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Touching Lace

They sat in Turro’s, a little coffee shop close to Lacey’s apartment, eating apple cobbler and drinking cappuccinos. She was being so meek and quiet. Nick couldn’t help but smile. She was never meek and rarely quiet. His little maneuver in the theater had gotten to her. Good, let her ponder it a bit, wonder at his motives. Lord knew he had been pondering and wondering over his attraction to her for what seemed like an eternity. She owed him.

Nick decided to start with the topic of her recent break up. “So, as you already know I got the low down from your mom about Evan, but I’m all ears if you want to talk about it.”

Lacey looked up sharply, her pretty blue eyes revealing just the slightest hint of pain. Had he misread her relationship with the dickhead? Could it be she had real feelings for him? He’d thought she was more upset over the loss of her friendship with Christy than losing Evan. Now he wasn’t sure.

Nick reached across the scarred wood table and just barely touched her fingers. “Did you love him, Lace?” He nearly got sick at the thought of her wasting those kinds of feelings on a loser like Evan, but he needed to know what he was up against.

Lacey’s easily given kindness shone in her gorgeous eyes. He knew she was seeing her best friend in the whole world sitting across from her. She probably saw the worry he felt staring back. Her sweet smile was the same as always and had the same impact to his libido as ever. As usual, Nick hid his unfriend-like reaction, and he hated it.

“No, I didn’t love Evan.” She wrinkled her nose. “I guess that’s the saddest part. I didn’t even feel the slightest bit hurt when I caught them sponging each other up.” She laughed, and his body reacted to the throaty sound. “Oh, Nick, you should have seen them. Their ridiculous expressions, so shocked, and all I could think was ‘oh well, saves me the trouble of dumping him’.” She tried to laugh again, but sobered instead. Her expression beat at him.

His Lace was feeling a cruel stab of insecurity, and he hated it. She looked down at her cobbler; like him, she’d all but forgotten it.

“What’s wrong with me that men find it so easy to dump all over me?” Lacey’s question surprised him. She dropped her spoon in her bowl where it made a loud clang then crossed her arms over her chest and continued her angry outburst. “Why can’t I seem to hold a guy’s attention for more than a few pathetic months?”

First, Nick wanted to shout with glee because she hadn’t loved the idiot. Second, he wanted badly to shake her and rattle some sense into her. She’d damn well held his attention for a lot longer than a few meager months. But he’d only scare her away.

“You’re not to examine yourself over this guy, Lace.” He dropped his own spoon, pulled her arms apart and entwined their fingers. “There isn’t a damn thing wrong with you. It’s the men you date. They aren’t worth the air you breathe, baby.”

Lacey only shook her head in denial. “No, Nick, that’s not true. They can’t all be losers.” She gave him a half-smile. “Though I appreciate your undying loyalty.”

“It’s not loyalty.” She didn’t look convinced, so he changed tactics. “You say it’s you, right?” She shrugged, neither confirming nor denying. “Then explain to me what it is you think is wrong with you.”

Nick began to stroke his thumb over her wrist and he could feel the quickening of her pulse as it jumped wildly. As if uncomfortable, Lacey took back one of her hands, and he very nearly groaned aloud.

“It’s a little complicated.”

Nick frowned. She was keeping something from him. He could always tell. Lacey was never very good at deceit. She gave herself away every time by looking down toward the ground. “Uncomplicate it for me then.”

She tilted her head. “Is that even a word?”

“Don’t change the subject. Explain why you think every man you date ends up bored.”

A pretty bloom of pink filled Lacey’s cheeks at his personal question. Even as close as they were, he was still a guy, thus making such a conversation uncomfortable. This time he wasn’t going to let it slide. Nick wouldn’t allow her to bury her head. Lacey knew him like no one else, which meant she knew deep, meaningful conversations didn’t scare him off the way they did most men. Hell, with Lacey, going deep was a damned pleasure.

“I don’t think I’m very good in bed. There, is that plain enough for you?”

Lacey’s words were so rushed Nick would have missed half of what she said if he wasn’t so attuned to her. Luckily, Lacey couldn’t lose an eyelash without him taking notice.

Of all the reasons for her sudden lack of confidence, that had never once crossed his mind. Now he knew for sure she was picking the wrong men. Lacey’s feisty attitude and easy sensuality would make her nothing short of explosive in bed. Hell, a man would have to be blind not to see the passion and fire that simmered just beneath the surface. It would take years for a man to get bored with a woman like her. Nick suspected she didn’t have a single problem, but how could he prove it to her?

It was true a sensual and uninhibited woman like Lacey could intimidate someone like Evan. Even cause him to turn to a woman like the overblown and too obvious Christy. The loser probably needed to be in control to stoke his ego. Yep, the guys Lacey chose were clearly wusses. Otherwise, they’d know what to do with the dark-haired beauty who fairly shouted flaming hot sex!

Her sexual confidence had been shaken and it pissed him off enough to want to pay a little visit to Evan the Dickhead. And that’s when a plan began to form.

She didn’t think she could heat up the sheets worth a damn. Well, who better to teach her how completely wrong she was than a man she already cared for and trusted? He mentally squashed the little voice in his head, which vigorously shouted to him just how wrong this plan of his could go. Now to convince the stubborn and hardheaded Lacey Vaughn that her good buddy always knew best.

Tasting Candy

Candice hadn’t been intimate with a flesh-and-blood man for a year. What if she panicked? What if she was too clumsy to keep a man like Blade interested? She groaned and worried and fidgeted in the seat of Blade’s truck as he drove them back to her place.

He’d probably been with countless women. She was positive none of them had their throats close up at the mere thought of sex. But Blade was so careful with her, so easy and gentle to be around. And he’d emphatically promised to stop if she was uncomfortable. Besides she wasn’t the vulnerable, naïve woman she’d been with Lance. She could take care of herself now. Jackie thought she was ready, and her defense instructor had told her she was a quick study. Even Lacey had offered her own thumbs-up, saying Blade was a man of his word. If he told her he’d go slow, then she could darn well count on it. The time had come for Candice to believe in herself.

But as they pulled into her drive, all her newfound courage fled. “Blade, I’m not sure about this.”

Blade turned in the seat, smiling in that wicked way he had. “Relax, sweetheart. We aren’t going in there and getting naked.” He looked down at himself and laughed. “Besides I didn’t come prepared for sex. We’re just going to do some over-the-clothes stuff. Getting used to each other, remember?” She nodded, and Blade’s brow quirked up as he whispered, “Next time, if you ask me very nicely, we’ll do more.”

Just like that, Candice’s reservations fled and she found herself once again feeling safe. “I’m sorry.” She covered her face and blurted, “I feel like the biggest tease in the world, pulling you back and forth constantly.”

Blade pried her hands away from her face. “You’re not jerking me around, Candy girl. I knew this was going to take some time. You’re worth all the time in the world.”

Candice searched Blade’s face for signs of frustration, but she found none. He appeared as if he did indeed have all the time in the world. She sighed heavily, glad he wasn’t going to push.

Blade opened the truck door and stepped out, telling her to stay put until he could help her down. Candice was in too big a hurry to wait. She had to practically jump to get out of the truck, because it, like him, was huge. Her legs shook so bad up the walk, she stumbled once. Blade’s hand at the small of her back steadied her enough to get to the front door. Once inside, she excused herself to go to the bathroom, while he fetched a couple of cold drinks. When she came back, she found Blade on the couch with two ice-cold colas on the end table and his eyes closed.

He’d stretched his long, lean legs out in front of him and his head lay against the back of the couch. Had he fallen asleep? After such a long day and then the cookout, it was selfish to keep him when he should be in bed.

Careful not to disturb him, she sat on the couch next to Blade and watched him in silence. He really was quite handsome, in a roguish pirate sort of way. In the soft light of the small table lamp, his dark hair shone with flecks of silver. It was a little too long by today’s standards, and his mustache was a bit shaggy. He had something of a weathered look from all the hours he’d spent working in the sun, and, oh God, he was so very sexy. Candice was thrilled he was with her and not some other woman tonight. If she had to pick a man to help break her out of her self-imposed isolation, Blade Vaughn was one heck of a choice. Maybe another night… A night when he wasn’t so beat up and exhausted from work.

She started to wake him and send him on his way when the deep timbre of his voice broke the silence in the dimly lit room. “You’re beautiful, Candice. I hope you know that.”

He’d been awake! “Why you sneak!” she admonished, trying not to be so glad about it. “You weren’t asleep at all, were you?”

Blade grinned good-naturedly. “Actually, I did get tired, sitting on your comfy couch waiting for you to come out of that bathroom.” He leaned closer to her. “I thought I’d been abandoned. Like maybe you’d climbed out a window or something,” he teased.

Instinctively, Candice inhaled his musky male scent, nearly quivering in anticipation of the evening that was still to come. “Oh,” she murmured.

“You weren’t thinking of abandoning me were you, Candy girl?” Blade asked, his voice as seductive as a lover’s touch and twice as potent.

“Well, you have had a long day, and I was starting to feel very selfish, keeping you awake so late. You should be in bed asleep.”

“If I was at home in bed right now, I’d still be kept awake by you,” Blade growled. “In fact, a lot of my nights have been pretty restless lately due to unrequited lust.”

She blushed at his words, even as honesty forced her to admit, “Maybe not so unrequited. Remember, I told you, I’ve been dreaming of you, too, Blade.”

He gave her a feral, possessive smile. “Yeah, and we’ll get to that, I promise. But first, there’s this…” He leaned in the rest of the way and kissed her. This time it wasn’t so fleeting or barely-there.

The warmth of his lips was everywhere at once, and her body pulsated with pleasure. He was slow, gentle and skilled as he angled his head for better access. Candice didn’t know what to do. Her experience with kissing was pretty limited. She’d never felt so inept. Thinking he was going to stop when he moved back a fraction, she moaned.

“Relax, sweetheart, I’m not going anywhere,” Blade promised softly. “But you need to loosen up a little for me, okay?” He unclipped his ever-present cell phone, then placed it on the end table next to the forgotten drinks.

She nodded, thrilled to the core that he wasn’t giving up on her. Blade settled back against the couch and said, “Come here.”