Miles of Pleasure (6 page)

And then it happened. She laughed. For the first time since the attack, she really laughed.

Ashton watched out the window from the appearance party, and suddenly the world was right again. He never thought it would feel so good to have Kaylee angry with him. It was worth it to see her laugh again.

D
ay by day, Kaylee started to regain her normal self. Though she was still hurting, she knew that she couldn't let the man who almost stole her innocence steal the rest of her life too. She knew that she would never forget that night, but little by little, she was moving past it.

No one was as happy at Kaylee's return as her brother was. She was the only family that he truly had, and it hurt him to see her hurting so much. Sure, what Ashton had said to Kaylee was harsh, but he saw that it was the only way through the fog that Kaylee was living in. She had to have a harsh wake-up call, a slam that brought her back to the land of the living. Ashton had managed to figure out how to do that.

Brandon was happy too, and was formulating a plan to get Kaylee back. He knew that he had royally screwed up, but he was going to prove to Kaylee that she could trust him. He just had to get her to go out with him again, and everything else would fall into place.

"I don't know, Brandon. I'm really not ready to date again yet," Kaylee told him for the third time. He just wouldn't quit. She knew that he was going to keep at it until she said yes.

"Please, just give me another chance, that's all I ask. We can go out, catch a movie, share a little popcorn, you know the drill. Completely innocent, and out of harm's way," he pleaded.

"I just hope that nobody tries to rape me while we're at the theater," she said suddenly, viciously. "I won't have any protection at all."

Brandon sighed. "Look, I have tried and tried to explain my actions that night. I'm starting to think that you are going to hold it against me forever. It was a bad situation, Kaylee, but I'm not a bad person," he finished, his voice so quiet she could hardly hear him.

Kaylee sat quiet for a minute. His incessant pestering was really getting to her. And maybe he was right - maybe she was being too harsh on him for his actions in the heat of a very bad moment.

"A movie?" he asked again.

More to shut him up than anything else, she agreed. "Fine, but we're going to an early show. The next city we stop in, we'll find a movie theater." The look on Brandon's face was priceless. He looked like he was going to jump up and down. "But I get to pick the movie," she said.

Brandon's face froze for a moment. That could mean chick flick. But hell, it was worth it to be able to spend time with Kaylee again. His face resumed the joyous look. "You won't regret this." He grabbed Kaylee's shoulders and pulled her close to kiss her cheek. Then he let her go and pushed her back a little, just wanting to get away from her before she changed her mind.

Kaylee snickered and shook her head as she regained her balance. She watched Brandon disappear through the door. She couldn't help but feel a little anxious in his presence. Before she thought that feeling was because she liked him, now she wasn't so sure.

The next day, thetourbus pulled intothe hotelparking lot. As a rare treat, they were able to gethotel rooms rather than sleeping on the bus. It seemed like they were never in one place long enough to stay in a hotel room, but since they had planned on staying for three nights, they were able to finally sleep in an actual bed.

Since Kaylee was the only girl, she got her own room, while Noah and Ashton shared a room on one side of her, and Colton and Jayden shared on the other side of her. She threw her suitcase on the bed, watched it bounce once on the firm mattress, and headed straight for the bathroom. To her delight, there was a nice garden tub, with her name written all over it.

She turned the tap on and poured in one of the hotel's mini bottles of bubble bath. Once she got the right temperature, she went over to the mirror and put her hair up in a twist. She began to undress, patiently waiting for the tub to fill.

Naked, Kaylee stepped into the tub, careful not to slip. When she was immersed up to her shoulders, she heaved a satisfied sigh and laid her head back. Being on the bus all the time, she never got the luxury of relaxing in a hot tub, so she was going to get her fill of it while she could. In fact, she might stay in here for hours. Nothing was as relaxing as a soapy soak.

She decided that their stay at the hotel was going to be spent pampering herself. She was going to check out the hotel's spa the next day for a facial, massage, manicure, and pedicure. Every woman needs to splurge sometimes, especially after all she'd been through.

Her peace and planning were interrupted by a loud banging on the wall. Without lifting her head or opening her eyes, she pounded back on the wall. There was no doubt that it was the boys, trying to mess with her. They weren't going to get to her this time. She wasn't going to let them ruin her moment of bliss.

Then she heard a door slamming shut. She reached for the towel that hung on the bar outside of the shower, and shrieked when her hand touched something warm and rough.

She yanked the towel out of the hand that held it and wiped her eyes clear. She should have known that Ashton wouldn't leave her alone for long. She stood there for a minute, in shock, before she remembered that she was naked. She shrieked again and covered her body with the towel, forgetting she was covered in bubbles and water. The towel was instantly heavy and soaked.

"What the fuck are you doing in here?" Kaylee yelled at him as she tried to struggle to her feet without slipping in the bubbles. She got even angrier when she saw the delight in his eyes. "How the hell did you get in? Can't I ever get any privacy?"

Ashton wanted to come up with a quick comeback, but he was too stunned. He had heard the water running through the wall of his hotel room, and knew it was the perfect opportunity to torment Kaylee. But he had never expected to be so turned on by her.

Kaylee wasn't shaped like a twig. She had a little meat on her bones, just enough to make her look hot. Ashton usually went for the women that were thin as rails, but seeing Kaylee like this made him instantly reevaluate his "type" of woman. Each one of her curves had an erotic flair, something that the skin and bones women didn't possess.

Sweet Jesus, but she was hotter than hell!

"Get out!" She shoved him, nearly losing her grip on the towel that she clutched against her body. Her foot slipped on the soapy floor of the tub, and she would have fallen if it hadn't been for the hand that reached out to hold her up.

Ashton barely felt her hand crash against his shoulder, but when he saw Kaylee lose her balance, it snapped him out of his daze. "I just came over to see if you needed some help, and obviously you did. What would you do without me?"

Kaylee growled. She couldn't think of a comeback, as usual. He was so frustrating. "Stop looking at me like that!" she yelled. She felt his eyes boring into her. Her face flushed a bright red color, and though she didn't have any clothes on, she was sweating.

"All right, I better go before you try to seduce me," Ashton said, backing out of the bathroom. Nice seeing you though...very nice." He winked at her, then disappeared through the door connecting their rooms.

As soon as the door closed, she ran over and locked it, then sat on the bed and dropped onto her back. The water and bubbles immediately stained the comforter underneath her. The air around her felt cold but her body burned with embarrassment. That whole encounter left her feeling shaky, not from fear, but from excitement.

Excitement?

"Holy shit," she groaned, and rolled over on the bed to bury her face in her hands. She took deep breaths and tried to get her emotions and her body under control. She finally sat up and stared at the wall for a moment.

So much for a relaxing bath.

Her eyes scanned the room for the first time. When she first came in, all she saw was the bathroom, so now she was looking at it all for the first time. It was a typical hotel room, but compared to the bus, it was top notch.

When she saw the time, she shot up. Brandon was picking her up in fifteen minutes, and she was nowhere near being ready.

The first thing she did was get dressed. It was bad enough that Ashton saw her naked; there was no way that she wanted Brandon to see her that way. She threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, trying to be comfortable. She felt bad that she wasn't dressing up to look nice for Brandon, but she didn't want to encourage him anymore.

She dried her hair quickly, and put on some eyeliner and mascara. Just as she finished, there was a knock at her door. She took a deep breath and prepared to face the night with Brandon. Opening the door, the date began.

A bouquet of wildflowers were presented to her before she could even say hi. She took the flowers out of Brandon's hand. "Hi," she said, trying to sound pleasant and hide her annoyance. He was starting to be overbearing.

"Hello beautiful. Ready for our date?" Brandon asked, stepping into her room. "You look..." He took her body in. "...um, nice?" He seemed a little disappointed.

Kaylee looked down at her clothes and flushed red again. "Sorry, I just like to be comfortable when I go to the movies." Why did she feel the need to apologize for her appearance? She saw that he was wearing a pair of khakis and a polo shirt. He wasn't much more dressed up than she was.

"Well, let's go or we'll be late for the movie," she said. Her voice sounded tense, her words rehearsed. This wasn't starting out well.

Brandon felt the tension but hoped that as the night wore on, he would chisel away at it. He didn't want the whole night to be uncomfortable, even though it was starting out that way.

Outside of the hotel, they hailed a cab and got dropped off at the closest theater. Kaylee picked the movie, a super-sappy chick flick, and Brandon paid for the tickets. They sat together and watched the movie, but they couldn't have been further apart mentally. When Brandon reached over to hold her hand, she let him, but she didn't squeeze back or give any indication that she liked holding hands with him. When he finally let her hand go, she dug into the popcorn in order to have something to do with her hands.

They went through the night with very little conversation. It was apparent to both of them that the date was a mistake. At the end of the night, he dropped her off at her door, but when he leaned in to kiss her, she turned away.

"I told you I wasn't ready for this," Kaylee said apologetically. She looked into Brandon's eyes before bidding him goodnight and disappearing behind the door to her room. She didn't want to hurt Brandon, but he just wouldn't listen to reason.

Not wanting to be alone, Kaylee knocked on the door that joined her room to Noah and Ashton's. When no one answered, she knocked again. She knew that they had the night off, but didn't think they would have gone out already.

A very groggy Ashton answered the door, wearing only a pair of boxers. It was a sight that Kaylee was used to now, and didn't even bat an eyelash at. His normally spiky hair was matted against his head on one side, obviously where it had been resting on his pillow.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," Kaylee said, turning away to leave.

Ashton caught her wrist. "Wait, what's up?"

The touch of his hand made her think about the way he had caught her fall in the tub, and the fact that he had seen her naked. The blush rose in her cheeks and she looked away. "I just wanted to see what you guys were doing," she said, gently trying to break his hold on her wrist.

"Noah isn't here, but you can come in and hang out with me if you want," he offered, pulling her into his room without waiting for an answer. If he noticed she was blushing, he didn't show it. But then again, he was probably too sleepy to notice much of anything. "Wasn't tonight your big date with Brandon?"

Kaylee rolled her eyes. She hadn't intended to talk about it, but something about Ashton asking opened the floodgates. "You know, he was perfectly nice, he even brought me flowers. But the whole night, I was counting the seconds until I could get away from him," she sighed. "I told him that I wasn't ready yet, but he couldn't get it through his thick skull."