Page 5 of Stick Side
Eric would make some woman a fabulous partner one day, but he’d have to decide he was ready to settle down first. Given the way he’d been tomcatting around town, she didn’t see that happening any time soon.
Melody was grateful when Kevin spoke since it prevented her having to respond to Eric’s comment.
“Pam was sorry she didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to you before you left on Sunday,” he said, “but the girls have been resisting nap time lately.”
“Given that you have not one, or two, butthreebabies under one year of age, you can tell your wife that I more than understand her need to focus on the girls. I would have understood with one, but three? All I have to say iswow.”
Kevin’s expression visibly softened. “My Pam is a pretty incredible lady. I lucked out with all my girls.”
Melody felt her inner romantic release a dreamy sigh. There was just something about a dedicated family man that never ceased to warm her from the inside out. NHL players weren’t known for their fidelity or family values, but Kevin was evidence that faithful and devoted husbands did exist within their ranks.
“Speaking of that,” Kevin interrupted her thoughts, “the reason Pam wanted to talk to you is that she’s planning a night out with some friends and wanted to know if you might want to go with them.”
“Awww. That’s sweet. I would love to go. Thanks, Kev. I’ll get in touch with her.”
“I think she said something about a place called . . .” Kevin moved his eyes up and to the side in the way people do when they’re trying to remember something. Melody saw the light of recognition in his eyes before he completed his thought with “Cellars.” Kevin snapped his fingers. “That’s it.”
“Cellars!” Eric inserted himself into the conversation once again.
“What’s wrong with Cellars?” Melody wanted to know. “I’ve never been, but I’ve heard great things about both the ambiance and the wine list.”
“No, no, no,” Eric grumbled.
Melody lifted a dubious eyebrow. “You’ll have to do better than that if you don’t think we should go there.”
“Okay. Okay,” Eric hedged. “Cellars has a nice atmosphere and a pretty great wine list. Killer cocktails.” Of course, Eric had been there, party boy that he was. “It just has a reputation for high-end hookups.”
Melody could feel her eyebrows lift in surprised amusement. “High-end hookups?” Surely, he didn’t mean what she thought he meant. “Of the Julia Roberts inPretty Womanvariety?”
“What? No!” Eric’s look of surprise was priceless. She wished she could snap a picture of his impressively contorted facial expression so she could tease him with it later.
“I’d like to pretend I don’t know what you’re referring to,” Eric grumbled, “but I have four sisters, so I definitely do.” He gave a mock shudder.
A relieved chuckle escaped her now that she knew she and Pam wouldn’t be enjoying cocktails amid illicit rendezvous. Which left her wondering. “In that case, what’s the problem?” she asked.
“I’m telling you,” Eric groused. “Cellars is a classy joint, but if you go, you’re going to be spending the night fighting off older men trying to buy you drinks and convince you to go out with them.”
Melody quirked a brow. “How much older is older?”
“I don’t know,” Eric supplied unhelpfully. “Older than you.”
Melody’s lips tipped up into a devilish smile when she remembered the establishment he’d stumbled into the other week. “Look here, Mr. Cougar Bars . . .”
Eric scowled. “I wonder what your father would have to say about this.”
Melody gasped. She wasn’t sure if it was because he was the only brother in a family full of sisters, but Eric took his protective instincts too far sometimes. “Don’t you dare bring my father into this!”
Eric smirked, believing he’d won his argument.
Oh, no, he didn’t.“What about that girl you met at the sports bar the other month? What wouldherfather say?” She didn’t let him answer. “I’ll tell you what her father would say. He’d say—”
Melody stopped abruptly when she felt the presence of a warm male body behind her.
“He’d say he’s going to kill himself a crab.”
The deeply masculine voice caused chills to run up and down her spine. She shivered, and not from the cold.
A puff of air tickled the hair at the nape of her neck, suggesting the owner of the voice had taken a step closer. “I suspect that’s what her father might say.”
