All In:Playing the Fool(14)

She tried to hide her smile and failed. "You shouldn't feel bad. Dylan  and I are just damn lucky we've never been caught in public. But I  thought you said you were done with my brother?"

"I may have...misjudged him. Although it doesn't really matter now. I  guess you've heard my father's decree that he shall breathe hellfire  upon the Earth if I have anything else to do with Will. God, he's nuts,  and I can't wait to get out of his house." It had apparently worked,  because sadly I hadn't heard a peep out of Will since that night.

Jules laughed and headed out of her office door to show me the rest of  the facility. "Well, come on with me and I'll put you to work. Your  choices are laundry, kitchen duty, or cleaning the gym."

"I'll take door number one please."

"Good choice," she said with a smile.

I glanced around at all the various teenagers hanging out in the large  lobby area we passed. They all looked happy as they sat in groups  laughing and talking, or playing on laptops. Hard to believe that if it  wasn't for this place they might be sleeping in the streets, hungry and  alone.

I followed Jules down to the basement where there were rows of washers  and dryers, all currently in use. "Wow, you guys have a lot of dirty  clothes."

"Yeah, we've got all the regular clothes, the sheets and bath towels,  pool towels and swimsuits, gym towels … and the list goes on. But don't  worry, you'll have some help in a little while, and you'll get through  it all in no time. The bins are labeled and the kids' names are in each  piece of their clothing. There's a cart to carry it all up on the  service elevator when you're finished."

"Great, thanks Julie."

"Thank you for helping out," she said with a smile. Then she was gone.

It looked like I had about five more minutes before the first load  finished, and since there were no chairs, I hopped up on top of one of  the washing machines to sit and wait while I played on my phone.

"Ah, fuck," a familiar voice, causing me to look up in surprise. Will. "Why didn't she tell me you were here?" he asked.

I shrugged, unsure how to respond, since I was just as shocked to see  him. The smart, sexy man looked good in his faded jeans and army green  tee, pushing the dark brown hair out of his face in frustration.

"Sorry," I told him. His shoulders slumped and he blew out a breath.

"Why does your dad have to be such an asshole?" he asked.

I looked away and nodded in embarrassment. "He's taken asshole to  a-whole-nother level this time. I'm sleeping on my friend Kylie's couch  and avoiding him at work, just so I don't have to look at him."

"That sucks," he said, shaking his head. "Well, I'll go and just come  back tomorrow afternoon. You mind alternating nights so we can both get  these hours done?"         

     



 

"No, that's fine. But ... you don't have to go," I told him hesitantly,  while gripping the edge of the washer. My dad's warning had worked, Will  didn't want anything to do with me.

He laughed and ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Yeah, I do. It's  one thing to risk my job, but I'm not risking Joe and Jess's to get  through with community service."

"Joe and Jess's?" I asked, my forehead furrowing in confusion. Then a  horrible feeling of understanding dawned on me. "You don't mean  … "

"Sorry, I thought you knew," he said softly.

"How could he?" I said as my eyes watered. God, two nice people's  careers were on the line because I decided to have sex in public. Three  counting Will's. No, not because we had sex in public, but because my  dad was being an overbearing ass.

"It's not your fault, Lacy," he said to try and make me feel better, but  it was my actions that had caused my father to react so drastically.

Will's arms were suddenly sliding around my waist, surprising me, but  welcome all the same. I immediately threw mine around his neck, resting  my head against his shoulder, smelling his comforting clean woodsy  scent. Since he was standing between my legs I wrapped them around his  back and crossed them at the ankle, using them to yank him even closer  to me. Will laughed into my hair.

"Who knows you're here?" he asked quietly, his warm breath against my ear making me shiver.

"Just Jess. She told me her and her brother volunteer here, and  suggested I call. I didn't even tell Kylie where I was going. What about  you?"

"Just my sister of course, and Dylan. Maybe Joe."

"Stay," I said, figuring that's why he asked.

I felt Will's chest expand with his deep breath, then my hair moved when  he expelled the air in his lungs. His nose rubbed my ear and his lips  brushed my neck, sending delicious tingles and goose bumps through my  body. His warm soft hands eased up under the back of my shirt and his  fingertips teased around the waistband of my jeans, making me smile.

What was it about this man that made me melt whenever he touched me? It  could be that his touch was just so much sweeter compared to Zack's  detached and selfish groping. Will's touch was almost reverent.

I raised my head and cupped his scruffy jaw to pull his lips to mine. It  was a slow, light kiss that gradually deepened, with our tongues barely  meeting before becoming needy and urgent. When Will's hands moved up my  shirt to skim along my breasts a loud buzzer sounded, making us both  jump and pull apart.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed, and we both laughed when we realized the laundry in one of the dryer's was done.

"Time's up," I told him as I hopped down off the washer to start  separating and folding the load. With Will's help it was done in no  time, so we each climbed on separate washers to wait for the next batch.  Our kiss was forgotten, or at least the moment had passed.

"I'm really sorry about everything, Will. Joe told me what your company  said. I can't believe Joe and Jess didn't tell me my dad had threatened  their jobs too."

He looked away and nodded. "I was pretty damn pissed the other day, but I've had time to simmer down."

"How long have you worked there?"

"A little over three years. I've done all the IT work for that firm for  the past two years. No one else in our office knows a damn thing about  their network."

"And you have a sideline business involving elevator cameras?" I asked. I couldn't contain my smile.

He grinned too. "Yeah, that's pretty new. Dylan was trying to just hire  me to digitally store the feed and all as a favor, but now he's pissed  because he can't hook up with my sister in the garage or elevator  without risking a chance of me eventually seeing it."

"So the two of you were friends before he married your sister?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, for thirteen years. About a year ago he suddenly started going  MIA at the same time as my sister. They were both going to school at  Madison, and I didn't even realize what was going on until I walked in  on them in her dorm room one night," he said with a shiver. "I called  him out for being a player that was just going to end up breaking her  heart, and he's proven me wrong."

"And his family is the Daughtrys that owns Daughtry Brewing?"

"Yep."

"And they built this place?"

"Uh-huh. It was a birthday present for Jules," he said, shaking his  head. "Millions spent like it was nothing. Oh, and he gave her a diamond  engagement ring the same day."

"You jealous he's so filthy rich?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It'd be nice not to have to worry about money again, but I don't want his."

I'd never worried about money. I grew up in a big house, went to  expensive private schools, and a private university. My parents gave me  everything I wanted and more. Mostly it felt like my dad tried to buy my  love and forgiveness for leaving me and my mom.         

     



 

"The saying is true - money doesn't buy happiness," I told him.

"Not having to worry about paying bills would make me happy."

"Life might be less stressful without bills, but money can't pay for the important things."

"You speaking from experience?" he asked.

"Yeah. My dad's always made tons of money. But in order to make that  money he was never home with me and my mom. I don't recall a single  special event or holiday where he didn't at some point have to make a  business call or have some other interruption from work."

"He acted like work was more important than you and your mom?"

"It wasn't an act. Work was more important. My mom always did her best  dealing with it, but when she caught him cheating on her with one of his  clients she finally left him."

"Oh wow. How old were you?"

"Ten. I was young enough to still think my dad walked on water, even if  he wasn't ever around. I couldn't understand why my mom left him. I  blamed her for splitting up our family because I was too young to  realize he'd been unfaithful."

"I'm sorry," Will said.