Page 5 of The Art of Loving Lacy
“It was a beautiful wedding,” she said, relieved that her voice didn’t shake. She’d thought it might. “Max, you look stunning. I am so happy for both of you.” Max worked for Chaz, and she and Lacy had become fast friends after meeting at her sisters’ wedding.
“Do you mind if I catch up with Lacy for a few minutes?” Max asked Treat.
“Of course not, Mrs. Braden. I’ve got you for the rest of our lives.” With one strong arm, he swept her against him and kissed her. When they parted, Max’s cheeks were flaming red.
Max took Lacy’s hand and pulled her away from Dane, but he held on tight, their arms stretched between them.
“Dane, really?” Max said with a sigh.
“Okay, but bring her back,” he teased.
Lacy glanced at him over her shoulder as Max led her back into the reception hall and toward Kaylie and Danica’s table. Part of her wished she hadn’t been swept away.
“You have that recently bedded look,” Max said.
“Max!” Lacy could tell from her serious eyes and wide smile that she was only half joking. She saw Dane and Treat enter the room.
“Your cheeks are flushed, and your eyelids are dreamily heavy. Seriously, if you don’t want your sisters to know, you’d better pull it together.”
Lacy shot a look at Danica and Kaylie. Kaylie had one hand cupped around her mouth as she spoke into Danica’s ear. Their eyes were locked on Lacy. She took a deep breath and flopped into a chair, throwingpulling it togetherout the window.
“Well?” Kaylie and Danica asked in unison.
“We kissed. Oh my gosh, did we kiss,” she said breathlessly.
Kaylie put her hand out toward Danica. “I believe you owe me five bucks.”
Danica reached for her purse. “Really, Lacy? You couldn’t have waited just two hours after the wedding? That’s not asking for a lot. A few lousy hours.” She smiled as she handed a five to Kaylie.
“You bet on when I’d kiss him?” Lacy said sharply, trying to appear upset while holding back a smile. She secretly loved the sisterly banter she’d missed out on for so many years. “And really, Danica? Could you wait two hours when that was waiting for you?” She lifted her chin toward Dane, who was watching her from across the room.I want youwas written in his eyes.
Max leaned over the table. “I’ll pay you later,” she whispered.
“Max! You too?” Lacy said with atsk.
Max pretended to inspect her newly manicured fingernails.
Lacy slapped her hand. “I can’t believe you guys. Is this why you dragged me away from Dane?”When I could be kissing those luscious lips of his again?She shivered just thinking about it.
“Oh, please. Of course it is.” Kaylie rolled her eyes. She pushed her hair over her shoulder. “You didn’t expect us not to talk about you and Dane, did you? He’s all you’ve thought about since Nassau.”
“He is not.” Lacy had been thinking and talking about Dane nonstop for months. She had no idea why she was denying it. “Okay, fine. Geez, what am I going to do? I can’t look at him without feeling all those months of wanting him coming forward, but then it kind of hurts that he never actually came to see me.”
“We’ve talked about this for more than a year. You said it was a scheduling thing. Do you think it was something else? Do you think he’s a player?” Danica asked.
Do I?“No, but you have to admit that it’s a really long time.”
“It is, and you’ve known that. You said you talked about it with him. And now you want to know why you are having such a hard time, right?” Danica asked. She didn’t give Lacy a chance to answer. “It’s because you’re here and ready to take the past several months of fantasies to the next level. Intimacy can be a huge step.”
“You’re still such a therapist,” Kaylie said. Danica had given up her therapy practice when she’d fallen in love with her client—Blake.
Lacy sighed. “I feel like there’s so much more than just lust between us.”
“Does he know about your fear of sharks?” Kaylie asked.
Lacy bristled. “Sort of.” She’d been trying to ignore that worry for weeks as the wedding had neared.
“You’re afraid of sharks?” Max asked. “But you went in the water in Nassau.”
