“No. There was an accident at work. She was training to be an astronaut and…” She couldn’t continue. Morgan’s loss was like a fresh wound every time Caitlyn had to tell someone what had happened to her. “The safety harness failed. They say she didn’t suffer.” Which is more than could be said about anyone who battled cancer.
“It hurts most when you speak of them, doesn’t it?”
She nodded, drawing deep breaths through her nose to keep threatening tears at bay.
“So you find yourself avoiding talking about it,” he said. “To anyone. Because it reminds you that it happened. It wasn’t just a nightmare. It’s reality.”
She wasn’t sure if he was really talking to her. He wasn’t looking at her.
“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 re
ward 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.”
“I think I’m all funned out,” Kellen said.
“Speaking of fun… Wanna dance?” Owen asked her.
She gawked at him. “Dance? Here? But…” She rummaged through her brain for an excuse. “There's no music.”
Owen pulled his smartphone out of his pocket and started his playlist. The tiny speaker sounded awful, but they had music. Very hard and heavy music. Caitlyn frowned. “Is that one of your songs?”
“Yeah,” he said, “do you like it?”
“Not especially,” she shouted. Even though the music wasn't loud, she felt compelled to yell when confronted by the sounds blaring from the speaker.
“What kind of music do you listen to?” he asked.
She hesitated, looking from one musician to the next. She couldn’t lie about it. It would be much too easy to catch her at it. “I… uh… I don't listen to music.”
Based on the look Owen gave her, she must have contracted a severe case of purple Chicken Pox.