All In:Playing the Fool(7)

"Sure. See ya' sis," I told Jules, then let myself out.

After living Dylan's filthy rich life for more than a week, walking into  my normal size, sparsely furnished, lonely apartment, and climbing into  bed alone made me feel even shittier.



 …



Lacy



I stepped out of the elevator and almost talked myself out of this  again. No, damn it! I've come this far, remembering the code Will  entered Friday night to get up to his penthouse. This was for the other  half of my favorite earrings, a birthday present from my grandma, which  also just happened to be a good excuse to see him again. But what if he  doesn't want to see you? The bitch in my head asked. Well, then, I'll  get my earring and be on my way.

Taking a deep breath I finally stepped forward, knocked on the door and waited.

I sure as hell wasn't expecting a pretty brunette to open the door ...  in pajamas. She looked just as surprised to see me on the other side.

"Hi, um, can I help you?" she asked with a frown.

I froze. I hadn't prepared for this scenario. "No, that's okay. I can  see Will's busy," I replied, as I took a step backwards toward the  elevator.

"Will?" the young woman asked with a furrowed brow. "He's not here. Did  you want to leave a message for him, or do you want me to tell him you  stopped by?" She didn't sound jealous, so maybe she wasn't a woman he  was seeing. Upon closer inspection, she actually looked like Will. Same  mocha colored hair and lime green eyes.

"Are you his sister?"

She smiled. "Yeah, that obvious, huh?"

"Yeah. Um, I was just wondering if he maybe found my other diamond earring. I think I lost it here Friday night."

"Oh. Well, he didn't say anything about it, but come on in and we'll look for it."

I heaved a sigh of relief, grateful that she was so nice and willing to help me find it. "Thanks."

"Chance it's in the living room?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"No, we were only in the, ah, hot tub and bed," I admitted, as my face and hers both turned red.

"Right," she said, and started toward the bedroom. "Dylan? Are you dressed?" she called out.

"Yeah, but I can remedy that in like, five seconds flat, if you're ready to go again," a man's deep voice responded.

"No! Keep your damn clothes on." She shook her head as we walked into  the huge bedroom with the enormous bed. A nice looking, and really big,  blonde man sat propped up against the headboard, holding a laptop. His  eyes widened a second before his jaw dropped.

"Holy shit! You're the best wife ever! I didn't even know you wanted a  threesome, but I'm all in, baby," he exclaimed, pulling his shirt over  his head. I looked away after I got an eyeful of his broad and very nice  chest and abs.

"Oh my God!" the woman exclaimed, covering her even redder face. "I'm so  sorry," she turned and said to me. "My husband can be a real jackass."

"Aww," the man made a noise of disappointment and flopped heavily back  against the headboard, making it rattle. "You mean she's not a surprise  threesome?" he asked. When I glanced back over, a huge canvas photo  above his head caught my eye. I didn't remember seeing it there Friday  night. It was of Will's sister. In naughty lingerie? Huh.

"No, and now you won't be having any twosomes either."

"What am I supposed to think when you bring a random woman into our bedroom?" he asked.

"This is  …  I'm sorry, what was your name?" she asked me.

"Lacy."

"This is Lacy. Will's  …  date from the other night. Have you seen a diamond earring?"

"Wow, he was right. How the fuck did Will manage to snag you?" the man  asked as he climbed out of bed and opened a dresser drawer. "You were  shit-faced drunk, right?"

"Dylan! My brother is a sweet, handsome guy."

"Hold on," I said as all the pieces started to fall into place. "Do you  guys live here?" I asked even though I was pretty sure I knew the  answer.

"Ah, yeah," the woman replied, sounding confused. "Why?" she asked then  gasped. "Did that bastard pretend like this was his place?"         

     



 

"Yep. He sure did," I responded, pissed that he'd not only used me, but  had also lied to me, apparently about everything except his name.

The man laughed while the woman looked appalled. "Dylan was right. You  are too good for my brother. That lying sack of shit. I can't believe he  did that."

"Here you go," the man said when he came over and dropped the diamond stud into my palm.

"Thank you," I sighed in relief.

"You found it and didn't tell me?" the woman snapped at the man, Dylan I  believe she'd called him, with her hands on her hips. "What if it was  mine?"

"I knew it wasn't yours, and I didn't want you accusing me of cheating  on you if you found it. So I put it away until I could give it to Will."

Smart man.

"Oh. Well, that was probably a good idea," she conceded.

"I know, I have my moments," he responded. "So, ladies, threesome.  What's it going to take to make that happen? Lots of alcohol for  deniability?" he asked with a smile. His wife shook her head before  leaving the room, and of course I followed.

"I apologize on his behalf. We've only been married a week and I'm already having second thoughts."

"Hey, I heard that! You know you love me!" he yelled from the bedroom.

"Congratulations," I told her. "He seems ... like a handful."

"He is, but he's worth it," she laughed, obviously head over heels in  love despite her teasing. "I'm Julie by the way. Julie Reavis," she said  with a smile, offering her hand which I shook. "No wait, I'm Julie  Daughtry now!"

"It was nice meeting you. Sorry for barging in on you and your new  husband, and thanks for helping me find the earring," I said, holding it  up as I went toward the door.

"Did you want to see him again?" she asked. "Will?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but that was before I found out he lied to me."

"I can totally understand that, but my brother really is a nice guy. He  told us you were too good for him, so maybe that's why he lied."

"What?" I asked.

"He said you could have any man you wanted, so why would you want him."

I thought he was different...but it turned out I was wrong," I said as I  left the apartment, almost as disappointed as the last time, if that  was possible.

...

Wednesday was my first day of work, helping out in my dad's office. He  was the senior partner at the biggest law firm downtown. Since one of  his attorney's legal assistant had unexpected child care problems, they  needed help for a few weeks. I was going to give them a hand, albeit  without actually getting paid, while I looked for a job with a  television station. I was also thankful for the distraction. I still  couldn't stop thinking of my one night with Will. His quick dismissal  and lies stung like a son of a bitch.

I went straight to my dad's side of the building when I got off the  elevator, waved to his assistant, then looked around his office while he  finished his telephone call. I was used to waiting on my father. "Hold  on, I have to take this call," had been a more common saying than "I  love you" in our house.

A few pictures of me when I was little sat in frames around the office.  There were none of him and my mother, but what man would have pictures  of his ex-wife in his office? I hated the flicker of hope that I'd held  onto ever since I was ten and found out they were splitting up. I'd  never let go of the notion that one day they'd get back together and  we'd be a family again. It'd be even tougher now that my dad was on his  third wife. My mom had sworn off men entirely, preferring the comfort of  pills and alcohol instead.

"Hey princess, you ready to go to work?" my dad asked when he hung up the phone.

"Dad, I'm twenty-two and I'm going to be working in your office. Maybe you shouldn't call me princess anymore."

"Oh, you'll always be my princess, no matter how old you are. Now, come  on and I'll introduce you to Joe and Jess. I think you'll all get along  great. Joe is a real laid back guy, just a few years out of law school,  and everyone loves Jess," he said, guiding me down the hallway of the  busy office.

Uh-oh. I had a bad feeling about this young attorney named Joe. There  had to be more than one lawyer named Joe in a city as big as Greensboro,  right? Fate couldn't actually be that cruel, could it?

My dad knocked on an office door, and then walked in with me right on  his heels. I was anxious to see if my instinct was right. Fuck. There  might be more than one Attorney Joe in the city, but this one was in  fact Will's friend from the club.

"Joe, meet my daughter, Lacy. Lacy this is Joe Montgomery, our firm's criminal defense attorney."

The familiar handsome man with black hair and blue eyes looked over at  me and smiled politely before his gaze went back to my dad. After only a  moment, his eyes came right back to mine, and he studied me closer. The  second look he gave me was more appraising and somewhat heated before  he smiled a knowing smile.