Damn, Charles sure had done a number on her. Maybe she should have given her heart time to mend before getting in this revenge fuck. What if this turned out to be something she wasn’t ready for? She wasn’t looking for a relationship, but she’d be an idiot not to see how far things could progress with Owen. He wasn’t the kind of guy who came along every day.
“So you never answered me: what’s the name of your band?” she asked as he settled a hand on her lower back and directed her out the door.
Heads turned as they passed through the main lounge. She was sure they were all looking at Owen. He had a gorgeous body and he happened to be shirtless.
“Sole Regret,” he said close to her ear, as if it were a secret.
She caught the scent of his body and the spicy, slightly sweet fragrance of his cologne. When he leaned away again, she inhaled that same delectable scent from the fabric of his shirt at her shoulder. She wouldn’t mind wearing his shirt for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, they had paused just outside the changing rooms and she was going to have to find her own clothes and relinquish the garment to him. There were, however, two problems with that. One: she would no longer be surrounded by his intoxicating scent. Two: the clothes she wore to the club were likely to send him packing. She didn’t exactly have the sexiest wardrobe.
“I think I’ve heard of them,” she said. She had never heard of a band called Sole Regret and figured he’d been playing up the star part of rock star.
He chuckled. “No you haven’t. I can tell. If you had, you’d be impressed.”
“I’m sorry, I was trying to be kind. What kind of music do you play?”
“Metal.”
She winced. “I don’t listen to that stuff.”
“That’s okay. So what do you do for a living?”
And now he was about to lose all interest in her. She decided to play down her geek-i-tude. If her wardrobe didn’t send him fleeing for a sexier woman, her career most certainly would.
“I… uh… own a business.”
“What kind of business?”
When she hesitated and tried to think of way to make herself sound less geeky, he grinned.
“I know,” he said. “You’re a madam for high-class prostitutes. It would explain why you’re so good in bed.”
She was good in bed? News to her. Caitlyn was most remembered for her complete lack of athletic prowess. Any activity that required her to move her body in a coordinated fashion ended in disaster. But perhaps she’d finally discovered her sport.
“A madam? Now that would be an interesting career,” she said. “Especially if you were one of my wares.”
“You’re done with me already? Going to sell me off to the highest bidder, are you?”
“No,” Caitlyn said. “Hopefully, I’m just getting started with you. I think we have a lot of pleasurable moments in our future.”
He avoided her interested gaze, and her heart plummeted. She hoped he knew that she was teasing about the male prostitute thing. Had she insulted him? It was a pretty insulting topic to joke about. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he patted her on the butt and nudged her toward the dressing rooms.
“You go get dressed. I’m going to find Kelly and let him know we’re leaving. Would you be overly upset if he caught a ride back to the hotel with us?”
“Of course not,” she said, but her heart gave an unpleasant pang. This was it. The thing that made him too good to be true. Kellen was her biggest competition for Owen’s affection, and Owen didn’t even realize it. “Should I wait for you outside?” she asked.
“Just wait here. I wouldn’t want someone to pick you up off the street.”
As if.
“Just so you know, I only have sex in sex clubs, so once we leave here, I won’t want to have sex with you again tonight. I didn’t want you to think it was anything personal if it came up.”
Caitlyn blinked at him, her heart twanging with a strange ache. So she was good enough to screw in a sex club, but not after a sandwich? Of course she’d think that was personal. Fine. Even if he didn’t want to screw her again, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t only interested in him for one thing. At least he’d been honest with her. It was something her husband had never been.
“I understand,” she said. “I still want to spend time with you.” Did that make her a desperate loser?
He smiled awfully bright for a man who didn’t want to have sex with her. “You just made the honor roll, babe.”
She had no idea what he meant by that, but apparently she’d said something right.
Chapter Five
Owen found Kelly sitting with a woman in a booth near the back of the club. So he might not want a ride back after all. Maybe he’d found someone to get busy with. Or maybe he was hoping that Owen would rescue him. It was difficult to read Kelly’s face.
Owen paused near the corner of the table and caught a snippet of Kelly and the woman’s conversation before either of them noticed him.
“Come on, baby,” the woman purred, “you’re hard as a rock. Let’s go find a room and—”
“Of course I’m hard as a rock,” Kelly said testily. “You keep shoving your hand down my pants.”
Okay, it was rescue that Kelly needed.
Owen cleared his throat and grinned at his friend who, yeah, looked relieved to see him.
“Are you finally finished?” Kelly asked.
“Not really.”
“Then what—”
“I’m taking Caitlyn out. She doesn’t belong here. Or maybe I don’t feel right with her here.”
He wasn’t sure what he meant exactly. There was just something about her that deserved better than this. Better than him. And for fuck’s sake, she didn’t seem to see it at all. He wanted to show her, but not here. Here was seedy, and being in this place made him want to take a shower. He’d never felt that way about one of Tony’s clubs, but perhaps the entrepreneurial genius had just missed the mark with this one. Or maybe something in Owen’s mindset had shifted and he was ready for more than a string of one-night stands. He honestly didn’t know. But he meant to find out. Her reaction to his claim that he wouldn’t want to have sex outside of the club had given him hope. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was hoping for. More. But more what?
Kelly’s eyes widened. “Wait! You’re taking her home with you?”
It went against their rules and promises to each other, but Caitlyn was special. Kelly would recognize that soon enough.
“I don’t know if it’ll go that far, but maybe. We’re going to grab a bite to eat and see if it goes anywhere from there. Are you ready to go?”
Kelly tugged his companion’s hand out of his pants again. “I’m ready.”
“Can I come with you?” the woman asked.
“No,” Kelly said and slipped out of the booth.
Owen couldn’t help but notice that Kelly was indeed hard as a rock. He had no explanation as to why he was rapidly getting that way himself. He’d assumed that after that fantastic pair of orgasms, his lust would be sated for a while.
“You should at least let that chick blow you or something,” Owen said. “You have to be hurting right now.”
Kelly shifted the crotch of his pants. “I’ll take care of it back at the hotel.”
Owen tried to stop memories of Kelly masturbating backstage in the communal shower from entering his thoughts, but it was impossible. They used to compete with each other to see who could get himself off the fastest, though they hadn’t done it for several years. In a weird way, it had further cemented their friendship when Kelly was first trying to get over Sara. He still wasn’t over her and he kept receding deeper into himself. It wasn’t healthy. Owen supposed masturbating with your best friend in the shower was pretty fucked up as well, but at least Kelly hadn’t been alone. He didn’t like Kelly to be alone. Kelly had too much to give to be so bottled up inside.