Touch Me (One Night with Sole Regret #4)(33)

She still wanted him. For sex. Yes, she understood that attraction, but she wanted more than that too. She wanted to get to know him. Figure out what made him tick. Determine how a guy as good looking as Owen ended up being nice and sensitive. Damn it. Maybe she should have turned down their sandwich excursion and gone back to Jenna's house. Every extra minute she spent with him made her like him a little more. This was definitely more than she bargained for.



       
         
       
        

Owen threaded his fingers through her hair, his eyes searching hers in the low light inside the back of the car. "I can't get over how beautiful you are. Isn't she beautiful, Kellen?"

Warmth spread across her face, and she ducked her chin to hide a pleased smile.

"Gorgeous," Kellen said. "There's a twenty-four-hour diner two blocks from here. No guarantees they serve pastrami."

"Alert the driver," Owen said.

Caitlyn looked up and found Owen still staring at her.

"Remember when I said that once we left the club, I wouldn't have sex with you again," he said.

She scowled. "How could I forget?" It was the only mean thing he'd said to her since they'd met, and she wasn't sure he'd meant it the way she'd taken it.

He touched a fingertip to her lips. "Apparently, I am a liar."

Caitlyn's heart skipped a beat.

Kellen released a long sigh of annoyance and shook his head. "Can you at least drop me off at the hotel before you start round two?"

"Round three," Owen corrected.

"Even worse."

"We'll drop you off after we eat," Owen said.

"I'm not hungry," Kellen said.

"If you're not careful, I'm going to think you don't want to hang out with me anymore."

"I don't want to hang around with you if you're going to flaunt your hot woman in front of me all night."

Was that what he was doing? Or was he trying to tempt Kellen into doing something he'd later regret? Caitlyn didn't know either of them well enough to have a good handle on their dynamic, but she didn't want to be involved in drawing out Kellen's pain. The guy had been through enough already.

"It's probably best if you tone it down a little in public," she said, not because she actually wanted Owen to tone it down, but because she felt bad for Kellen.

"Tone it down? You don't mean that. I haven't taken a woman out in over six months and you expect me to tone it down."

She nodded, even though she was incredibly flattered that he'd broken his rules for her. "I do mean it."

"Damn, I knew we should have ordered room service."

"I think you can keep your hands to yourself for an hour." Because that's about how long she thought she could keep her hands to herself.

Kellen chuckled. "If you knew him better, you wouldn't think that."

"I can be good," Owen said. "If you reward me for it later."

"I can probably handle that," she said. "But not until we're alone." She peeked around Owen's body to see if Kellen looked any less miserable. He was no longer staring into space. The slight smile on his lips led her to believe he was amused by her stipulation. 

"I can be a perfect gentleman," Owen said.

Kellen chuckled and shook his head.

Owen glanced at Kellen and then smiled at Caitlyn. He seemed to realize that she was setting boundaries for Kellen's sake. She expected Owen to torment Kellen as he'd been doing all night, but instead he relaxed and folded his hands demurely in his lap.

"I'm going to be so well behaved, you're going to have to reward me until dawn."

She wasn't sure she could keep up with him until dawn but, by God, she would try.

The limo pulled up to a diner that had probably never had a limo parked in front of it in all its years. But the open sign was glowing orange, and that was all the motivation Owen needed to tug Caitlyn out of the car by one wrist.

"I'll just wait here," Kellen said.

"What is wrong with you tonight?" Owen asked. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd been possessed by grumpy ol' Adam."

Kellen glared at him from the interior of the limo.

"Pod person!" Owen yelled and pointed into the open car door.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Kellen said, but Caitlyn caught his smile as he hefted himself out of the car. He eyed the No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service sign and after releasing a sigh of annoyance, pointed at the driver. "Trunk."

The driver hurried to open the trunk, and Kellen searched the compartment for something. He donned a plain white T-shirt and moved to stand next to Owen. Pity really. Kellen didn't look comfortable in a shirt and he'd have definitely been the most delicious-looking thing in the diner without it.