Page 37 of Offside and Off-Limits
He and Asher Tremblay are clearly lost, looking for…I don’t know what. But it sure as heck isn’t this support group.
Cade’s eyes roam the room until they land on mine, and he raises his brows in greeting, as though he didn't expect to see me here.
I pull my lips into a line and look away.
What the heck is he doing here? And did he really not expect to see me? Sure, I didn't tell him my plans tonight were to come to this support group, but did he know that I was here and decided it’d be a great idea to come along?
The nerve of the guy!
“Gentlemen,” Bernice says, her brows springing up in surprise. “Are you here for the Chronic Warriors Support Group?”
“Yes, we are, ma’am,” Cade replies, but at least this time he’s “ma’aming” a middle-aged woman and not me.
But wait. He said he’s here for the group?
“Hey, Clara!” Asher exclaims. “Clara’s here,” he adds to Cade.
“Yeah, I see her,” Cade says, his gaze landing on me once more.
“Hi, guys,” I say weakly.
“Clara?” Bernice questions.
“This is Asher Tremblay and Cade Lennox,” I say, and people murmur their greetings.
“Welcome, Asher and Cade. Pull up a chair and join us. Everyone, let’s scoot back to make room,” Bernice says, gesturing with her hands.
We do as we're told, sharing confused looks with one another as we do. No one knows why a couple of pro hockey players have turned up here tonight, although a bunch of the group look pretty excited about it.
Of course Cade places a chair between me and Owen, forcing me to make room for him while flashing me that confident smile of his. “Okay if I sit here, Clara?”
At least he didn’t call me Triple Threat in front of everyone. I wouldn’t want to have to explain that.
“I guess I can't stop you,” I sniff.
“You sure know how to make a guy feel special,” he replies, smirking like this is some kind of fun joke. He sits down and the chair immediately creaks with his bulk, and an image of it snapping under the pressure and him landing on his butt, makes me smile.
I glance across at Asher, who’s also on a chair that's too small for him, as well. The two of them look like a couple of giants sitting on toddler stools.
As people chat, I lean a little closer to Cade and immediately regret it when I catch his aroma, the same aroma from the arena,sanssweat.
Why does Cade Lennox have to smell so dang good on top of his good looks, flirtatiousness, and charm? It's not fair. A guy with that multi-layered attractiveness should not be allowed to roam loose in the world. He’s a danger to all womankind.
Particularlythiswoman.
“What are you doing here?” I hiss under my breath.
“I could ask the same,” he replies without answering my question.
I lift my chin. “This ismysupport group. I come here everysingle week.” I challenge him with my gaze. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you didn’t answer my question.”
His brows climb to meet his hairline. “Yoursupport group? Do you run this thing?”
I’m working out how to reply when Bernice welcomes the two new, unexpected members to tonight’s session. “Tell us why you’re here, gentlemen,” she says with an encouraging smile.
“Do you wanna go first?” Cade asks Asher, which doesn’t surprise me in the least. I for one know that he’s only here because somehow, he found out that I attend these sessions. All it does is give him another environment in which to flirt with me and make me even more uncomfortable around him.
This guy is seriously beginning to push my buttons.
