Free Miles of Pleasure by Stephanie Nicole Page B

out the obvious.
    "This thing with the music awards, I was kind of wondering if you'd be my date," he asked in a rush.
    Kaylee looked stunned. Whatever ideas about the unavoidable conversation she had in her head were so far off base as to be on another planet, and she was in no way prepared for the words that came out of his mouth. She wanted to be smart and hit him with a zinger, but there wasn't a single thing that came to her head.
    "Huh?" was the only thing she could think of.
    "Well, you're pretty classy, and they don't want me making a fool of the band's name. So I figured you'd do pretty well to keep me out of trouble," Ashton told her.
    Well, at least he's honest. She wasn't sure whether she should be offended or not.
    "And you're really beautiful," he said. "You...well, you look the part."
    "I look the part," she echoed.
    "Yeah. You're...well, anyway. Would you go with me?"
    Kaylee took a deep breath. Was this really happening? "I don't know how well it would go if we went together. We'd just end up fighting the whole night. Besides, I thought you had a stable of women that you could pick from."
    Ashton smiled. "Yeah, that's true, I do have a bunch of women to choose from." His eyes glazed over, as if he was lost in thought. He was mentally flipping through the women he'd been with lately. Sure, they were pretty hot, but he couldn't think of a single one who he would be proud to be walking next to. All they were good for was one thing, and it wasn't to be on his arm in public, and especially not on television.
    Kaylee asked, "If you have so many to choose from, then why me?"
    "Because I can't see bringing any other woman."
    Kaylee thought for a brief moment she saw some sort of spark in his eye when he said that, but it was gone in an instant. When he realized what he said, he immediately fumbled with his words. "All they would want is to be in the spotlight. This is my night, not theirs. I need someone who will let me bask in the limelight without trying to steal my thunder."
    "Well, I'm not so sure..."
    "Please?"
    Kaylee sighed. She really wanted to be with them that night, but she didn't want to go out of pity.
    "Are you sure you aren't asking me just because you feel bad that I can't go?" she asked. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she laughed. This was Ashton she was talking to, a guy who didn't do anything nice out of pity. If it had been Colton or Jayden, even her brother, then she would know it was a 'pity date'. But she knew better coming from Ashton.
    "I really want you to go," he said again. "Please?"
    "Fine, I'll go."
    Her abrupt change of heart caught Ashton off guard. He stared at her for a moment before he smiled again, relaxing into the news.
    "Cool!" he said and stood up. "I'm going back to bed now." Ashton walked back to the bunk area, and stopped just before he got to the hallway. He turned around slowly, looking back to where Kaylee was sitting. "Thanks," he said softly, and disappeared into the bunks.
    Kaylee smiled for the first time in days. She told herself she was only excited because she was getting to go to the music awards, not because she was going with Ashton. She was excited about the pretty dress and the high heels and the hair done up in a gorgeous upsweep. She was excited about the cameras and the stars on the red carpet and all the new things she would see there. She was downright thrilled to be able to say she was able to see a little part of music history. It had everything to do with that and nothing to do with Ashton.
    She was determined to convince herself of that.

    The night of the awards ceremony, Kaylee rushed around her hotel room. She had only another 15 minutes before they had to leave for the show, and she wasn't nearly ready. She was trying to put the finishing touches on her hair, but there were a few strands that just wouldn't cooperate. She had sprung for a professional hairstylist to take care of it for her, but that was hours ago, and the strands were