Miles of Pleasure

chapter 20




The next morning, Ashton awoke and reached over for Kaylee's hand. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. "I'm sorry for leaving when I should have stayed to talk. I'm sorry for drinking so much and staying out late. I'm sorry for whatever I said last night because I'm sure it was something stupid and incoherent. I'm sorry for holding you captive and making you sleep in the same bed with me, especially when I'm sure it was the last place on earth that you wanted to be. And mostly, I'm sorry that I am so bad at relationships and am a horrible boyfriend."

Kaylee was stunned. She never expected to hear all that from him...she suspected he was still a little drunk. "I'm sorry too. And you're not a horrible boyfriend."

She backed away and gave him a small smile, still feeling a bit hurt. "You better get in the shower. You've got a long day at the studio ahead of you."

She kissed his forehead and stepped out of his room, closing the door firmly behind her. He put his head in his hands, knowing it was going to take a lot to make up for all he had done wrong this time.



The next three weeks passed by in a blur. The guys were in the studio from sun up until after sundown, every day, trying to get their album finished by the deadline set by the record company.

Ashton hadn't been able to talk to Kaylee alone since that hungover morning, but he was constantly letting her know that he was thinking of her by sending flowers or leaving little notes for her. She wasn't awake when they left in the morning, and by the time they got home at night, she was already asleep. They saw each other every now and then at the recording studio, but she was only there for business purposes, so they didn't have the time or space to talk about personal matters.

Kaylee felt like things were still unresolved between her and Ashton. They weren't even sleeping in the same room at night, and the distance was really getting to her. She could only hope that once the record was finished, things would get better between them.

The guys finally finished the last track for the record, just hours before the deadline. They had three days off before the big record launch party in New York, which they were immensely grateful for. All of them were exhausted, but they were proud of the finished product. Kaylee's song even made it as one of the tracks, something she wasn't aware of yet.

Ashton caught his second wind as he walked into the house and went in search of Kaylee. Just thinking of spending time with her gave him more energy. He looked in her room, which was empty, then went to the living room and kitchen, not finding her anywhere.

"Dude, where's your sister?" he asked Noah.

"I think she's in New York already. There was some PR stuff she needed to check on," Noah told him absently as he walked into the kitchen looking for something to drink.

"Why didn't she tell me that?" he asked, frustrated. He finally had some time to talk to her and she wasn't even around.

"She did. She told us all at the studio the other day. She stopped there before she went to the airport," he looked at Ashton like he was an idiot.

"Oh. I must have been out of the room," he said. "I think I'll give her a call." He picked up his cell phone and dialed her cell, then listened to ring after ring. Just as he was about to hang up, Kaylee answered.

Ashton smiled. "Hey, I didn't think you were going to answer."

"Hey!" she said excitedly. "It's so good to hear your voice. Are you guys done?"

"Yeah, we just finished up about an hour ago. We have the songs all lined up and edited. Everything is done now, thankfully."

"You sound exhausted," she sympathized..

"I am," he admitted. "I didn't realize you weren't going to be here. I was hoping to spend some time with you."

"I know. I'm sorry, but I had to tie up some loose ends before you guys got here."

Ashton yawned. "Why don't I fly there early to spend some time with you?"

"I'd love that. But all I'm doing is working, and all you're going to want to do for the next few days is sleep. I'll see you when you guys get here. It's only a couple more days," she told him, feeling bad that she was turning him down. Plus she figured that he was so tired he'd be in a horrible mood the whole time. If he stayed home and rested, he'd be a lot more pleasant to be around when he did get out there.

He yawned again. "I see how it is, you don't want to cut your alone time short with your new boyfriend, right?" he asked, trying to put a teasing tone in his voice. "All right Kaylee, I'm going to go before I fall asleep on the phone. I'll see you in a couple of days. You're going to be my date for the launch, right?"

"I'd be honored," she laughed. "Get some sleep...you're going to need it!"

"I love you," he told her.

He could hear her smile through the phone line. "I love you too. Good night."



Kaylee rushed around her hotel room, trying to tie everything together. The limo was supposed to be picking her up in 15 minutes, and she wasn't even close to being ready. In a little over an hour, she would be seeing Ashton again for the first time in what seemed like forever, and she felt like nothing was coming together right. Her hair was extra frizzy, her eyeliner kept breaking, she dropped her eye shadow compact, which sent the powder flying in every direction, and she put a giant run in her silk stockings.

Ten minutes and counting left Kaylee on the bathroom floor, trying to scrape up the remnants of her eye shadow, putting more smoothing lotion into her hair, and sharpening her eyeliner until it barely fit in the sharpener anymore.

At the five minute mark, Kaylee decided that she really didn't need stockings anyway. She had her dress on, along with her shoes, and it actually looked better that way. She stared at herself in the mirror, realizing that her panic was all for naught. Her hair looked great, the sides pulled back and twisted as if she was wearing a crown, the rest left to cascade down her back in waves. Her makeup was flawless, even if she did have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get it all, and her dress...Her dress was new, and was guaranteed to knock Ashton's socks off. It was fire engine red, draped at the chest and back. The back dipped to her waist, nearly to her butt, and the front showed just the right amount of cleavage, with tiny spaghetti straps holding it up. The bottom was a diagonal layered silk that was tiered into different levels. It was probably the sexiest dress that Kaylee owned, and it fit her like a glove.

Right on time, Kaylee heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" she called to the limo driver as she went to the bureau to get her evening bag and shawl. "I'll be ready in just a second," she told him. When the driver didn't say anything, she turned to look at him.

The shock on her face matched the shock on Ashton's, but for entirely different reasons. He stood there, holding a single Fire and Ice rose in his hand for her, with his mouth wide open.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, feeling excited and confused at the same time, She hadn't expected to see him until after the party had already started.

"I caught an early flight. I couldn't wait to see you," he said, still not blinking. "Good God, you are a sight for sore eyes!" He finally snapped to his senses and closed the distance between the two of them, capturing her with a bone-melting kiss.

"I've missed you so much," Kaylee told him breathlessly when they parted for air.

"You have no idea," he groaned, already feeling a reaction from the kiss. "I think that dress is going to be the death of me. You're not leaving my side for a minute tonight!"

Kaylee laughed. "I'm glad you like it." She kissed him again, but backed away a lot quicker this time. "We need to get going, or else we'll be late. The press is already waiting."

"Let them wait. I need some time alone with you," he asserted.

"As much as I would love that, if we spend any more time alone, we're going to end up in bed, and we'll never make it to the party," she told him seriously. "We better go."

Ashton sighed, "I hate it when you're right." He kissed her again. "Ok, let's go, but I meant it when I said that you are not leaving my side for the entire night."

"I promise," she said, and sealed it with a kiss.

The couple were barely able to keep their hands off each other in the limo on the way to the party, but luckily Kaylee had enough sense to make sure they didn't go too far. They ended up being right on time, arriving just as the others showed up.

"Dude, nice lipstick, but isn't it going a little overboard to try and match with your girlfriend?" Colton teased Ashton before they walked in the door.

Ashton quickly wiped at his mouth, trying to remove the evidence of his make-out session with his girlfriend. The guys all laughed at him, glad that Kaylee and Ashton seemed to be back on the right track.

The night was a blast, filled with music, drinking, dancing, and pictures. Kaylee had a great time, but no matter how much fun she was having, she couldn't wait to get Ashton alone. And true to her word, she didn't leave his side the whole night.

At the earliest opportunity, Ashton pulled Kaylee out of the party and into the waiting limo. As they sat in the back of the limo, looking into each other's eyes, they were both aware of where they were going and what they were going to do. There was no stopping them, no turning back. The time was right, and there was no mistaking it.