Night with Sole Regret

TOUCH ME XXIX

He shook his head at her. “The Empire Strikes Back.”

“Oh my God, who scheduled a geek convention on the tour bus?” another rock-star type asked.

This one was dressed in black from his biker jacket to his tight T-shirt to his jeans to his motorcycle boots. Even his hair was unnaturally black—probably died to match his shoes. His only non-black accessories were the collection of silver chains he wore around his neck and dangling from one belt loop.

“That’s Adam,” Owen said.

“So Shade is the vocalist, Kellen plays guitar, Owen plays bass, and Gabe is the drummer.” Caitlyn did a quick mental inventory. “That must make you… the keyboardist?”

Adam did not look amused. More like offended. Was there something wrong with the keyboard? What other instruments were played in a rock band? She’d once heard a flute in a Led Zeppelin song. She was proud of herself for remembering.

“I know,” she gushed, “you play the flute!”

Everyone burst out laughing, except Adam, who looked even more out of sorts than when she’d accused him of playing keyboard.

“No, I don’t play the f*****g flute,” he said. “I’m lead guitar.”

“But…” She pointed at Kellen. “I thought Kellen played guitar.”

“He plays rhythm guitar.”

She didn’t know the difference. “You have two guitarists? Well, three, if you count Owen’s bass?”

“That’s right.”

“Why do you need three? Isn’t one good enough?”

“She doesn’t listen to rock music,” Owen explained.

“Then why is she here?” Adam countered.

“Hmm,” Owen scratched his jaw. “Probably because she doesn’t listen to rock music. I felt she needed an education.”

And she’d very much enjoyed the education he’d given her about guitarists’ fingers. Her gaze dropped to Adam’s hands and then darted to Kellen’s. Long fingers. All of them. She was sure they were callused and swift as well. Caitlyn really wished Owen would stop making her blush. She hadn’t blushed this much when she’d been a bride and fallen off a pier in her wedding gown after having one too many to drink.

“Speaking of education,” Owen said, turning his attention from Adam to Gabe.

Oh God, he wasn’t going to mention her morning lesson was he? She’d die of mortification if he did.

“Guess what she has her degree in?” Owen said.

Caitlyn blew out a relieved breath.

“Based on the size of her rack, I’d say cheerleading,” Gabe said.

Caitlyn glanced down at her chest, which was straining against Jenna’s too-tight T-shirt. “Despite popular belief, big boobs are a liability for a cheerleader. They throw off your center of gravity, get in the way of your pom-poms, and jiggle around until you get one hell of a back ache.” She hopped up and down to demonstrate.

All eyes settled on her chest. As far as breasts went, she wasn’t overly well-endowed, but they did move when she did.

“Where’s that jacket of yours, Caitlyn?” Owen asked. “It’s a bit chilly here on the bus.”

She glanced up at him, not sure why the sparks of jealousy in his eyes were so endearing.

“Everyone ready to go?” a man in a white Stetson said from the front of the bus. He settled behind the driver’s seat and the door swung shut.

“Head on out,” Shade said. He brushed past the group congregated in the seating area near the front of the bus. “I’m going to catch a nap. Amanda kept me up all night, so I’m beat.”

Caitlyn assumed Amanda was his wife or girlfriend. She didn’t want to pry, so she didn’t ask. Shade disappeared behind a curtain that concealed his bunk near the back of the bus.

“So if you weren’t a cheerleader, what was your major?” Gabe asked, his brilliant green eyes alive with interest.

“Don’t make me say it,” Caitlyn said. “I’m supposed to pretend that I’m cool today.”

“If it makes you feel better,” Owen said, “like you, Gabe went to college to be a career geek. But we kidnapped him and chained him to a drum kit.”

“Were you a physics major?” Gabe asked, his eyes wide.

“With a chemistry minor. My master’s is in mechanical engineering.”

Gabe insisted she tell him all about her current projects in fuel cells. She didn’t give him too many details since they were working on a new prototype and you never knew if your competition just happened to be a drummer in a rock band. But Gabe was apparently ravenous for cerebral stimulation, so she shared what she could. Owen seemed content to listen to them talk.

She and Gabe eventually got into a highly competitive game of backgammon. None of his band mates would play with him. With the exception of Shade, who was evidently a heavy sleeper, they all cheered her on to beat their drummer. Even Kellen, who seemed sullen today, and Adam, who was slow to warm up to Caitlyn, got in on the competition.

“Kick his ass, baby,” Owen said. “He gloats for days every time he beats someone.”

“Which would be every time I play,” Gabe said, rolling the dice and getting a pair of sixes. Again.

“I think his dice are loaded,” Caitlyn complained.

“I’m just lucky.” Gabe winked at her. She lost her train of thought for a moment. The physics majors in her class hadn’t looked like him. If they had, she wouldn’t have been fooling around with her English professor.

Gabe hit another of her pieces and lifted it from the playing field to sit it on the bar in the center of the board.

“Damn it.”

At this rate, she wasn’t going to get a single piece into her home base. It was impossible to make it across the board when she was spending all her time re-entering her captured pieces.

“This is why no one ever beats him,” Owen said. “He’s an offensive player.”

“I definitely find his playing offensive,” Caitlyn said.

The guys laughed, and she flushed again.

By the time they reached Houston, she was completely at ease in the presence of Owen’s band mates. And she’d even managed to beat Gabe in one out of their three games, which made her some sort of hero, especially in Adam’s eyes.

The bus stopped behind an empty stadium. Caitlyn peered out a large tinted window, surprised by the controlled madness shown by the road crew as they moved equipment inside. The huge semi-truck was nearly empty. They’d obviously been at it for hours before the band’s arrival.

As the other guys filtered off the bus, chatting, Owen pulled Caitlyn aside.

“Are you glad you came?” he asked.

“So far. I haven’t been subjected to your eardrum-damaging music yet.”

“You’ll enjoy it,” he said.

She wasn’t so sure, but she knew the guys in the band, so like the dutiful aunt of a school kid, she’d go to their music performance and tell them they sounded great no matter how horrible they were.

When the last of the guys stepped off the bus, Owen leaned in to steal a kiss. “I’ve wanted to do that for hours,” he said.

“Then why didn’t you?”

“I have to live with these guys,” he said. “And they can be pretty immature about teasing a guy about his girl.”

“But you’re not like that, right?”

He grinned, and she guessed he was the ringleader of the teasing.

“Of course not.”

He backed her into the square dining table where she and Gabe had been playing backgammon and lifted her to sit on its surface. His hands cupped her breasts, and he massaged them gently.

“I’ve wanted to do this for hours too.”

She wrapped her legs around his hips and urged him into a tight hug. He melted into her.

“I liked having you here with me today,” he said. “The guys didn’t seem to mind either. I thought they’d give me hell for bringing you along, but they seemed to like the idea.”

She turned her face into his neck and inhaled. Mmm. What was it about this man that drove her to distraction?

“I know we haven’t known each other long,” he said.

“That’s true,” she murmured.

“But you fit here somehow. You fit with me.”

She went still, anticipating words she was not ready to hear.

“So anytime you want to come hang out with us, you’re welcome.”

Was that all? She snuggled closer to him again.

“Because I really like you and I’d hate to think we wouldn’t get to see each other again.”

“I’d hate that too,” she admitted.

“You could come with us tonight to Beaumont,” he said. “And then after that we’re in New Orleans. I could take you to another s*x club, if you like. There’s an interesting one there.”

Her lips brushed his throat. “Too soon, Owen,” she said. She didn’t want to say no, but she did need him to slow down. He was like a bullet train, and she was only prepared for freight.

“Oh,” he said, the disappointment in his voice perceptible.

“I’m not saying I don’t want to be with you,” she whispered in his ear. “I just have a lot of responsibilities, and I need to take things slowly.” She leaned back and cupped his face in both hands. “I’m not rejecting you.” She knew that was what he really feared.

“Feels like it,” he said.

Her heart gave a little pang for hurting him. She understood why he had rules for his entanglements with women; he got his feelings hurt much too easily to expose his heart. But he’d exposed it to her, so she was going to have to be careful with it.