Page 12 of Ravished By Her

“Too bad they don’t deliver,” I said, now also craving pizza and fried pickles. I should call in an order and bring it over for Sterling and Kai to thank them for all the dinners they’d shared with me. That was a good idea. I sent a message to the group chat thread I had with both of them asking what they wanted.

We both jumped as Lacey’s phone rang. She got it out and frowned at the screen before declining the call. It rang again immediately. Lacey growled and for a second I thought she was going to throw it, but she just turned off the ringer and put it away again.

“Something wrong?” I asked when she didn’t say anything.

“Just my family,” she said, the growl still in her voice and it was starting to affect me. My cheeks flushed and I imagined her growling under different circumstances. Naked circumstances.

Be a goddamn professional, Gwen.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

She sighed and did that thing where she took off her hat, raked her hair back and then put the hat back on. That was starting to affect me as well.

Lacey was sexy. There was no other way around it. I’d always had a thing for butch girls, and she had all of that going on. She looked like she owned multiple drills and could assemble a bookshelf without the instructions and would look mouthwatering in a suit, but equally devastating in a dress.

Fuck.

I had to get myself under control. These little fantasies couldn’t affect my work and I sure as hell couldn’t have Lacey knowing that I had those fantasies in the first place.

“Just be grateful they’re not your family,” she said, reaching into the cooler and pulling out a bag of chips, and then a second.

“Take your pick.”

I took the bag of cheesy flavored chips, leaving her with the plain potato. She seemed satisfied with my choice.

“My sister thanks you for the leopard, by the way,” I said. After dinner last night, Sterling had retrieved the monstrosity from my car and had lovingly carried it into the house, setting it right near the bookshelves like a guard. She was still pondering a name for her, but agreed to give me updates. Kai watched the whole thing with a loving look on her face.

“Tell her thanks for taking it off my hands. One less thing I have to deal with,” Lacey said and then crunched into a chip. “You must be close.”

“It’s kind of hard to avoid when you’re twins,” I said. She must have noticed, having met both of us.

Lacey gazed at me for a few moments, as if she was marking my similarities to my sister.

“We used to look more alike before she got all the tattoos,” I said, munching a chip. “But once you know both of our personalities, it’s easy to tell us apart.”

Lacey nodded. “Yeah, you can definitely tell who is who.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I take that as a compliment.” I cleaned off my glasses and put them back on my face and I found her still studying me.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she said, looking away, but it wasn’t my imagination that her cheeks were a little pinker.

“We should probably get back to work,” I said, wiping my hands with one of my wipes before gathering the rest of the trash.

“Yeah, sure,” she said, following my lead.

* * *

By the time we finished the kitchen, I was ready for bed. I barely made it to my car and then to pick up my order at Nick’s. Lacey had been even more quiet the rest of the day, but that had been fine. I’d been focused on getting that damn kitchen cleared out and we’d done it. The downstairs was almost completely finished. There was a light at the end of this tunnel, and I could see it. I could visualize the cabinets painted a soft cream color. I could see how we’d arrange the living room. It was all within reach.

“Fuck me, I’m starving,” Sterling said when I showed up with pizza and appetizers and even dessert in the form of whoopie pies that I hadn’t been able to resist.

“Me too,” I said, and my stomach growled as if to agree with me.

Kai got out plates and we loaded them up. I couldn’t eat the fried pickles without thinking about Lacey and wondering what she was doing. I didn’t even know where she was staying or what she did with herself when she wasn’t helping me clean. What was her story? I didn’t know if I was ever going to find out. She wasn’t forthcoming which normally would have been perfect, but for some reason I wanted to know her.

Yup, my hormones were definitely getting the best of me. Ridiculous.

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