Laces and Lace (Assassins #6) Read online

  “What a good daddy,” she said before standing up and ruffling their hair. “Rachel, they need haircuts.”

  “We do not!” they exclaimed, running away from her to the window where they could watch warm-ups.

  “Yeah, they do, but they won’t let me touch their heads, or anyone else, for that matter,” she said, standing up and coming toward her. “And to what do we owe this pleasure? I’m pretty sure all I see on the ice besides the gorgeous red jersey of my husband is a whole team of purple and black and a certain number sixteen.”

  Lacey ignored her and said, “Man, Rachel, don’t you look stunning tonight? Doesn’t she look beautiful tonight, Daddy?”

  “Of course she does. My girls are the prettiest in the state of Illinois,” Nate said with a grin. “Didn’t know you were coming tonight,” he said, coming over and kissing her softly on the temple. “You look happy.”

  He said it like he was stunned, and it pleased her how much spending the night with Karson showed. He brought out the good in her—the greatest, even—and she just felt amazing. Complete. And she couldn’t lose that. She had prepared herself for the worst tonight. She had even convinced herself that he may have left her for another woman, which was probably so freaking dumb, but she thought it and thought how she would react. It was the only thing she didn’t think she could forgive, so everything else was good, and she had a chance at happiness. A chance she couldn’t let go of. She had no clue what was going to happen because both their lives were so busy and insane, but they would figure it out. And things would be right because they were together, and together, they could do anything. She still believed that. No time apart could change that.

  “Thanks, Daddy,” she said before taking the glass of wine he offered.

  “Anytime, honey,” he said, toasting his drink with hers and then both of them taking a sip of their respective beverages. Clearing his throat, he asked, “I thought you didn’t go to Assassins and Hawks games?”

  Lacey shrugged. “I didn’t want to be home alone today.”

  He nodded. “So it has nothing to do with Karson King why you’re here now?”

  Lacey had never lied to her father. She respected him way more than that, but as she looked deep in his green eyes, she shook her head slowly and lied. “Not at all, Daddy.”

  “Good,” he said, obviously satisfied with her answer. “He is bad news, Lacey, and will do nothing but hurt you.”

  Swallowing, she nodded her head before taking a long sip of her drink and walking toward where Rachel sat so she could see the ice. Her heart was pounding against her ribs as she looked out on the ice for Karson, and she hated that she had to lie. She wished she could just tell him that, yes, Karson was back in her life and she didn’t intend on letting him go, but he wouldn’t understand that. He would get mad and raise hell. Something she wasn’t in the mood for yet, not until she figured out what was going to happen between them.

  It didn’t take long for her to find him. He basically took up the whole ice, his number sixteen the only number she saw. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, his brown hair gleaming in the light. He looked huge, the pads always making him seem even bigger than he already was. He was such a presence on the ice, and off it, for that matter. She knew she couldn’t keep her eyes off him.

  “You look kind of dressed up to be at a hockey game. Hoping to run into someone?” Rachel asked as Flynn crawled into Lacey’s lap. She wrapped her arms around her sweet little guy and kissed him on the back of the head.

  She wished she had thought that maybe Rachel would notice that she was more dressed up than normal. She did spend a good three hours to make sure she was practically perfect. In a thigh-length, high-waisted, black skirt, she’d tucked her blue long-sleeved blouse into the skirt before tossing her Martin jersey over the top and putting on black tights with black ankle boots. Her hair was down in big curls with a black knit hat. She wore her makeup dramatic with dark eyes but yet very elegant, with a light pink on her lips. She knew she was sophisticated but sexy and hoped to God that Karson would appreciate it.

  “Don’t know what you are talking about,” she answered, her eyes following Karson across the ice. He deked around people, passed the puck, ran into his teammates playfully, and just looked so resplendent. He was honestly stunning.

  “By the way your eyes haven’t left a certain someone, I’m pretty sure you do,” Rachel said in hushed tones.

  Lacey looked over to meet Rachel’s knowing gaze and shrugged. “Actually, I don’t.”

  Rachel glared, seeing right through her lie. “You do, and I know you just lied to your dad.”

  “Leave it alone, Rachel,” Lacey warned as she kissed Flynn again, her eyes back on Karson. She should have known better than to even try to lie to Rachel. She could see through her like she was a pane of glass. It was disconcerting how good she was at it, and one would think Lacey would remember that, but she hadn’t. The thing was, she just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. Rachel would freak out and tell her how bad of an idea it was to get involved with Karson.

  Which she had every right to. She was there when Lacey would cry herself to sleep or when her skin would prune from where she sat in the shower crying till all she did was heave for breath. It wasn’t a pretty sight, and she knew that Rachel would only think that she was heading straight for that outcome again, but Lacey knew it wouldn’t happen.

  She trusted Karson.

  She loved him.

  “Flynn, Zander, come on, let’s go to the pro shop before the game starts,” her father said, and Flynn was out of her lap before her father was even done with his sentence.

  “Don’t spend all your grandfather’s money,” Rachel called out, but Lacey didn’t think anyone heard her as the door shut, leaving them alone.

  Leaning on the edge of her chair, Lacey watched as Karson shot hard at the net, getting it through the goalie’s legs. He had a breathtaking grin on his face as he backed away, skating to the boards where bottles of water sat. Grabbing for his bottle, he squirted some water in his mouth as he looked around the arena. She was sure he couldn’t see her, and she wished she could stand up and wave her arms in the air, but that would sure set Rachel off, blowing her charade of trying to hide the fact that she was seeing Karson again.

  “Looks like he is looking for you. Might want to wave,” she said and Lacey closed her eyes.

  Well, she guessed the charade wasn’t really a charade.

  “Leave it alone.”

  “You’re back with him,” she accused and Lacey shook her head.

  “No, I’m not,” she said, still not looking at her.

  “Lacey, look at me!” Rachel demanded, causing Lacey to let out a long breath. Turning, she leaned on her hand to meet her best friend’s gaze.

  “What?”

  “Are you back with him?”

  Lacey shook her head again. “No…not yet, at least.”

  “Oh, for goodness’ sakes, Lacey, that is such a bad idea! When did you see him? Did he call you?”

  Closing her eyes, she leaned her head on the edge of her palm and took in a deep breath. “Can’t we leave this alone until I figure out what’s going on?”

  “After you answer my questions, yes. He is bad news. He left you!”

  “I know, but it doesn’t mean I stopped loving him,” she said, sitting up and meeting Rachel’s stunned gaze. “I’ve spent the last nine years in complete hell without him, trying to find something to fill the hole he left. It didn’t work. I can’t stop what I feel for him. I jumped into a cab last night, and he was there, Rachel. Nine years I haven’t seen or heard from him, I get in a cab and he is there. It’s fate. It’s meant to be.”

  “Are you kidding me?” she asked with a shake of her head. “If it were fate or meant to be, it would have happened a year after he left. It’s been almost ten years. No one stays in love that long with someone they don’t see or hear from. It’s preposterous!”

  Lacey glared. “Then I guess I am preposterous