Page 73 of Faking I Do
“Don’t you dare apologize. I went into this with my eyes wide open. I just wasn’t expecting so many people to be so interested in us.”
The radio switched from a commercial to a slow song, one of my favorite classic country tunes. Lacey took the beer bottle from my hand and set it down on the coffee table. “May as well start practicing our first dance. Will you dance with me?”
My throat seemed to close, making it difficult to take in a full breath. “I’m not a very good dancer.”
“It’s okay, neither am I.” She nestled herself against my chest, putting one hand on my shoulder. “Just take my hand and I’ll follow your lead.”
Against my better judgment, I slid my hand into hers and pulled her into my arms. She stepped forward, burrowing even closer into me. The scent of butterscotch surrounded me, even though I hadn’t seen her eat a butterscotch candy in years. She had to be able to feel my heart—it seemed like it was going to beat its way right out of my chest. If Lacey noticed my strange behavior, she didn’t say anything about it. After an awkward start, I caught on to the rhythm of the song and guided her around my small living room in a halfway decent dance.
“You’re not so bad,” she said as I twirled her away from me. “Lots of practice?”
I shook my head. “Nah. Just a natural, I guess.”
“What’s that like?” She batted long, dark eyelashes at me, her eyes twinkling.
“What?”
“To be a natural at something? Seems I have to fight tooth and nail to figure things out. Just once I wish something would come natural to me.”
I drew her tight against my chest, wrapping both arms around her. “Hell, Lacey, I’d say you’ve got a lot of natural talent.”
“Yeah, I’m a walking natural disaster.” She ducked her head, a self-deprecating smile on her lips.
“Stop.” My tone came out sharper than I intended, making her look up. “You’ve got more natural talent in your pinky finger than I do in my entire body.”
Her gaze raked over me. My blood heated, sending warmth coursing through my veins. “Is that so? Why do people always bring up the pinky finger?”
“Fine. How about I say you’ve got more natural talent in your big toe?”
“My big toe?” Her forehead creased. “I didn’t think you were a foot man.”
I wasn’t. Or at least I never had been before. But with Lacey I was an everything man—from her toes to the tips of her hair, and everything in between.
“Feet are underrated,” I joked. Especially Lacey’s feet. I loved how she kept her toenails painted, usually a bright shade of pink. I’d never been particularly drawn to feet before, but I could imagine myself doing all kinds of things to Lacey’s toes.
“Don’t tell me you’ve developed a foot fetish.” She rested her cheek against my chest as one song led into another.
“No.” I didn’t have a foot fetish. I had a Lacey Cherish fetish and that was ten million times worse. What was I going to do when it was all over? When she didn’t have a reason to come knocking on my door on a Tuesday night? When she moved on to dance with some stranger in another living room? My gut clenched at the idea of Lacey wrapped up in someone else’s arms.
I was being ridiculous, I knew that. And why couldn’t we have a shot at a real future? There was nothing holding us back. We were both adults, both consenting, contributing members of society.
I’d almost convinced myself it would be no big deal to dip my head down and claim her mouth with mine. We’d acted on desire before and in my own humble opinion, neither were the worse because of it.
“Hey, Lacey?”
“Mmm?” She lifted her head from my chest. The imprint of my button pressed into her cheek, reminding me of the time Luke and I had dared her she couldn’t stay up and watch the entire Star Wars saga with us. She’d fallen asleep with her cheek on the zipper of her sleeping bag. Luke teased her about it for days.
“Nothing.” Reality check. Luke. Luke was the reason I couldn’t jump into a fling with Lacey. That and I didn’t want toput her in any danger. Once my dad and pops were out from under the threat they’d been fighting, once I had a chance to run this by Luke, once I knew for sure I wouldn’t lose my heart in the process—then I’d give in and see where this might go.
Until then, I needed to keep my head in the game and my heart completely out of it.
CHAPTER 37
LACEY
“You want how much?”I squinted at Helmut from across the counter.
He flipped another burger patty with one hand while he juggled the fries in the deep fryer with another. “Two thousand bucks. It’s a family recipe.”
