One Night with Sole Regret 02 Tempt Me (2 page)

“
Show me what’s in your
panties,” Kellen said as he typed. “And
send
.”

Kellen’s diversion effectively got
Gabe’s attention. Gabe abandoned Owen, who lay immobilized on the
floor by either pain or hilarity. He rubbed his ribs with one hand
and clutched his stomach with the other as he gasped for air
between laughs. Gabe stumbled to his feet and grabbed Kellen by the
back of the neck. Kellen took his one-quarter Comanche heritage
very seriously. In addition to always keeping his straight black
hair long and well-kept, he also had a personal vendetta against
wearing a shirt. It made getting a good grip on him a
challenge.

“
Give me my phone,
Kellen.”

Kellen handed it over calmly. “You
should be thanking us,” he said. “Now you have jack-off material to
aid your attempt at long distance monogamy.”

“
He’ll never last,” Owen
said, still lying on the floor, gasping for air.

Gabe’s phone beeped again, and he
looked down at the screen. His eyes widened at whatever picture
Melanie had sent him. “Sweet Jesus,” he swore under his
breath.

“
Let me see.” Owen used the
sofa to haul himself off the floor. “Get his phone,
Kelly.”

The pair of friends cornered Gabe
against the refrigerator.

Gabe held his phone out of reach over
their heads. “Get the fuck away. No one sees this one but
me.”

Adam wondered if Madison
would send him a sexy picture. He’d love something to remember her
by on all those long, lonely nights on the road. Maybe she’d let
him take a pic with his cellphone while they had sex—a shot of her
beautiful pussy stuffed with his cock. Adam tugged at his fly.
Damn, but these incredibly shrinking jeans were uncomfortable. And
they
had
to be
close to their destination by now. “Tex,” he called to the driver,
“how long until we reach Dallas?”

“
One hour and fifty-nine
minutes,” Tex yelled. “Keep your pants on, stud. Her pussy will
still be warm when you get there.” Tex laughed so hard, Adam
thought he might burst a blood vessel in his wide, ruddy
neck.

Adam looked to the back of the bus to
see if he was about to become the new target of his band’s teasing.
Fortunately, Kellen and Owen were too busy trying to pry Gabe’s
phone from his death grip to have heard Tex’s barb.

Adam rested his elbows on
his knees and took another sip from his can. The road between Tulsa
and Dallas
had
to
be the longest in existence.

Madison tried to stifle her excited
flutters by covering her belly with both hands and taking several
deep breaths. Her attempts to calm her jumbled nerves did no good.
Between the butterflies and the perpetual grin, she was a giddy
wreck. It had been weeks since she’d last seen Adam, and she hadn’t
been able to think of anything all day but being in his arms, in
his bed and, hopefully someday, in his heart.

She was meeting Adam for
dinner in half an hour. The seconds ticked by so slowly she
wondered if the batteries in the large, wooden wall-clock were
going dead. Though she knew her relationship with Adam was not
exclusive—did world-famous rock guitarists
ever
have committed
relationships?—she never felt alive unless he was near. Adam opened
her eyes, her mind, her heart and yes, her thighs, to all that was
wonderful in the world. Just the prospect of seeing him overwhelmed
her with wonder, anticipation, joy and yes, panting
lust.

“
I’m not sure what you’re
smiling about, Madi,” her twin sister said. Kennedy placed both
hands on Madison’s shoulders from behind and caught her blue eyes
with her matching set in the antique dresser mirror. “All he ever
does is hurt you.”

Madison scowled. Being with Adam was
her greatest joy in an already fulfilling life. Kennedy just didn’t
understand. “He only hurts me when he leaves.”

“
And that’s what he does
best. He leaves.”

“
He has to,” Madison said.
“Sole Regret is still on tour.”

“
Madi . . . ” Kennedy’s lower lip protruded
in an unhappy pout.

“
Don’t do this to me,
Kennedy. You know I love him. There’s nothing I can do about
it.”

“
How about don’t go running
to him every time he calls? How about telling him if he doesn’t
commit to you, then you’re through with him? How about remembering
what he was like when you met him?”

How could she forget?

“
He’s clean
now.”

“
You of all people should
realize how unlikely it is for him to stay that way.”

As a licensed chemical dependency
counselor, Madison was well aware of how common it was for an
addict to fall back into the web of drug abuse, but she never gave
up on any of her clients—even the most hopeless of cases—and Adam
was no exception. She would do anything to prevent him from falling
into the deep, dark hell she’d found him in. “He’s clean now,” she
repeated.

Kennedy’s arms slipped around
Madison’s waist, and she dropped her forehead against the back of
her sister’s shoulder. “How long is he in town this
time?”

Madison’s heart squeezed in her chest,
knowing how dismal she’d feel when she had to say goodbye to him in
the morning. “Just one night. We’re going to an early dinner before
his concert and then afterward he promised to spend time alone with
me. Tomorrow they leave for Austin.”

Kennedy’s arms tightened around her.
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then. We’ll go riding this weekend.
That should cheer you up a little.” She snorted. “And maybe Daddy
will get off our cases about how much the horses need
exercise.”

Madison really should visit her
parents more often. They were just a few miles away on the southern
half of the ranch her father had inherited from Madison’s
grandparents. Her father had gifted his daughters with the old
farmhouse he’d grown up in after he’d built a new place down the
road with large stables for their quarter horses. Commuting to
Dallas each workday made life hectic, so Madison didn’t have much
time for the hobbies she loved. Even though she and Kennedy lived
in the same house, they were both so busy with their careers that
they rarely spent time together. She missed their long, dusty
horseback rides through the countryside. “I’d like that,” Madison
said.

She turned to give her
sister a proper hug. She knew Kennedy just wanted her to find true
and lasting love. And Madison
had
found someone to love. Unfortunately, Adam wasn’t
the kind of man who could be tied down—not even by a former rodeo
queen.

The hardwood floor creaked beneath her
boots as Madison pulled away from Kennedy and checked her
appearance one last time. She plucked a stray hair from her dress,
smoothed a wrinkle and tugged at her skirt’s short hem to make sure
everything was concealed. She normally didn’t wear sexy little
black dresses that barely covered her butt. She felt half-naked in
it. And naughty. The way she liked to feel when she was with Adam.
The way no other man had ever made her feel.

“
You look gorgeous,”
Kennedy said. “You always were the pretty one.”

Madison laughed. They looked identical
in every way except for the small mole at the corner of Madison’s
left eye. “And you always were the smart one, Dr.
Fairbanks.”

Kennedy had just earned her
MD in psychiatry. She still had years of her residency to complete,
but Madison couldn’t have been prouder of her
younger-by-seven-minutes sister. It was almost as if Kennedy’s
accomplishments were her own. Kennedy’s happiness was her own. They
shared more than just looks. Madison understood why Kennedy
objected to her seeing Adam. If Kennedy had been the one dropping
everything to spend one night with some man, Madison would have
been the one trying to make
her
see reason. But understanding Kennedy’s advice and
following it were two different things.

“
That goes without saying,”
Kennedy said. “I’m much too smart to let some selfish rock star
lead me around by the nose.”

“
He doesn’t lead me around
by the nose.” Madison scowled at Kennedy, but thoughts of Adam soon
had her grinning. “His hold on me is a bit farther south. If you
ever had sex with the man, you’d understand.”

“
I could always pretend to
be you and find out what I’ve been missing.” Kennedy winked at
her.

Madison felt the blood drain from her
face, leaving her slightly dizzy. It was bad enough that Adam
undoubtedly slept with nameless women while on tour, but if he
screwed her own sister, Madison would be devastated.

“
You know I’d never do that
to you,” Kennedy said, her teasing smile fading. “You know that,
right?” Kennedy bumped her in the arm with the back of her wrist.
“
Madison
?”

Madison nodded.

“
Now if his band’s cute
bassist wanted to introduce me to his psyche, I wouldn’t
refuse.”

“
Owen?”

“
The gorgeous one with the
pierced cock?” Kennedy grinned and wiggled her eyebrows.

Madison’s face flamed. She wasn’t sure
why she’d shared that tidbit of privileged information with
Kennedy. Madison had been so shocked by the very idea that she’d
had to tell someone. “That’s what I’ve heard.”

“
Are you sure you haven’t
seen it? You’re blushing like mad.”

Madison shook her head
vehemently. She’d overheard Adam teasing Owen about it, that was
all. Curiosity piqued, she’d done an Internet search to see what a
pierced penis looked like and found there was more than one way to
pierce a cock. Once she’d picked her jaw up off the floor and
shoved her eyes back into their sockets, she’d told Kennedy about
Owen’s, um,
modification
. Her sister seemed a tad
fixated on it. “I could introduce you to him. If you’d
like.”

“
Maybe,” Kennedy said. “I
would like to know what drives a man to do something like that to
his own body.”

Madison chuckled. She should’ve known
that Kennedy would be more interested in Owen’s mental state than
in his physical attributes.

Madison turned her head to check the
time. While that damned clock had ticked forward at a slow mosey
all day, it had inexplicably fast-forwarded fifteen minutes since
the last time she’d glanced its way. Her fluttery stomach dropped.
“I have to leave. I’m going to be late.”

Kennedy crossed her arms
over her chest and drummed her fingertips against her biceps.
“Maybe you should keep
him
waiting for once.”

Maybe. But the thought of
missing even one moment with him made her eyes prickle with unshed
tears.
Oh God, I have it so bad for
him.
She knew she was a fool. What could
possibly come from a one-sided love affair with a rock
star?

“
Next time.” She hurried
down the hallway, which was decorated with family pictures in
mismatched frames. Out of habit, she kissed her fingertips and
pressed them to the photo of her departed grandmother on her way
into the dining room. Madison still felt the feisty matriarch’s
presence in the old house, which was why she hesitated to move to
the city. “Bye, granny. Don’t wait up.” In the small, tidy kitchen,
Madison grabbed her purse and the sealed container of gingersnaps
she’d spent hours baking that morning, before dashing toward the
back door.

“
Call me if you need
anything,” Kennedy yelled after her.

“
I will. Love you!” Madison
was sure that Adam had everything she could possibly need pounding
within his muscular chest. She had no hope of getting what she
really wanted from him, though settling for what he kept in his
pants wasn’t too great a hardship.

There were few things that made Adam’s
heart thud like a bass drum at a metal concert: the first cheer of
the crowd when he appeared on stage; watching Madison Fairbanks
enter a room; any creature with six or more legs; watching Madison
Fairbanks looking anxious and lost near a restaurant entrance;
tornado sirens at night; watching Madison Fairbanks scan a room
looking for him.

Madison hadn’t spotted him
yet, which gave him a moment to admire her innocent beauty. She
wore a little black dress that clung to her slight curves and had a
wide, low neckline that showed off the bronze skin of her throat
and chest. Her collarbones were visible. He did have a thing for
collar bones. Had he told her that? He must have, since she never
disappointed him. He smiled to see her wearing her sexy, black
cowboy boots. Adam’s thighs tightened at fond memories of her legs
around him and those signature boots digging into the backs of his
legs. Even if the scuffed boots didn’t exactly
go
with her elegant dress, they went
with Madison.

Madison’s dirty-blonde hair was drawn
back by a clip at her nape. He couldn’t wait to free those silky
strands and run his fingers through them. To taste her sweet lips,
her skin, her cum. To smell her delicate perfume, her fruity
shampoo, the musky evidence of her excitement seeping from her sex.
To feel her arms and legs wrapped around him, the timid touch of
her hands, her nails digging into his back as her naked body
thrashed against his in orgasm. Damn, he’d missed her.