Page 1 of The Art of Loving Lacy
Chapter One
LACY SNOW SAT between Kaylie Crew and Danica Carter, literally surrounded by her half sisters. In the year and a half since she’d met them, they’d become her closest friends, her coconspirators, and the women she most looked up to. She’d known they existed her whole life, but as the child of their father’s mistress of more than twenty years, she couldn’t exactly knock on their front door and introduce herself.
Kaylie reached for her hand and squeezed, flashing a sisterly smile. She and Lacy shared the same robin’s-egg-blue eyes and buttery blond hair, though Kaylie’s was shiny with a natural wave and Lacy’s was a mass of spiral curls, like Danica’s, save for the color. Danica took after their father with dark hair and olive skin.
“Wow, this place is gorgeous,” Kaylie said.
“It was built in a similar fashion to the original Chequesset Inn, which perished during an ice storm in the 1930s,” Lacy said.
Max and Treat had fallen in love in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and it was only fitting that they wed at the Wellfleet Inn. The two-story inn overlooked the bay. Treat owned resorts all over the world, so it came as no surprise when he purchased the inn and added it to his collection.
“Sheesh, Lacy,” Kaylie whispered. “You’re such a fact girl.” She looked at the altar. “Excited?”
Nervous, Lacy mouthed. She’d met Dane Braden, Treat’s younger brother, at her sisters’ double wedding, and she’d waited all this time to see him in-person again. More than a year of sharing texts, emails, intimate phone calls, sexy video chats, and too many unfulfilled fantasies to count. Months of working twelve-hour days seven days a week, vying for a promotion at her job, and long nights spent dreaming of Dane. She reached for Danica’s hand and—deep in conversation with her husband, Blake—Danica took Lacy’s hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. She’d met Danica and Kaylie just before their double wedding, in a Nassau resort owned by Treat Braden, the six-foot-six, darkly handsome man now standing at the altar, gazing into their friend Max Armstrong’s eyes. Max’s dark hair fell in gentle waves over the spaghetti straps and soft lines of the beachy wedding gown that Riley Banks, Treat’s brother Josh’s fiancée, designed for her. Weddings had a way of making the beautiful even more glamorous. Max and Treat were a striking couple, and they should have held Lacy’s attention as Treat held Max’s hand and looked lovingly into her eyes, promising her a lifetime of adoration, but Lacy’s gaze shifted to his right. To the line of Treat’s four striking brothers, proudly standing as his groomsmen, each one more handsome than the next. Each brother’s dark eyes were trained on their eldest brother as he vowed to love, honor, and cherish his soon-to-be wife—each one except Dane. Dane’s smoldering dark eyes stared hungrily at Lacy, sending a shock of heat right through her. Lacy couldn’t blink. She couldn’t look away. She couldn’t even breathe.
“Careful,” Kaylie whispered, “you’ll drool on that pretty dress of yours.”
Lacy felt her face flush, but she still couldn’t tear her gaze away. Each of the Braden brothers had thick dark hair, and while Treat and Josh wore their hair short and Rex wore his cowboy-long, covering his collar, Dane’s hair fell somewhere in between, as if he’d missed his last trim; it brushed the tops of his ears, with sides that looked like he’d just run his hands through them.No.Lacy narrowed her eyes.That’s not it at all.As she watched Dane’s lips lift into a smile, she bit her lower lip and thought,He looks like he could have just come from the bedroom—or, like he’s ready for it.
He winked, and Lacy caught her breath.
“Behave,” Kaylie warned.
“Oh my goodness,” Lacy whispered, drawing her eyes to her lap. “He’s so…”
“Sexy? Gorgeous? Hot?” Kaylie offered, arching a brow.
“Shh.” Danica shot a harsh stare at them.
Lacy and Kaylie drew their blond heads together with a silent giggle. Danica shook her head, and though Lacy couldn’t see her face, she knew that her eldest sister was rolling her eyes at them with her lips pinched in a tight line.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Mr. and Mrs. Treat Braden.”
The announcement sent a shiver of nervous energy through her stomach. Everyone stood as Max and Treat walked down the aisle hand in hand. Max’s smile lit up her eyes, and Treat walked with his shoulders back, his eyes on Max, beaming with pride. Kaylie’s blond hair tumbled down her back as she reached her sinewy arms around her husband Chaz’s neck and kissed him. Lacy watched Danica smile lovingly at Blake; then he took her chin in his hand and kissed her. Lacy turned away, thinking about Dane.
As Treat and Max approached, Lacy and her sisters tossed rose petals.
“Congratulations!” Lacy shouted, but her eyes had already left Treat and Max and had settled on Dane once again. She hadn’t remembered how broad his chest was, and the wanton look in his eyes hadn’t seemed quite as strong over Skype and FaceTime. Her pulse ratcheted up a notch.
“You’re so beautiful!” Danica said to Max.
The groomsmen made their way down the aisle next, and Kaylie squeezed Lacy’s hand so hard that Lacy winced.
“There he is,” Kaylie said.
“Stop,” Lacy said under her breath. “I’m nervous enough.”
Dane walked toward her, his perfect pearly white teeth visible through his wide smile. His broad shoulders swayed slightly, and those dark eyes of his never wavered from hers. Her legs turned to Jell-O, and she gripped the back of the chair for stability. The man in the aisle in front of hers reached for Dane.
“Hey, buddy. I haven’t seen you in months. Good to see you,” the older man said.
Dane embraced the tall, thin man, his eyes still pinning Lacy in place. “You too, Smitty. We’ll catch up at the reception.” Dane took a step closer to Lacy’s row. He embraced his cousin. “Blake, great to see you.” Then he pulled Danica into a soft hug and kissed her cheek. “You look as gorgeous as ever,” he said. He reached for Kaylie next.
Lacy’s heart slammed against her chest as Blake and Danica moved into the aisle, following the rest of the guests into the reception room. She had forgotten how tall he felt when he was near, and as she watched him wrap his arms around Kaylie, she realized that she’d also forgotten how large his hands were.Big hands, big—Stop it!
“We need to call our sitter before the reception. Good to see you,” Kaylie said. She gave Dane a quick hug and pulled Chaz behind her, leaving Lacy alone with Dane.
IT HAD BEEN far too long since Dane had seen Lacy in person. He reached for her hands and then drew her close, placing one soft kiss on each cheek and inhaling the sweet smell that he remembered: a combination of citrus and floral with an underlying hint of musk. To anyone else, it was Chanel Coco Noir. To Dane, it was the smell of Lacy that he remembered from the day they’d met, and their only afternoon together, the day before her sisters’ double wedding in Nassau. The smell he’d dreamed of, which had carried him through those long afternoons out at sea when they were tagging sharks miles from shore.
