Melting Away The Ice (THE ICE SERIES)

by Smith, Mary

  “Hey girl! Should you not be ready for the dinner?” Ava’s bright face came onto my laptop screen. She was wearing thick black glasses and looked like she was getting ready for bed.

  “Am I bothering you?” I asked. I had talked to Ava and Victoria almost every day since Lucas and I got back together. I thought they would be upset about what happened with Lucas and me, but it was opposite they were concerned about me. They really were the greatest people.

  “Of course not! What’s up?” She had the same blue eyes as Lucas and the same, supermodel looks as Rachel.

  “I need a second opinion on my outfit. Rachel likes the purple and here are the others.”

  “Hi, Ava,” Rachel yelled.

  “Hi, Rachel and I agree the purple is perfect.” Ava said.

  “Okay, hang on.” I jumped over to my closet out of camera and Rachel’s view and changed into the dress. Once I was zipped I came back over to my laptop. “What do you think?” It was a deep purple. It stopped mid-thigh and flowed away from me. The top was tight and lower cut than I usually liked, but I knew everything was secured in place.

  “Oh, Lucas is going to rip that off of you later,” Ava laughed.

  “See, I told you,” Rachel walked up behind me. “Ava she didn’t believe me.”

  “When did you two become best friends?” I asked. The truth was all three of us had been talking a lot since they’d been working on calming me down. The trial was going to begin soon and it was still making me nervous.

  Don’t think about it now. Tonight is just Lucas and you. Well, and about two hundred other people, too.

  “Hey, cousin, don’t be mean to my new BFF.” Ava pointed at me. Rachel laughed. I rolled my eyes. Ava had been calling me her “cousin” for the last week and it felt awesome and strange when she did.

  “Fine. Thank you, Ava, but we have to go. Love you.”

  “Love ya both and have fun.” She waved and then disconnected.

  I looked over at Rachel after I shut my laptop and she took my breath away. She was wearing a royal blue strapless dress, knee length with a tight waist. She looked stunning.

  “Rachel, you look wonderful.”

  “So do you.” I stopped in the bathroom to look at myself again. I left my hair down and used a large curling iron so that my curls were somewhat tamed. My makeup was a little heavier than I usually wore, but still looked good.

  “Let’s go,” Rachel said. We grabbed our purses and headed out.

  We stood in line with the others that were at the dinner waiting to enter. The Royal Hotel was one of the oldest hotels in the city and it was stunning. As we checked in our coats, we took in our surroundings. The room was brightly lit and each table was set to perfection. There were bright white-and-gold plates with clear champagne glasses, and the silver on the silverware was polished to shine at every angle.

  “Well, now I know why the tickets were so much.” Rachel leaned over and whispered to me.

  “Oh, don’t be so cheap. It is for a good cause.” I lightly pushed her shoulder.

  “Holy shit,” I heard behind us and turned around. Max was dressed in a crisp black tux staring at Rachel. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were about to bug out. He walked up to her and just stared.

  “Cat got your tongue, Max?” I laughed as I said it because he had no clue I was even standing there.

  “Oh, hi, Sara,” Max finally acknowledged me. “Lucas is over there.” He pointed to his right and I looked over to see him with several women. I never worried about him cheating on me because he was not that kind of person. I knew that girls flocked to him.

  I stood there and stared at him as he signed merchandise for them. He looked up and saw me and I smiled. He did the same thing Max did: his mouth fell open and eyes bugged out. My stomach flipped as his blue eyes roamed my body. He excused himself from the group around him and came to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me. I knew that he wanted more, but this was a work function.

  “Please tell me you are wearing underwear?” he whispered in my ear.

  I couldn’t help but tease him. “Maybe.”

  “Don’t tease me, beautiful, or I will take you to the closet or a dark corner and have my way with you.” His blue eyes were filled with desire. I just laughed at him and shrugged. “I have to go, but save me a dance.” He tugged on Max’s arm, which was wrapped around Rachel, and they headed off to work.

  “I don’t think either of our dresses will make it through tonight,” Rachel said as we walked to find our tables.

  “I agree. Hey, let’s grab a drink before we go to our table.”

  “Oh, good idea. I like the words ‘open’ and ‘bar’,” she replied. I just shook my head and turned toward the bar. There was a long line so we stood there looking around.

  “I think the stuff for auction is in the other room,” I told Rachel and pointed to the side door that I saw several other people go into. Rachel nodded as the line to the bar moved a little bit more. I was taking in the whole dining hall and people were everywhere, ladies in evening gowns and men in crisp black tuxes. It was nice to get all dressed up and enjoy the night. We finally made it up to the bar and ordered white wines. I dragged Rachel into the other room where there was the silent auction set up.

  “I am not bidding on a single thing,” Rachel pouted.

  “Be quiet and think of it as a tax write-off,” I gripped her arm as we went around the room. I knew that Rachel was kidding when she bid on three things. We continued around the room, commenting on items, when my world stopped. Not more than ten feet from me stood the last person I thought I would see.

  Jake Black.

  “Hey, we better get to our table,” Rachel said next to me. “Sara?” I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. In that very instant the whole world stopped and I didn’t know what to do. My mind was screaming ‘run’ but my legs would not move.

  “Rachel,” my mouth was so dry, I barely made a sound.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Rachel whispered back, full of concern.

  “Look.” I shifted my eyes to the right and Rachel followed my gaze.

  “Oh my God.” She grabbed my arm and led me away from where he was standing. He had been talking to a few people, so I didn’t think that he saw us. Rachel was talking to me, but I couldn’t hear anything other than the ringing in my ears. I thought I would pass out. Rachel led us down a long hallway and towards, what looked to be the kitchen. There stood Max, Lucas and Marc.

  “Max,” Rachel yelled and all three turned. I saw Lucas rush toward me and wrap me in his arms.

  “What the hell is going on?” Lucas’ voice was low and lethal. Max wrapped up Rachel and Marc was in between all of us. I still couldn’t focus.

  “Lucas, he is here. He is over by the auction tables. She needs to leave now.” Rachel’s voice sounded very calm, almost eerie.

  “Show me, now,” Lucas hissed and I felt all his muscles tighten. I snapped out of the trance I was in.

  “No. I need to leave. Rachel, we need to leave.” It came out almost as a shout but we did need to leave. Rachel nodded.

  “Hey, go down the long hallway down by the bathrooms. This way you won’t have to go back into the big room,” Marc directed.

  “I will take the girls to the car.” Lucas grabbed my arm and was guiding me and reached for Rachel.

  “Nope, I am going with you, in case you need me. Besides, I want to make sure that Rachel is okay.” Max said and pulled Rachel closer to him. Lucas nodded and squeezed me tighter. I felt safe in his arms.

  All of us, including Marc, headed down the hall. We rounded the corner when I gasped and I heard Rachel say, “Oh no.” There coming up the hall with a very young red-head on his arm, was Jake. I gripped Lucas’s arm so tightly I was afraid I drew blood.

  “Is that him?” I heard Max say to Rachel and she nodded. Lucas’ body went tight, as Jake got closer. He wasn’t paying attention and was laughing as though nothing in the world was w
rong. He strutted down the hall like he wasn’t going to court next week for attempted murder charges. He finally looked up.

  “Sara? Rachel? What the hell are you two doing here?” He looked completely puzzled. He was less than a foot away and I realized that he looked older than the last time I saw him. His blonde hair was thinning and there were more defined lines around his eyes. I noticed the difference between Lucas and him. Lucas was at least four to five inches taller than him and much broader.

  “Wishing you would die.” Leave it to Rachel to have some comeback. Please Rachel don’t upset him. Not here and not in front of Lucas. Jake just stared at her. He never liked Rachel because she was so much smarter than him.

  “Well, Rachel, always nice to hear your charming input,” Jake sneered at her.

  “I suggest you shut up real quick talking to my girlfriend like that.” Max’s brown eyes were almost black with anger. Rachel put her hand on Max’s chest and Marc put his hand on his shoulder.

  “Jake, you know you can’t be within one hundred feet of her. So, go away.” Rachel’s voice was still calm and all I wanted to do was crawl in a hole to get away from him. Lucas hadn’t said a thing but I could feel the anger radiating off of him.

  “It was an honest mistake. When did you start liking hockey anyway, Sara? Is it when you started spreading your legs open to everyone on the team?” He leered at me with his wicked eyes and everything happened at once.

  I gasped, Lucas lunged for Jake, and Max and Marc jumped in between them. Rachel leapt in front of me and pushed me against the wall. Jake, the coward that he was, actually pushed the red head in front of him.

  “You say one word to her and I will make sure you never speak again.” Lucas’ voice must have sounded fatal to Jake, because he looked terrified. Max started to say something to Lucas in French, but Lucas wasn’t listening. I walked around Rachel and touched Lucas’ shoulder. It was hard to the touch; he would not budge.

  “Lucas, he is not worth it,” I whispered to him. Max and Marc were using all their strength to keep Lucas in place. I knew that if he got close enough to Jake he would hurt him and that would be horrible for Lucas. He would lose everything that he worked so hard for and I couldn’t let that happen.

  “Jake.” He looked right at me when I said his name. “We will see you in court.” With that, Lucas looked at me and wrapped his arm around my waist. Jake stared at me and I didn’t even blink as I stared back. I will not be scared anymore. He will not hurt me or the ones that I love. Jake was the first to make his move. He turned and walked away. The red-head was standing there, paralyzed with fear. “Take my advice.” I said to her. “Don’t trust Jake Black. He isn’t a good person.” The red-head stared at me, nodded, and then turned and headed in the opposite direction of Jake.

  “Lucas.” I touched his face. He looked into my eyes.

  “We are leaving.” He was turning to head back down the hall.

  “No, Lucas, you have to stay. I will leave.” I tried to reason with him.

  “I will leave with her, Lucas.” Rachel came up by me.

  “No.” Max stood next to Rachel. “Let us all leave. This way I know that everyone is safe.”

  “Go, I will take care of everything here,” Marc said and turned back to the other end of the hall and walked back toward the kitchen.

  Then all four of us headed out the door.

  Chapter 30 – Lucas

  I had never been that angry in my whole life. I never wanted to punch someone so badly, either. He was right there less than ten inches from me and I didn’t attack. Mainly, because Max and Marc were there, but that still didn’t matter. I could have done it. I would have lost everything I worked for, but it would have been worth it. As we walked into the parking garage I was thankful to be parked next to Max.

  “What about my car?” Rachel asked. Max told her not to worry, that it was safe. I wasn’t even thinking about that. All I wanted was Sara in my arms.

  “Max, call me as soon as you are home or at Rachel’s.” I opened the door for Sara and she hopped in. I went back around and got into the driver’s side and left. I knew that it seemed that Max and I were overreacting, but I needed to keep Sara safe and away from him.

  We didn’t talk on the way. I was trying to get my heartbeat back under control and she was staring out the window. Actually, I wasn’t sure what to say because she might have been mad at me for becoming all barbaric on her.

  I pulled into my driveway because it was closer than her apartment. We both got out and headed inside. I knew that I would be in trouble for leaving the benefit, but Sara was safe. I looked over and she had taken her heels off and I couldn’t tell if she was sad, mad, or all the above. She sat down on the couch and tossed her heels on the floor with her purse. She still looked stunning. I had never wanted her more than when I saw her tonight at the dinner.

  “Are you mad at me?” Sara asked quietly. She was looking at her hands and not at me. I walked over and kneel down in front of her.

  “What?” I wanted to be sure that I heard her right.

  “Are you mad at me?” She looked at me and had tears in her eyes.

  “Sara,” it came out as a whisper and my voice was cracking. I hated it when she cries. “I could never be mad at you. Why would you ever think of that?”

  She shrugged. “I figured you would get in trouble and I don’t want that. On top of that, everything that happened tonight was -“

  “Stop,” I put my finger on her lips, “it will be fine. Yes, I will get into a little bit of trouble, but it is okay. It was worth it.” She almost knocked me over when she wrapped her arms around my neck in a tight hug. I could feel her tears on my neck and just held her tighter and rubbed her back. I will never let anyone hurt her.

  “Thank you, Lucas. I don’t think you even know how much you mean to me.” She was trembling. I broke our hug and gently kissed her lips.

  “I love you and I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.” I kissed her again.

  “Lucas,” she breathed when we pulled apart. “I really just want a hot shower and to go to bed. It has been a crazy night.” She looked at me with her green eyes filled with sadness. I stood up, nodding as she headed into the bathroom. Sara was right about one thing, it was a crazy night. I pushed my hand through my hair and grabbed my phone.

  “Hello?” Ava’s sleepy voice came over the line.

  “Hey.” Ava was the one person I could talk to.

  “Lucas? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I heard her turn on the lamp by her bed and shift to get up.

  “Nothing is wrong. I have had a bad night and needed to talk to someone.”

  “I am here. Talk.” That was why I loved her. She was there for me. I started talking about the night, my feelings, and my need to protect Sara. I laid it all out and I just kept talking. Just like Mom, Ava just listened.

  “Lucas, do you want my opinion on your relationship?” she asked when I finished.

  “Please.”

  “Just marry her already. You two are so in love it makes me gag. You are just a great guy and it is your nature to protect the women in your life. I mean look at me, you are always there for me.” My cousin always said what she felt and she was right. I wasn’t sure about the whole marriage thing, but she was right.

  “I love you, Nerd. Thank you.”

  She answered. “Love you, Creep,” and hung up.

  Chapter 31 – Sara

  Standing in the hot shower was the greatest feeling, just what I needed to get my thoughts straight and figure out what I was doing. I loved Lucas and I didn’t want him to get in trouble. I needed to be strong because the hearing was coming up fast and I knew that I was going to have to face him. Lucas wasn’t going to be there because he was leaving for the All-Star Game. I had to face my own fears. It is time.

  I finished my shower, got out, and changed into Lucas’ shirt and shorts. My hair was a wet mop, so I just threw it into a messy bun on top of my head. I looked in the mir
ror and saw that my eyes were still puffy from crying, though there was nothing I could do about that now. I walked out of the bathroom into his empty bedroom. Both my body and mind were ready to shut off. I collapsed on the bed and didn’t remember anything else.

  After a while, I heard the bedroom door open and close. Lucas shuffled around the room, trying to be quiet, and finally climbed into bed. He kissed the top of my head as he wrapped his arm around my waist. Again, I never felt safer than I did in his arms.

  “I love you Sara,” he whispered in my ear. I shifted and rolled to look at him. “Hey, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “You didn’t. I just wanted to say that I love you too. I also wanted to say thank you.”

  “For what?” Even in the dark room I could hear the confusion in his voice.

  “For being amazing and wonderful. I don’t think you could be any more perfect if I dreamt you up.” It was the truth. Lucas Sharp was my perfect man.

  “Well, that is a lot to live up too.” He laughed and I couldn’t help myself I kissed him like I never had before, putting all the love, passion, and trust into that kiss. I wanted him to know that I meant what I said. I loved him and he was wonderful. There was nothing that I would not do for him and I wanted to express it all physically.

  I pushed on him and he easily rolled onto his back.

  “Sara,” he was trying to catch his breath. He squeezed my hips as I pushed deeper onto him. “Do you really want this right now?”

  I did want this and I was going to show him how much. I shifted toward the end of the bed, pulling his shorts down with me. Being careful not to tickle him I dragged my nails down his hard chest until my hands wrapped around his hardness. I firmly began to stroke him. He moaned, then jumped when I ran my tongue from the bottom of his shaft to the tip on the underside.

  “Sara.” He dug his hands into my hair. I took the majority of him into my mouth. It hurt my jaw to open my mouth that wide, but his pleasure pushed away the pain. I moved up and down faster, working my hand and tongue on him.