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“Wow! Is he a model?” Janine snatched the phone to get a closer look. “Seriously, Lace, he looks like he could be on the cover of a magazine.”
“Let me see that,” Grace chimed in, grabbing the phone from Janine. She stared at the picture, her mouth gaping. It took her aminute to find her words, a rarity for Grace. “Sweetie, he’s perfection. The man looks like sex on a stick.” She looked at Lacey, mischief in her eyes. “I would have had sex with him every night.”
Lacey thought about that. She was positive that Drew could get any woman he wanted, but she was glad they hadn’t rushed.
There were times in her life, after losing her parents and Kevin cheating on her, when Lacey didn’t think happiness was in the cards. She’d seen true love in her mom and dad; the love they shared was what dreams were made of. Like any girl or woman, a part of Lacey wanted her prince to ride up on a white stallion and sweep her off her feet. She didn’t need Prince Charming, of course, but she still longed for the relationship like the one her parents had shared.
“Anyway, he’s wonderful. But let’s not forget he lives in Chicago. Who knows if a long-distance relationship will even work? And if it does, for how long?” Lacey sighed. “Drew says it will, but how could it?” Lacey took a healthy sip of her drink and shrugged.
Janine crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Don’t do that, Lace.” Lacey quirked her brow. “And don’t look at me like you don’t know what I’m talking about. I’ve never seen your face light up so much when talking about a man.”
“That’s because her ex is a jackass,” Grace quipped. “And that’s putting it mildly.”
“No, even when things were good between them she didn’t look this happy.” Janine reached across the table and placed her hand on Lacey’s wrist. “Keep an open mind. Can you promise me that?”
Lacey looked at her friends, struck by how much Janine sounded like Drew. “Yes, I will. I promise. But first things first, I need to land the Carson account.”
Lacey’s living room looked more like it belonged in an office than an apartment. Easels held four vision boards laden with mock-up ideas of the advertising plan she had for Carson Enterprises. This was something she normally did in her office, but knowing Zeke was vying for the same account and position in the company, Laceydecided to work from home. Plus, she was technically still on vacation.
She took a step back to look at what she had put together, but something was off. Lacey had been to enough of these meetings to know it was good to have a plan B, but a strong plan A would be the better option. Any time an ad executive needed to resort to the second option, it never boded well for them.
She moved a few images from the first board to the fourth, then the second to the first, the third to the second, and back again. Frustrated, she scraped her fingernails through her hair, and she tugged her ponytail holder out, allowing her long hair to fall on her shoulders before looping it up in a chignon, Geisha style, on top of her head.
Knowing she wasn’t getting anywhere staring at the boards, she walked into her kitchen to pour herself a glass of chilled white wine before heading to take a warm bath. When Lacey found this apartment, she wasn’t just shocked that it was rent-controlled but that it also had a real tub—something she never thought would be possible on her budget.
With her wireless speaker in place, a small hand towel, and her phone and glass sitting safely on a small table next to her tub, she put on her favorite playlist and sank deep beneath the water, letting the bubbles cover her shoulders.
She closed her eyes and let the lavender-scented suds calm her. Her mind drifted from work to Drew. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing during his last night on the island. Was he hanging out at the bar with Ethan? Was he alone? Were women hitting on him? She sighed; that had probably already happened.
Rather than harp on that unpleasant thought, she let herself escape to the songs coming from her speaker. Just as she was getting into her singing groove, her phone chimed with a text. Patting her hand on the small towel she had laid out, she picked up her phone and instantly grinned.
Drew:Hey, beautiful. Miss you like crazy.
Lacey:Hi, handsome. I miss you too. What are you doing?
Drew:Just left Ethan with a small harem. I’m in my roomnow. What are you doing? I hope you haven’t been working all day.
Lacey stared at his words. He left and was in his room.He’s not Kevin, Lacey.She needed to remind herself that not all men were spineless cheaters.
Lacey:I spent time with the girls, then I did work for a while, but I have a bit of brain-block, so I’m taking a bath.
Drew:You’re naked right now?
Lacey let out a giggle and texted back,
Yup. All I’m wearing are lavender-scented bubbles.
She expected a cute reply, not the phone to ring with Drew wanting to connect a video call. Before accepting, Lacey glanced down to make sure the bubbles were indeed covering her body. When she was positive, she pressed the green phone button.
“Hi!” Even to her own ears Lacey sounded overly perky. She let out a laugh before amending it to a tamer, “Hi, Drew.”
The smile she missed so much lit up her screen. “Hey there, beautiful. God, I thought I missed you before, but now seeing you, I miss you even more than I thought.”
She slid further into the bubbles. With him making her swoon, she needed to pay close attention not to drop her phone into the water. When he shifted his phone, his naked torso came into view. Lacey couldn’t help but sigh before biting her lip.
“Like what you see, baby?” She could only nod, which made Drew chuckle. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, seeing you is definitely having its effect.” His eyes fluttered down before meeting hers on the screen. “I can’t wait to see you again.”
“You’re leaving the island tomorrow, right?” Lacey didn’t know why that mattered, since he would be going to Chicago and not New York.
