Cage's Misconduct (NHL Scorpions #3) (30 page)

“Why? Did something happen to make the silence bother you?”

I thought for a minute about how to explain it. “It wasn’t something overly traumatic. It was just that Jody was a very loud presence in the house, you know? And when he left, it was hard. It was just Mom and me then, and she was still recovering from her alcoholism. She’s been clean a long time, but it took her a really long time to get back to life. The silence reminds me of having my mom in the house, but still being completely alone.”

“Is it going to bother you when I’m traveling?”

“No. Not at all. It’s not something that bothers me exactly. It’s just that inane chatter is comforting to me, you know? I’m perfectly capable of spending time by myself. I even enjoy it sometimes. It’s kind of hard to put into words.”

He pulled me closer to him on the couch. “As long as you’re happy. You know, we haven’t talked about our living arrangements after we’re married. What do you want to do?”

“I just figured we’d live in your place. My place is only a six month rental.” His place was teeny tiny, but the location was great.

“My place? We can’t live there. There’s no room, and no yard. Don’t you want to get a dog? I want a dog.”

“What if a dog tries to eat Charlie?” Charlie was at Vlad and Zoe’s while we were in Dallas. Crystal adored her.

“It might be hard to get Charlie back from Crystal.” I was thinking the same thing.

“So what? You want to look at renting a bigger house?”

“No. I was thinking about buying a house in San Diego. What do you think about that?”

I thought that I hadn’t really thought about it yet. But what about money? I knew that was going to be a sticky situation. I couldn’t just live off his money, but I sure as hell couldn’t afford a house in San Diego. “Well, I don’t know.”

“You don’t like San Diego? I thought you loved it there. And if I get traded someday, we’ll have a great vacation place.”

“To be honest, it’s the money.”

He frowned, looking totally confused. “What do you mean? I have plenty.”

“I know you do, but I don’t. I don’t want to just have you buy everything. I don’t know. It feels wrong. I want to make my own way.”

The way his body stiffened up, I thought we might be gearing up to our second fight. “Are you fucking kidding me? You know I don’t care about my money. As soon as we’re married, it’ll be yours anyway.”

“I doubt your lawyer will see it that way. You need to get a prenup, Cage. I don’t have much, and I don’t want any doubt in our marriage.” Oh, he was mad now.

“There won’t be a prenup. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t marry you. Jesus, you can have it all. I’ll write every fucking penny over to you as soon as you sign the marriage license.” He got up and stomped out of the room like a petulant child.

“Where’s the fire?” Cage’s mom came in just in time to see Cage storm out.

“Well, he got mad when I brought up a prenup.”

“Oh, sugar. He won’t want a prenup. What’s the point in getting married if you feel the need for a prenup?” She sat down next to me and patted my knee. “I don’t think you need to worry about your money. Cage has a lot of his own.”

It was laughable. She thought I was the one who had money to protect. “I don’t have any money, but he does. I don’t ever want him to worry about his money.”

“Oh, pisha. Did you tell him that?”

“Yes.”

“And what did he say?”

“He told me I could have it all. He said money doesn’t mean anything to him. But I don’t want his money, Mrs. Booker. I really don’t.”

She patted my knee again. “It’s Ma, sugar. And I know you don’t, but Cage likes to spend his money on his family, whether we want him to or not. Might as well get used to it.”

“But he wants to buy a house in San Diego now. Do you have any idea how much they can be? Millions!”

She looked at me very matter-of-factly. Just like her son. “Yes, but I suppose he has millions, doesn’t he?”

“Well, yeah, but that’s not the point. I won’t be contributing.”

“No? You’re just going to sit around all day and eat bon bons? You won’t take care of my son?”

“Well, yes. Of course I will.”

“There’s much more to contributing to a marriage than throwing money around. Heck, sugar, that’s the easy part. Will you love him? Make him happy? Be there for him when he’s sad?”

“Yes.”

“Then let him buy you a house. Think of it as the first thing you can do to make him happy.”

***

Cage came back inside after a half an hour went by. “Hey.”

I was drying the last large bowl that hadn’t fit in the dishwasher when he walked in. “Hey yourself.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get so pissy. It just bothers me that you think I’d ever think you wanted my money. I don’t, you know. I know you don’t care about it.”

I walked into his open arms. “So does that mean you’re not going to buy me a house? Because I talked to your Mom and I’ve decided I want a house with a pool. And maybe a pool boy named Juan.”

He threw back his head and laughed in relief. “Yes to the pool, no to the pool boy.”

“Hey, Cage? Let’s not wait.”

“Not wait for what? To buy a house? We can start looking as soon as we get home.”

“No. To get married. Let’s get married now. This week.” I’d had the idea before we left and had done a little research. We could get the marriage license on Tuesday and be married on Friday. There was a three day waiting period after you got the license, but that was it.

“As much as I’d love to say yes, no.”

“No?”

“No. I know how much your family means to you. Don’t you want them to be there?”

In the heat of the moment, I hadn’t given it much thought. “They do mean a lot to me, but so do you, and I don’t want to wait. I’ve always felt that marriage is between the husband and wife—no one else. If we were in a place where all of our family was, and we had a year to plan a wedding, I might think differently. But we’re not and we don’t have that kind of time. The legal part can take place anywhere. Let’s do that here. And then, when we’re settled in our new place, wherever that may be, we’ll invite everyone for a wedding celebration. We could even get married again on the beach!”

“You’re really sure about this?”

I hugged him tighter, listening to his heartbeat. “Yeah, I am. I mean Mom’s not going to be able to come back to the States again so soon. And I’ve never wanted a big wedding anyway. It’s just not my thing. Unless you want one. If you do, I’m all in.”

“I just want you to be mine. I don’t care how it comes about. I’d marry you right this very second standing here in my mother’s kitchen if I could. I love you, Karen. You know that, right?”

I did know it, but that was the first time he’d ever said it to me in such a heartfelt way. What an awesome feeling. So why were tears blinding me? I wanted to see his beautiful face. “I love you too, Cage.” And I did.

He kissed me. It didn’t take more than a couple of seconds to become heated. Remembering where we were, I pushed him back. “No, don’t start that. Look where we are.”

“Fuck.”

“Cage! Your mother will slap you silly if she hears you talking like that.”

“You’re right. Let’s go tell Ma we need a witness to go with us to sign the marriage certificate after they pronounce us husband and wife.”

***

I called Jody and my mother to tell them the news. My mother was over the moon, and said that she and Samuel understood and would be there whenever we planned the celebration. Jody was not so understanding.

“No, Karen. You can’t get married there. Come home and we’ll talk about it.”

“Aw, Jody. I love you so much, but this is about me. You get that right?”

“I guess. I just always thought I’d get to walk you down the aisle and give you away. You’re my baby sister.”

Jody and Cage both had equal ease at turning on my water works. I tried to hide my sniffles, but my voice broke. “Oh, Jody. I’ll always be your baby sister. And I would be honored to have you give me away at our beach wedding when all of the family is there. I just don’t want to wait. You know?”

“You really love him, don’t you?”

“I really do. And Jody—he really loves me. I swear it.”

***

We said our vows with only his mother and brother in attendance, and of course Ethan, as he seemed to be an extended part of the family. Cage’s vows shot straight to my heart.

“Karen, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I didn’t even know I wanted what you had to give me until you’d given it to me. You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep. I want it all. I want to make a family with you, no matter how we do it. I want you to be my home, and the keeper of my heart. I want to be the keeper of your heart, too. I swear to you, on my own honor, that I’ll do everything in my power to make you glad you said yes to me. I’ll do everything I can to make ‘Mrs. Booker’ be your favorite words you ever hear.”

I could hardly get my own vows out after he was done. And they didn’t compare to his. I think I basically just told him I loved him. There was too much inside of me to articulate, but he didn’t seem to care.

“I can’t believe we’re married. It’s all going to work out, right?” I don’t know why I was nervous. There wasn’t any one thing I could put my finger on, but I had a weird feeling. Things were going too well, but maybe I should stop looking for trouble where none existed.

“Yes. We’re going to live happily ever after, you’ll see.” His firm belief pushed my doubts aside. I couldn’t wait to get back to San Diego and start house hunting. I’d gotten over my aversion to spending Cage’s money. Well, it was mine too now, I guess.

When we got back to the house, Cage’s mom came out of her bedroom with a small suitcase. “Where are you going, Ma?” Cage saw it first.

“I’m taking the boys to a hotel for the night. You don’t need your mom and brothers around for your wedding night.” Cage opened his mouth to object, but she stopped him with a pat to the chest. “Don’t worry, sugar. You paid for it, and I splurged on a mini suite at the Ritz.”

“Finally! You finally used the credit card I got for you? Good for you, Ma. Order anything you want there. Jaden, Ethan, you hear that? You boys get anything you want from room service. No limit!”

Her eyes lit up with mischief. “You just opened a can of worms, sugar. I hope that card has a big limit. It is your wedding after all. We Booker’s have to live it up for you tonight! Come on, boys. Let’s go.”

As soon as they left, we hit his room. But it wasn’t working for me. It was just too weird, being in Cage’s Mom’s house. We both pulled away at the same time, laughing. “I just can’t do it. It’s not that I don’t want you, it’s just weird, right?”

“It really is.” He took his hand and moved it downward to assure me he did, indeed, want me. “As you can see, I want you too, but I agree. I can’t get the fact that my mother took my little brothers out of the house so we could have sex. It’s strange.”

Switching the subject, I asked him about Ethan. “Why do you say brothers? Ethan isn’t really your brother, is he?”

“No, but I’ve always treated him like a brother. He lives here most of the time. When I come to visit, he stays in Jaden’s room in the top bunk. But this is really his room.”

“Oh, that just makes it ickier.” We both laughed before we got up and put our clothes back on.

“Once we get home, Mrs. Booker, I’m going to rock your world.”

I gave him what I hope was a saucy smile. “I’m going to hold you to that, Mr. Booker.” And he did. Oh boy, did he ever.

“Cage. Cage, stop.”

“Can’t.” He pinned me to the wall without even shutting the door first. His hand was under my shirt before I could tell him the old man next door was staring at us from his porch. I snapped out of it when I saw the old man’s hand move downward. I didn’t see where it landed, but I had no intention of becoming a peep show act.

“The old man next door is getting off on this.”

“Let him. He could use the excitement.” His lips followed his hand and sucked me through the thin shirt I wore. Before I could protest again, he kicked the door shut and locked it.

“Cage. Stop.”

“Fuck me, Mrs. Booker. What now?”

I loved when he called me that. “We just got off a plane. They’re dirty and nasty and filled with germs. I want to get a shower. And it’s going to take me a while. I want to shave and do all kinds of girly stuff.”

“I don’t need all that.” His hands had skimmed off my top and pulled down my bra. His lips were currently fastened around my nipple. And holy fuck, it felt tremendous. With Herculean effort I pushed him away. His lips came off me with an audible pop, making me sigh with the loss.

“I do. Give me twenty minutes, okay?”

“Twenty!?”

He looked crestfallen. Poor guy. “Yes, twenty.”

“Ten.”

“Fifteen.”

“Fine. Fifteen, but I’m setting my watch, and remember, that door doesn’t lock.” I watched as he set an alarm on his wristwatch. “You just wasted fifteen seconds watching me set my watch.”

I squealed and ran up the stairs, grabbing my travel bag on the way to the bathroom.

At the end of my fifteen minutes, Cage appeared in the doorway. I was wrapped in a towel and stopped him as he advanced toward me. “Uh uh. You shower now. And it better not take you more than two minutes.”

He held my eyes as he stripped off his shirt. Bare chested, he toed off his shoes and reached for his zipper never taking his eyes from mine. Before he had his zipper lowered, I made my escape.

I had hardly lit the last of the candles and pulled the quilt down on the bed before Cage was on me, water dripping down his gorgeous, naked body. “Now, Mrs. Booker, no excuses. Lie down and put your hands over your head.”

“Excuse me?” In his hands were two neckties. “Wait a minute. I thought we were going to make love. Not tie each other up.”

“I’ve decided that making love doesn’t mean what I thought it did. And I will take you slowly. Later. Right now you’re getting tied up because I don’t trust you. You’re too handsy, and I’m too weak to resist you. This way you’re under my control.”