Lacey’s eyes filled with tears as she stood there accepting her sister’s hug. Drying Kacey’s tears. Telling her it was okay. That they were okay.
And hoped to God that Jem was as good as his word. That he didn’t just see the clothes and shape and skin, but could really see the woman inside the body just by looking into her eyes.
Ashamed of her weakness, feeling sick to her stomach for needing reassurance, she let Kacey make her into an off-work television star.
* * *
SHE SENT KACEY in first. Jem was in the kitchen, heating up the pulled pork the girls had brought home from a stand on the beach. After dinner, he and Levi were going home because Levi needed a bath before bed, Jem had said.
Lacey hated that she wasn’t going to have his hands on her body again, but figured he was probably right to take things slow until they knew where they were going.
Neither of them could afford a big crash.
“Hey, Kacey, is Lacey almost ready? We got a hungry boy here.” She heard Jem’s voice and figured he hadn’t turned around yet, hadn’t seen her sister.
But...if he’d smelled her, her scent would have been Lacey’s. They’d played this game before. Hundreds of times.
Knew how to do it down to every detail, including toenail polish.
“She’ll be alo
ng in a second,” Kacey said, unnerving even Lacey with the toned-down note in her voice.
And suddenly she didn’t want to go in, didn’t want to play the game. She wasn’t being fair to Jem.
And maybe not to herself, either.
“You can come in now,” Jem called just as she was turning around to go change. “I just heard you take a step in the hall.”
She froze. Didn’t move. And didn’t have to as Jem came into the hallway to join her. She heard Kacey say, “Hey, little man, let’s get some of this yummy food in our bellies and leave those two sillies to settle for our leftovers.”
Jem wasn’t saying anything. He didn’t look angry, or even disappointed. If anything, he looked...like he had a hell of a lot more compassion than she deserved.
“I feel like a ten-year-old playing dress-up on Halloween.”
“You look...great.”
Her heart sank. “I do?”
“Of course you do. You and Kacey, you’re both gorgeous. A guy would have to be blind not to notice.”
“How did you know?” She asked the most pertinent question. “Kace even took off her nail polish. I did her hair. She’s wearing my jewelry and even borrowed my underthings.”
He pulled her up against him, rubbing his groin against her pelvis. He moved closer until their lips were almost touching and stared into her eyes.
“I’ve already told you, Lacey. It’s all in your eyes.”
She wanted so badly to believe him. To know that, at least with one person, the only one who was probably going to matter from there on out, she came first.
“You looked into Kacey’s eyes when she walked into the kitchen?”
“I always look for the eyes when you two are around. Especially since you’ve been leaving your hair down more and wearing her dresses. It’d be damned embarrassing if I grabbed the wrong woman, now, wouldn’t it?”
She felt like an idiot. On several levels. “I’ll make sure I don’t ever dress like her again,” she told him, grinning, but completely serious, too. “It’s up to me to protect you from ever making such a blunder.”
“You could both be naked and I’d know,” he said. And then shook his head. “Please,” he said, looking her straight in the eye. “Do not ever test me on that one. I don’t think I could survive it,” he said softly.
And then took a small nip of the lobe of her ear. “I’m still recovering... How about you?”