Night with Sole Regret

TOUCH ME XIV

“Just wait here. I wouldn’t want someone to pick you up off the street.”

As if.

“Just so you know, I only have s*x in s*x clubs, so once we leave here, I won’t want to have s*x 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 s*x 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 s*x 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.

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 f**k’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 s*x 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 m**********g 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 m**********g with your best friend in the shower was pretty f****d 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.

Owen glanced at the girl who was sulking in the booth. Kelly deserved better than her. He deserved the best. Someone more like Caitlyn. Someone he was unlikely to meet in a seedy s*x club. The kind of woman Owen had been purposely avoiding because he knew how easily he fell for them. Owen wasn’t sure if he’d gotten lucky tonight or was setting himself up to get hurt again. He’d been avoiding that at all costs for years now. Maybe he was ready to put his heart on the line, but he’d be an i***t to not see how far this thing with Caitlyn might progress. She didn’t seem like the type who’d rip his heart out just because she could.

Kelly headed for the exit, and Owen fell into step beside him.

“So you like this one, do ya?” Kelly asked.

Owen shrugged. “I guess so.”

“Or are you just trying to get me to help you pleasure her?”

Owen stopped midstep. Because, yeah, if Kelly was up for it, Owen would love his assistance.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Kelly said. “You’re so predictable.”

“No, that isn’t it. Or it wasn’t until you mentioned it. Do you want to join us?”

“Not at all.”

Owen didn’t understand the feeling of disappointment in his chest, so he slugged Kelly in the shoulder. “Then don’t bring it up.”

“You’re the one who keeps bringing it up. I think you’re more worried about my love life than your own,” Kelly said.

“That’s because there’s more to worry about when it comes to your love life. Or complete lack of one.”

Kelly chuckled. “You’re as blind as you are predictable, Tags. Do you remember where you put your shoes?”

“In the locker room.”

“And your shirt?”

“Caitlyn’s borrowing it.”

Kelly nodded in the direction of the front door. “I’ll wait for you in the limo.”

“What about your shirt?” Owen glanced pointedly at Kelly’s bare chest.

“I didn’t bring a shirt.”

“You don’t own a shirt.”

“I own a shirt,” Kelly said. “A shirt. One.”

Owen grinned at him. “You’re an odd duck, Cuff.”

“That’s why you get along with me so well.”

A woman Owen didn’t recognize paused beside them, more diamonds on display than a De Beers store.

“I’ll pay you ten thousand dollars if you let me watch you two f**k,” she said.

When Owen and Kelly just gaped at her, she looked from one to the other and said, “Cash.”

“We were just leaving,” Kelly said.

“We’re not a couple,” Owen sputtered. Did they look like a couple? True they were standing rather close and were both shirtless, but…

“Obviously you’re not a couple,” she said, rolling her eyes. She had a thick European accent, but Owen couldn’t identify its origin. French, maybe. “Why would I pay ten thousand dollars to watch a gay couple f**k?” She laughed. “They’d probably let me watch for free.”

“We don’t need your money, lady,” Kelly said and pushed Owen to uproot his bare feet from the floor.

“Do straight guys actually f**k each other for you?” Owen had to ask.

“Depends on how desperate they are for money,” she said. She grinned slyly. “Or how much they’ve secretly wanted to f**k a man, but never had someone else to blame it on.”

“Owen?” Caitlyn said from just behind him.

Heat flooded his face. He cringed and turned to find her dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a white blouse with an out-of-style flop of a bow at the throat, and a tweed blazer his grandmother would be ashamed to own. And why did her conservative attire turn him on as much as that negligée had? He was in trouble.