Touch Me

Chapter Thirteen

Owen’s chest constricted until he feared he’d suffocate. “Lindsey?” he croaked.

“Oh, you remember my name,” Lindsey said, and she struggled to her feet. “I’m surprised.”

The security guard began brushing off her butt with both hands. She gave him a look of disbelief, which halted the man’s attempts to undo the damage he’d caused. What the fuck was he thinking? Tackling a pregnant woman to the ground? What an incompetent asshole.

There were a lot of women Owen had slept with whose names he’d admittedly forgotten, but Lindsey wasn’t one of them. She’d been the last woman he and Kelly had pleasured together. He sometimes thought she’d somehow wrecked Kelly. It was either something Lindsey had done or that wrist cuff Owen had given him for Christmas. That’s when Kelly had started pushing Owen away, so no, Owen wasn’t likely to forget her, even if it had been six months since he’d last seen her.

“How do you know her?” Caitlyn asked, her arms crossed over her chest.

Uh…

Now would be a good time for a meteor to strike him dead.

“Um, well, there was snow,” he said, as if that explained anything.

Lindsey looked at Caitlyn and scowled. “Excuse me, lady. I’m trying to tell Owen that I’m pregnant with his child. You need to go away. This is a private matter.”

“What?” Caitlyn spat.

“What?” Owen bellowed.

“What?” the security guard sputtered.

An unseen man in the parking lot yelled, “What!” and his companions laughed at his cleverness.

“I’m pregnant,” Lindsey said.

“I can see that,” Owen said, his gaze glued to her abdomen. Dear God, there was no denying she was pregnant. “What the fuck does that have to do with me?”

“Is this your wife, Owen?” Caitlyn asked as she took several steps backward, shaking her head and pushing her hands uselessly out in front of her.

“No, she’s not my wife.”

“Yet,” Lindsey said.

“She’s not even my girlfriend,” Owen said.

“I see.” Caitlyn said with a nod. “She’s just a toy that you used to get your rocks off. Kind of like me.”

Owen shook his head. “No. It was different with you. I like you.”

“You don’t like me?” Lindsey wailed. Then she broke into gut-wrenching sobs.

Owen squeezed his eyes shut. He’d made a pregnant woman cry. A pregnant woman who might or might not be carrying his child. He needed to sit down. Or lie down. Or drown himself in a toilet.

“I’m out of here,” Caitlyn said.

He watched her march up the bus steps and then emerge thirty seconds later with her purse and overnight bag. It was as if his feet had taken root and his mouth had been sewn shut. When Caitlyn brushed past him, he caught her arm.

“Don’t go,” he said. His biggest fear slammed him in the chest. Not fatherhood, though he hadn’t quite processed that yet, but rejection. She was flat out rejecting him, and he couldn’t fucking stand it.

Her eyes narrowed, and she gave him a look that ripped his heart out of his chest and left a gaping chasm in its place. All the warmth had left her gaze when she looked at him. “You don’t really expect me to stay, do you? What are you going to do with her?”

Owen glanced over at Lindsey, who blew her nose on a tissue offered by the concerned security guard. The guy glared at Owen, his mouth tight, his expression disapproving.

Oh yeah, I’m the bad guy here.

“I’ll figure something out,” Owen said to Caitlyn. “It’s probably not even my baby. She slept with the entire band that night. No telling who else she spread her legs for.”

Caitlyn rolled her eyes and jerked her arm out of his grasp. “Right. Men! All a bunch of fucking liars. And you’re the king of them, aren’t you?”

“I asked you not to call me a liar, Caitlyn,” he said, his own ire rising. What did she expect him to do? He wanted her to stay, but if she trusted the word of a sobbing, pregnant, twenty-year-old groupie over his, then maybe it was best if she said goodbye now.

“Goodbye, Owen.”

He flinched. Nope. It wasn’t for the best at all. “I’ll call you,” he said, glad they’d exchanged numbers at dinner, before his life had exploded into chaos. “Once I get this straightened out.”

She tossed a hand up over her head as she stormed away. Did that mean not to bother or that she’d talk to him later or what? He watched her retreating figure for a moment before he started after her. “Wait, Caitlyn. I’ll have the limo take you home.”

“Don’t talk to me right now, Owen; I’ll figure out how to get home on my own. I don’t need your help. The weepy, pregnant girl needs your help. Go take care of her.”

But he didn’t want her. He wanted Caitlyn.

“Fuck my life,” he said under his breath and spun on his heel so he didn’t have to watch Caitlyn walk away. He was sure she’d find a way home. She was an independent, resourceful, intelligent woman. Those were the qualities he admired most in her. Didn’t she realize that he didn’t want a girl? He wanted a woman. And not just any woman. He wanted Caitlyn.

“Thanks for getting rid of her,” Lindsey said. “She was making me feel awkward.”

If she’d been a dude, he would have decked her. “I didn’t get rid of her. You got rid of her. Now, what are you doing here and why do you think I’m the father of your baby? We used protection.”

“It isn’t one hundred percent foolproof. And I know you’re the father because I hadn’t had sex with anyone for weeks before I was with you and I haven’t been with anyone since.”

“What about Shade? Adam? Tex? Gabe? Ringing any bells? I wasn’t the only one who had sex with you that night.”

The security guard no longer looked concerned. He looked slightly scandalized and very intrigued.

Tears flooded her eyes. “But I want it to be yours.”

“Shit, that doesn’t make it so. Are you here by yourself? You’re a long way from Idaho.”

“I lost my job and my parents disowned me. The entire town turned its back on me. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“What about your friend, the one who was with you on the tour bus? What was her name?”

“Vanessa?”

“Yeah. I’m sure she’d help you out.”

Lindsey shook her head. “She joined the army to get away from that place. She’s in boot camp in South Carolina right now. Don’t you think it was hard for me to come here? I wasn’t even going to tell you. I was going to raise him on my own, but I don’t have any money so I… I… I can’t.”

She burst into tears again.

Owen wrapped his arms around her and drew her into a comforting embrace. He stroked her hair and murmured, “Don’t cry. We’ll get this sorted out. Don’t worry.”

So he held the woman who might or might not be pregnant with his child, a woman he had no interest in on an emotional level, while the woman he really wanted had left, perhaps forever. Why did he have to be so fucking weak to a woman’s tears?

“I know it’s your baby, Owen. When I feel him move inside me, I know he’s your son.” Lindsey’s sobs increased without provocation. “Oh God, I love our baby so much.”

Every hair on Owen’s body stood on end. No. Just no. He was in no way ready to be a father and certainly didn’t want to have a baby with a woman he didn’t love. “You can’t know that it’s mine,” he said. “You slept with every guy in the band that night. What makes you so sure I’m the father?”

Her sob fest made him wish he hadn’t said anything.

“You hate me, don’t you? I should just kill—”

He took her by both arms and shook her. “Don’t finish that sentence. Even if it isn’t my baby, I’m not going to toss you out in the street. Come inside while I figure out what to do with you.” He really wished Kelly’s calming presence was here. Kelly would help Owen figure out what to do. As it was, Owen couldn’t think. What he really wanted was to push Lindsey aside and go after Caitlyn. Not that he expected Caitlyn to ever speak to him again after what she’d just witnessed. He rubbed the center of his chest, took Lindsey by the elbow, and helped her ascend the steep steps of the tour bus. Adam, Shade, and Gabe’s round of laughter died as their eyes settled on Owen with Lindsey in tow.

“What happened to your other chick?” Shade asked.

“She, uh, had to go. We have a little situation here,” Owen said.

“I remember you,” Gabe said to Lindsey, a smile of recognition on his lean face. “Christmas Eve. We all…” His eyes widened as they settled on her distended abdomen.

“Is she…?” Adam’s dark eyebrows rose to comical peaks.

Lindsey avoided their eyes but straightened her shoulders. “I’m having Owen’s baby.”

“You can’t be sure that it’s mine,” Owen insisted. “Is there anyone on this bus you didn’t fuck that night?”

Her big blue eyes flooded with tears. “I know it’s yours, Owen. I just know.”

“Did you do her without protection?” Shade asked.

“No, I wore a condom. Did you forget?” Owen asked Shade.

“Of course I didn’t forget. I might be dumb, but I’m not stupid.”

“I wore a condom and I’m getting a vasectomy, so it’s definitely not my kid,” Adam said.

“You have to actually have the procedure done before you have unprotected sex,” Shade reminded him.

Adam turned green. “Shit! That’s right. But still, it’s not mine.”

“Well, it sure as hell isn’t mine,” Shade said. “I already have one!”

“That doesn’t matter. Having one does not decrease your odds of having another,” Gabe said.

Owen looked at Gabe. His last hope.

“I only came in her mouth,” Gabe said. “Adam and Tex were taking turns and she was sucking me and… Wait… I was drunk. Don’t remember everything I did. But I always wear protection. Always.” Gabe blinked hard and turned his green-eyed gaze to the floor. “It’s not mine.”

“Was Tex wearing a condom?”

“Yes, we all used protection, Owen,” Shade said, “so it must be yours. Or Kellen’s.”

“Kellen didn’t even penetrate her. And I know I was protected. I didn’t even drink that night, so I clearly remember everything I did.”

“This is the worst episode of Jerry Springer ever,” Adam said.

Owen laughed so he wouldn’t start crying.

“You were all careful,” Lindsey said. “Condoms are not one hundred percent fail proof, you know.”

“Seriously?” Owen asked. She must have poked holes in their condoms hoping to get pregnant and make herself some bank off a group of idiotic rock stars just having a good time one Christmas Eve. They’d joked about it how many times? And now it had come to fruition.

“You don’t think I wanted to get pregnant, do you?” Lindsey said, emotions going from distress to anger like a switch had been flipped. “I had plans for my life! Now I’m knocked up, homeless, and considered a whore by my entire family. I wouldn’t have even come to ask for help if I had a choice.”

Owen looked imploringly at each member of the band and realized that even if the baby wasn’t his, he was going to be the one who took care of this. Why? Because he was a sucker. Or nice. Or something.

“She’s not coming on tour with us,” Shade said. “Put her in a hotel until after our show tomorrow night and then we’ll figure out something more permanent.”

Their driver, Tex, announced his arrival on the bus with a loud belch. “Y’all ready to hit the road? Where’s Kellen?”

“Kellen will meet us in Beaumont tomorrow night,” Owen said. “And no, we’re not quite ready to go. We have a bit of a problem.”

Owen shifted his position so he wasn’t blocking Lindsey from Tex’s view. Tex smiled when he recognized her. “Oh hey, honey, back for some more Texas-sized lovin’?” He wriggled his eyebrows and adjusted himself in the crotch of his pants.

Lindsey burst into tears again.

“What?” Tex said. “Hey, now, you didn’t complain the last time. Begged for more.”

Owen cringed and shook his head, hoping to get Tex to shut his big mouth.

“Did you remember to use protection that night, Tex?” Shade asked.

“What? ’Course I did. Don’t know where these loose groupie girls have been, you know? Gotta protect Big Hoss. Wouldn’t want him to catch nuthin’.”

Lindsey swayed sideways, and Owen grabbed her before she collapsed. “You okay?” he asked.

She leaned heavily on him, clinging to his arm for balance. “I think so. I feel a little dizzy.”

And who could blame her? He felt a little dizzy too.

“What’s this all about?” Tex asked. “Y’all are acting kinda strange.”

“You’re going to be a father, Tex,” Adam said. “Well, one of you are. It isn’t mine.”

“We’ll figure out who the father is when the time comes,” Gabe said. “Just shut up about it for now. You shouldn’t get a pregnant woman emotionally upset. It can harm the baby. Owen, help her sit down.”

But if she sat down, that meant she’d be staying.

“What?” Tex said. “She’s pregnant?”

“Just over six months pregnant,” Owen said. “Which correlates to—”

“The Christmas Eve fuck-fest!” Tex interrupted. His eyes widened as one and one made three. “I swear it isn’t mine.”

Lindsey flinched as if someone had slapped her. Now that his initial shock had receded a bit, Owen started to imagine what it must feel like to be her. To become pregnant while having a bit of sexy fun—which he did all the time, so he couldn’t judge her for it—and not know who had fathered the child. How would it feel to be ostracized by your family for making a mistake and have no one to turn to? He wouldn’t want to be in her shoes. But he could help her. Even if the baby wasn’t his. And he prayed to God it wasn’t his. He didn’t want to be a father but at the same time, he didn’t want harm to come to the child. It wasn’t the baby’s fault that no one wanted him.

“Just so everyone shuts the fuck up,” Owen said, “I’ll claim the child until we find out otherwise, okay?” Under his breath he added, “Someone around here needs to take responsibility for the places he sticks his dick.”

Owen eased Lindsey onto the sofa. She immediately covered her abdomen with both arms and gazed up at him with wide eyes. She had the face of an angel with the exception of the dark circles under her eyes. Physically, she was so Kelly’s type it was ridiculous. Kelly couldn’t resist a woman with big blue eyes and a look of innocence about her. But Lindsey wasn’t Owen’s type. Caitlyn was Owen’s type. Why did this have to happen just when he was finally ready to consider a serious relationship again? Another snafu—situation normal, all fucked up.

“You okay?” Owen asked her.

Lindsey nodded and wiped her tears on the pink-striped T-shirt at her shoulder. As much as he didn’t want to be involved in this mess, Owen couldn’t stand anyone to look so upset. So desperate. So alone. “Do you want something to drink? Are you hungry?”

She hesitated and then nodded again. “I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”

“That’s not good for you or the baby,” Shade said. He opened the refrigerator and peered inside. “Neither is beer and leftover sushi.” He closed the refrigerator door with his foot.

Adam rattled the single remaining peanut at the bottom of the can. “Have a peanut.”

Shade slapped the can out of his hand. “Get the woman some real food. She’s pregnant. Have you ever dealt with a hungry pregnant woman?”

“No.”

“Well, I have and it ain’t pretty.”

“I didn’t mean to get pregnant,” Lindsey whispered, gazing up at Owen imploringly, as if she’d been declared guilty and he was her executioner with a readied ax slung over one shoulder.

Owen smiled at her and smoothed her check with one finger. Her eyes drifted closed, and large tears dripped from beneath her lids. He wished she’d stop doing that already. Did she have any idea what a sucker he was? Actually, that was probably why she’d approached him first.

“I believe you,” he said. “Now don’t cry any more. We’ll take care of you.”

“Let’s go get something to eat before we hit the road,” Shade said. “Then we can ditch her at a hotel until after the next show. We have a few days’ break before our two shows in New Orleans; we’ll get this mess straightened out then.”

Lindsey ducked her head, but she didn’t argue. Owen wondered how she could stand being talked about as if she were a problem, not a person.

“She can come with us to Beaumont,” he said. “It isn’t far. And she’s probably afraid to be by herself in a strange city.”

She looked at him as if he were her personal savior. A warm feeling spread through his chest. He liked helping people, and he was glad they’d found a temporary solution to the situation. Now if he could figure out what he could possibly say to make things up to Caitlyn. He missed her already.

If she’d have him, he wanted her for more than one night. A lot more.

He’d probably have to do something spectacular to regain her trust, but he had no reservations about giving his all to rock her world.

“Tex,” Shade said, “drive out of the city, but stop at a restaurant in some small town.”

Tex was staring at Lindsey as if she had a forked tongue and horns.

“Tex!”

He jerked and forced his attention to Shade.

“Did you hear me?”

“Restaurant. Small town. Got it.” He rushed to the front of the bus and disappeared into the walled compartment that obscured the driver from the rest of the vehicle.

“Thanks for being nice to me,” Lindsey said. She offered Shade a small smile.

“Do you need to stop somewhere and pick up your belongings?” Gabe asked, settling onto the sofa beside her, his long legs extending for miles in front of him.

“My car broke down in Oklahoma. Everything I own that’s not in this bag is there abandoned on the side of the road.”

She lifted her blue-and-white-striped bag, which was about the size of a sofa cushion, onto her lap and hugged it against her.

Gabe patted her shoulder. “How did you get to Houston?”

“A nice truck driver gave me a ride. If you guys had refused to help me, I don’t know what I would have done.”

“Five suckers form a band…” Adam said.

Owen’s phone beeped, alerting him to the arrival of a text. He pulled his phone from his pocket and smiled to see Caitlyn’s name at the top of his new message.

Call me in three days, the message said, but not before.

There was a short pause before her next message popped on the screen. I need to pretend to be pissed at you for at least that long.

“Yes!” he said aloud.

I’ll try not to call you before then, he texted back, but no promises. I have a huge crush on you, beautiful lady.

I won’t answer, she typed back.

He somehow doubted that. She’d texted him less than thirty minutes after being confronted by a pretty, young groupie claiming to be pregnant with his child. Owen pressed Call and lifted his phone to his ear.

Caitlyn answered on the first ring. “Owen! I said not to call me yet.”

“I thought you weren’t going to answer.”

“I didn’t.” He could hear the smile in her voice and the relief in his.

“Are you free Monday? I seem to have a rare night off.”

“That’s only two days away, and I’m determined to completely reject you for three.”

“Okay, I’ll give you time to consider my offer. I’ll call back in an hour.”

He grinned and hung up. He glanced at Lindsey, who jerked her gaze from him when she realized he was looking at her. And what in the world was he going to do with her while he romanced his new lover? Lindsey wasn’t going to move in with him, if that was her plan. There was no way in hell Caitlyn would understand that arrangement.

He seemed to have one too many women in his life at the moment and if he was forced to choose, he knew who’d be on the first Greyhound bus back to Idaho.

He didn’t care what it cost him. It couldn’t possibly cost him more than his heart.