‘My best friend,’ she said, pulling his tee shirt up from his abs. ‘Your body is amazing.’ Commando, she got a good view.
‘Thanks, what is your best friend keeping from me?’
Leaning in, she dipped her tongue into his belly button. ‘You’re asking me to betray my friend’s confidence.’
‘Yeah,’ he said, casting his eyes down to hers.
‘If I’d betray hers, how do you know I won’t betray yours?’ Leaning in again, she kissed the tip of his penis then sucked the head between her lips. He inhaled through his gritted teeth.
‘You’re killing me, Lace,’ he said and her smile curled around his member told him that she knew it. ‘You would never betray me, Baby. Our bond is real. It’s deep. Sorcha’s confidence probably doesn’t work both ways.’
‘I love you,’ she said, drawing her tongue down the underside of him to his base.
‘What kind of meeting?’ he asked, snatching her up and pinning her down.
‘I was enjoying that,’ she grinned. ‘Best start to the day I could ever have.’
‘What kind of meeting?’ he said, parting her legs with his.
‘With Shep,’ she said, arching upward but he pulled back, teasing her as she had done to him moments ago. ‘You can’t tell—‘
Pushing his pelvis down to hers, his thickness pushed against her centre and her moan was automatic. ‘Doing what with Shep?’
‘She thinks…’ Lacie said, trying to wriggle down but Ryder kept her pinned. ‘Bruce is cheating.’
Satisfied that he had his answer, he freed her only to pull back and slam into her. Grabbing his hair in her fists, Lacie forced their mouths to unite while their bodies moved together. Her life had never been better than this and she could only hope she would have this forever.
She had been so tempted to stay in bed with Ryder, but life kept them busy. Knowing they would come together at the end of every day warmed her from the inside out. So with a languorous kiss in the front seat of the truck she and Ryder said goodbye and parted.
For the second time in as many days Lacie entered Sheppard Investigations for her noon meeting. Heather wasn’t at her desk and Lacie knew about Shep’s loose work ethic and how he liked to wander off to the pool hall in the middle of the day.
Hoping that he hadn’t forgotten about their appointment, Lacie went straight for the office. Figuring that they’d all been through enough with each other to negate the need for niceties, Lacie didn’t knock and instead burst through the door then came up short.
Heather was in the office with Shep, in his lap, with her arms around his neck, and their mouths joined. Or Lacie assumed from the swollen lips and shallow breaths that’s what she had walked in on because right now they were fixated on her.
Frozen in the moment, Lacie fumbled for words. ‘We had an appointment.’
‘Noon already,’ Shep said, giving Heather a shove to put her on her feet. Heather paused for half a beat then scurried across the room wearing a frisky grin and exited behind Lacie.
‘Have you had an assistant that you haven’t had sex with?’
‘If you think what you saw was sex then Stone’s been doing you wrong… My door is always open if you need a better demonstration.’ Shep ran his hands down his shirt then pulled himself into the desk.
Lacie closed the space between her and the desk to take a seat. ‘What did you find?’
‘I’ve been on it less than twenty-four hours.’
Already discouraged by his lack of professionalism, Lacie would not cut him any slack. ‘You told me to come today. Why would you have done that if—‘
‘I’ve been poking around… There was a big party at the Reynolds’ last night. He wasn’t there.’
‘I know,’ Lacie said. ‘I was at the party with Sorch. Where was he?’
‘I didn’t find him… I’ve pulled his credit report, family documents, employment history, though he doesn’t seem to be working anywhere right now.’
Losing some of her patience, she sighed. ‘I asked you to get information, not recount things Sorcha will have told me. Bruce has been going through his physiotherapy. Rehabilitating after what he went through. There hasn’t been time for him to find work.’
Sorcha wouldn’t appreciate Lacie disparaging her fiancé, even if Sorcha wanted to disparage him herself. So in the face of other parties, Lacie would defend Bruce… though she herself was running out of excuses as to why he was still sitting on his ass feeling sorry for himself.
‘You want me to feel sorry for him?’ Shep asked, displaying a lack of empathy similar to Ryder’s.
‘No,’ Lacie said. ‘I’m offering an explanation.’
‘Good, because he’s the fucker that got himself, and all the rest of us, involved.’
‘Just what exactly did you go through?’
‘You’re snippy this morning. You and Stone fighting about something?’
‘Not everything is your business,’ Lacie said, though she knew her attitude wasn’t Shep’s fault.
Being here, talking about Bruce, all of it was a reminder of what she’d seen, what she had experienced, and that changed her whole mood. Lacie had watched Wallace taunt Bruce. She’d watched the men beat him until she was sure he was dead. She couldn’t make excuses for how Bruce treated Sorcha, but it was easy to forget he’d gone through a traumatising experience all of his own.
‘I’ll go by Booth’s place this afternoon,’ Shep said, spreading his hands on the papers that were covering his desk. ‘Try and find out where he is.’
‘Then?’ she asked, wanting to be sure Shep had an actual plan and wasn’t just blowing smoke.
‘Then I find out what he’s been up to.’
‘I appreciate this,’ she said. Shep could’ve told her to go to hell, he probably should have. But when you cared about someone the way he cared about Sorcha even negative contact was better than no contact.
Lacie guessed they were at the end of their meeting, but Shep picked up a pen and ran it through his fingers a couple of times and she paused, expecting him to say something else. ‘Why did the tramp send you here?’
‘What?’ Lacie asked.
‘Stone could’ve done this for you.’
‘I know. Sorcha didn’t think it was right that Ryder be asked to… if we’re all going to be socialising.’
‘Right,’ Shep said, pressing the pen into the tabletop. ‘But it’s fine to yank my chain?’
‘Ryder knows. He knows I’ve spoken to you, and what we spoke about. If you need help—‘
‘I don’t need help,’ he sneered. ‘You’re Sorcha’s big protector. She can’t do anyhing wrong in your eyes, can she?’
Now she had to switch on her defence of Sorcha button for the second time today. ‘She’s going through a lot at the moment.’
‘When is she not?’ he muttered. ‘The woman’s a drama queen.’
‘Never stopped you from taking her to bed.’
‘She’s hot,’ Shep shrugged then peered closer. ‘You don’t think it’s weird that she sent you to me?’
‘No more odd than you agreeing to take the case,’ Lacie said. ‘I know Sorcha feels for you, just like I know you feel for her. But she believes she’s doing the right thing by securing a relationship with her child’s father.’
‘Doesn’t seem too secure to me if he’s screwing around.’
‘If you don’t want to do this, say it and I’ll figure something else out.’
‘She’d like that, wouldn’t she?’ he said, returning to his sneer. ‘You trot back and tell her I refused the case, what’s she going to take from that?’
‘Maybe the truth?’ Lacie said, losing another thread of her sanity.
The relationship between Sorcha and Shep had been hailed as “superficial” sex without the strings. But every time Lacie experienced either of them with, or talking about, the other, the same thing happened, tensions ran high and they got snarky.
‘I’ll take the case,’ he declared.
‘Your money is as good as anybody else’s.’
‘Thank you,’ Lacie said.
An awkward moment passed between them, the silence vibrated with the truths that weren’t being faced.
‘Stone was ok with you using the competition?’
‘This isn’t about Ryder, and this isn’t about me. But he knows I’m here, though Sorcha told me not to tell him,’ Lacie admitted and acknowledging the betrayal made her cheeks burn.
‘You’re taking a risk telling me that,’ he muttered, reaching for his pen which he took to his mouth.
‘No, I’m not,’ she said. ‘I want you to know that Ryder is at your disposal. If you need resources or help—‘
‘I’ll call you when I have something,’ Shep said, not interested in reading into, or rather acknowledging, Lacie’s point. ‘Later in the week.’
Shep and Sorcha needed their heads knocked together. Lacie knew that they cared for each other. They probably knew it themselves too. But Sorcha believed that being with her baby’s father was the right thing to do. Her family thought it was the right thing too.
To Lacie’s knowledge none of them knew Shep, but he wouldn’t be the kind of man the Reynolds would expect their eldest daughter to marry. Shep wasn’t the marrying kind. Imagining him with the house, the car, and the kids was tough for Lacie. She had to trust that Sorcha was doing the right thing, and as long as Sorcha believed it, Lacie would support her.
Chapter Six
By Friday Lacie hadn’t heard from Shep. She would have expected to hear something but knew better than to harass him. Sorcha had other things on her mind this week and so hadn’t followed up. A couple of times Lacie had thought it was in Sorcha’s mind to ask about Shep because there had been a few unfinished sentences. But Sorcha always changed the subject and avoided talking about Seth Sheppard.
‘I’m ready to go home,’ Ryder said as he closed the truck door behind her.
Lacie linked her fingers between his to lead them toward the hotel where the Reynolds-Booth engagement party was being held. ‘We just got here,’ Lacie said. ‘Besides we booked a room to spend the night. I’m looking forward to living in luxury for a night.’
‘We reserved the room because Sorcha insisted we join her and her parents for breakfast tomorrow.’
‘And when you griped about that the first time, I promised you’d get laid as a reward for your compliance, didn’t I?’
He leaned in close to speak. ‘I got laid before we left the house.’
She didn’t need the reminder of why they were late. ‘You won’t need to be again then, will you?’
Picking up the pace, they got to the sidewalk. ‘I didn’t say that,’ he said. ‘My point is I’d have got laid whether we were at home or in this hotel.’
‘Really?’ Lacie asked, hurrying along the street. ‘You might find it difficult to get laid at home now that I’m here.’
‘Which is the only reason I’m here right now,’ he said. ‘Sorcha drives me nuts at the best of times and Bruce is an idiot.’
Ryder opened the sleek glass door of the hotel and guided her in with a hand at the small of her back. ‘We don’t have to stay at the party late,’ Lacie said over her shoulder. ‘As soon as we’re done with the glad-handing and have ensured Sorcha has got a bunch of great presents. Then we can say goodnight and head for the bed that we have in the building.’
The lobby was large and shiny, everything was polished to within an inch of its life. Ryder went toward the check-in desk and Lacie admired the proud easel providing direction to the Booth engagement event. The large black canvas was conspicuous but the golden lettering shone like everything else here.
A group of sleek socialites moved in the direction of the indicated function room. They were glittering and beautiful, demure in their conversation. They smiled as if this was the most thrilling event they’d been to all year, when Lacie knew most of them were only here for the gossip. Turning up pregnant and unmarried was scandal gold in the circles Sorcha grew up in. That may have been the reason why Sorcha had distanced herself from her family in recent years, favouring instead “the real world” as Sorcha called it.
Ryder handed over a spare car key to the bellhop so he could retrieve their luggage. He then came to her side with the intention of going straight to the event. Ryder took her hand and began to move in the direction of the hall but Lacie stayed put.
‘Are you ok?’ he asked, coming back to her.
The sudden reality of going into a room of strangers made her temperature drop. If these people loved scandal then her kidnapping was going to be a hot topic of the night too. ‘Can we go upstairs first, please?’
‘Sure.’ Switching trajectory to the elevator, Ryder took her inside and selected their floor before gathering her into his arms. ‘Talk to me,’ he mumbled into her hair.
‘I don’t know,’ she said, her voice quivering. ‘I just—‘
‘Your anxiety is normal. I’ve told you that. If you’re not up for it—‘
‘I could never let Sorcha down,’ Lacie said, closing her eyes and trying her best to shirk this madness that had overcome her.
‘She wouldn’t offer you the same courtesy.’
‘That’s not fair…’ Lacie found some of her buoyancy when defending her friend. ‘Sorcha’s unhappy with me already. I don’t need to make the situation any worse.’
‘Why is she unhappy?’
That was a question that Lacie didn’t want to answer, so she changed the subject. ‘How would you feel about going away? Just us.’
‘I love it. Let’s go now,’ he said. Either he was easily distracted or he really did want to jet off and leave their responsibilities behind without any notice.
‘I meant later in the year,’ she said. ‘We could plan it all out and give ourselves something to look forward to.’
‘We could get married,’ he said. ‘We could look forward to that.’
‘Sorcha would never forgive me for getting married before her.’
The elevator doors opened. Lacie moved to exit but Ryder caught her arm and bounced her form back to his. ‘Is that why you keep saying no to me?’
‘You haven’t asked me, not properly.’
His frustrated confusion melted to a satisfied curiosity. ‘Is that right?’
Lacie wasn’t sure that she liked his sly tone. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
‘No reason,’ he said, sliding his fingers between hers and taking her out of the elevator to a wide hall. The thick carpet and fresh cut flowers were lush but the clue came with the single door to the left, and the grand double doors in front of them.
‘Ryder,’ she said with a tone of warning. Sliding the key into the lock on one of the double doors, it beeped, giving him leave to open both doors and urge her inside.
‘It’s a treat,’ he said.
The space in front of her was vast. Glass doors led to a wide balcony and the view beyond was spectacular. The furniture was leather and oak. Her heels sank into the carpet pile making her wobble on her feet.
‘I can’t believe you…’
‘Penthouse,’ he said, passing her to take the champagne from the ice bucket on the central foyer table. Beyond, the room opened out to a lush living space.
‘You booked the penthouse?’ she said, kicking off her shoes before she crossed to him to take the filled flute he offered her. ‘Sorcha will kill us.’
‘I booked it on the proviso that if the engaged couple requested it they could have it. They didn’t want it.’
‘Sorcha will kill Bruce if she ever finds that out.’
‘A toast,’ he said. ‘To the most beautiful woman in the world. May she continue to take pity on me and allow me to be the man in her life.’
Their glasses connected with a satisfying ting. ‘We shouldn’t stay up here long,’ Lacie said, taking a drink and acknowledging that her heart rate was beginning to return to normal.
‘Why is Sorcha mad at you?’ he asked.
Exhaling, she should have known better than to assume he’d forget something or let a difficult subject drop. ‘Because I told her that I told you about Shep,’ Lacie said.
‘Ah.’
‘I didn’t tell her what I walked in on Shep doing in his chair with his assistant.’
‘You think he set it up like that?’ Ryder asked. ‘So that you would see him with Heather?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said and shrugged. ‘You know him better than I do. He’s fooled around with most of his assistants, so I suppose it wouldn’t be unusual for him to be intimate with them in the office.’
‘He’s also conniving. If you’re right about his feelings for Sorcha, then he no doubt wanted you to pass on details of the encounter in hope of provoking a reaction in Sorcha.’
‘It’s all so complicated,’ she said, appreciating the alcohol in her hand.
‘It’s pretty simple, but if neither of them will get their heads out of their asses…’
Lacie admired the engraving on the ice-bucket and the sweet scent in the room. ‘Sorcha has more important things to worry about than Shep,’ Lacie said.
‘Are you sorry you told her the truth?’ he asked.
‘I wasn’t going to lie to her. After telling Shep he could use your resources, well, it seemed like the truth might come out,’ Lacie said. ‘I figured it was better to tell her up front.’
‘It was,’ he said. Taking her hand, he led her to the couch and seated her at an angle so that he could sit behind her and massage her shoulders.
His fingers kneaded the knots and her tension began to recede. ‘But she’s not happy with me. I can understand why.’
‘You didn’t do anything wrong,’ he said. ‘You trust me and we’re honest with each other. Sorcha should be happy that you found yourself a secure relationship.’
‘She’s embarrassed,’ Lacie said. ‘She made a song and dance about confidentiality between girlfriends, but I think the truth is, she’s embarrassed. We haven’t talked much about what happened at her parents’ party last week. She says her hormones make her erratic, which I guess is true.’
Sleight Mistake (Stone Investigations Book 2) Page 6