Missed Call (Love on Thin Ice Book 3)

  Amber Lynn

  Copyright © 2018 Amber Lynn

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 1

  Kelly had no idea what half of the food on the tables in front of her was. She just knew she wanted to avoid the caviar and sushi among the smorgasbord. Her stomach rolled when she thought about the raw fish. She put her free hand, the one that wasn’t holding an almost empty plate, up to her mouth to try to keep the rolling from escalating.

  Who had sushi at their wedding reception? That question could be unfair, but she doubted most people had a sushi chef right there to make rolls to order. She was a little surprised there wasn’t an aquarium to grab a new fish out of for each roll. She’d overheard the bride say something about fresh sushi was the only way to have sushi.

  A throat cleared from her left, causing the blonde to sigh for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. She darted her bluish-gray eyes over at the elderly woman waiting for Kelly to pick something and move on. Seeing the piles of food in every shape, color and texture on the woman’s plate made it clear she didn’t have the same food issues Kelly did.

  To get out from under the scrutiny, she grabbed a couple more things without looking at them and walked away from the table. Her gaze immediately went to the long table at the front of the banquet hall and all the smiling faces laughing as they sipped their champagne and nibbled on the food in front of them. She was supposed to be up there, with her cousin, her sister and the rest of the wedding party.

  Nina, her cousin, and surprisingly, the bride, had been adamant about having as many bridesmaids as groomsmen, so basically anyone she could corral, who she didn’t totally despise, made the bridesmaids list. Kelly hadn’t heard from her cousin in over a year and hadn’t seen her since Kelly’s mom’s funeral. It had been almost five years since that dreary day.

  It was hard to believe Nina didn’t have anyone else she at least spoke to more often to fill in, but then again, she was Nina. Kelly’s cousin wasn’t exactly known for her friendly personality.

  Five hundred and thirty-five calories.

  Kelly thought as she looked down at her plate. Old habits were hard to break. She had been doing good as far as counting but stressful situations brought it back. For her, there wasn’t anything more stressful than being in a room full of strangers potentially judging her. It was kind of ironic given her former profession as a model. Crowds usually didn’t set her off, but she felt like she had something to prove.

  She glanced back at the platters of food behind her for a second and wondered if she should put more on her plate. The crackers and chips weren’t much. It wasn’t like she was going to eat any of it, not with that many people around. That was why she wasn’t up at the big table, where she was supposed to be. Nina had been surprisingly sympathetic when Kelly had explained her anxiety. Since Nina had tried to get the minister at her aunt’s funeral to hurry things along with hand motions and massive throat clearing, the sympathy was unexpected.

  Kelly didn’t know what the groom drugged her cousin with to make her remotely pleasant, but he was okay in her book. She hadn’t spent much time with him in the week she’d been in town for the wedding. Nina seemed to keep him away from anyone who had boobs, which was stupid, because the guy only had eyes for his now wife.

  Watching the two of them up at the table together, not one of the guys around them had a bigger smile on their face. From what Kelly knew about her cousin, the guy was in for a world of misery. Nina was not someone Kelly ever pictured getting married, because Nina herself had said she never would. She took way too much joy in crushing a guy’s spirit.

  At least temporarily that had changed, but Kelly wasn’t holding her breath that it would last forever. Not that it meant anything to her. Kelly’s life was back in Dallas. After another day or two visiting her sister and her family, Kelly was heading home, and thoughts of Nina and her new husband would be far from her mind.

  “I get the feeling you like weddings about as much as I do,” a deep voice said directly into Kelly’s left ear.

  She jumped as her heart about beat out of her chest, and the plate in her hand shook enough that some of the crackers fell on the floor in front of her. She waited for a moment to see if Nina would notice and screech on about how Kelly had ruined her day. Yes, Nina was crazy enough to have to worry about that. A quick peek showed that Nina was too engrossed with her husband. It seemed like such a small thing, but Nina’s temper was famous.

  If Kelly wasn’t mortified by the fact she’d been frightened, she would’ve swiped her brow. Nina had changed to an extent, but Kelly knew the dramatic moments were still buried in there somewhere.

  “Let me get those for you.”

  The voice proved to be attached to a body as a man with shoulder-length dark hair bent down from beside Kelly and picked up the crackers. She didn’t get a great look at any features, other than the hair and that he seemed tall as he straightened and looked around for a brief second. His eyes didn’t meet hers before he took long strides away from Kelly to the right of the room.

  She got to study the back of him as he walked over to a garbage can and dumped the crackers. The tallness was confirmed, with his head almost completely above many of the guests he passed. Kelly was five-ten and would more than likely have to look up to meet his eyes, if he ever gave her a chance. She bit her lip, thinking about how nice his toned backside, particularly his ass, filled in the black suit he was wearing.

  She was staring at said ass when he turned around. Kelly quickly floated her eyes upward, just in case he was looking at her instead of the twenty or so people closer to him. He was ten feet away, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to decipher she was checking him out. She just preferred if it didn’t look like she was ogling his crotch.

  The slight upturn of one side of his lips told her the observing hadn’t gone unnoticed. Kelly’s initial perusal of his features made her think he was used to the opposite sex checking him out. He wasn’t exactly male model material; a long nose that looked like it hadn’t set properly after being broken would probably rule that out.

  That didn’t change the fact that his stance alone exuded sexual prowess Kelly had seen many times walk down the runway. His broad chest was relaxed as he leaned slightly to the right with his hands on his hips. For someone who had just been whispering in her ear about not liking weddings, he looked like a
man totally in his element.

  With over two hundred other people in the banquet hall, there were sure to be plenty of single ladies keeping their eye on him. Kelly couldn’t seem to look away as he started back in her direction. She had a boyfriend back home, but when a work of art wanted to be noticed, she couldn’t help but appreciate it.

  “Sorry for scaring you. I noticed you seemed to be a little stuck on deciding where to sit and thought bringing up our shared dislike of weddings might help convince you to come sit with me.”

  Kelly tilted her head to the side, no clearer about his words than when she first heard them. She hadn’t even been caught by the stormy look in his brown eyes when he first spoke of whatever dislike he was talking about.

  “Why do you think I don’t like weddings?”

  She hadn’t been to many, so it was hard to reason she disliked them in general. She wasn’t having a great time at the reception, but that was different from the actual wedding.

  His brow rose before he spoke and turned his head to look around the room. Kelly let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding while stuck under his gaze. That gaze was only gone a few moments before he focused back on her.

  “You’re the only person I see here without a smile on their face. I’ve overheard so much relief from everyone else because this wedding actually happened that they can’t seem to stop smiling.” His own smile shrunk a little as he leaned in closer to whisper. “You’re not a former associate of the groom, are you? I heard a rumor that all exes were barred from the wedding.”

  Kelly let a small laugh escape. It was funny that he acted like it was such a scandalous thing. She knew for a fact it was true, so the reality wasn’t that funny.

  She looked down and gestured with her left hand to the pale blue dress she was wearing. It didn’t do anything to flatter her thin body. However, it fit better than it had at the start of the week. When Kelly had shown up for her fitting, the dress had almost fallen off as soon as it was zipped. She had asked for a size zero, but it seemed the dresses fit on the large size.

  “Bridesmaid dress means I’m probably not one of those associates. Nina’s my cousin.”

  He didn’t need to know about the familial tie. Chances were he didn’t give two fucks about who she was. He’d already said he didn’t want to be there, so he probably just picked a pretty face to bide his time with.

  “I’m guessing you aren’t close, because the way I hear it, she was raised by a pack of wildebeest and rescued by her groom. They even say he swung in on vines to extract her from her life in the jungle.”

  Kelly shook her head and rolled her eyes. The guy was sexy as hell, but maybe the punches to the nose had rattled his brain. He winked, letting her know he was joking. It didn’t change the fact he’d come up with the story in the first place. He knew nothing about Kelly and Nina’s relationship, so he could’ve just offended her. It wasn’t the best move if he was trying to hit on her.

  “I don’t know who’s giving you that information, but you better not let the bride hear you say stuff like that. I found out recently she’s a little sensitive when people talk about her attitude.”

  When they’d been at the dress shop getting Kelly’s dress sorted, Nina had overheard one of the salespeople whisper something about her being a bitch. In the woman’s defense, Nina had decided it was the shop’s fault for ordering the wrong size, which led her to telling them that they had forty-eight hours to fix the problem or she was going to run them out of business.

  That was the woman Kelly knew and had expected when she’d touched down on Monday morning. The woman sitting in front of the room, smiling as her husband kissed the top of her hand, was some kind of imposter. For everyone in the banquet hall, that was a good thing, but it was still hard for Kelly to wrap her head around.

  “I’ve heard that rumor.” The corners of his mouth widened a little as he reached out his hand. “I’m Jake Hunter, by the way.”

  Kelly glanced down at the large hand waiting for her much smaller one. She thought about just smiling and saying her name quickly before finding an exit from the conversation, but her hand had other ideas as it moved to let his envelope hers. That’s exactly what it did as his slightly sweaty fingers curled around hers. His hand lingered for a moment longer than necessary.

  She wondered if the room was hot, or if he was nervous for some reason. He didn’t act nervous, so she figured the number of people in the room was probably heating things up. Since she was always cold, she had trouble knowing how warm things really were.

  “I’m Kelly Martin. And, I have a boyfriend, so you’re wasting some prime wedding hook-up time by standing around talking to me.”

  Jake looked around Kelly’s head, first on the left, then the right. She didn’t know what he was doing, but he followed that by standing on his tiptoes and looking around the room.

  “If he’s here, he’s an idiot for letting me stand here with you. I’m doing my best to make sure you’re getting the ‘I think you’re sexy as hell’ vibes I’m putting out, even if my jokes don’t seem to be landing.”

  Kelly smirked slightly at his words, but quickly changed her expression as his eyes raked down her body. Yes, she had a boyfriend, someone she’d been with for four months, but that didn’t change the fact that her mind went a little haywire when it was clear a guy was studying her body.

  Would he think she was too fat?

  No, she thought, quickly shaking the idea from her head. Years of needing to have the “perfect” body to make it on the biggest runways had really fucked up her head. She’d gone three weeks without eating actual food once because an agent thought she had a little too much fat around her hips.

  “He’s back home in Texas, so don’t hurt yourself trying to find him.”

  Blowing out a breath, Kelly looked around the room to try to find something herself – a way to escape the conversation gracefully. She was kicking herself for not staying at the main table. She wasn’t good at small talk and wanted to find a nice corner to hide in until she could finally head back to her sister’s place.

  “Texas? Really? I lived there myself until about a month ago. I got traded to Brady’s team, which unbeknownst to me also meant a wedding invite.”

  Kelly looked back to Jake and realized there was a good reason for the broken nose. She should have realized he was with the team.

  “You’re a hockey player.”

  It was a stupid thing to say out loud, but it was out before Kelly could stop it. It was no wonder he filled out his suit so well. Kelly had heard Nina and her matron of honor, Hannah, talking about their guys’ workout routines and how even in the offseason the two of them hit the gym for hours each day.

  “Guilty as charged. What about you? I’m going to guess you aren’t in the same profession.”

  He chuckled at his joke. The sound was deeper than his speaking voice, sort of like a bear grunting.

  “I’m not, and I’m not sure it’s relevant. I already told you I’m seeing someone and that I don’t live around here, so it’s kind of silly to keep talking. I’m sure there’s someone else around who looks miserable to be here.”

  Kelly thought that was a fine way to end the conversation. It wasn’t as graceful as she’d hoped, but as she turned to walk away, she patted herself on the back for getting it done. She didn’t generally assert herself, so she could have been there all night, looking for someone else to come along and rescue her.

  Not that it had been horrible talking to the guy. His sense of humor was a little off, but he was easy to look at and seemed genuinely nice. Sighing, she headed towards her sister. Kirsten was a few years older than her and was good about bailing her out when she needed her. Kelly wanted to find an excuse to leave the party only thirty minutes in, and she hoped her sister would help her accomplish that.

  Chapter 2

  “Really? Just like that you’re going to leave?”

  Jake let the shock of a woman walking away from him wear of
f. Kelly was about ten steps away before it happened. He saw her pause for a second and shake her head. If he hadn’t been watching, he would’ve totally missed her faltered step.

  She seemed determined to get away from him as fast as she could. After spending three hours dedicated to the wedding, between getting ready, sitting around waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle, the actual service and the reception thus far, Jake wasn’t going to let the one person he’d found interesting get away that easy.

  Kelly wasn’t the first woman he’d spoken to. She was the only one he’d made the first move on, though. There was something about her standing in a room full of people with a lost expression on her face that made him want to figure out what was going on behind those silver eyes. He was sure he’d never met anyone with eyes as light as hers. Something in them shone, even though there seemed to be conflict playing out as their conversation continued.

  “Come on, Kelly. It’s not like I asked you to come back to my apartment. I just want to talk to you.”

  The look she threw over her shoulder told him she didn’t believe a word of it. At least she acknowledged that she could hear him. There was something in her clear rejection that added to the fact he really did want to ask her to come back to his place.

  His strides were longer than hers. It seemed like four feet of her generous height was all legs, so that shouldn’t have been possible. Instead of using their length to her advantage, her steps were short, making her ass sway from side to side, taunting him with every step.

  He’d been in New York for a month and was still getting the lay of the land. The nightlife scene had proven fun to find and play around with prospective partners. As soon as the women in a club heard he was a professional athlete, they seemed to spring out of the woodwork, all trying to get his attention.

  “What’s up, Jake?” Curtis Power asked as Jake reached the giant table the wedding party was hanging out at.

  Jake thought it was kind of stupid that they were stretched out twenty feet apart instead of sitting in a circle like all the other wedding guests were. He knew that’s how a lot of weddings were, but it didn’t change the fact it made the bride and groom look like king and queen of a kingdom up in the middle of the table.