Into the Fire - Leslie Kelly [34]
"Singles club," Venus immediately offered. Nate spoke. "Laundromat."
"The library." That was Lacey's suggestion. Raul spoke with more certainty than any of them. "Sell-serve car wash."
"A car wash?" Venus crossed her arms and gave him an incredulous look. "You gotta be kidding. What woman wants to meet single guys when she's a sweaty mess from washing her car?"
"One who looks good in a wet T-shirt," Raul replied. "Duh!"
Seeing Raul wince and bend over, Nate knew Venus had just kicked him under the table. Personally, he hadn't thought about it before, but Raul's idea had merit. "So, we check out a library, Laundromat, singles club and a car wash?"
Lacey shook her head. "We don't check out anything. You're free to do your own research on your own time."
"Doesn't sound very partnerly. We're in this together, remember? I think that's what old J.T. asked for."
She looked like she wanted to argue, but could only sigh in resignation instead. Gotcha! As long as J.T. was giving her what she wanted, Lacey was going to have to play the game by the rules. Meaning they were going to be spending a lot of time together. He could hardly wait.
A few minutes later, Nate glanced at his watch. "Time to hit the road. Thanks for the invite, Raul. It was good to meet you, Venus. Lacey, I'll be seeing you. "
Before he could stand to leave, however, Venus moved her arm too quickly and knocked her entire drink into his lap. The redhead immediately leaped up, grabbed a handful of napkins and moved to clean it up.
"Uh, it's okay. I can get it," Nate said, taking the napkins. When he glanced at Lacey, he saw her sigh with a long-suffering expression.
He suddenly understood. "Venus, did you just spill your drink on me on purpose?"
She shrugged, unrepentant. "Well, of course, darlin', how else was I going to check you out and see if you're suitable for my best friend?"
"You see? This proves my point," Nate said between rueful chuckles as he blotted his wet jeans. "Women are much more devious about these things. A man would never intentionally spill a drink on his buddy's girl just to cop a feel."
Lacey's eyes widened. "Yes, a man most certainly would. Men invented the art! And she wasn't copping a feel."
"Sorry, Lacey," Raul said, his annoyance obvious. "I think he's right. She pretty much admitted she was copping a feel."
Lacey didn't even glance at him. "You stay out of this."
"Face it. Women are more manipulative than men," Nate said.
The Irish musicians who'd begun playing a few minutes earlier finished a set of tunes. The bar patrons who'd been listening applauded perfunctorily, not that the musicians cared. With karmic timing, the room descended into a moment of unexpected quiet.
Venus lifted a brow. "Who's manipulative? I was curious, that's all." She sat down and lounged back, looking not a bit sheepish. "I didn't imagine it would be exactly polite for me to ask if you had the package to keep satisfying my best friend here. Until she met you last week, she hadn't had a good lay in the three years I've known her."
The deafening silence held for another ten seconds beyond Venus's loud observation. It was followed by a roar of laughter from the table behind them. Nate watched as Lacey, calm, professional, put-together Lacey, dropped her forehead to the table in front of her, raised one hand and yelled, "Check, please."
* * *
Though she'd never done it in the entire time she'd worked at For Her Eyes Only, Lacey took what Raul called a "slick" day the next day. She wasn't really sick, not in the technical sense of the word. But she did feel queasy every time she thought of the awful scene at the pub.
She couldn't imagine what Nate must have thought about Venus's typically outrageous comment. Lacey had made an excuse—which no one bought—right afterward and left the bar. Venus had insisted on walking her to her car, to apologize. Though, in typical Venus style, she didn't really see