Fire and Ice: Rekindled (The Fire and Ice Series Book 2) (9 page)

Hailey

Panting heavily from my oral explorations, Kellan suddenly
lifted me under my arms to stand in front of him, pinning me with a hunger
filled gaze, before he began to eye me up and down.

With his hands fisted at his sides, he commanded,
"Strip." Pausing for a moment, he reconnected his eyes with mine
before adding, "Slowly."

Seeing him fight for control while he growled out the
instructions to me was maddeningly erotic. A nervous shiver traveled through my
body as I began to deliberately peel my clothing off, one item at a time.

Standing in only my bra and panties, I reached behind myself
to unclasp my skimpy lace bra. I obviously didn't expect to be standing half
undressed in front of Kellan tonight, so I hadn't worn the simple, delicate
undergarments as a fashion statement, but rather to help wick away the heat of
the humid summer day. Little did I know the dainty, thin material would come in
handy when I'd grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on this morning.
Noticing Kellan's jaw tick as he continued to peruse my half naked body, I slowed
my movements, taking the opportunity to tease him a bit, and let my straps fall
off of my shoulders, clutching the cups in my hands before my bra could slide
from my body.

Obviously becoming impatient, Kellan closed the gap between
us, leaning his head to whisper in my ear, "You wanna hurry this up a
little, or you want me to rip these off you?" he asked, hooking his thumbs
into the waistband of my panties, and giving it a small tug before he released
it. As it snapped against my skin, a thrill of pleasure shot straight to my
core.

"You said slowly," I feigned innocence, biting my
lower lip and peeking up at him through my lashes. I was desperately trying to
suppress the grin that was creeping across my lips.

"I changed my mind. Playtime's over," he murmured
against my neck as he began to kiss me softly, pulling me against his hips as
he ground his erection against my stomach.

Pulling away from him slightly, I quipped, "You're in a
rush, tonight. You have somewhere else you need to be?"

Narrowing his eyes on mine, he stated simply, "Yeah.
Inside you." My brows rose at his frank bluntness. Lowering his head once
more, he began to lick and nibble on my earlobe as his heated breath washed
over me, sending tingles through my body. "I've been wanting to fuck you
for ages," he stated without shame. Kellan never was one to mince words.

At his declaration, my knees nearly buckled as I managed to
breathe out hoarsely, "Well, fuck me then." Kellan stilled, leaning
back a few inches to regard me, as if he couldn't believe I had just said what
I did. My brain had obviously seized, as the words had flown out of my mouth
before I'd had a chance to think about them. Did I come off sounding like a
slut? I knew Kellan had been with his fair share of loose women, but I didn't
want to think about that right now, nor did I want myself compared to them.

"Say it again," he ordered with a heated glare. Apparently,
my statement didn't put him off after all.

Knowing I was having this affect on him was making me feel
bold. Pushing my inhibitions from my mind, I repeated, "I want you to fuck
me, Kellan," as his eyes lit up with desire. Wasting no time, he placed
his hands against either side of my cheeks, and pulled my lips firmly against
his own. I threaded my hands through his silky hair as I opened my lips,
leaning into him to deepen the kiss.

Bzzz bzzz...
a
faint noise sounded in the background. Lost in the passion of our embrace, I
barely registered the echoing nuisance.
Bzzz
bzzz. Bzzz bzzz
, the noise continued.
What
is that...a fly?
With no luck of
pushing the persistent sound out of my mind, I reluctantly broke our kiss as I
scanned the room, seeking out the pesky annoyance. My eyes landed on Kellan's
jeans crumpled up on the floor. Realization dawned on me that the insistent
buzzing must have been coming from his phone, which I assumed was stashed in
his pocket.

Kellan seemed oblivious as he continued to feather kisses
along my jaw line and neck. Not wanting our spellbinding moment to be broken, I
sighed at the intrusion, but the damn phone just wouldn't shut up. Reluctantly
I nodded in the direction of the wretched device, saying with irritancy,
"You're pants are vibrating."

"Hmm?" Kellan moaned against my throat.

"Your pants...they're vibrating," I repeated
firmly.

"Mmm..." Kellan managed, clearly disinterested.

Bzzz bzzz. For Pete's
sake...how long is it going to go on for?
The unwelcome distraction was
getting on my last nerve. I managed to wrench myself away from Kellan's grip
enough to get his attention, huffing out, "I think it's your phone."

Shrugging, Kellan leaned back into me, trailing off,
"Let it go to voicemail."

Bzzz bzzz.
"Um...they
seem pretty adamant," I said, squirming against his grip.

Unwilling to relinquish me, he continued his avoidance,
murmuring, "They'll call back," as he worked his mouth along my
collarbones, eliciting a small moan from my throat.

Bzzz bzzz.
Ok,
this was getting ridiculous. I shot daggers across the room with my eyes,
hoping to penetrate Kellan's jeans and obliterate his phone. But I couldn't
ignore the incessant disturbance any longer. It was beginning to feel like
Chinese water torture. "Clearly, whoever it is isn't getting the
hint," I bit out sarcastically.

Kellan apprehensively ceased his advancements, leaned his
forehead against mine, and sighed, saying, "Don't go anywhere. This will
only take a minute." He gently ran his fingers along my lips, and gave me
a chaste kiss before stepping away from me to go retrieve the abhorrent device.

I rolled my eyes at the thought.
Where am I gonna go? I'm standing here practically naked.
There was no way I was about to
let Kellan Haines slip through my fingers this time.

Chapter Fourteen

Kellan

Tearing myself away from Hailey, I begrudgingly ambled to
retrieve my phone. I felt like chucking it in the toilet just to silence the
damn thing. But when I pulled it from the pocket of my jeans, it showed I had
four missed calls from the bar, and a message from Georgia in shouty capital
letters that read:

YOU'RE MIA ON UR FIRST DAY? THE BAND HAS BEEN WAITING ON U
FOR AN HOUR!!!

Fuck! As much as I wanted to continue to stroke every inch
of Hailey's waiting body, I knew I had signed up willingly to take over the
bar. I had set up a meeting with a primo band that I was hoping to contract as
our house band. This wasn't the way to make a great first impression, nor was
it good business. Georgia was right, as badly as I wanted to say, 'Fuck it', I
couldn't just shirk my responsibilities. I'd put every cent of my savings into
this business, and everything I had was on the line.

The last thing I want to do is let Hailey down. We've only
begun to scratch the surface of rekindling our relationship, but what's brewing
between us right now has me feeling confident that we can get past everything
that has kept us apart. As my punch drunk mind sobers a bit, I realize it's
gonna take more than falling back into bed with each other...it's gonna take
time and communication to rebuild the trust. But I know she'll understand my
priority needs to be the bar right now. I can't let distractions get in my way.

Tossing my phone on the bed, I hastily begin to climb back
into my jeans with frustration. As I gather up the rest of my clothes that have
been recklessly strewn across the floor, Hailey asks, "What's going on? Is
everything ok?"

I nod towards the phone on her bed, grumbling out, "I
was supposed to have a meeting with a band at the bar. They've been waiting on
me for an hour."

I peek up at her tentatively, and immediately register the
disappointment etched on her face. "Oh," she states simply, casting
her eyes down to the floor.

Taking in a lungful of air, I toss my disheveled clothes on
her bed and come to rest in front of her. Tipping her chin, I give her a
reassuring smile before turning her around and clasping her bra for her.
Sweeping her hair to fall over her shoulders, my eyes travel over the tattoo
she had gotten in memory of her mother, and I recant the bond I felt with her
that day, as we both adorned our skin as a testament to those we loved so
deeply.

I lean down and feather soft kisses along the tattoo and her
neck, reach down to grip her by the hips, and pull her back against my chest as
I whisper, "Shouldn't take too long." She moans softly, and my cock
begins to harden once more. My will to remain steadfast is quickly evaporating.
"I can come back when I finish up...I mean, if you want me to."

"Mmm hmm," she breathes out, letting her head fall
back against my chest.

"You sure?" I ask with genuine concern. "I
mean, it's been a long day. I don't want to keep you up half the night."
This is a first...trying to talk yourself
OUT of getting laid...

Turning in my arms, Hailey clasps her hands behind my neck,
gives me a coy smile, and says, "That's
exactly
what I want you to do."
Don't have to ask me twice.

Unable to hide my excitement, my lips curl up into a goofy
grin before I plant a quick kiss on her soft lips, and release her from my
grip. Grabbing my heap of clothes, and shoving my phone into my back pocket, I
say, "Sorry, Princess...I'm
way
late."

She leans against the doorframe, a sexy smile playing on her
lips, and she nods towards the bed as she purrs, "I'll be waiting."

Staggering, I fumble to climb into my clothes as I brush
past her, making my way to the door. "I'll call you when I'm on my
way," I stammer as I volley my eyes from hers to the buttons on my shirt.

"Don't bother," she says. "I'll leave the
door unlocked."

I grin wide again at the thought of the possibilities
tonight has in store for me...for us. Taking a long stride towards her, I kiss
her chastely once more. For a moment, there is an awkward charge in the air; I
feel like a kid planning my first date. Holding her stare, I slowly walk
backwards until my back hits the front door. Never letting my eyes fall from
hers, I reach behind myself, turn the knob, and step down blindly onto her
front porch. I lift my hand to wave, cooing out, "See you soon, ok?"

She returns the wave, saying softly, "Bye. See you
soon."

Reluctantly I tear my gaze from hers, and close the door,
letting it quietly latch behind me. Shaking myself back to reality, I click
twice on my key fob, and jog to my car, cram myself into the driver's seat, and
toss my jacket onto the passenger seat, as I simultaneously struggle to find the
ignition. Revving my car to life, I sit still for a moment and peer out the
window, as a giddy grin forms on my lips before I pull onto the street and
quickly accelerate.
This is happening.
This is really happening!

******

Kellan

After discarding my jacket in my office, I rushed over to
Georgia as she gathered up drinks from the bar and placed them on her cocktail
tray. Glancing up to find the band members sitting at a table on the far side
of the bar, their legs propped up against chairs they'd gathered near their
table, I took note of their laid back demeanor. Although they seemed to be
engaged in some conversation amongst themselves, they appeared bored,
mindlessly swirling the ice in their sweating glasses with their straws.

Georgia continued to arrange her customer's drinks neatly on
her tray, placing them with their corresponding table tickets, effectively
ignoring my presence. I sidled closer to her, leaning into her ear and saying,
"They look kinda pissed. Are they pissed?"

Shrugging she replied simply, "I don't think so."
A small smiled played on her lips as she continued, "They seem satisfied
with the drinks I've kept coming for them...on the house, of course."

"What? You've been giving them free drinks for the last
hour and a half?" I barked.

"They're still here, aren't they?" she mused.
"Plus they're good tippers...and you owe me for earlier," she said.

"Well consider us even," I retorted. "They're
supposed to be
making
us money, not drinking our profits," I exclaimed.

Gathering up her tray with one hand, and placing her other
hand on her hip, she said irritably, "I've been babysitting you and your
precious bar all damn day, Casanova. So we're nowhere near close to even."
Before I had a chance to reply, she turned on her heel and headed into the main
area of the bar, which I was pleased to see was bustling with patrons, despite
my playing hooky for the last few hours. The fact was, I should've been here,
mingling with the customers; playing host, not playing house.

Rubbing my forehead in contemplation, I sighed heavily, and
rolled up my shirtsleeves as I made my way through the crowd to greet the band
members. I'd heard through word of mouth that Ashes To Ashes has a good
following, doesn't dick around like some of the newbies, and plays most of
their own shit, a decent mix of alternative rock combined with the flavor of a
traditional rock sound. I wasn't looking for a wannabe band that copped out by
playing covers all night. I needed something new and refreshing that would keep
the customers coming back for more.

Before I moved back into town, I'd done my research on them,
and after a year or so of playing for some local bars, they ended up getting
some recognition from their professional looking YouTube videos, and started
getting booked by some of the bigger clubs in neighboring cities. But there
were downsides to doing bar tours; traveling costs, constant negotiations, the
headache of setting up and tearing down for each show, etc. Being a house band
had it's advantages; sleeping in the same bed every night, a guaranteed, steady
paycheck, and if we were lucky, we'd both get a chance to continue to cultivate
a new and loyal fan base.

Approaching the table, I put on my smoothest smile, clapped
Kyle, the front man, on the back as I came up behind him, and said cheerily,
"Hey bro, what's good?"

Catching him off guard, he turned quickly to face me before
his infectious smile spread across his face. I'm as straight as an arrow, and
have no interest in the same sex, but I'm not above admitting when another guy
is obviously highly attractive to the opposite sex. It's great that these guys
have the talent to back up the looks, but let's face it...sex sells, and these
guys are oozing testosterone. As it stands, the bar sees it's fair amount of female
customers, but I think the general consensus is that the bar is geared more
toward men. If we can get more women in the bar, even more men will flock here.
In fact, with Kyle's enigmatic flare and personality, it may prove to be harder
to get the women
out
of the door once
they're in. And trust me, these guys can reel 'em in.

As Kyle stood to greet me, we clasped hands, and he pulled
me in for a manly hug, responding, "We aren't keeping you from something,
are we?"

Smirking, I replied, "Nah, man, I just had to make a
run to the liquor store before you boys drink me out of house and home."

Kyle and his band members broke out into laughter, filling
the immediate surroundings. He spoke up, "Yeah, well Blondie's been
keepin' 'em coming. Wouldn't want to insult you by turning down your finest
whiskey." The rest of the band raised their glasses in unspoken agreement.

Chuckling, I said, "Yeah, don't get used to it...I'm
just trying to get you fellas drunk so I can take advantage of you. Rumor has
it you guys are easy."

Kyle let out a small laugh, saying, "We may be easy,
but we're not cheap." Setting his drink down on the table, he turned to
his band mates, sobering a bit before continuing, "Kellan, meet my
cohorts." I offered my hand and nodded in their direction as he introduced
each member to me. "Tony here's on bass, Jeff is on drums, and Captain's
on lead guitar."

My brows rose as I questioned, "Why do they call you
Captain?"

The men all snickered as Captain leaned back in his chair, a
sly smile creasing his face. Kyle went on to explain with a toothy grin,
"Because he tells all the women 'Its not the size of the boat, it's the
motion in the ocean'."

"Jesus, man...I got a feeling we're gonna make some
serious cash," I said. I was already seeing dollar signs.

"Fuckin' right we are, man," Captain piped up,
grinning from ear to ear.

I was grateful for the informal banter, but Hailey was
waiting for me, and I needed to get down to business. I clapped my hands and
rubbed them together as I said, "So, guys, we ready to talk turkey?"

"Look, I know we're running a little late here, but we
just added a new back-up singer earlier today, and she had to pop home for a
few minutes to check on her kid. You mind waiting a few more minutes 'till she
gets back? I mean, she just joined the band, but I don't want her to feel left
out," Kyle explained.

"Oh, yeah? And she's from around here?" I asked
curiously.

"Well, ya know, we're all from around Danville, but I
guess she has some family around here to help watch her kid. I'm tellin' you,
Kellan, this chic is smokin' hot, dude! Like serious MILF material," Kyle
exclaimed.

Danville was only about a half an hour from Chambers, which
is why I figured the band was considering my offer in the first place. The
commute was short and convenient. The small university Hailey attends is
located in Danville, and I knew the band had a hometown following with the
college kids. But when I caught wind of the band, I had no idea they'd have a
cougar on board. Then again, we have a diverse demographic, and if she's as hot
as Kyle says she is, we could end up hitting just about every market in the
area. While Kyle's getting the ladies' panties wet, his sidekick will be
drawing in every horny bastard within a sixty mile radius. That's
if
she's as hot as he says she is.

Bringing my focus back to the matter at hand, I replied,
"Yeah, sure. I can spare a few more minutes. So tell me about this new
singer you have...she got decent pipes?" I caught Georgia's eye and
motioned for her to bring another round.

Kyle perked up and nodded his head towards the door, saying,
"Here she is now...I'll introduce you to her." Sweeping my eyes in
the direction of the approaching woman, swaying her curvy hips with confidence
as a wide smile graced her perfectly painted on crimson lips, I broke out into
a nervous sweat as Kyle announced, "Kellan, this is our lovely back-up
singer, Leila."

I stared at her speechless as I barely registered Georgia in
my peripheral vision, stepping in front of me to lean down and place the drinks
on the table. Shaking myself out of my hazy thoughts, I turned to see Georgia
flashing the band a demure smile as she stepped back from the table, admiring
her handy work, as she was no doubt already counting her tips in her mind. Turning
to leave, Georgia stopped short and her smile faltered when her eyes met mine.
I shuffled nervously on my feet as an awkward charge built in the air around
us.

"Oh we've already met," Leila said coyly as she
leaned her hip against the booth, crossed her arms in front of herself, and
gave me a quick wink.

"Small world," Captain said sarcastically. I shot
him a warning glare as his lips curled up into a mischievous grin. Obviously
aware of the tension, and seemingly finding humor in it, he asked, "So,
how do you two know each other?" before slumping back and popping a
handful of peanuts in his mouth. Jesus Christ, I wanted to throttle the cocky
bastard.

A moment of uncomfortable silence set in as Georgia volleyed
her eyes between Leila and me. Clearly not going anywhere without an answer,
Georgia echoed Captain, asking sharply, "Yeah...how
do
you two know each other?"

I sure as shit wasn't about to announce that she I and
shared a quick fuck a few years ago in Jim's office. It had a been a one-off for
me, but Leila continued to pursue me for several weeks after our brief
rendezvous, pestering me with dozens of voicemails and texts before finally
taking the hint and leaving me alone. I figured she'd dropped off the map, but apparently,
when she'd heard I was back in town, she did a U-Turn. She was a clingy
nightmare I had no intentions of reliving.

Searching my mind for a neutral explanation, I stammered,
"I, uh...we..."

My eyes landed on Leila's as her smile broadened. She
promptly cut me off, saying cheerily, "Kellan is Andrew's dad."

Say what now?

"
Excuse me?
"
Georgia interjected. "Who's Andrew?" she grilled.

Effectively ignoring Georgia's piercing stare, Leila said
proudly, "Andrew's my son...well, technically I guess he's
our
son," she motioned between us.

As the rest of the band and Georgia stared at our exchange
with rapt attention, Kyle rang out cheerfully, "Well this is a nice
surprise. I didn't think this was going to be a family affair."

Unable to meet the eyes of the curious onlookers, I lowered
my head to peer at the floor as I anxiously ran my hand across the back of my
neck. My hair was becoming soaked with sweat. "Yeah, it was a...bit of a
shock to me, too, when I'd first heard about it," I chuckled nervously,
desperately trying to prevent this meeting from coming unglued.

Arching her brow, Georgia bit out with distain, "You
have a
kid?
With
her?
" as she pointed her finger in Leila's direction.

As Georgia and I continued to lock eyes, I silently pled
with her not to lose her shit in front of these guys. Breaking away from her
penetrating stare, I looked to find Leila peering at me with a triumphant
sparkle in her eyes.

If it weren't for the white noise of the crowd around us, we
could've heard a pin drop.

Cutting through the silence, Georgia finally cut in,
addressing the group in a professional persona, saying, "Um...if you guys
wouldn't mind, I'm gonna go take my break now." The men all shrugged
before Georgia brushed past me, bumping her shoulder against mine before
adding, "I have to go make a phone call."

"Georgia...wait!" I yelled after her over my
shoulder.

Chuckling, Captain said, "Dude, this is classic."

Yeah, it was a classic case of my worst nightmare coming
back to haunt me; packaged in a body dressed for sin and wearing a syrupy sweet
smile, nobody would suspect she was a lying whore. I needed to have a chat with
her before this bazaar rumor spread any further. But first, I needed to reason
with Georgia before any of this got back to Hailey. Unfortunately, Georgia and
the word 'reason' usually weren't used in the same sentence.
  

Fuck me running...