Night with Sole Regret

TOUCH ME XIX

“And how are we supposed to get back to the hotel?” Kellen asked.

“The driver will be back before I finish my sandwich. Their place is only a couple of miles from here. They told me so when they were trying to get me to go with them.”

Caitlyn squeezed his knee under the table. “That was a really nice thing you did.”

“What? Rescuing Kellen from two drunk girls?”

“Making sure they got home safely.”

“Everyone is happy,” he said, and took a huge bite of his sandwich. “Especially me,” he added, talking with his mouth full. “Good stuff.”

Kellen grinned as he used the edge of his fork to cut into his cheesecake and took a bite.

“Better than pie?” Owen asked.

Kellen shook his head. “Too sweet.”

Owen devoured his sandwich while Kellen decided he’d rather steal the chips off Owen’s plate than finish his cheesecake. It was indeed decadent—moist and creamy with cherries in thick, sweet syrup. After only three bites, Caitlyn was full, but there was no way she was going to let something that delicious go to waste.

“How far is it from Houston to Beaumont?” Kellen asked.

“That’s a weird question,” Owen said.

“Less than two hours,” Caitlyn said, “depending on traffic.”

“Why do you care?” Owen asked.

“I was thinking of spending tomorrow night in Galveston and meeting up with the rest of you in Beaumont later.”

“If you take the ferry from Galveston Island to Bolivar Peninsula, you can miss the Houston traffic,” Caitlyn said.

“Thanks for the tip.”

Owen shifted uneasily. “Don’t go. It never makes you feel better.”

Kellen shrugged. “I don’t go there looking to feel better. I just like the ocean.”

Caitlyn was missing something, but she didn’t want to pry. Kellen’s trip to Galveston probably had something to do with the lover Kellen had lost. Everything that caused tension between the two men seemed to have something to do with her.

Both men stared at the table in silence for several long, uncomfortable minutes. Caitlyn tried to think of something that would lighten the mood again.

“So you’re in Owen’s band too, right?” she finally asked.

“Owen’s band?” Kellen lifted an eyebrow at his friend. “Did he tell you it was his band?”

“Where would the band be without me?” Owen said.

“Bassists are a dime a dozen.”

Ouch! Caitlyn glanced at Owen, expecting him to look hurt or offended. He was grinning.

“You’re over-paying, Kelly. I can easily get you a dozen bassists for a nickel.”

“Bargain basement bassist.”

“What instrument do you play?” Caitlyn asked Kellen. And because she’d learned her lesson with Owen, she added, “Or are you the singer?”

“I play guitar,” Kellen said, still not out of his funk.

“You’re so matter-of-fact about it.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Kellen said. “It’s a fact.”

“It seems so foreign to someone like me, that you can make a living playing music.”

“Do you work?” Kellen asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “Too much. But I’m doing what I love, so I don’t mind the long hours.”

“She has her own company,” Owen said. “She’s the boss.”

He sounded proud of her.

She snorted on a laugh. “Yep, I’m the boss.”

“What kind of company?” Kellen asked, sipping from his water as he waited for Owen to finish his sandwich.

“Alternative fuel sources. We started with solar panels and wind turbines, but recently started branching out into fuel cells. R and D is finally over, next is production and marketing. My two business partners are in charge of that stuff. I’m the main geek of the triad. So things have slowed down a bit for me while I wait for the next big idea to smack me upside the head. You can have a very fulfilling career discovering new technologies, but it sure won’t make you rich. It’s a good thing I have Peter and Lillian to find my markets.”

Owen paused with his nearly finished sandwich halfway to his mouth. “So you’re not only brilliant, good in bed, and hot, you’re also rich?”

She flushed. “I’m sure I’m not as rich as you are.”

“Your husband must be a complete tool,” Owen said.

“You’re married?” Kellen asked, looking scandalized for the first time that night.

“Divorced.”

“Her husband—”

“Ex-husband,” Caitlyn interrupted.

“Her ex-husband cheated on her.”

“Maybe he was lonely,” Kellen said.

“Kelly,” Owen admonished.

“I’m sure he was,” Caitlyn said. “I’ve been working eighty-hour weeks for several years now. Sometimes we didn’t see each other for days.”

“He could have made an effort,” Owen said.

She leaned against him and squeezed his arm. “Then I wouldn’t have had a reason to hook up with you.”

“Thank God he’s a thoughtless idiot.”

She smiled and couldn’t resist stealing a kiss. His lips tasted salty. They went well with the sweetness still on her tongue. When he licked her upper lip slowly, she moaned and curled her fingers into his shirt to tug him closer.

Kellen cleared his throat uncomfortably. She could have sworn he grunted, “P-D-A.”

Caitlyn drew away regretfully. “We need to get to the hotel,” she said.

Owen tossed the rest of his sandwich on his plate and signaled the waitress for their check.

The car was waiting for them when they left the diner. Kellen made Owen check the back seat for stowaways before he agreed to get in. Caitlyn did nothing to hide her laughter.

“Geez, Kelly, those girls weren’t that bad.”

Caitlyn and Kellen exchanged a look of agreement. Those girls had been pretty bad. Caitlyn wondered if Owen and Kellen had to deal with women like that on a regular basis. She supposed some guys would like that kind of girl; she suspected Owen might be one of them. If she hadn’t been with him, she wondered if he would have gone off to join their party.

This time when they sat in the back of the limo, Kellen made sure to sit between them. “I’m in no mood to watch you two make out,” he explained. “You can attack each other back at the hotel.”

“Whose fault is it that you’re in such a mood?” Owen said. “It’s not our fault you didn’t get laid. Again.”

“I’m sure you could have picked up someone at the club,” Caitlyn said.

Kellen ran a finger under his wrist cuff. “I went in there knowing I wasn’t going to participate.”

“So why do you go to s*x clubs if you aren't planning to have s*x?” Caitlyn asked. Seemed like a strange place to hang out just for the hell of it.

Kellen stared at her for a solid minute before answering. He had the most hypnotizing eyes she'd ever encountered.

“Because Owen needed someone to accompany him.”

“Whatever, dude,” Owen said. “You don't have to torture yourself for my benefit.”

“Next time you can go alone.”

Owen shifted in his seat. “Yeah, fine, whatever. You’re a drag anyway.” When Kellen didn’t respond to his insult, Owen said, “Gabe will go with me.”

“Gabe has a relationship thing he’s trying right now. He won't go with you.”

“Then Shade…” Owen scowled. “Why did he have to hook up with Amanda anyway?”

“You really wouldn't go by yourself?” Caitlyn asked.

“I could,” Owen said. “But then I wouldn't be able to prove that I scored the hottest woman in the place.”

She chuckled. “You have a competitive streak unlike any I've ever encountered. Why do you care who knows who hooks up with you?”

Owen's smile faded, and he stared at his knees. After a moment, he shrugged. “No reason.”

There had to be a reason. Maybe he didn't want Kellen to know. Or more likely, maybe he didn't want her to know.

“You might as well tell her,” Kellen said. “Why you are the way you are.”

“What way am I, Kelly? You're twice as f****d up as I am.”

“I'm not going to argue that point.”

“You can tell me,” Caitlyn said. “If you want to.”

Owen glanced at her. “I had hoped that we could hook up again at the hotel.”

“Yeah, me too,” she said, still not accustomed to his bluntness.

“He's afraid you'll tell him to take a hike, because he still doesn't get that he's not the same man he used to be on the outside, though he's always been a bit strange on the inside.”

“Don’t tell her, Kelly.”

“You’re the one who brought her out of the club. That means you’re interested in her, right?”

“Maybe, but don’t tell her.”

“Why? Are you afraid she’s as shallow as you are?”

Owen shoved him. “I’m not shallow.”

“You sure pretend to be,” Kellen said. He caught Owen’s wrist just before it connected with his shoulder. “He used to be fat,” Kellen said to Caitlyn.

“I told you not to tell her.”

“In high school they called him Piggie.”

Owen flushed such a bright scarlet, the color was noticeable even in the dim interior of the limo. “You f*****g asshole, why’d you tell her?”

Kellen didn’t try to block Owen’s next blow. Maybe because he felt he deserved it.

“That’s cruel,” Caitlyn said. She grabbed Owen’s hand before he used it to punch Kellen again. Kellen pushed back against the seat, looking decidedly uncomfortable to be wedged between them. “Is that why you keep telling me I'm beautiful? Because no one ever made you feel that way?”

Owen scowled. “How the f**k should I know? I just like to make people happy.”

“What about making yourself happy, Owen?” Caitlyn asked. He’d had her fooled into thinking all was right in his world, but now she wasn’t so sure. “Are you happy?”

“Yeah, I have glitter shooting out of my ass, I'm so f*****g happy,” he yelled.