Page 26 of Ravished By Her

“You look great,” Kai said. “She’s going to lose her mind.”

“She is not,” I said. Sterling blew me a kiss and Kai waved as I left them and went to my car.

Chapter Nine

“It’s strange not seeing you with paint all over you now,” Lacey said when I got out of my car and looked around to find her leaning against her truck two spaces away.

“Same,” I said. She pushed herself off the truck and walked over and just the way she moved made my mouth water. Fuck, she was so damn sexy and she didn’t even try. Tonight she wore dark brown cargo pants with a white T-shirt and an open button-up with a subtle black design on the cream fabric. She’d switched out her worn-in signature hat for one that looked much newer.

I reached up and tapped the top of her hat. “New hat.”

“Yeah, this is my going out hat,” she said, pulling it off, raking her hand through her hair and then slicking her cap back on.

For a moment I completely forgot who I was, where I was, and what I was supposed to be doing.

“You look gorgeous, as always,” she said, bringing me back down to earth.

“Thank you. You clean up pretty nice too,” I said, and Lacey popped the collar of her shirt and struck a pose. I burst out laughing and a few people walking into the restaurant stared.

“That’s a good look for you,” I said, unable to stop myself from reaching out and adjusting her shirt.

Lacey froze and I didn’t miss that her breathing faltered for a moment as I let go of her shirt and stepped back. She pushed her collar back down and gestured toward the front door. “Shall we?”

Lacey got in front of me and held the door open when we reached it.

“Thank you,” I said, trying not to grin too much at how much I liked it. You didn’t encounter a whole lot of door holders in Boston. Everyone was so wrapped up in what they were doing and where they were going that holding doors was mostly an afterthought.

“How many?” the harried hostess asked us, her eyes flitting around the restaurant.

“Two,” Lacey said, holding up two fingers.

“It’s going to be about a ten-minute wait,” the hostess said, handing Lacey a buzzer. There were two benches on either side of the door to wait, so Lacey and I sat down on the empty one together.

I found myself suddenly nervous, wondering if I’d picked the wrong outfit, wondering what the hell we were going to talk about. This wasn’t a date, but right now it sure felt like one.

One of my legs started jiggling and Lacey leaned her forearms on her knees, which drew my attention to them. Her hands clasped together, and I allowed myself a moment to appreciate her fingers. It only took a fraction of a second for appreciation to turn to something dirtier, so I looked away again to nip that in the bud.

My phone buzzed and I almost jumped out of my skin in shock as I pulled it out of my bag and read the message that Sterling had sent me.

If all else fails, drag her into the bathroom and have your way with her. That’s what I did with Kai and it worked out she sent, and I choked on a breath of air and coughed violently several times.

“You okay?” Lacey asked me.

“Yup,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I’m fine.”

You can’t just message me things like that, Sterling! I sent. I could picture her cackling about my reaction.

“Sorry,” I said, putting my phone away.

“No worries,” Lacey said and then stood up, shuffling her feet. Something else I’d observed about Lacey was that she wasn’t still very often. Even when she was sitting, she was fiddling with something or messing with her hat or pulling something out of her pocket. I’d seen her flipping a coin more than once, not seeming to care if it came up heads or tails.

She had to move aside to let a couple who were leaving through.

“I am not doing that, Justin,” she hissed under her breath as the guy looked put out as he carried the box with their leftovers.

“But—” he attempted to say, but was silenced with a glare from the woman as she paused at the door.

“If you want someone to do that, then you can find another wife,” she said before shoving through the door ahead of him.

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