Fire and Ice: Book One: Burned (The Fire and Ice Series 1) by Kiara Delaney

and
tugged him backwards. He looked over his shoulder at me with a questioning
stare. "Slow down," I yelled over the pulsing music and raucous crowd
that had seemingly deemed the Kellan Show over. Kellan shook his head back and
forth and slowed his gait to nearly half his usual pace, until we'd reached the
back hallway, where he stopped and turned to me, asking, "You ok?"
     
    I didn't
answer, still pissed at him for betraying me with Georgia, but rather
deflected, asking my own question, flatly, "What about my unused
shots...and my tips? I still need to count out my tips."
     
    He pulled me
into the kitchen, placed the shots back into the refrigerator, and said,
"Jim told us leave. We're leaving. You can count out your tips
tomorrow." Not wanting to argue, I simply nodded as Kellan turned to walk
out towards the back door. We both exited the building, and he fished out his
cigarettes, lighting one up, and taking a deep, smooth drag off of it. Damn, he makes me wet just looking at those luscious
lips. Oh what I'd give to be that cigarette right now. Was I really
fantasizing about being an inanimate object? I'd officially hit a new low. Even
though I was fuming at him and Georgia, he still had a powerful hold over
me...a hold I couldn't seem to break free from. It was time to drag myself away
from this drugging man.
     
    I began to walk
towards my car before Kellan grabbed me by the upper arm and spun me to face
him, asking, "What are you doing?"
     
    I furrowed my
brow, not understanding his question, but answered anyway, "Going to my
car...I'm heading home."
     
    He shook his
head back and forth before saying with emphasis, "The hell you are. Those
guys could be planning to follow you home."
     
    The idea never
occurred to me, and with a dumbfounded expression, I asked, "Well, what am
I supposed to do?"
     
    Kellan walked
towards his car, not bothering to look back at me, as he said, "Get in.
You're coming with me."

Chapter Eleven
     
    Kellan
     
    What am I
doing? I haven't a clue. It's a rare occasion a woman sees the inside of my
apartment, and never has one of them stayed the night. It simply goes against
everything I hold sacred, my principals. Some people may call me a dog for
getting it in, and kicking them out, but the truth is, all that cuddling
bullshit simply leads them on. They eat that shit up, and the next thing they
want is to have 'pillow talk', exchange numbers, be taken out on a date...give
me a fuckin' break. I don't, and never will, work that way. The only reason I'm
bringing The Princess back to my place is because I can almost smell the rotten
intentions of the spiteful men. They wanted Hailey to begin with, and I only
gave them a hard on to seek her out for retribution for the damage I'd caused.
     
     I couldn't
just let her suffer for my sins, with no one to help care for her. Not that I care for her, it's just that, shit...when I think of
all the scenarios that could go wrong, my gut churns. So...it's not my usual
style...I'm still a goddamn human being. I raise the volume on my stereo,
blaring Five Finger Death Punch's "Wrong Side Of Heaven", as I try to
drown out my jumbled thoughts. The lyrics do little to eradicate the blurred
lines in my mind.
     
    After a few
miles, I finally pull up to the curb outside of my meager apartment, a non
descript duplex with peeling paint, a small porch, and fortunately for me,
located in a quiet, sleepy neighborhood with a low crime rate. I'm lucky if I
see my neighbor, living in the attached duplex, more than once a month, where
he and I exchange no more than an awkward glance. I'm fairly certain he lives
alone, and since I can make out the faint sounds of his television at times,
I'd bargain to guess I've kept him up late on more than one occasion, though
he's never complained. Maybe he's into that shit, who knows? I couldn't care
less.
     
    I chanced a
glance at Hailey, and noticed she was staring out the window with a slight
frown on her face. I rolled my eyes