One Night with Sole Regret 04 Touch Me (12 page)

“Don’t break his heart, Caitlyn,” Kellen said
unexpectedly. “He likes to pretend he’s a player, but he’s very
sensitive when it comes to love. He’s nice. Too nice at times. He
only sees the good in people. So when you shred his heart, be it
tonight, tomorrow, or years from now, take it easy on him. He
doesn’t take rejection well.”

Kellen turned to her then, and she couldn’t
speak. Could only stare into his dark eyes. It was as if she were
under some sort of spell. After a long moment, he looked away and
she found her tongue.

“It’s a bit soon to be talking about love,”
she said.

Kellen laughed softly. “I knew I would love
Sara for the rest of my life the first time she smiled at me.”

And what in the hell was she supposed to say
to that?

Before she could think of a response, Owen
slipped into the car beside Kellen. Relief flooded her. She wasn’t
sure why. Maybe it was because Owen was all light and wonder, while
Kellen was all dark and practicality. Caitlyn needed Owen, because
she was more like Kellen than she cared to admit. As soon as the
door closed behind Owen, he climbed over his friend’s lap and
wriggled until he slipped between Kellen and Caitlyn’s hips.

“You could have asked me to move,” Kellen
said, scooting closer to the door to give Owen breathing room.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be sitting on top
of her,” Owen said.

“I wasn’t.”

“Not that I blame you,” he said. “Are there
any decent sandwich shops around here that are open this late?” he
asked Caitlyn.

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Don’t you live close by?”

She shook her head. “I’m from Houston. I’m
just here visiting a friend.” She smirked. “And enjoying the
nightlife San Antonio has to offer.”

“You know what?” Owen said. “Tony has a club
in Houston. I’ll take you sometime. We can try out some of your
other kinky fantasies.”

“As tempting as that sounds, I don’t think
I’ll be visiting another of Tony’s clubs,” she said. “Not that I
didn’t enjoy my time there tonight, I did, but my curiosity is
sated now. Maybe I’ll try Internet dating next.” Or maybe she’d
take for herself. To get over Charles. She hated him, yes, but she
still wasn’t over him. She wasn’t ready to love again. Hot sex with
Owen? Yeah, she’d been ready for that, had
needed
that. She
was ready for hot sex with Owen again, truth be told. But if he was
one of those guys who believed in love at first smile, like his
excessively intense friend, then she should probably take her leave
as soon as possible. Before she shredded his heart or something
equally appalling.

“I’ll see if I can find a place that’s open,”
Kellen said as he tugged a cellphone out of his pocket. “What are
you hungry for? Wait, I get one guess. Pastrami on rye?”

Caitlyn chuckled. “How did he know that?”

Kellen grinned as he tapped a search into his
phone with one finger. “Owen always craves pastrami after sex.”

“Not always,” Owen said.

“Owen usually craves pastrami after sex,”
Kellen amended.

“Only when I sweat a lot,” Owen said. “And
Caitlyn definitely made me sweat a lot.”

She stared up into his grinning face,
fighting the urge to kiss him. Just looking at him made her feel
good about herself. Made her
happy
. She didn’t understand
why, but didn’t care overmuch at the moment. She wasn’t supposed to
like him this much. The attraction was supposed to fade after their
tumble in bed. She was supposed to have sated her lust and lost
interest—that’s the way it worked. But she hadn’t lost interest.
She was more intrigued than ever.

She still wanted him. For sex. Yes, she
understood that attraction, but she wanted more than that too. She
wanted to get to know him. Figure out what made him tick. Determine
how a guy as good looking as Owen ended up being nice and
sensitive. Damn it. Maybe she should have turned down their
sandwich excursion and gone back to Jenna’s house. Every extra
minute she spent with him made her like him a little more. This was
definitely more than she bargained for.

Owen threaded his fingers through her hair,
his eyes searching hers in the low light inside the back of the
car. “I can’t get over how beautiful you are. Isn’t she beautiful,
Kellen?”

Warmth spread across her face, and she ducked
her chin to hide a pleased smile.

“Gorgeous,” Kellen said. “There’s a
twenty-four-hour diner two blocks from here. No guarantees they
serve pastrami.”

“Alert the driver,” Owen said.

Caitlyn looked up and found Owen still
staring at her.

“Remember when I said that once we left the
club, I wouldn’t have sex with you again,” he said.

She scowled. “How could I forget?” It was the
only mean thing he’d said to her since they’d met, and she wasn’t
sure he’d meant it the way she’d taken it.

He touched a fingertip to her lips.
“Apparently, I am a liar.”

Caitlyn’s heart skipped a beat.

Kellen released a long sigh of annoyance and
shook his head. “Can you at least drop me off at the hotel before
you start round two?”

“Round three,” Owen corrected.

“Even worse.”

“We’ll drop you off after we eat,” Owen
said.

“I’m not hungry,” Kellen said.

“If you’re not careful, I’m going to think
you don’t want to hang out with me anymore.”

“I don’t want to hang around with you if
you’re going to flaunt your hot woman in front of me all
night.”

Was that what he was doing? Or was he trying
to tempt Kellen into doing something he’d later regret? Caitlyn
didn’t know either of them well enough to have a good handle on
their dynamic, but she didn’t want to be involved in drawing out
Kellen’s pain. The guy had been through enough already.

“It’s probably best if you tone it down a
little in public,” she said, not because she actually wanted Owen
to tone it down, but because she felt bad for Kellen.

“Tone it down? You don’t mean that. I haven’t
taken a woman out in over six months and you expect me to tone it
down.”

She nodded, even though she was incredibly
flattered that he’d broken his rules for her. “I do mean it.”

“Damn, I knew we should have ordered room
service.”

“I think you can keep your hands to yourself
for an hour.” Because that’s about how long she thought she could
keep her hands to herself.

Kellen chuckled. “If you knew him better, you
wouldn’t think that.”

“I can be good,” Owen said. “If you reward me
for it later.”

“I can probably handle that,” she said. “But
not until we’re alone.” She peeked around Owen’s body to see if
Kellen looked any less miserable. He was no longer staring into
space. The slight smile on his lips led her to believe he was
amused by her stipulation.

“I can be a perfect gentleman,” Owen
said.

Kellen chuckled and shook his head.

Owen glanced at Kellen and then smiled at
Caitlyn. He seemed to realize that she was setting boundaries for
Kellen’s sake. She expected Owen to torment Kellen as he’d been
doing all night, but instead he relaxed and folded his hands
demurely in his lap.

“I’m going to be so well behaved, you’re
going to have to reward me until dawn.”

She wasn’t sure she could keep up with him
until dawn but, by God, she would try.

The limo pulled up to a diner that had
probably never had a limo parked in front of it in all its years.
But the open sign was glowing orange, and that was all the
motivation Owen needed to tug Caitlyn out of the car by one
wrist.

“I’ll just wait here,” Kellen said.

“What is wrong with you tonight?” Owen asked.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’d been possessed by grumpy
ol’ Adam.”

Kellen glared at him from the interior of the
limo.

“Pod person!” Owen yelled and pointed into
the open car door.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Kellen said, but
Caitlyn caught his smile as he hefted himself out of the car. He
eyed the No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service sign and after releasing a
sigh of annoyance, pointed at the driver. “Trunk.”

The driver hurried to open the trunk, and
Kellen searched the compartment for something. He donned a plain
white T-shirt and moved to stand next to Owen. Pity really. Kellen
didn’t look comfortable in a shirt and he’d have definitely been
the most delicious-looking thing in the diner without it.

“Are you happy?” Kellen said.

“Getting there,” Owen said.

Kellen smiled to himself, ducking his head so
Owen didn’t see it, but Caitlyn did. She wondered how much darker
Kellen would be without Owen in his life.

Caitlyn felt a strange sense of pride as Owen
walked her through the nearly deserted restaurant with his hand on
her lower back. At this time of night, there weren't many people to
witness that they were together, but she was pleasantly surprised
that heads turned. Most of them were female heads checking out Owen
and Kellen, but a few were men and she was pretty sure their eyes
were on her. They were probably wondering what was good enough
about her to gain Owen’s attention. She always wondered that when
she saw an average guy with a really hot woman, so she assumed men
wondered how an average woman ended up with a really hot guy
too.

“Sit wherever you like,” a harried-looking
waitress called from behind the counter. She seemed to be working
the entire dining room alone.

They snagged a booth near the back, and
Caitlyn found herself trapped against the wall beside Owen. Kellen
sat wearily across from them. The menus were stuck behind the
napkin holder, so Caitlyn took it upon herself to pass them
around.

She was probably too anxious to eat. She
really wanted to be alone with Owen now that she'd made it clear
that she wasn't interested in being naughty in public and he’d made
it clear that he was making a concession for her. Since he was
breaking his own rules, she wouldn't mind it so much if he broke
one of hers. Especially since he’d retracted his earlier statement
about not sleeping with her outside of the sex club. She was ready
for a little foreplay.

“Do they have anything that isn't swimming in
grease?” Kellen asked as he perused the menu and wiped off the
tell-tale grease spots.

The waitress chose that moment to arrive.
“The water is low in fat,” she said and smiled at Kellen.

“I'll have one of those,” Kellen said.
“Bottled.”

“Okay.”

“Do you have pastrami?” Owen asked
hopefully.

“Sandwiches are on the back of the menu.”

Owen flipped his menu over and ran a finger
down the plastic. “Score! I'll have a pastrami on rye.” He glanced
at Caitlyn and winked. “Extra pastrami. Do you have waffle
fries?”

“No, sorry. Just have the regular kind.”

“Side of chips then.”

“To drink?”

“Bottled water. What do you want,
Caitlyn?”

“Is your pie any good?” Caitlyn asked.

Owen chuckled. “What do you think, Kellen? Is
her pie any good?”

Caitlyn slapped Owen with her menu.

“Not in the mood for pie jokes, Owen,” Kellen
said.

The waitress flushed and crossed her arms.
“My pie is excellent,” she said, “but the diner's is mediocre. The
cheesecake is good though.”

“I'll have a piece of cheesecake then,”
Caitlyn said. After the workout she’d just had with Owen, a few
extra calories wouldn’t hurt. “Kellen, you're going to get more
than water, aren't you?”

“I'd like to try the pie,” Kellen said,
grinning, “but I guess I'll go with cheesecake too.”

“You can try the pie,” the waitress said. She
tossed her hair behind her shoulders. “You can try anything you
see.”

Caitlyn's eyes were on Owen. And he watched
Kellen's reaction carefully. He really was fascinated with his best
friend's sex life.

“Cheesecake for now. Maybe I'll be hungry for
pie later.”

Owen smiled. “Do you want something to drink,
Caitlyn?” he said, turning his attention to her.

“Tea?”

“Sweet and iced?” the waitress asked.

“Yes, please,” she said.

The waitress gave Kellen one more look of
longing and then headed toward the counter with their order.

“She's into you, man,” Owen said.

“Every woman in the room is into him,”
Caitlyn said.

“Including you?” Owen asked.

She shook her head and slid a hand over his
thigh. “Not when I'm sitting next to you. But if I wasn't already
in lust with you, yeah, I'd be into him too.”

“This is why I make him hide when I try to
pick up a girl,” Owen said. “If they see him first…” Owen
shrugged.

“Not buying it,” Caitlyn said. “You're both
gorgeous. Just depends on if you like your men dark and mysterious,
or light and—”

“Annoying,” Kellen supplied.

“I was going to say sweet,” Caitlyn said.

“I’m not sweet.”

He totally was. In the limo, Kellen had only
validated what she’d already suspected. “I mean excellent in
bed.”

“Kellen’s excellent in bed too,” Owen
said.

“I can only speak from personal
experience.”

“I think I’m better in bed than he is now.”
Owen’s thigh tightened beneath Caitlyn’s hand as he kicked Kellen
under the table. “He’s out of practice.”

Kellen didn’t seem to mind the taunt, though
he didn’t hesitate in returning Owen’s kick.

“You're also a troublemaker,” Caitlyn
said.

“One of my most endearing qualities,” Owen
said.

“You get used to it,” Kellen said. “He
doesn't know how to stay out of trouble. It's like he was born for
the sole purpose of getting into trouble.”

“Kellen's just jealous because he's forgotten
how to have fun.”

“That's a shame,” Caitlyn said. “I spent the
last ten years of my life forgetting how to have fun. It's starting
to come back to me, thanks to Owen here. And you have him around
all the time.”