Their previous meeting had ended on a very awkward note. After making love on the granite countertop with such hunger, they'd dressed in silence like strangers and then parted without completing the walk-through checklist as planned. Jack's demeanor had completely juxtaposed from playful and sensual to icy cold in seconds. Her reaction to his confession had made him withdraw to such a degree that she felt like she didn't know him at all. And maybe she didn't. She'd been positive she'd been falling in love with him but now she wasn't sure how she felt. Could she really love him and know so little about him? Probably not. Maybe she was just in love with the idea of him, rather than the actual person.
When she'd met him, he'd seemed so perfect. Her romance novel stud come to life. But instead of rescuing her, he was the one with actual issues, and a past, and a whole mess of problems to overcome. Was she ready for something so intense? Could she heal him after everything he'd been through? She felt like a superficial jerk for thinking it, but she wasn't sure how she felt about taking on so much. She'd wanted him, yes, but not this flawed version of him. Not the jerk who made love like an angel and them morphed into a devil when things didn't go his way.
Until meeting Jack, Lacey had skated through life without getting too involved. Even her previous romantic relationships had been very much about comfort and convenience rather than passion. But with Jack, she would have to commit herself fully. She couldn't just have the parts of him she adored, like his sense of humor, and his ability to kiss her senseless. She would also have to deal with a man who buried all emotion to avoid getting hurt. Was she really up to the task of unthawing Mr. Freeze? Or would she just compound the problem if she failed and drive him even deeper into the cold?
Distracted by her thoughts, Lacey's hand nearly collided with the crotch of a well-dressed young man as he opened the front door from the inside. He was smiling as he deftly moved out of the path of her fingers, said 'hello' and looked adoringly behind him at another neat young man who was following him down the porch steps.
Lacey went inside, shaking her head in embarrassment at nearly groping a stranger. She was doing a lot of that lately.
Leaving her shoes by the door she entered the main living area where Serena was parked with her brochures and cards spread out on the granite countertop exactly where Lacey and Jack had spent a very memorable half hour. She gulped as she recalled the image of Jack, standing between her spread thighs with his pants around his ankles. The feel of his warm breath against her neck and the scent of his clean skin returned to her in a rush causing her face to heat and her thighs to clench in sensory memory. She certainly hoped this wasn't going to happen every single time she entered her kitchen, or she was going to develop some kind of granite fetish.
"Lacy!" Serena squealed, interrupting Lacey's X-rated thoughts. The pretty real estate agent gracefully slid off the red leather barstool she'd been perched on, and grabbed Lacey by the shoulders. "Did you see the couple that was just here? Weren't they gorgeous? And guess what? They might be your neighbors, well, sort of. They just put in an offer on one of the other cottages. Let's hope they sunbathe in the nude, right?"
Lacey smiled and gave Serena a hug. "Congratulations. That's fabulous. You sold one on the first day? Is that typical? I thought this was going to take months." Lacey didn't comment on the cute gay couple and the possibility of spying on them in their backyard. She could only imagine Jack naked at this point and was pretty sure no one else could compare to that particular sight.
"One? Are you kidding me? We actually have offers in on all six. I am going to be so filthy rich, rich, rich." Serena gave Lacey a big squeeze, released her and did a happy little jig. She sobered for a second, but her grin was still blinding. "We still have to wait and see if the financing goes through, of course, but they're all on their way to being sold. In one day. At full price! I've never even heard of that happening. And guess what? Your friend Liz came in and made an offer on that really cute one with the Japanese Maple tree out front."
"Are you serious? That's great. I told her about them, but I didn't think she was going to be able to get the down payment together. She must have talked to her dad. I'm so happy for her. Plus, it'll be great to have her so close. We can drive into work together."
"She seemed like a lot of fun, though she did seem a little disappointed that Jay and his minions weren't here. Did she think they'd all be hanging around shirtless, working up a sweat while we were showing the place? Though now that I think about it, that would be a good sales gimmick. Do you think Jay and his bros would go for it?"
"I can't see Jack strutting around shirtless to sell houses," Lacey said wryly.
"Why not? It certainly worked with you when I took you out to his lair," Serena teased.
"I knew it. You planned that, didn't you?"
"Not the shirtless part, but I suspected he'd be wearing the Oscar the Grouch T-shirt because I told him not to."
"You're diabolical. That shirt is obscene. It should have been turned into rags years ago."
"What can I say? Jack is about as far from a metrosexual as a guy can get. His wardrobe is limited to that shirt and about a dozen plaid work shirts. I don't think he owns anything else."
"Really? He was wearing a tie when I saw him the other day?"
Serena snorted. "What? A tie? You've got to be kidding. He didn't even wear a tie to their funeral." Her eyes grew big as she realized what she'd just said. She quickly tried to cover. "His dad's funeral, I mean."
"It's okay. He told me about his wife. You don't need to keep it a secret anymore."
"Ahh, Lacey. It wasn't actually a secret. I just thought it should come from him."
"That's what I told him. But he'd assumed that you'd told me months ago, so he mentioned it very casually right after we, you know, consummated our relationship."
"Wow. I'm glad you guys finally got down to business. Bloody well time. Tension was getting thicker than tar around you two. But talking about his dead wife after doing it? Talk about a mood killer. How did you take it?"
"Not well. Not well at all. I think I may have screwed up. Royally."
"So, that's why you're here, checking out an Open House on your own home rather than holed up in a motel room with Jack, getting rug burns on your ass?"
"Yeah. I told him I needed some time to work through all this, and he turned into Frosty the Snowman with attitude and took off. I just meant a day or two. Now I'm totally confused. And I should be talking to him, but he's not a big talker. At least not about serious stuff. And I'm not even sure that he wants me anymore…" Lacey trailed off and looked at Serena morosely.
"First, come over here and sit down," Serena patted one of the bar stools pulled up to the island and gave Lacey's shoulder a squeeze as she sat down. Serena took the seat across from her and studied her friend for a second. "Now, what makes you think he doesn't want you anymore? Because I gotta tell you, it was pretty obvious to just about everyone that he wanted you bad over the past several months, and I can't see that going away over one little misunderstanding."
"But it happened after we had sex," Lacey said, gesturing toward the end of the countertop where her and Jack had done the deed.
"Ewwww," Serena said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "I ate my lunch there earlier."
Lacey blushed madly. "It's clean. I swear. But you know what I mean. There was so much build-up. Maybe the real thing was a letdown and he lost interest."