Cage's Misconduct (NHL Scorpions #3) by Nikki Worrell Page B

meant to be skimpy, not classy. I laughed again as I watched Dan’s eyes follow her all the way over to the bar. How on earth did this guy get so many dates? “You don’t date the same girl twice, do you?” I wasn’t mad, and smiled at him to let him know. He didn’t owe me anything, and I wasn’t interested in him anyway.
    “Huh? Why do you say that?”
    “Because you haven’t taken your eyes off of Natalie yet.”
    With a frown creasing his forehead, he asked, “Who’s Natalie?”
    I didn’t just chuckle then. A nice, loud laugh came out of my mouth. “Oh, you’re precious, aren’t you? Natalie. The waitress? The one with the big boobs you were staring at not more than a second ago?”
    “Oh, no. I wasn’t. I was …yeah, okay. Sorry about that. I’m all yours. I promise.”
    Natalie came back with our drinks. She plunked mine down in front of me, and it spilled over her hand. When she handed Dan his whiskey, she looked him in the eye as she licked her Jack and Coke soaked fingers. His eyes widened a fraction, but to his credit, he looked back to me, giving me a nod as if to say, “See? I can ignore her.”
    “You know what? I think it’s time to go. Natalie, what time do you get off work?”
    She turned to me with a jerk, surprised I was talking to her, I guess. “I’m done now, why?” Understanding swept through her and she tilted her head back as her brows shot up. “Oh. You mean …” She made a circular motion with her index finger (the one she’d just licked) encompassing the three of us. “A threesome? Oh, yes. I’m in.”
    “Oh, God. No. That is not what I meant.” She sidled over to me and brushed my hair back.
    “Are you sure, kitten?”
    Jesus. Honestly, all I wanted was a hot bath! Alone. I chugged my drink down, enjoying the burn, and stood up. “I’m going to go.” Dan started to protest, but I stopped him with a finger. “Three reasons. Number one, no offense Dan, I didn’t really feel like going out in the first place. I’m not sure why I said yes.” I held up finger number two. “Secondly, I think you and Natalie here have more in common than you and I do. And third—actually I don’t have a third.”
    “Karen, I’m sorry. This isn’t how I planned our night out to go. I’ll take you home.”
    For the first time all night he was being genuine. Maybe there was hope for him yet, but not with me. “It’s fine, Dan. Really. I’m just going to grab a cab.”
    I walked out of the bar and went across the street to an all-night convenience store. All of the sudden I was in the mood for a KitKat. Yeah, I won’t examine that too far.
    It was kind of ironic. When I was a kid, there was a boy I used to play with, Malcolm, who loved KitKats, too. Malcolm and I used to run down to the corner store after school where they had penny candy and buy as many as we could. We’d save for weeks to be able to afford some KitKats. They weren’t just a penny like the other candy, though. They were on the top shelf where the expensive candy was.
    I swear, it was magical. We’d walk into that corner store after saving and searching for every penny available, and you could hear angels sing when our eyes landed on that shiny red and black wrapping. Any money left over after we bought what usually amounted to three whole KitKats went to penny candy. Most often Swedish Fish. Good times.
    Anyway, I told myself that was why I had a craving for KitKats, and it had nothing to do with a certain wayward hockey player I know. And then …speak of the devil. “What are you doing here? It’s after midnight.”
    Cage was straightening out some crumpled dollar bills at the front counter. When he saw me, he put his hand over his purchase to hide it from view. “Didn’t know I had a curfew, Mom, but I’m buying condoms if you really want to know. Kyrissa and I ran out.”
    Mom? I had no idea what had happened to cause Cage’s about-face. I thought we were really making headway in my bid for