A/N: Thanks for all your reviews of the last chapter. Most of you think Edward was drowning his sorrows because he was upset Bella had been asked out by Liam. You'll find out more very soon, but for now let's see how Bella and Alice are getting on at the Volterra bar...

Special thanks today to Ana, who has created an awesome banner for Calendar Guys at TwilightFanfictionRecsBlog. You can find the link to it on my profile page or my Twitter account at popsicle99.

Chapter 16 – Mr. June (cont'd)

Bella looked over to Alice and mouthed, "What the fuck?" Liam had entered the bar with two leggy blondes, one draped over each arm. Both were dressed in identikit mini-skirts and leather jackets, and they were laughing flirtatiously at something Liam had said.

"Hey Bella, Alice!" he called. "Glad you found the place okay. I'm shite at giving directions. This is Lauren and Irina." He gestured to the two girls, who drawled an uninterested 'hiiii' in unison. "I thought I'd bring them along to join us. The more the merrier, eh?" He winked. "Where's Edward?"

"Oh, he wasn't feeling too well, so his friend took him home," replied Alice quickly, before Bella could blurt out the truth.

"That's a shame," said Liam, not really sounding like he meant it. "Ah well, that just means I get all you lovely ladies to meself." He laughed and walked up to the bar to order some drinks, the blondes trailing after him.

Bella sidled over to Alice, furious. "Since when was it considered acceptable behaviour to bring two extra girls on a date with you? What are they – spares, in case things didn't work out with me?!"

"Maybe there's been a misunderstanding, Bells. Perhaps he wasn't asking you out on a date. He could have just been being friendly. Maybe the rules are different in Ireland." Alice placed a consoling hand on Bella's arm. "Do you want to get out of here? This place is so gross."

"No," said Bella, decisively. "If I go home, Liam will think I'm upset or, worse, jealous. I'm don't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking that I might have been interested in him. Let's stick around and play it cool." She took a swig of her rum and coke to strengthen her resolve. "Besides, the support band is about to start – and they look pretty hot…"

Alice's followed her friend's gaze over to the stage, where four guys were setting up their instruments. Bella was right – they were very cute, in a rock band kind of way. And one of them looked really familiar… "Bella," said Alice, nudging her friend. "Isn't that one of the models we've booked for the calendar? The guy with the blond, curly hair."

Bella squinted in the dim light at the guitar player Alice was pointing out. He did look like one of the future calendar guys, the one called Jasper Whitlock, if Bella remembered correctly. "It sure looks like him," she admitted. "We can find out after their set, anyway. Liam's a friend of the band, he'll be able to introduce us." Maybe tonight wasn't a total waste of time, after all.

"Oh my god, Bells," squealed Alice, grabbing on to Bella's arm. "He is seriously sexy. Look at that smile!"

"The lead singer's not bad either," grinned Bella. Definitely worth sticking around a bit longer for.

The band was pretty awful, as it turned out. But Bella and Alice weren't really interested in the music. They were too busy drooling over the band members. Liam had confirmed the guitar player was the model Jasper and told them the front man was his friend, Garrett.

Alice couldn't take her eyes off Jasper and was literally swooning at every guitar riff he played. Bella recalled it was Alice who had originally pointed him out when they were going through the pictures to select the 12 male models for the shoot – so technically she had seen him first. Bella wasn't about to do a Rosalie and step on her friend's toes. So she turned her attention to the charismatic lead singer instead.

Garrett didn't have the best voice she'd ever heard, but he didn't seem to notice. If Simon Cowell had been in the audience he would have to admit he had 'the X factor.' He swaggered around the stage, working the crowd up into a frenzy, and singing into the microphone as if he was in love with it. Or at least was having a hot one night stand with it. He caught Bella's eye several times and she held his gaze, feeling a hot sensation rising up inside of her. Hmm, she thought, this has potential.

The band finished after four or five songs and cleared the stage to make room for the main act, Denali. It wasn't long before they joined Liam and the girls in the bar, greeting the Irishman with bro-hugs and high fives. "Great show, guys!"

"Thanks, man," said Garrett, with a flick of his long, sandy hair. Bella could see that modesty wasn't his style. She noticed that Thing One and Thing Two - her and Alice's new nickname for Lauren and Irina – were hovering, apparently ready to sink their claws into Garrett. Maybe Liam hadn't brought them along for himself after all, she thought. Perhaps they're just groupies that latched onto him to get to the band. Well, not if I have anything to do with it.

"Hi Garrett, I'm Bella." She thrust herself forward, flashing her best flirtatious smile. "You were amazing up there. Liam played us your CD at our photo shoot today and I just had to come and see you live."

"Ah, well thank you. Always a pleasure to meet a new fan," he took Bella's hand and kissed it the old fashioned way, fixing her with his dark eyes. "Especially one as beautiful as you." She smiled and looked down demurely. Yeah, it was corny as hell, but she was determined to keep his attention away from the blonde leeches. "So you're a photographer, right? We'd love to get some new publicity shots of the band. Maybe you could give me your number…"

"Oh, sure. I'd love to photograph you guys! I have a business card here somewhere… Here, can you hold this?" She passed her drink to Garrett and fished around in her handbag. She pulled out a business card and scrawled something on the back of it before passing it to Garrett. He took the card, looked at the message and raised an eyebrow at Bella as he handed back her drink. She smiled at him and tried to look innocent.

"Actually, I'll be taking Jasper's photo really soon. He's modelling for the Eclipse magazine calendar."

"Is that so? Hey Jasper," he called the guitarist over. "Come and meet Bella, she's the photographer on that calendar shoot you were telling me about." Jasper looked relieved to have an excuse to extricate himself from the fawning clutches of Irina, who had a slightly crazed look in her eye, and sauntered over.

He shook Bella's hand, flashing that gorgeous smile that Alice had been so excited about. "Bella, hi. Pleased to meet you. And who might you be, little darlin'?" Jasper barely gave Bella a second glance before turning his attention to Alice, who had been standing quietly behind her. Bella could see her friend blush prettily, even in the dark light of the bar, as she introduced herself. She was literally melting on the spot. Bella had visions of mopping Alice up and taking her home in a bucket. She grinned and left them to it. The pair were already leaning in intimately close to each other, trying to hold a conversation over the loud music, seemingly oblivious to everyone else in the bar around them.

"There goes my wingman for the night," joked Garrett, stepping in closer to Bella so she could hear him over Denali's first song.

"You don't strike me as someone who needs a wingman," Bella leaned up to shout in his ear, letting her lips brush up against his stubbly cheek. "You seemed pretty confident up on stage. Not to mention the fact you have women lining up to talk to you." She nodded at Thing One and Thing Two, who were standing around with vacant looks on their faces waiting for one of the band members to buy them a drink. She thought they would be in for a long wait. Jasper was engrossed in conversation with Alice, Liam was chatting to the drummer, and Garrett was all hers. She caught Lauren's eye and smiled smugly.

"Ugh, those two," he shuddered. "I don't know why Liam always lets them tag along. The other week I got stuck talking to both of them at the same time. 'Vapid' doesn't even begin to cover it. I was ready to blow my brains out by the end of the night, just to make things more interesting. Besides, I prefer brunettes…" He playfully twirled a strand of Bella's long hair. She swallowed. "Come on, let me get you a drink."

They walked over to the bar, where Garrett ordered their drinks, plus two shots of tequila. "Body slammers. You in?"

"What's a 'body slammer'?" asked Bella, thinking she liked the sound of it, whatever it was.

"Salt. Tequila. Lemon." He leaned forward towards Bella and placed a wedge of lemon between her lips. "I'm going to lick the salt off a part of your body, down the shot of tequila, then take the lemon from you. Okay?" Bella nodded dumbly, unable to speak with the lemon hanging out of her mouth. Garrett bent his head down and took a long and sensuous lick below her collarbone. She felt her nipples harden as his scruffy chin tickled her sensitive skin. He sprinkled the salt onto the wet streak on her chest and licked it again. Bella shivered. Garrett knocked back the tequila and moved in to take the lemon from Bella's mouth with his teeth. He winced as the bitter juices filled his mouth and spat the lemon out onto the bar. "Okay. Your turn. Pick your spot."

Bella put a piece of lemon in his mouth and picked up the salt shaker, looking him up and down and pretending to consider her options. She reached for the hem of his black t-shirt and tugged it up, exposing a flat stomach and a fuzzy 'happy trail'. She bent down and licked a patch of Garrett's bare skin, just above his waistline, conscious of the bulge in his skinny jeans so close to her face. She applied the salt, licked again, then straightened up to down the shot, enjoying the burning sensation in her throat. She stood up on tiptoes to take the lemon from Garrett's mouth, but he let it drop from his lips at the last second and pulled Bella into a sudden and citrusy kiss.

They broke apart, laughing. "Sorry Bella, I couldn't resist," Garrett shrugged. He pulled her close again and spoke into her ear, seductively. "What do you say we get out of this dump?"

A/N: Literal lemons in this chapter, LOL! I look forward to your reviews. Poppy x