One Night with Sole Regret 07 Tease Me (6 page)

“We’re supposed to share those,” Owen complained. “That’s why we got a double order.”

“Let’s go get some for ourselves,” Madison suggested.

“Order me another mess,” Jacob said as he snapped another crustacean’s shell to get at the presumably delicious meat inside.

“Get your own,” Owen said and climbed over the picnic table bench to get to his feet. He seemed to notice Madison for the first time. “Hey,” he said, “when did you become hot?”

“She was always hot,” Adam said, wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her close at his side.

“No,” Owen said. “She was always
cute
. Now she’s hot.”

“Must be Louisiana’s sweltering heat,” Madison said, piling on the Southern accent and fanning herself dramatically.

“I do believe it’s the leather,” Owen said.

“It is rather stifling in this humidity, unless we’re riding. That’s a bit cooler. And fun. I love it. It’s a lot like riding horses, only faster and a bit more predictable.”

She tipped her face up at Adam to offer him a proud smile, and he couldn’t resist kissing her lips softly.

They followed Owen to the order window and talked about Owen’s adventure with disgruntled cattle while they waited for their food.

“Why were you bothering the cows in the first place?” Adam asked.

“They looked bored,” Owen said.

“Cows always look bored,” Madison said and laughed.

“They just need someone to show them how to party,” Owen insisted, drawing his basket—crawdads and Cajun fries, with sides of red beans and rice—across the counter toward him.

“And I’m sure you’re up for the task,” Adam said. He shook his head at his friend and collected his and Madison’s baskets. She carried their drinks and plastic forks.

“I’m a perpetual party, baby,” Owen said as he skirted the table and settled on the bench next to Jacob.

“Your perpetual party is in your pants,” Jacob said, eyeing the line at the counter. His pile of crawdads had dwindled to unacceptable levels, and not one of them was keen on sharing with him when he’d refused to do likewise. He’d even tried to stare Madison down, but she merely raised a brow, pulled her basket closer, and started eating.

“Better be careful with that kind of party,” Madison said with a chuckle, “or you’ll end up knocking up some groupie.”

Adam’s stomach dropped. Jacob produced a full body shudder. Owen turned an unsettling shade of green.

“Yeah,” Owen said quietly. “We wouldn’t want
that
to happen.”

Jacob shoved his few remaining crawdads to the center of the table. He’d apparently lost his appetite. Owen tackled his fries and carb-rich sides as if he hadn’t eaten in months. Adam picked over his food, wondering if he should warn Madison about the situation with Lindsey now or wait until the obviously pregnant woman was staring her in the face. More than likely the two women would meet before the concert. How awkward could it be? Girlfriend meet baby mama. Baby mama meet . . . 
Ugh
. He didn’t even want to think of Lindsey that way. Adam was almost positive that her baby wasn’t his. And he hoped to God it wasn’t. He’d make a terrible father, and he knew it. The last thing he needed in his life was a baby. Thinking about babies made him queasy. Unlike Jacob . . . Jacob actually liked kids. Adam glanced at his friend, who was staring down at his clenched fists on the weathered table. He was a good father to Julie, but Adam hoped it wasn’t Jacob’s unborn child either. The guy had a hard enough time dealing with one crazy baby mama. He sure as hell didn’t need two. And Owen . . . Well, he seemed willing to take the fall, so he was more than welcome to. More power to him.

“What’s wrong?” Madison asked, looking from one man to the other.

She must have sensed how the atmosphere had completely changed after her offhanded remark about knocking up a groupie. She was good at picking up on that kind of thing, which was a trait that made her an excellent counselor. And because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, she’d lost her job. And because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, soon there
might
be a kid in the world cursed with half of its genetic material coming from Adam. Perhaps he should invest in a cock cage to keep his troublemaking dick locked safely in his pants.

“You haven’t told her?” Jacob asked.

“Told me what?” Madison slurped from her soda as if she’d been crawling through a desert for days.

“Nothing,” Adam said. “Do you want another drink?”

“You’d better tell her,” Jacob said. “It might be yours. No sense in making this worse than it already is.”

Frowning, Madison released her straw and looked from Adam to Jacob and back again.

“What might be yours?”

“It’s probably mine,” Owen said glumly. “Damn party in my pants was bound to get me into trouble sooner or later.”

Madison’s eyes shifted from Adam to Owen and then to Jacob. “Will someone please tell me what you guys are talking about?”

“Some knocked-up groupie showed up a couple of days ago,” Jacob said. “She’s like six months pregnant and claims one of us is the father of her baby.”

“Which one of you?”

Jacob shrugged. “Don’t know.”

Madison shook her head as if trying to rid it of the stupid words rattling around between her ears. “How can you not know? Whichever one of you had sex with her is the father.”

“Therein lies the problem,” Jacob said.

“We all had sex with her,” Adam said, rubbing a hand over his face.

Madison’s hand smashed into his chest. “You promised me,” she shouted.

No, he hadn’t. He hadn’t promised her he wouldn’t sleep around until recently. Six months ago wasn’t recently as far as he was concerned.

“I did not,” Adam said. “Don’t overreact.”

“Overreact? How can anything short of murdering you with my fork be an overreaction?” She shoved her white fork in his face and looked mad enough to gouge his eyes out with it. “How could you do this to me, Adam?”

“Shh,” Jacob said when all eyes turned their way. “This is not the place for an argument.”

Adam agreed, but apparently Madison had more to say. She did lower her voice to an angry whisper, but did not lower her plastic weapon.

“You promised me that you always wore protection with other women.
Always
. You promised me that. I never would have allowed . . .” She broke off with an angry growl.

Oh, that was what she’d meant.

“I did wear protection,” he said. And he wasn’t just saying that to appease her.

“Then how could you potentially be the father of this baby, Adam?” She poked him in the collarbone with her fork, fire sparking in her blue eyes. “How?”

“We all wore protection,” Jacob said.

“Then
how
is she pregnant?” Madison yelled.

“Wish I had the answer to that,” Owen said.

Madison’s stiff spine relaxed slightly as she scowled at her food and finally lowered her fork. Adam could practically see her mind trying to piece together the information that had been thrown at her.

After a moment, she said, “If you all wore protection, what’s to say she got pregnant by any of you? Maybe she’s a goddamned liar.”

Adam had already decided that was probably the case. Lindsey had gotten pregnant by some loser back home and not, as she claimed, by any of the losers in his band. She was just looking for a quick and easy bankroll. He really hoped Madison’s suspicions proved to be true.

“She’s got her sights set on me,” Owen said, “so unless the kid comes out with wild black hair, a permanent scowl on his face, and a Stratocaster in his little hands, then you don’t have anything to worry about, Madi.”

She actually smiled at this. Oh no, thinking about a miniature Adam should not make her smile. Or maybe she was smiling about something else. Adam hoped so. He wanted no babies in his life. Not even hers. But especially not Lindsey’s.

“All you have to do is make her get a paternity test,” Madison said. “Prove it isn’t any of yours. Get rid of her once and for all.”

“We’ll have one done as soon as the baby is born,” Jacob said. “Until then, we’re just playing a waiting game.”

“Fuck that,” Madison said, and the three men stared at her in stunned disbelief. She wasn’t the kind of woman who said
fuck
in polite company. Sure, she screamed it in the bedroom, but she’d never cursed in front of Adam’s bandmates. “They can do the test during pregnancy now. You don’t have to wait until she delivers.”

“They can?” Owen turned another shade greener.

Adam wondered why. Maybe there was a reason Lindsey was so insistent that the baby was Owen’s. Maybe he was hiding something about what had happened between himself and Lindsey and causing the rest of them undo anxiety for nothing. The bastard.

Madison nodded. “One of my clients got a girl in trouble—or so she said. The baby turned out not to be his. They did the test before she gave birth.”

“I’m not sure I want to know,” Owen said.

“It’s yours, isn’t it?” Adam accused Owen. “It’s yours and you know it, no
maybe
about it. You nutted inside her, didn’t you?” Adam made a grab across the table for Owen’s T-shirt, but Owen jerked back and threw up an arm to block him.

Owen shook his head. “Not that I know of. I honestly don’t know for sure if it’s mine. I just have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that it is. Probably because she keeps saying it is. I guess if you hear something enough times, you start to believe it’s true.”

“That’s why I made him leave the bus with me today,” Jacob said. “The chick will not leave him alone. She’s psycho.”

And Jacob knew what psycho chicks were like firsthand, so Adam didn’t even question the guy’s claim.

Madison reached across the table and patted Owen’s hand. “Everything will turn out how it’s supposed to.”

Adam highly doubted that. Someone in his band was fucked. And not in a good a way.

“As long as it isn’t mine everything will be fine,” Adam said. “I knew I should have gotten that vasectomy last year. Had the appointment set and everything, but had to cancel.”

Madison’s head turned slowly, and her mouth dropped open. “A vasectomy?”

“Here we go again,” Jacob muttered.

“Were you even going to consult me before having it done?” Madison sputtered.

Adam lifted an eyebrow at her. “Why should I consult you? They’re my balls.”

“But
our
future children,” she said.

Adam stared at her, completely stunned that she was imagining children in their future. “Children? We aren’t having children.”

“When did we decide that?”

“We didn’t decide.” He pointed to his chest. “I decided.”

Her mouth opened and closed several times, as if she couldn’t find words scathing enough to spew at him.

“Don’t you think we should discuss this?” she finally asked.

“Nope.” There was nothing to discuss. He didn’t want kids. End of discussion.

She glanced at Jacob and Owen, who were both staring at her as if their spat was a spectator sport and the ball was in her court.

“We’ll talk about it later,” she said.

Not if he could help it.

“You done eating?” Jacob asked Owen. “I’m ready to head back to the bus.”

“Why don’t you go order some dinner for the rest of the band and the road crew while I finish?” Owen said.

“Sounds like a plan,” Jacob said.

Jacob stood from the table and every chick in the vicinity watched him walk to the counter. Even Adam’s chick.

“What are you looking at?” he asked. He was used to everyone staring at Jacob and not in the same way they stared at him, so he wasn’t jealous. He just liked fucking with her.

Madison’s heat-flushed cheeks reddened a shade brighter. “Um . . .” She cleared her throat and tore her gaze from Jacob’s broad back. Or maybe she’d been checking out his ass. “How’s your dad doing?” she asked, her eyes now focused intently on Adam. “Is he still in the hospital?”

Adam lifted a brow at her. “Are you trying to change the subject?”

Owen laughed at her obvious discomfort, and she threw a french fry at him, which he stuffed into his mouth before adding a few more of his own.

“I’m genuinely interested,” she said and fixed her best
I’m an excellent listener
look on her pretty face. He wanted to talk about his father almost as much as he wanted to discuss having kids.

Jacob returned to the table and started picking at his last few crawdads. Adam focused on his meal as well. Until Madison put a hand on his thigh and leaned into his arm.

“Adam?”

He sighed. Prying-assed woman, there was no deterring her. “He’s out of the hospital and going to stay with a friend in El Paso.”

“So he’s not at your place anymore?”

“Nope. I kicked him out.”

“And how did that make you feel?” she asked.