This Regret

What does he think he’s doing back here, now?

I stand there watching the two of them, waiting for the guy to say something, afraid of a fight breaking out.

When the guy doesn’t respond, Kellan grabs the guy’s empty glass. “Alright, then. Don’t worry bud, I’ll figure it out,” he says sarcastically. He sticks his nose into the glass and takes a whiff, before reaching for a fresh glass and pouring him a beer. Surprisingly, he is dead on with his pick.

The girls are talking amongst themselves, creaming over the new eye candy, so I quickly slip away and rush over to stand next to Kellan.

“What are you doing here?” I ask a little harsher than intended. I can’t help it, though. I’m shocked as all hell to see him and especially, here at the bar.

I stare hungrily at the sexiness of the lip ring that he now has in, imagining what it would feel like, to nibble on it, kiss it and run my tongue over it.

He takes notice and flashes me a charming smile before shoving the beer into the guy’s hand and snatching his money. “It’s nice to see you too.” He cocks an eyebrow while looking out the corner of his eye at me. “Try not to look too thrilled. This isn’t Disneyland.”

I run my hands through my hair, watching him ring up the drink and place the change down onto the bar. The guy waves his arm above the money and quickly takes off, leaving the cash there. Looks like I'm not the only one a little shook up by Kellan’s sudden appearance.

Kellan grabs the money and opens my hand, placing it into my palm and closing it. Then he walks away to help a group of people. “Go take a breather and I’ll take care of the bar for a bit.”

I glance back at the girls, which are now watching my every move. I glare at them before walking over to stand next to Kellan. “What are you doing here and how did you know how to ring that up?” I hold my hand out with the money and then look back up to watch him throw some drinks together. “Also, what it this? This is your tip money. You made that drink.”

He laughs and I can’t help but to notice the women that he’s helping blush. Those women can go suck it. Actually, no, they can’t. Shit! What does it matter?

“I came to bring you this. I thought you might need it.” He pulls my phone out of his pocket and leans over me, sliding it into the pocket of my khaki shorts. “I saw you needed a little rescuing,” he whispers against my ear before motioning around the busy bar. “It’s a good thing I spent a lot of time bartending before opening my shop.”

“How did-“

“Hey, gorgeous,” a cute little blond interrupts us. “Make that four shots of Tequila.” She raises an eyebrow, looking him up and down, with those desperate eyes that I want to poke out, slowly, one by one. Can’t she see we’re busy talking? Rude . . . take a deep breath.

“Sure thing,” Kellan replies, reaching for a fourth shot glass.

My eyes wander down his back until they land on his tight ass, accented perfectly by those fitted jeans. It’s hypnotizing. Just like everything else on that body of his.

“Damn, Phoenix. Can we get those drinks, sometime before closing preferably,” Laura complains while tapping her fingers in front of her. “You can drool over the hunk later.”

I see Kellan smile from the corner of my eye and it makes my stomach do somersaults. “Shut up,” I mouth before looking beside me at Kellan. “Thanks for coming to the rescue then, I guess. I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.”

His eyes land on my lips for a moment, until finally, I spin on the heel of my boots and head back over to my pain in the ass friends.

Aggravated, I dump the melted ice into the sink and refill all of the glasses before pouring them their drinks. “See, told you I was busy tonight. Give me a damn break.”

“Mmm-hmm, sure.” Michelle grabs for her drink and sticks the straw in her mouth. “Busy staring at that boy’s fine backside.” She smiles and playfully bites the straw. “Grr. I’d like to bite that. I bet everything on that boy’s body tastes just as good as it looks, delicious.”

“Is he single?” Jamie asks while eye raping him. “If he’s not yours, then I’ll have that for dessert, please.”

No, you won’t, hussy. “It’s not like that, okay,” I mutter. “He’s an old friend.”

Laura and Michelle both look at me at the same time. I have known both of them since preschool and they pretty much know everyone I know. Might as well tell them the shocking news.

“You remember Kellan Haze, ladies?”

Michelle spits her drink over the bar and nearly drops her glass. “Kade’s hot older brother? You’re shitting me, right? There’s no way.”

I shake my head and run my fingers through my hair. “I’m not, trust me.” I look up from the bar to see Laura’s eyes wide with shock. “Surprised, girl?”

“Umm, hell to the yeah,” Laura squeaks. “What the heck? This is crazy.” She looks over in Kellan’s direction and a huge smile spreads across her face. “You guys are going to finally end up together,” she says a little too loud. “He’s gorgeous now. You have to take that for a ride.”

“Laura, shut it.” I shake my head and place my hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. She tries biting me so I let go. “We are not ending up together.”

“Who is this we that you ladies are talking about?” Kellan’s voice comes from right behind me, startling me.

Crap! He needs to stop creeping up on people.

All three of the girls stare at him in awe and I can’t blame them. Even I know, he’s the sexiest thing to step foot in this bar and possibly in all of Texas.

“You ladies care to answer my question since Phoenix seems to be at a loss for words tonight.” He leans against the bar sexily while crossing his feet in front of him, his eyes searching mine. “I overheard you wanting to take something for a . . . ride,” he says while pulling his lip ring between his teeth.

Oh damn, please stop that. I grab for my escape towel and anxiously start wiping down the bar top. “No, they don’t.” I give them a hard look to keep them quiet while scrubbing an already clean spot on the bar. “We weren’t talking about anything or anyone important, trust me.”

He shrugs his shoulders before slowly licking his finger and running it under my eye, the coolness of his saliva giving me chills. “I see that someone still refuses to buy waterproof mascara. You should be a little more careful when wiping at the sweat.” He pulls his hand away and wipes it on the front of his shirt. “Well ladies, enjoy ‘not’ talking about anything important.” He looks me in the eye and exhales, while taking a step back. “Or anyone important.”