Night with Sole Regret

TEMPT ME II

“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 j******f 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 f**k 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 s*x—a shot of her beautiful p***y stuffed with his c**k. 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 p***y 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 s*x 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 c**k?” 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 p***s looked like and found there was more than one way to pierce a c**k. 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.”