One Night with Sole Regret 04 Touch Me (17 page)

When his breath had calmed and his cock had
softened, he lifted his head. She smiled drowsily.

“That was beautiful,” she whispered.

He kissed her gently. “You’re beautiful.”

Reluctantly, he pulled free of her body. She
winced. He probably should have removed his jewelry—she’d be sore
in the morning. Hell, she was already sore, he could tell. He
disposed of the spent condom and brought her a moist washcloth so
she could clean up a bit and sleep more comfortably.

“Thank you,” she said, a beguiling blush
staining her cheeks.

When she’d settled into her pillow, he
switched off the light and climbed into bed beside her. He lay in
the darkness wondering if she’d think him strange for wanting to
snuggle up against her while he slept. It had been so long since
he’d used a bed for
sleeping
with a woman that he felt
uncertain. He knew what he wanted to do—he wanted to hold her close
all night—but he wasn’t sure if she’d appreciate that level of
intimacy.

He tensed when she rolled over, rested her
head on his chest, and wrapped an arm around his waist. Then he
smiled, breathed in the scent of her hair, and allowed himself to
hold her close as he drifted to sleep.

The knock at the hotel door pulled Caitlyn
from a deep sleep. She blinked several times and rubbed her eyes,
surprised by the brightness in the room. The door opened, a set of
squeaky wheels approached, and the door shut again. She smelled
soap—as if someone had recently showered—and a moment later,
bacon.

“This will do nicely,” Owen said.

Caitlyn’s eyes flew open, and she grabbed for
the sheet which she found tucked securely around her nude body.

“Thank you, sir,” and unfamiliar voice said.
“If you need anything else, be sure to let us know.”

Caitlyn peered over a pillow to watch a
server leave the room. Her eyes then landed on Owen, who was
dipping his pinkie in pancake syrup and sampling it on his
tongue.

“Sorry to wake you,” he said, “but I was
starving.” He looked over at her and offered her a smile. “Good
morning, beautiful.”

“Good morning,” she croaked and then cleared
her throat. “Good morning,” she said again. Wow, he looked good in
the early morning light. His damp hair was scattered in disarray,
and he’d had the decency to leave his shirt off after his shower,
thank you, God.

So last night had really happened? Holy
smokes, she’d bedded a hottie. More than once. She couldn’t help
but flush and stare at him in complete awe and flush some more.

“Are you hungry?” he asked. “There’s enough
here for two. Or five.”

“Um, yeah, I guess so.” She attempted to sit
up, and her muscles protested every motion.

Owen grinned knowingly. “Stay there. I’ll
bring it to you.”

“I’ve never had breakfast in bed,” she
said.

“Never?”

She shook her head and watched him wheel the
cart around the bed.

“No romantic breakfasts on your
anniversary?”

“My ex-husband wasn’t the romantic type.”

“That’s too bad. Your mother didn’t feed you
in bed when you were sick?”

“My mother isn’t really the nurturing kind.
Did you get breakfast in bed when you were sick?”

“Yep. My mom is so nurturing it borders on
smothering.”

“What’s her name?”

“Joan,” he said. “But I call her Mom for
short. She’s an amazing woman.”

Caitlyn smiled and tilted her head. “Are you
a mama’s boy, Owen Mitchell?”

His blue eyes met hers, and he grinned. “I
can’t deny it. She requires it. My brother’s a mama’s boy too and
he’s a bad-ass Marine, so don’t think I’m the only one.”

“You have a brother?”

“He’s currently stationed in Afghanistan. His
name is Chad.” Owen glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “He
should be calling soon, actually. It’s a call I can’t miss, so
you’ll have to excuse me when I take it.”

“Of course,” she said. She wanted to ask
about his brother, but wasn’t sure if talking about him would upset
Owen. With Chad being stationed in a war zone, Owen must be
constantly worried.

“So which part of my breakfast would you
like?” he asked, nodding at the collection of plates and bowls on
the cart.

“You ordered all of that for you?” There was
more than enough for half a football team.

“Hey, I like to eat. That’s why I had to
spend so much time at the gym this morning.”

He’d already been to the gym? Was the sun
even up yet? She searched the bedside table for a clock.

“Wait?” she said. “What time is it?”

“Almost noon.”

Heat flooded her face. He really had worn her
out.

“I got enough food for both of us. I never
planned on eating everything. Tasting everything, yes, so whatever
you pick, you have to share a little.”

“Let’s just share it all,” she suggested.

“Now, that’s a plan.” He pushed the cart up
against the edge of the bed and sat on the mattress near her
feet.

She scooted into a sitting position, wincing
as the tenderness between her thighs registered. Holy mother of too
much sex in one night. She wasn’t sure if her body would ever be
the same.

“It’s the piercing,” he said. “I knew I
should have taken it out that last time.”

“Worth it,” she said breathlessly. “Totally
worth it.”

“After you finish your breakfast in bed, I’ll
kiss it and make it better.”

She gaped at him. It was one thing for him to
say things like that to her at night when she was delirious with
lust, but here in the light of day? She wasn’t sure if she could
handle such naughty suggestions.

He chuckled. “You look scandalized,
baby.”

She closed her mouth and ducked her head. “I
think I came to my senses while I was asleep.”

“Well, we can’t have that now, can we? Coming
to your senses is one kind of coming I don’t want you to experience
while you’re with me.”

At a complete loss for words, she bit her lip
to stifle a nervous giggle. After the intimacy they’d shared the
night before, she was surprised she felt shy in his presence.

“You aren’t the only who will be walking
funny today,” he said.

Her gaze darted to his ass. “Are you sore
back there?”

He chuckled. “Nah. You took it real easy on
me. I’m just trying to make you blush some more.”

Owen selected a strawberry from a bowl of
fresh fruit and crawled up her body until their noses were inches
apart.

“Taste,” he said, and he rubbed the
strawberry over her lower lip. Her mouth watered, but she was
pretty sure it was from being so close to him, not the anticipation
of food.

Caitlyn bit into the fruit and got lost in
his eyes. Such blue, blue eyes. The dark rims around the irises
made them look even more striking. She chewed slowly, her pulse
thrumming in her throat. She swallowed, still unable to pull her
gaze from his.

“Taste,” he said, and leaned forward to kiss
her.

His mouth tasted minty. Caitlyn’s practical
sense abandoned her once again as he deepened the kiss and reminded
her why she’d not only had sex with him, but spent the entire night
pressed against his hard, warm body. He drew away slightly, and her
eyelids fluttered open. Transfixed, she gazed into his eyes.

“Do you have a preference?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“In taste?”

“Oh.” Her face grew warm again. “It seems
I’ve lost my senses again.”

“Good.” He fed her another bite of
strawberry.

“And since you asked,” she said around the
piece of fruit in her mouth, “I much prefer your taste.”

He reached for the food cart again and
flicked something just under her nose. “Even more than bacon?”

She laughed and bit into the piece of crisp
bacon. “Is there anything that tastes better than bacon?” she said
with her mouth full. Her self-consciousness waned a bit with each
passing moment. He had an uncanny ability to drive her to
distraction in one breath and soothe her in the next.

He took a bite of bacon and winked at her.
“I’m sure there’s something in this bed that’s more appetizing, but
bacon hits the spot at the moment.”

He fed her samples of everything he’d ordered
from the menu—which appeared to be every item they offered—and he
tasted each as well.

“So you have a brother,” she said, deciding
he might be more open to prying questions on a full stomach. “Do
you have other siblings?”

He shook his head. “Nope, just the one
brother. I have dozens of cousins though. What about you? Do you
have siblings?”

A familiar knot formed in her throat. The
problem with asking him prying questions was that he was likely to
reciprocate. “I had a sister. She died in an accident.”

“Oh,” he said flatly. “Sorry. Were you
close?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “I’m not sure if
that makes it easier or more difficult. I wish I’d spent more time
with her.”

“Regrets can eat you alive.”

“Regret. Like your band,” she said. “Why the
name Sole Regret?”

“Kelly named the band. There’s always one
thing in your life you wish you could undo more than any other.
Your sole regret. You know, Kelly is actually a very deep
person.”

“You admire him.”

“If you start bringing up that little slip
involving his name last night, I’m going to toss you out in the
hallway. Naked.”

Little slip?
But if he didn’t want to
confront his issues with Kellen, she wasn’t going to push him into
it. She wasn’t particularly keen on being ousted from Owen’s place
of admiration by his friend.

“You wouldn’t dare,” she said.

“You sure about that?”

The ornery twinkle in his eye kicked her
heart rate up a notch because she was sure he would dare. Before
she could respond, he leapt from the bed and lifted her off the
mattress.

“Wait! What are you doing?” she asked as he
started to carry her toward the door.

“I never back down from a dare. I probably
should have mentioned that before you baited me.”

“Owen, don’t you dare.” She realized she’d
used the word again and wrapped her arms around his head. “Owen!
Please.”

“Please, what?”

“Please don’t toss me into the hallway
naked.”

“What happened to your sense of adventure,
Caitlyn?”

“That’s not adventure, that’s horror.”

“Not from my end,” he said. He lowered her to
her feet near the door, and she backed up against the cool surface
in case he got the bright idea to open it and try to push her
through.

His gaze shifted over her body, and she
flushed, fighting the urge to cover herself. He really did seem to
like what he saw.

“Now that I think about it,” he said, “I
wouldn’t want anyone else to see you naked; I’d like to keep this
gorgeous view all to myself. I could look at you all day.”

“Likewise.”

A loud song blared from the far side of the
room. Owen’s face lit up with a wide smile. “My brother!”

He dashed across the room and reached for his
phone. His ring tone was some loud song. Probably a Sole Regret
one.

“Chad!” Owen greeted his caller with the
biggest grin Caitlyn had ever witnessed. “What’s up, bro?”

Caitlyn shuffled into the bathroom. She could
use a potty break and a shower. And she would hate to intrude upon
something as sacred as a conversation with his brother. She was,
after all, just Owen’s current one-night stand.

Owen’s favorite older brother—his only
one—smiled a greeting on the phone’s screen. Chad looked a little
dirty and a lot weary. Owen would never get used to him with a buzz
cut. When he pictured Chad in his head, he was still the
seventeen-year-old in his letterman jacket. The same blue eyes, but
lots more thick, curly hair.

“Let me guess,” Chad said. “You’re bored,
stuck in a cushy hotel room until tonight when you have to put up
with thousands of girls—who all think you’re hot for some
unfathomable reason—screaming your name at the top of their
lungs.”

“Wrong,” Owen said.

“Don’t have a show tonight?”

“We perform in Houston tonight.”

“Hotel not cushy enough?”

“No, it’s one of the cushiest.”

“Then why am I wrong? I know how predictable
you are.”

“I’m not bored.”

“Is Kellen there with you?” Chad tilted his
head as if he could see more of the room surrounding Owen.

“Nope. I brought a woman home last night.
Well, not home exactly. Back to my room. She’s in the shower now.”
He could hear the water running.

“You spent the night with a woman? What
happened to your lame rule about not sleeping with the women you
sleep with?”

“I made a concession for Josie. She’s just so
lonely with you overseas.”

Chad’s nostrils flared and his blue eyes
narrowed dangerously. “Not funny, assmunch. First, I know Josie
would never cheat on me, especially not with a twerp like you.
Second, I talked to her ten minutes ago. And third, you can’t keep
a straight face when you lie. But I’m still going to hit you really
hard the next time I see you, so consider wearing a mouth
guard.”

“Any idea when that will be?”

“Can you keep a secret?” he asked.

“Probably not.”

“Well then, I’ll just say sooner than we
thought.” Chad smiled.

“How soon?”

“I’m not telling you because you’ll ruin the
surprise for everyone.”

“Six weeks?” Owen said hopefully.

“I’m not telling you.”

“I can keep a secret.”

“Yeah, like the time I told you not to tell
Josephine Tulane that I had a crush on her.”

“And now she wants to marry you, so that
worked out horribly, didn’t it?”

Chad grinned. “I told you because you’re
predictable and I knew you couldn’t keep a secret.”

Owen had always wondered if Chad had told him
about his feeling for Josie so he would break the ice. Josie had
been the new girl in Owen’s senior class and Chad had already
graduated, so Mr. Love-at-First-Sight didn’t have the opportunity
to interact with Josie much. “You suck.”