This Regret

"Kellan, stop it!" she squeals while flipping in my arms to face me and placing her hands on my chest. "Why must you tease me? You know I have to be at work soon. I can't be late, even if I'm with the owner’s son."

I nod at the bed and smile. "Get in bed," I demand.

"Kellan, we don't have time." She puts on a pouty face.

"Oh trust me, I would make time, but . . . that's not it. I made you breakfast and I'm not letting you leave this house or bed until you eat."

Smiling, she walks backwards teasing me with her eyes, until her legs meet the bed and she takes a seat. "You didn't have to cook me breakfast, Kellan." She looks at the tray of food eagerly as I set it in her lap. "I have to eat pretty quickly though so I can still have time to shower. Don't be disappointed if I can't finish this huge plate. This is a crap ton of hash browns and bacon. Where do you think I'm supposed to put all of this?" She laughs as I shove a piece of bacon in my mouth.

"Mmm, it's damn delicious too. Now eat, baby. Okay? Let me take care of you."

She looks up from eating her breakfast, giving me a worried look. I hate seeing her look that way. "You do know we need to talk about things later, right? I need to know the whole truth. I promise whatever it is, cannot be bad enough to make me stop loving you."

Deep in my heart, I know she's right. We belong to each other; we always have. She just knew it before I did. She's always had a soft spot for me in her heart. She may take the truth hard, but in the end, I know she'll still be in my arms. I'll make sure of that. "I know; not tonight. I want one more night just to enjoy each other without any bad. Then I promise you I'll explain everything, tomorrow."

She nods her head in agreement and starts back on her breakfast.

Tomorrow is the day I tell her about Cape, Echo and the douchebags; about Adric and Kade. She deserves to know the truth. Tomorrow is also the day I need to figure out how to handle them before they realize I'm back and try to do something stupid.

Shit . . .

* * *

Sitting here, watching her in that tight little red dress as she sets up the bar has me so turned on and happy as shit to know she is mine. It still pisses me off knowing my brother has had his hands on her and I'm afraid I might blow up when I find out just how far they have gone. I plan to have a private little chat with him as soon as I can. It's been a long time coming.

I love Kade and when everything is all said and done, he is still my brother. I'll always have his back; just not when it comes to the woman I love. When it comes to her, he can back the f**k off of. I will hurt anyone over her.

She looks at me from behind the bar, peeking up from wiping down the coolers. "You don't have to hang around being bored while I set up. I probably won't even have any customers for at least another hour." She holds the towel up and laughs. "I'll be working with one of these for most of the morning."

This woman must be crazy if she thinks I'm leaving her alone. Hell no. Until I get a handle on things, she's not leaving my side. I can't protect her if I'm not around.

"I'm staying. Watching you is all I need to be happy. I'm not leaving my woman's side until I have to and I don't have any clients since I'm not back at the shop yet officially." I take a seat in a stool and shoot her a playful grin. "How about a beer, beautiful. I'll give you a big tip later."

She raises an eyebrow, grabs a beer and walks over to stand in front of me. "Is this tip going to be the biggest I've ever had?" She holds the beer at a distance, teasing me.

Looking her in the eyes, I grab the beer and bring it to my lips. "Absofuckinlutely." I take a quick swig and smile before licking the taste off my mouth.

Setting my beer down, I lean over the bar and brush my bottom lip over hers, not wanting her to forget for one moment what I do to her. "I could give you that tip right now; bent over that desk in the back."

She smiles against my lips and gets ready to back away, but I stop her by sucking her bottom lip into my mouth, taking her mouth hostage. Her eyes close as a moan escapes her lips, clearly enjoying being held captive. "Mmm . . . very tempting. You've always been hard to resist."

The phone rings, breaking our little moment. Stupid piece of crap. "Wait," I mumble, as she pulls her lip away.

"I have to get that. It might be Dale." She tries to go get it, but I wrap my fingers in her hair and smash my lips against hers, getting a taste first.

I suck her lip in one last time before freeing her. "Now you can get it."

She walks away blushing as I sip on my beer, watching her make her way over to grab the phone. She's so damn beautiful; she blows my mind.

"Hello," she says with a giggle. She looks confused for a second as she listens to what the person on the phone is saying. "Wait, Nancy. What's wrong? Why do you sound like that? Where are you?"

Sensing her panic, I jump from the stool and rush behind the bar.

"What?” She begins to shake, while taking notice of me standing behind her. "What do you mean? Is he alright?"

I grab the phone from her hand and place it to my ear, nervous as shit as to why Phoenix is freaking out. "Mom! What's going on? Are you okay?"

There's a bunch of heavy breathing in the phone before she finally responds. "Hospital," she whispers in a strained voice. "Kade is in the hospital and your father and I are out of town. One of the nurses called me, but wouldn't give any information of his condition over the phone and asked if a family member could make it to the hospital. The only thing she said was . . . he . . . oh God. He swallowed a bunch of pills." I hear sobbing before she speaks again. "My baby. I need to know that he's okay. Please, go see your brother."

My heart is pounding so loud, I'm surprised I can even hear what my mother is saying. No! No. No. No. Not this again. This cannot be happening. "I'm on my way."

Hanging up the phone, I pull Phoenix into my arms and kiss her on the mouth before kissing her on the forehead. "I have to go. There's an emergency with Kade."

"I'll go-"

Before she can finish, two men walk in, taking a seat next to the pool tables. One of them waves and smiles at Phoenix. "Can we get a quick round, Phoenix? We're just in for lunch."