him could shake her this way, what would having sex with him be like?
Dang, just the thought almost gave her an orgasm. Exhaling a little puff of air, she ruffled her own bangs. Calm down, Lacy, focus.
“My Mom raised me right. I’m a Southern gentleman.” Jake pushed her chair up under her. Now he was noticing how thick and silky her hair looked. Visions of her riding him, head thrown back, that dark hair trailing over his thighs made his cock twitch in his pants. Or wrapping those spiral curls around his fist as he controlled the movement of her head as she swirled that little pink tongue around his…
BAM! BOOM!
Suddenly there was a loud crash from the dining room. Someone had dropped their tray on the ground and the construction guys were howling with laughter. “Damn! Would you excuse me for a minute, Miss Allen?” Jake asked, looking sternly toward the room where his crew were dining.
“Of course.” Lacy let out a long breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding as she watched him leave her and stride confidently toward his men. Unabashedly, she let her eyes dwell on the way his firm ass moved back and forth under his worn jeans. A tingle between her legs made Lacy wiggle a bit in her chair. My god, she bet the man was good in bed. She could only imagine how powerful he’d be, how hard he was probably capable of giving it to her. Undressing him with her eyes, she pictured how his hips would thrust as he held her. Lord, she was hot! Grabbing a napkin, she began to fan herself as she watched through the window as Jake dressed down the crew. He leaned on a table, the muscles in his mud smeared forearms rippling as they flexed, holding up his weight. Even though he spoke in a low tone, there was no doubt he spoke with authority because the room went instantly silent. She tried not to watch, but he was well worth looking at. And it wasn’t only his looks that compelled her, there was something in his eyes—something lost and lonely. Jake had been hurt, like she had. Lacy would bet her bottom dollar on it. She wondered if they had a lot in common.
Lacy waited on him, stirring some sweetener into her iced tea. Before long, Jake was on his way back to join her. The way he’d handled his crew, the way they’d almost cowered under Jake’s words, must have had every other woman in the room vibrating in her skin. But it was Lacy he sat down next to and she had a feeling that every feminine eye was turned on her in absolute jealousy. There was no doubt she’d be having a tough time with some of her female co-workers in the not so distant future. They’d be asking her questions and they’d expect answers. “Impressive,” Lacy said as Jake slid into the seat across from her.
He waved off her compliment with a dismissive hand. “Most of them are just kids. You gotta be firm with them or they’ll never learn. We had a real problem with the staff at the last place I worked. The membe
rs didn’t respect them, which made it hard to get along. That can be an issue, because they’re out there side by side each and every day, so there needs to be a certain peace between the two groups. These guys have been working hard lately. We had an irrigation line rupture Saturday night, I had to call a few of them to come in early on Sunday and help me fix it before it flooded the whole course. I figured they could use some sort of reward to show them how much the club and I appreciate the hard work they’ve been putting in. So I talked to Richard and he said he’d make us all lunch today.”
As he talked, Lacy’s admiration for him grew. He really cared about his men. “That was nice of you, Jake.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Trinity, Marnie, and Cody file onto the patio. She halfway expected Jake to openly stare at the three beautiful women. But he didn’t, acting as if they didn’t even register on his radar.
Jake took a bite from his wrap. “I’d hoped so. But it makes us all look bad if we come in here and they act like fools, so I had to go get them in line.”
“It appears whatever you said seemed to do the trick,” Lacy said, almost coming out of her skin. What she wouldn’t give if he’d decide to keep her in line. She bet he had a dominant streak in him. Just the thought made her melt. Grabbing her tea, she took a big sip, trying to cool down.
Jake let her comment go. Like all tough guys, he was a bit embarrassed by his dominant side. But it did come in handy in the bedroom. Zap! Immediately he began to grow hard. Would Lacy be a wildcat in bed or would she have a sweet submissive side. Hell! Change the subject, quick! “So, anyway. About those lawyers.”
Lacy hadn’t even taken a bite of her lunch yet. Sitting up in her chair, back straight, her hands folded primly in her lap, she was pushing her breasts together with her arms. He knew it wasn’t on purpose, she probably didn’t even realize she was doing it because Jake had only noticed when he looked right at her cleavage and choked on his food.
Handing him a glass of water, she watched him take a big drink. Even the motion of his throat as he swallowed, the strong muscles moving next to his Adam’s apple turned her on. Was his reaction because of me? Lacy asked herself. No, surely not. There was no way she could have that effect on him. “Are you okay, Jake?”
Cough. “Yea, so the lawyers…” Jake said. He was a little embarrassed he’d been caught with his eyes in the cookie jar, but damn if Lacy’s tits didn’t look absolutely delicious pushed together like that. And the best part was that she hadn’t even known she was doing it. Her blouse was shear and thin. He could clearly see the outline of her nipples through the thin lace and all he could think about was getting his lips on them and sucking on those tender peaks like hard candy. Like a fool, he’d stared and now she was probably self-conscious. “Excuse me,” Jake apologized, taking a sip from his glass. “Must have gone down the wrong pipe.”
A tiny bit of confidence bolstered her fragile ego. Jake had gotten a bit flustered. Could it have been because of her? The possible effect she’d had on him made her want to push her arms together again just to see if she could make him cough some more.
“The lawyers,” Jake said with a final cough, trying to get a grip on himself. They weren’t exactly alone. If they were, he’d have an entirely different agenda. Now, all they could do was talk shop. “They’d come in and have steak and eggs for breakfast and they’d order enough for every member of their club, but not everyone from the club would show up to the meeting. And I mean they’d order steak, not cheap steak, but the most choice cut available. So every other Tuesday, I’d have to make a stop at the clubhouse before going home and drop a ten dollar bill in the pocket of the chef who was cooking lunch the next day.”
“You bribed the cook to get the steak?” Lacy said with a laugh.
“Of course I did, there’s nothing like a hot, premium cut of steak for lunch.”
Jake joined in the laughter and Lacy spoke without thinking, “I know I love a hot piece of meat.”
It was as if the world had gone silent with her words and Lacy’s heart dropped from her chest to her stomach, right out of her body and crashed onto the floor. The only comfort she had after saying those unfortunate words, was that there was no possible way she was turning as red as she imagined, they just didn’t make a red that bright.
Jake smirked at her, telling her he’d heard exactly what she’d said, but not acknowledging it out loud and embarrassing her further.
Lacy whipped a dollop of Caesar dressing from the corner of her mouth. Suddenly the food didn’t seem quiet as appetizing.
She scolded herself on the inside, Lacy, you moron. What the hell is wrong with you? What was wrong with her was that the man in front of her was sex incarnate. He probably had no idea the number of panties he dampened every day just by leaving the house. And the worst part was that they’d been getting along so well, having so much fun talking and she’d just taken her right and left foot and inserted them both directly into her mouth.
Lacy stood up, frantic. Clumsily, she knocked her drink over onto the tray. The only thing keeping the amber liquid from running across the table and soaking Jake’s lap was the rim on the tray.
“God, sorry. I should get back to work,” she mumbled, mortified.
Jake stood beside her. “Nonsense, Lacy.” He looked her up and down. “You’re not even done eating your lunch yet.” They both looked down at her tray. “Stay. Finish lunch with me. Let me get you something else to drink.” He motioned for a waitress to bring another tea for Lacy.
Lacy considered it, but she was unconsciously pulling away from him.
Jake could see that she was about to leave and he placed a light hand on her forearm. “Stay. Please. We don’t have to talk about my hot meat anymore,” he said with a mischievous look on his face. “I’m sorry,” he said, stifling the laugh about to escape his lips.
Something about the way he chuckled made Lacy feel better. He wasn’t laughing at her, he was laughing with her.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” Jake apologized for his bawdy sense of humor.
Lacy considered her options. She could leave and spend the rest of the day avoiding Jake and the world alike, wallowing in her own embarrassment and chiding herself for her mistake. Or she could laugh it off, accept the assurance which had come with Jake’s little poke at her and his laugh over the incident and keep having a good time with him.
“I promise. Cross my heart.” Jake made an X over his heart with is finger. “I won’t say it again. Just stay.”
Looking at her, he realized she was sweet, almost innocent looking with pink cheeks. The sight made Jake’s heart warm. She was so beautiful. Sure, he’d seen her around. They worked at the same place. But how had he missed this gorgeous woman right under his nose?
CHAPTER THREE
Stay, he’d asked her…
“Okay, as long as you promise.” Lacy slowly sat back down at the table and lifted her wrap out of the puddle on her tray. The paper had protected it, but she wasn’t prepared to take a bite and leave herself open to another hot meat joke.
Jake held his hands up in defense. “Promise,” he said, his palms showing to Lacy.
“Oh my God, Jake,” Lacy exclaimed with worry. “Your hand!”
Jake turned his hand over and looked at it. “Oh, that? It’s nothing. One of the shovels had a broken handle. I must’ve caught a splinter or something. I thought it had stopped bleeding once I washed my hands.”
Lacy reached across and snatched his hand, pulling it back over the table to examine it. “Well, it clearly hasn’t.”
A thin trail of blood rolled across Jake’s palm just below the ring finger on his right hand. Lacy wrapped a napkin around it, instantly turning the paper cloth crimson red.
“There’s a first aid kit in my office,” she said. “Let’s go, I’ll bandage you up.”
“Really, Lacy. It’s okay.”
“Nonsense,” Lacy said in a stern tone. “You’ll go out there and start playing in the mud again a
nd before you know it, it’ll get infected and they’ll have to cut it off.”
Jake snorted. “I guess we better go then, I don’t need to lose any appendages.”
As soon as he said that, she started thinking of other parts of his body, equally valuable. Lacy was glad he was willing to let her tend to him, but more than that, she was glad they were getting away from the patio and just in time too. She’d spotted Kay and Denise come through the French doors and she knew if they saw her sitting with Jake, they’d come over and join them and possibly embarrass Lacy even further.
“Come with me,” she spoke out of the side of her mouth. Without waiting, she got up to leave, trusting Jake to follow. Lacy knew she probably appeared to be unnerved and upset. The truth was she was flustered.
“Sounds like fun,” Jake muttered with a grin, knowing Lacy didn’t catch the double meaning in what she’d just said.
The walk through the main lobby seemed to take forever. It seemed the more they tried to hurry, the more people kept stopping them. She directed two people to the Spa, tied a child’s tennis shoe and stopped to speak to Eden Comeaux as she and DeQuincy Trahan came in for lunch. They were part of Louisiana’s prestigious Historical and Culture Association. DeQuincy was actually Dr. Trahan, but the television show he and Eden starred in, which had been picked up by the History Channel, had made DeQuincy a household name.
By the time she finally broke away, Lacy was a little bit more in control. Good thing, since she’d been turned on from the moment she saw just how commanding and powerful Jake could be. His ability to silence the rowdy crew with nothing more than a few well-put words had her skin buzzing as thoughts of his controlling hands on her willing body in his bed made her weak in the knees.
* * *
“Did you see Lacy with Jake?” Marnie waved her buttered roll at Cody and Trin.