Archie continued to rub Lacey's shoulder as a way to comfort her. Lacey let out a series of deep breaths which caused Archie to turn off the tv. He really wanted to watch the game, but he sensed that Lacey needed him.
"Wow, you really did have a rough day, huh?" Archie asks.
"Yes. I had two headaches." Lacey says as she breathes out heavily.
"What happened to cause you to have two headaches?" Archie questions.
"I got put on a huge assignment with someone I'm not that crazy about working with. And I found out that I'll be out of town all next week." Lacey says.
"All next week? Will you be going with the person that you aren't that crazy about working with too?" Archie asks.
"Yes. I already hate working with him, and now I have to go out of town with him. For a whole week." Lacey says as she rubs her forehead. She feels her headache returning just thinking about Danny.
"This guy has you this stressed out? Why do you hate working with him?" Archie asks.
Lacey exhales sharply. She can't say the real reason why. Archie wouldn't understand. "Because he's a pompous jackass. He just gets under my skin. I hate that he gets to me because he seems to enjoy it." Lacey says and hopes Archie doesn't take it the wrong way.
"What does he do to get under your skin? Does he hit on you or something?" Archie asks quizzically.
"No, he doesn't hit on me." Lacey lies. "He just thinks he knows everything and it's annoying. And he goes out of his way to undermine me because he's a Senior Analyst and I'm a Junior." Lacey lies again. Danny actually is really good at his job, as Lacey learned. She never really doubted that before. Her perception of him was a little different from what she was getting to really know about him. And that was annoying Lacey to no end. She's starting to think she may have been wrong about Danny or just wrong in how she treats him. That caused her to sigh heavily again.
"Yeah, I know the type. One of the guys I work with is like that. But you shouldn't let it get to you or stress you out." Archie says reassuringly.
Lacey smiles. "I won't. How was your trip?" Lacey asks.
"Great. Pretty slow. That's why I'm here before you. I just came straight here from the airport instead of going home. I'm only free a day and a half before I'm out again. I missed you." Archie says as he kisses her forehead again.
"That's good to hear. I missed you too. Are you staying tonight?" Lacey asks hopefully. She needs to de-stress, and Archie might be able to help with that.
"I planned on it." Archie responds.
"Good. Do you have something in mind for dinner?" Lacey asks as she starts to sit up.
"Not really. Are you cooking?" Archie asks.
"Yeah, I only ate half my lunch." Lacey says.
"Why?" Archie asks in concern.
"I just lost my appetite in the middle of eating for some strange reason." Lacey says as she just looks over at Archie and starts to study him for a minute.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Archie asks.
"Have you ever thought about growing your hair long?" Lacey asks as she grins sort of mischievously.
When Danny returned to his condo that evening, he was a little on edge. He wanted to kick himself for joking with Lacey about having a quickie with Valerie. He got the sense that Lacey didn't appreciate that at all. He recalled the way she just stopped eating her food. And then the way she just got up and left when he mentioned them sleeping together. He thinks he may have went too far. Being that cocky might not work on a woman like Lacey. And then Danny started to think that it didn't really matter because Lacey hated him any way. Even when he was nice to her. She still treated him like he had a disease. It was starting to get to him. He convinced himself that he didn't like her either, and that was only because she doesn't like him. Truthfully, he didn't hate Lacey. He hated how she treated him. He thought she was so beautiful and he hated that she hated him. A series of misunderstandings and assumptions had brought them to this point.
Danny walked into his bedroom and turned on his tv. He needed to hear chatter so that he wasn't completely alone with his thoughts. He started to loosen his tie and unbuttoned his shirt. He completely undressed and headed for his shower. He was tense and needed to loosen up. If the shower didn't do the trick, he may have needed a scotch or something to aide in his relaxation. Lacey being on his mind was doing something to him. It started to knead at him that this woman got this under his skin. No other woman was able to do that. He wondered what that meant. He stepped his fully naked body into the shower and let the water run over him. He let it completely soak his head. He had the crazy thought that the water would somehow seep into his head and get Lacey off of his mind. The more he stood in the shower, the more he thought about her and how that was a bad thing. He just spent his day with a woman that barely talked to him. A woman that turned him on like no other. A woman that aroused him to brink of explosion. Just thinking about her then caused him to get aroused. He pictured her full lips and how soft they looked. He thought of the way she smelled. Her perfume was very light and subtle, but smelled wonderful. He wanted to bury his face in her neck and smell her while he touched her. He thought of how she looked in that red suit, and how she looked when she took the jacket off. The skirt seemed to hug her in all the right places. He just wanted to slide it up and rub his hands up and down her thighs and across her butt. He wanted to slide her panties aside and put his fingers inside of her.
Danny continued to think about the ravishing and extremely beautiful Lacey Porter as the water continued to pour over his head and wet his body. He was so engrossed in thinking about Lacey that it took Danny feeling like he wasn't alone to realize that he had begun to touch himself while daydreaming and fantasizing about Lacey. He wanted her to be in the shower with him and that it was her hands touching him. He wanted other parts of her to touch him. And he wanted to touch every part of her. She was extremely sexy and intoxicating and it was driving Danny insane.
He finished up in the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He was running a second towel through his long tresses when he looked in the mirror. He got a bad feeling about what he was about to do. But he chalked it up to just playing a game. They had played this game before, but this time it had a distinct purpose. He wasn't going to beat himself up for it. Human beings are users, and he had most definitely been used by women in the past. It was all a part of the song and dance. He knew that he was attractive to women and some women only wanted to be with him because of that. He also knew that he was rich and women loved that about him too. All a part of the game.
Danny left his bedroom and went to get his phone. He called the woman he thought would help take his mind off of his desire for Lacey. They had an arrangement. They could call each other whenever they needed some tuning. She picked up after three rings. Danny got straight to the point. "I need to see you." Danny says into the phone.
"After all this time?" She asks.
"Yes. I need to see you. And I need you to do something for me." Danny says.
"Something like what?" She asks.
"To play this game with me. Can you do that?" Danny asks seductively.
"What's in it for me?" She asks.
"You already know the answer to that." Danny says.
"I'll see you in an hour." She says and hangs up.
Danny ate some quick leftover takeout he had in his fridge as he waited for the arrival of his guest. Almost right on time, she arrived. She walked into his place and looked around. It looked the same as she remembered.
"Hello, Danny. I see things haven't changed. Your hair is longer though." She says as she goes to sit on his sofa.
Danny ignores what she's saying. He didn't invite her over to talk. "Are you ready?"
"You don't waste any time, do you? Yes, I'm ready. What is this little game you want to play?" She asks.
Danny smirks and leads her to his bedroom. "You can't talk, and tonight your name is Lacey." Danny says as he turned off his lights so that it was too dark to see.
After Lacey decided what she was going to fix for dinner, Lacey left Archie to watch his game and headed for her bedroom. She needed a hot shower to relax before she started cooking. She was stressed out. She had too many thoughts going through her mind. She was starting to feel a little guilty. She couldn't believe she asked Archie if he ever though about growing his hair longer. She tried unsuccessfully to convince herself that it was just a thought, but she knew that wasn't true. She was just glad that Archie didn't know the reason why she asked him that. She had to play it off and say she just thought about seeing him with longer hair. So untrue. She was thinking about Danny's hair.
Lacey undressed and got into her shower. She made the water as hot as she could stand it. She started to wash her body with the ridiculously creamy body wash her mother bought her. She didn't have to use much because it was so rich. She started to let her mind wander, and it made her mad that it came back to the man she hated. She hated thinking about him. And now he was invading her mind while she took her shower. Lacey got a little carried away as she let her hands travel her soft skin. She started imagining that Danny's hands were touching her. She closed her eyes and tried to shake that image from her head. She started remembering being in his office with him. Sitting across from him, pretending not to notice him watching her. Pretending not to notice that he licked his lips when he stared at hers. She thought of his hands again. She remembered when their hands touched when they reached into the boxes. She thought of how she pretended not to notice the thickness of his fingers. God, she hated him. And she hated that she was worked up thinking about him. She almost took herself over the edge, and realized she needed more than just her soft, delicate hands. She now hated herself for fantasizing about Danny while she was in her shower and Archie was right downstairs.
She finished up and stepped out of her shower and went to the top of her stairs. What Archie didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "Archie. Arch! I need you." Lacey called her boyfriend of a year and a half.
She heard him jogging towards the stairs. "Yeah? Is everything ok?" Archie asks as she stands at the bottom of the stairs.
"I need you." Lacey says. More like she wanted Danny, but Archie will do. God she hated herself for this.
Archie started to smile. "Need me? How?" Archie asks.
Lacey just opened her towel and Archie practically ran up the stairs. Lacey got on the bed in the position so that they had sex with him behind her. It was better that way.
The next morning, Lacey awoke with a feeling of dread. She hated that she pretty much used Archie to satisfy her lust for Danny. She didn't know or understand why she was lusting after Danny when she hated his guts. He was so cocky, and annoying, and arrogant, and conceited that it made her sick. Then she started thinking that maybe he was that cocky, arrogant, and conceited because he was covering up for something. Maybe he was inadequate in an area. Maybe he sucked in bed. Maybe he had an incredibly tiny penis. Lacey giggled to herself. That had to be it. She started to feel better. Lacey had to be quiet because Archie was still asleep resting up for his business trip. Lacey went to her closet and found a white ruched dress that again fit her like a glove. She paired it off with black and white leopard print suede pumps. She pulled her hair into a sleek side ponytail and headed out to start her day.
Lacey felt better than she did the previous morning. She still blasted lively music on her drive to work. She was going to face the day with a better attitude. She was stuck with Danny, so she might as well make the best of it. She pulled into the building's garage and headed inside. She again stopped at Starbucks because coffee was a staple for her in the morning. She didn't see Danny lingering and flirting like he had the day before. She headed up to her office and stepped off the elevator and headed to her office. She was in there only a second before Whitney came in.
"Good morning, Lacey. You look stunning today. I wonder why." Whitney quips as she sits down in Lacey's chair.
Lacey wasn't going to let Whitney know she's getting to her, so she decides to play along. "Good morning, Whitney. Thank you. And I decided to put on something to match how good I feel." Lacey says as she puts her purse in her desk.
"Why are you feeling so good?" Whitney asks.
"No reason. Archie and I had a pretty good night, but nothing spectacular." Lacey says.
"Archie, huh? The guy you're just kind of crazy about?" Whitney asks.
"I never said that." Lacey says.
"You don't have to." Whitney says.
"Don't start. He makes me happy." Lacey says to her defense.
"I'll bet he does. But he's not Danny." Whitney says.
"I'm glad he isn't Danny. I don't want to feel for him the way I feel for Danny." Lacey says.
"When are you going to stop lying to yourself about how you really feel about Danny?" Whitney questions.
"What? I'm not lying to myself about how I feel about Danny. I don't like him. He annoys me." Lacey says.
Whitney just looks at her without blinking. She just shakes her head and gets up to leave Lacey's office. "Keep telling yourself that. I'll see you later." Whitney says before she leaves Lacey's office.
Lacey does what she has to before she gathers what she needs and heads to Danny's office. She knocks and sees Cole inside Danny's office. They're again talking about basketball. Danny looks up to see Lacey and stops talking abruptly. "Good morning. I can come back if you're busy." Lacey says as she looks at Danny and Cole. Danny is still staring at her and hasn't said a word.
Cole answers for him. He realizes that his friend might be blinded by Lacey's appearance. Even Cole had to admit she looked stunning in that white dress. Even better than she did in the red suit. He understands why Danny has it bad. "Good morning, Lacey. Come on in. We were just talking about the game. Right, Danny?" Cole says as he looks at Danny. Danny still hasn't responded. "Danny!" Cole practically yells.
Danny finally comes out of his daze. "Yeah. Right. Good morning, Lacey." Danny says.
Lacey slowly steps into the office. Cole takes that as his cue to leave. "I'll see you guys later." Cole says before leaving.
Danny walked over to shut his office door. He comes back and is still taken aback by how pretty Lacey looks. "You look great today." Danny says sincerely.
Lacey blushes despite herself. "Thank you. I try." Lacey says light-heartedly.
"You don't have to try. You always look great." Danny says.
Lacey smiles painfully. "Ready to get started?" Lacey asks.
"Yes." Danny says. They go back to what they were doing the day before by going over the financial reports. Danny can't control himself it seems. He's again focusing on her full lips. He wanted to kiss them. He wanted to try and get her to talk to him. "Lacey, I just wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday. I shouldn't have told you I wanted to do things to you. With my penis. That was inappropriate." Danny says. He didn't mean it because he really wants to do something, no a lot of things to her with his penis.
"It's fine Danny. I can't say I haven't thought about it too." Lacey says and immediately realizes her mistake. She closed her mouth and mumbled, "Damn" under her breath.
Danny takes that time to laugh. "So you've thought about sleeping with me?" Danny asks.
"No. I was kidding." Lacey says and goes back to her papers.
"No, you weren't. You've thought about sleeping with me. Just admit it." Danny teases.
"There's nothing to admit." Lacey says.
"I know you're just pretending to hate me." Danny says.
Lacey put down her highlighter. "You know what Danny, screw you! I'm outta here." Lacey says as she stands and grabs her things.
Danny goes to stand in front of the door to stop her from leaving. "Lacey. I'm sorry. I was an ass, ok? I take it back." Danny says as he puts his hands up as a way to plead with her.
Lacey isn't hearing it though. She walks over to the door and stands right in front of him. "Move." Lacey says harshly.
Danny decides to do something bold. He leaned forward and kissed her. Lacey dropped her things as Danny swooped her up in his arms and they almost fall against the door. Lacey got so caught up in the kiss that she forgot that she hated Danny and that she has a boyfriend. She then comes to her senses and pulls away from him and slaps him. Danny enjoyed the kiss so much, he didn't mind her slapping him. She didn't slap him hard any way. "I'm sorry." Danny says, though he isn't. He'd do it again in a heartbeat.
"You should be. How could you just kiss me like that?" Lacey asks. She's mad that it happened and that she liked it.
"I couldn't resist. And you did kiss me back." Danny admits.
"I know. And I shouldn't have done that." Lacey says.
"Why? We're both single adults." Danny says.
"I'm not single, Danny. I have a boyfriend." Lacey says.
Danny really didn't care that she had a boyfriend. Boyfriends could be replaced.
Game on. Danny thought.