The Enforcer (36 page)

Zoe drove them to Jody’s, and when they got there, he saw that his truck was in the driveway. “How’d that get here?”

“Vlad dropped it off for you. You should give him a call; he was pretty freaked out, and you left before he could get to the hospital. I texted him, and he said he’d just drop your truck off and let you rest.” Zoe had talked to Vlad during the second intermission before Jody woke up. When she had told him that Jody still hadn’t woken up, it sounded like Vlad let out a sob. But then he cleared his throat and told her that he’d be at the hospital as soon as he could get there.

“Okay, I’ll give him a ring.” Once Zoe left, Lacey got Jody settled in an oversized chair in front of the gas fireplace. It was just cool enough outside to put the fire on low. As she fussed over him, getting him a pillow for his head and taking his shoes off, he grabbed her arm. “Come on, Lace, I’m fine. Come sit with me. I want to hold you.”

“Are you sure? Nothing hurts?”

Reaching down to his pants, he looked at her with a mischievous grin. “Well, now that you mention it, I have this stiffness here that won’t seem to go away. Can you help me with that, please?”

Lacey was still in her next to nothing Halloween costume, and Jody’s eyes were riveted to her breasts. She had draped her shawl around her, and the nurse had given her a pair of scrub bottoms, but she still took Jody’s breath away. The fallen angel look worked for her better than any outfit he could have come up with.
Jesus, the way her breasts spill out of that thing. It’s like they’re daring me to free them once and for all.

“Absolutely not. Take your hand out of your pants for God’s sake. Behave. You’re resting tonight.” Lacey couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips, or the reaction she felt deep inside at seeing him grab himself. She must have licked her lips because Jody let out a groan.

“Aw, come on. I’ve had a shit night, make it better.” This was yet another side of Jody. She’d call this one ‘whining Jody.’

“No, and that’s final. Come on, let’s go get you into some pajama bottoms or something, and we’ll relax out here.” She grabbed his hand, helping him up.

Jody wanted to pretend to go along with her and then ravish her in the bedroom, but as soon as he stood up, he got a fresh wave of dizziness. Maybe he
should
take it easy for the night.
Fucking Brash. Asshole.

“Yeah, okay. Maybe I don’t feel so hot.”

“When I get you settled, I’ll grab you some Advil, okay? And if you’re hungry, I’ll make you something to snack on, but nothing major.”

The thought of food didn’t appeal to him. “I don’t want any food, but I’ll take a beer.”

“Nope. Doctor’s orders. No alcohol tonight. He wants to see how quickly the dizziness passes. Beer won’t help.” Good thing she was there to babysit him. Men never listened to doctors.

“One beer isn’t going to hurt, Lace. What are you, the beer Nazi?” He appreciated her concern, but she was going a bit overboard.

So, this will be our first home life test of wills, huh? He won’t win.
“Call me whatever you like, sweetie pie, you’re still not getting beer tonight. Let’s compromise. You come with me now. I’ll undress you, and take a shower with you. Furthermore, I’m willing to wash you nice and slowly with my hands, and I’ll let you do the same to me. You may kiss me and hold me, but we will not make love tonight. You will take it easy if I have to sit on your chest and hold you down, got it buster?”

At the thought of showering with his gorgeous Angel, Jody’s mouth went dry. He
loved
running his hands over her slick body in the shower. “Okay … No, wait … What? I don’t get any?” Maybe this wasn’t such a great compromise. Where was his reward for … for … well, he wanted a reward for something!

“You’ll get love, compassion and a bowl of ice cream. Take it or leave it.” Lacey was not giving in. The doctor said he had to take it easy for the night, and he would, whether he liked it or not.

“Fine, whatever. Let’s just do this so I can at least snuggle with you. Am I allowed to do
that
?” Jody knew he was acting like a child, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.

“Not unless you change your attitude. Damn Jody, you’re a shitty patient, you know that?” Lacey shook her head at him, but smiled as she pulled him into the bedroom to undress and shower him.

Their disagreement wound up being a complete waste of time. When Jody was finally naked with Lacey in the shower, he found that he was not feeling as well as he at first thought. He just wanted to get done and sit in the chair to rest. The lights in the bathroom were too bright and were bothering his headache. Maybe he owed Lacey an apology.

“I’m sorry I’m such a pain in the ass tonight. I think I may have underestimated how shitty I feel. I’m ready to get out and go sit in the chair, okay?” Jody kissed her head and got out of the shower. “You finish up, and I’ll get dressed.”

By the time Lacey got out of the shower, dried off and dressed in a pair of Jody’s sweat pants and a t-shirt that hung down to her mid thigh, Jody was asleep. She covered him up with a blanket and then sat on the couch worrying about him.

Jody woke up in the middle of the night with a kink in his neck from sleeping in the chair. He looked over and saw Lacey lying on the couch, curled up in a ball.
How did I get so lucky?
Jody thought.

Rubbing his neck to get the kink out, he stood up. He wasn’t quite so dizzy, but still had a killer headache. After taking some more Advil, he went over to wake Lacey so they could go sleep in his bed. “Wake up sweetheart, let’s go sleep in the bed.”

Still half asleep, Lacey sat up and looked at Jody. “Huh? What time is it? Did the alarm go off?”

Jody laughed. “No sweets, we’re just going into the bedroom to sleep. Come on.” Jody just wanted to lie down. He was utterly exhausted.

Lacey rubbed her eyes and finally looked awake. “How are you feeling? Is your head still throbbing?”

“Yeah. I just took some more Advil. I’m not as dizzy as I was, but I’m exhausted. I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

They walked into the bedroom hand in hand. Jody was out again almost before his head hit the pillow. Lacey stayed awake for a while and ran her fingers through his hair. How did she ever think she would be able to resist him? She adored him, and she was really worried about the impact his concussion was going to have on him in the long run. Some players came back in a week, and some never came back. Concussions were tricky, but the doctor said it was a good sign that he didn’t have any blurred vision.

Snuggling up to Jody, Lacey fell asleep. Just before she did, she felt him kiss her head and sigh.

The next day Jody was going to the rink to discuss his test results from the hospital. He had slept until eleven, and since it was Saturday, Lacey stayed in bed with him.

“I can’t believe I slept this late.” Lacey was not normally a late sleeper, but the events of the previous night had exhausted her, too. “How are you feeling this morning? Any different?”

“Well, I’m sore, but I guess that’s normal. My headache is still there, but it’s bearable. Vision is good. I still have that painful stiffness, though,” he groaned as Lacey got up and stretched. She was either cold or feeling amorous, because her nipples were straining against his t-shirt that she wore. “And that’s not helping my achy parts, Lace. Come on, how ‘bout you give Jody a little somethin’, somethin’. What do you say?”

Lacey was fingering the hem of the shirt and raised it up enough to bare her midriff. She made little circles around her belly button with her finger and peeked up at Jody. “I don’t know, Jody. If I say yes, you have to listen to me. You’re supposed to be taking it easy.” She lifted it a little more to show the swell of the undersides of her breasts. “Do you agree?”

“Sweetheart, I’ll agree to just about anything if you’ll just take that damn shirt off.” Jody was already hard as a rock, and he needed her. As Lacey took her shirt off, Jody ripped off his pajama bottoms. “Now lose the pants and come over here.” At her raised brow, he added, “please.”

Lacey walked over to him slowly, running her fingers down her body, pausing at her nipples. She pinched them and let out a little gasp. “I’m ready for you now. All I have to do is look at you and think about what you do to my body, and I’m ready.” When she reached the bed, she leaned down to give him a smoldering kiss. While still nipping his lips, she flung her leg over him and straddled him, taking him deep inside of her until he couldn’t go any farther.

“Jesus Lace, I swear, that feels better every time.” Lacey proceeded to show him exactly how much better it felt with each up and down motion she made.

Zoe was looking forward to spending the day with Lacey. They hadn’t had much girl time lately, and they were going to do some shopping. Zoe was looking for new living room furniture. She was bored with her other set, even though it was only two years old.

“What are you going to do with your other furniture?” Lacey knew Zoe wouldn’t just throw it out and waste it. She did quite a bit for charity. While Lacey was all about volunteering at animal shelters, Zoe volunteered at Social Services, and since she had a shopping habit, with the money to support it, she bought new things often. That left a lot of items to donate.

“I’ll put up a flyer to see if anyone from work wants it. If no one responds, I’ll donate it. The Veteran’s Society will come pick it up.”

As they were passing the medical center, they saw Vlad walking out rubbing his hip. Lacey told Zoe to stop in there.

When they pulled up next to him, Lacey put her window down and asked him what he was doing at the medical center.

Vlad looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Uh, nothing really. I was just … uh, getting a massage.”
A massage? Dammit, I should have gone out the back.

“A massage? And you wouldn’t go to a spa for that, or the trainer for that matter? What’s up Vlad?” Zoe was leaning over Lacey to talk to Vlad.

Vlad could see right down Zoe’s blouse. God, she was a sight! Her breasts weren’t large, but they were perfect. They were perky, and he knew they’d fit in his hands perfectly. Shit, she asked him a question, didn’t she? “Huh?”

Zoe saw where he was looking and put her hand up to her chest to block his view. “Forget it. We have to go. Hope you had a good massage. See ya.” Zoe took off with more speed than necessary.

“That was kind of rude, Zoe. I know the deal with you two, but why are you so mean to him lately?” Zoe didn’t used to be so flippant with Vlad. Now she just barely tolerated him.