They hashed out their plans, and she gave him her address. It would probably be noon before he arrived on Saturday. It was about a three-hour drive from his house to Caitlyn’s place, and she didn’t want to be responsible for him falling asleep behind the wheel if he attempted the trip without resting. He had a big show in New Orleans Friday night, followed by a flight and then the ditching of a pregnant groupie in Austin. He had no business driving so far after a sure-to-be exhausting day.
“Can’t wait to see you Saturday,” he said.
“Sinday,” she corrected, allowing her voice to drop to a husky timbre. She could be sexy when she put her mind to it.
“I thought we weren’t waiting until Sunday.”
“We’re not. Every day with you is a Sinday.”
He laughed, and she wished they were together now so she could see his amused smile.
“Well, then, I’m determined never to disappoint you. Until Sinday. Our first of many.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter Three
After their show in New Orleans, Owen stood next to Kelly, trying to gain his attention. After several moments of shifting from one foot to the other and clearing his throat, Owen figured he was going to have to shove Kelly’s singular fixation, Dawn, under the sofa to get him to look his way. The guy had been glued to her side since she showed up in Beaumont the night before. She’d even followed him to tonight’s gig. Owen could understand Kelly’s attraction to the stunning redhead; it was obvious why Kelly had broken his vow of celibacy with the beautiful, charming, and intelligent woman. But despite Dawn’s abundant appeal, Owen was reminded of his friend’s utter infatuation with his last great love, and Kelly’s trend with obsessive romantic relationships was quite concerning.
Kelly had all but forgotten Owen was alive the entire time he’d been involved with Sara, and Owen was pretty sure Kelly had already forgotten he was alive now that Dawn was in the picture. He’d scarcely acknowledged Owen’s existence all day, even though Owen really wanted to talk to him about how great Caitlyn was and about how worrisome Lindsey and the baby might become. Kelly didn’t want to dwell on either topic. All he wanted to talk about—for the few moments Owen had caught him alone—was his new lover. Isn’t she amazing? He’d said the same thing about Sara countless times. Owen and Kelly’s friendship had scarcely survived that romance, and as Owen now touched Kelly’s shoulder and was still ignored, he figured he had reason to worry that while Kelly had gained a new friend, Owen had lost one.
Dawn pulled her gaze from Kelly’s lovesick face long enough to spare a glance for Owen. Only then did Kelly acknowledge that someone other than Dawn existed.
“Hey, what’s up?” Kelly asked, his face lighting up with a smile.
Owen felt slightly better that Kelly at least looked happy to see him. “I talked to Sally, and she said we can charter a second flight tonight if you and Dawn want to head back to Austin with us for the weekend.”
“We’re staying in New Orleans tonight,” Kelly said. He squeezed Dawn’s hand. “And then we’ll be off to Galveston in the morning.”
Owen scrunched his brows together. “But you were just in Galveston.” And because he’d made so many memories with Sara there, Galveston made Kelly moody. Why the hell would he want to keep going back there?
“I’ll probably be spending a lot of time there since that’s where Dawn lives,” Kelly said.
Before Owen could remind him that he lived in Austin and maybe Kelly should consider splitting his attention between those who cared about him, Dawn leaned forward to catch Kelly’s eye. He turned from Owen to stare at her again. Jeez, what was wrong with the guy?
“I just live there temporarily,” she said. “I’ll have to go back to LA soon. Now that the song is done, I have no reason to hide out there anymore.”
“Maybe you should renew your lease and write a new song.” Kelly lifted Dawn’s hand to his lips to give her amazingly talented piano-playing fingers a reverent kiss.
“With you on my bench, I’ll either be too distracted to write a single note or so inspired by your virility that I’ll write scores and scores of measures.”
As their heated gazes turned smoldering, the two lovebirds kissed. Ugh.
“I guess I’ll see you in a few days,” Owen said loudly.
Kelly waved him away before burying his hands in Dawn’s fiery mane of hair and deepening their kiss.
Owen wondered if Kelly was ignoring him because he was still pissed at him for taking his precious cuff away. Maybe Kelly wasn’t actually hypnotized by Dawn's magical, celibacy-breaking vagina. Maybe her presence just made it easier for him to give Owen the cold shoulder. Owen did feel bad about taking Kelly’s security-blanket-of-a-wrist-cuff and tossing it into the luggage compartment under the bus—he knew how important that piece of jewelry was to the guy—but how could he convey his guilt and offer his apologies when Kelly was so busy trailing after Dawn? Touching Dawn? Talking to Dawn? Teasing Dawn?
Of course, Owen couldn’t blame his bad temper solely on Kelly and Dawn. His ill will was likely a result of him not having the privilege of spending time with Caitlyn while at the same time being stuck with Lindsey. That combination would make any horny guy cranky. Even mooning cows and the adrenaline rush of outrunning a charging bull that afternoon hadn’t cheered him up. He knew Jacob had insisted on their outing to help him escape the ever-present Lindsey for a few hours, but Owen’s bad mood was due more to Kelly being unavailable and Caitlyn making him promise not to blow a load than anything Lindsey had done. Stuffing his face with Cajun food had made him feel a little better and performing live with Kelly and the rest of the guys had made him feel almost like himself again. But as soon as the show had ended, Kelly had been back in Dawn’s arms and pretending Owen didn’t exist. The jerk. Was Kelly really that ticked off about that stupid fucking wrist cuff? Or worse, was he already wrapped so tightly around Dawn’s little finger that he couldn’t function without her?
Owen tried again to reach him. “If you really want your cuff back—”
Kelly pulled away from Dawn long enough to say, “Aren’t you going to miss your flight?” before he leaned in for another kiss, a deeper kiss.
God, this fucking sucked. But he took Kelly’s none-too-subtle cue and left.
Owen was forced—or perhaps expected—to sit next to Lindsey in the limo and on the plane and even on the shuttle to the parking lot to pick up his Jeep. He’d spent more time with her the last few days than anyone he actually wanted to hang out with. He couldn’t wait to drop her off at a Holiday Inn and spend the night alone in his bed, even though he knew he wouldn’t get much sleep with Caitlyn on his mind and, therefore, an unfulfilled boner in his boxers.
When the shuttle drew to a halt, Owen shook Lindsey awake. He wasn’t sure if her hand was on his thigh intentionally or by chance, but he was so horny that even her accidental or on-purpose touch was making him hard. He’d made it through Thursday night and all of Friday without breaking his word to Caitlyn. Several women had tried to convince him to join them for some fun on a mattress, but he’d resisted. He hadn’t come once in all that time, and he was so on edge, so keyed up, that everything seemed to give him wood. And he still had another twelve hours to go before he got to see Caitlyn. How would he make it?
“We’re here,” he whispered to Lindsey. “Wake up.”
Lindsey shifted, her arm straightening, her hand slipping between his thighs. He groaned in semi-hard misery and grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from his lap.
“We’re here?” She sat up straight and glanced around.
“Yep, let’s go. I have to drop you off at the hotel before I get to go home.”
Maybe he’d have a wet dream or something. Caitlyn couldn’t count that as cheating at the little game they were playing. He’d never hoped for a wet dream before, but any relief from this torture was welcome.
Owen stood and helped Lindsey stand.
“I’m so tired,?
?? she said, a bit on the whiny side in her obvious exhaustion. “Do I really have to check into a hotel tonight? Can’t I just crash on your couch?”
Hmm, potentially willing female staying at his place when he was so horny he couldn’t walk fully upright? Yeah, not a good idea. He glanced at Jacob and Gabe for some backup, but Gabe’s attention was on Melanie, and Jacob was pretending very hard that he was alone on the shuttle.