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was ready, Scott said, “I hope I didn’t scare Cara. If I see her in the morning, I’ll beg for her forgiveness.”
    “If you’re gonna whisper sweet nothings in my ear, sugar, you might want to start with goodnight.” Cara ducked under the bar and approached them. “I could’ve been in bed hours ago if you hadn’t been hell-bent on keeping the girls entertained.”
    “I do believe she’s jealous, Marcs,” Scott sang, sounding drunk as a skunk as he hissed out his s-sounds. “And Cara darling, I wasn’t trying to entertain those young broads, for the record.”
    “Oh no?” Cara slapped a long piece of white rectangular paper against his chest. “Whether you were or weren’t doesn’t matter to me. Beer was on the house, but the girls’ liquor comes at a fee.”
    Scott held out the paper long enough to realize it was a receipt. Dizzy without trying to focus on anything in particular, Scott folded the receipt and put it in his pocket. “I’ll settle up with you tomorrow.”
    Cara leaned forward. “You don’t have the money on ya. Do you?”
    He patted down his pockets. “No.”
    “Well, between now and tomorrow afternoon, you’d better figure out how you’re gonna settle up.” She looked him up and down, just really stroked him with one hell of a heated gaze. “Of course, if you don’t come up with it between now and then, we can always take it out in trade.”
     
    ****
     
    The next morning, Cara was flipping pancakes and tossing bacon when Sassy and Logan entered the kitchen. Logan was in an ill mood and Cara understood why. Interrupting his sleep was akin to shaking a hibernating bear.
    “Morning, sunshine,” she teased, shooting Sassy a wink.
    Sassy just rolled her eyes, grabbed a mug, and poured a cup of coffee.
    “It might have been if I hadn’t been on house duty last night.”
    “Ah, poor baby.” Cara had heard all the commotion an hour or so after she turned in. Apparently, some of the girls had decided to visit Jake’s room—at the same time—and the dumb bastard had been intoxicated and had actually thought he could run interference in his own lame game. “What was Jake up to last night?”
    Logan snorted at the question. “Tell me you aren’t going there again.”
    “I’m not going there again.”
    “And mean it,” Sassy muttered, taking a seat next to Logan at one of the many long cafeteria-style tables.
    Cara grabbed a spatula and scooped a few pancakes off the grill. “What happened between me and Jake happened for a reason. I don’t have any regrets, but I sure don’t have any future plans where he’s concerned.”
    “Too much for you, Cara?” Jake asked, entering the kitchen with an extra spring in his step.
    “Never mind, Logan,” Cara said. “I can tell by the look on his face. Dumb bastard banged every last one of them last night.”
    Sassy sighed, sipped her coffee, and as soon as Jake passed on through without pausing for conversation, she said, “Britt took him to his knees in the hallway.”
    “Hmm. That doesn’t sound right. Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around? Poor girl spends so much time crouched on the floor, she’ll eventually need knee replacement surgery.”
    Sassy snickered. Logan scowled.
    “You liked that one, huh?” Cara had developed a true friendship with Sassy. Most of the Heroes and Rogues women were close, but there were a few exceptions. Britt had wanted Logan for herself, so she and Sassy weren’t exactly pals.
    After Cara finished frying the bacon, she placed the greasy pieces on a pan and carried it to the table. Tigger and Summer would be along soon, and she wanted to be sure to give the little wench something to bitch about—greasy foods would set her off first thing in the morning. Cara couldn’t help but grin at the thought. Anytime she could crawl under that bitch’s skin was a win for the home broads.
    “Logan said Scott kept you up late last night.”
    “Yeah, right. I wish,” Cara teased.
    A door