One Night with Sole Regret 05 Tie Me (17 page)

He fished the keys out of the center console where he’d hidden them the night before and started the engine. He wished he was driving his faithful Firebird instead of this run-of-the-mill sedan, but at least he had a means of escape. Colorful houses on stilts separated brief glimpses of the ocean as he sped toward the city of Galveston. Quaint housing developments blurred by one after another until he hit a stop light and slammed on his breaks to skid to halt. He had no idea how fast he’d been going, but he was sure the flashing blue lights behind him weren’t a good sign. The officer squawked his siren, and Kellen cringed before taking a right turn at the light to get out of the flow of traffic so he could get his ass chewed properly. He retrieved his wallet and rental car agreement out of the glovebox while he waited for the cop to mosey his way to the car. Kellen rolled down the window, and a blast of warm humidity hit him in the face.

“Where’s the fire, son?” the officer said in greeting.

Kellen forced himself not to roll his eyes. Police officers didn’t seem to like it when he did that.

“How fast was I going?”

“Eighty in a thirty-five.”

He couldn’t even plead the “I forgot to slow down in the town speed zone” argument, as eighty miles per hour would have been speeding even outside of town.

“Sorry about that, I was…” Fleeing an anguished memory and the potential for a bright future. “…distracted.”

“License and proof of insurance.”

“The car’s a rental,” Kellen said, but handed over his driver’s license and the folded-up insurance proof he kept in his wallet.

“Hold tight, Mr. Jamison,” the officer said as he looked over Kellen’s license. “I’ll be back with your citation.”

Kellen wouldn’t argue. He deserved a ticket.

The officer went back to his patrol SUV, while Kellen sat and stewed.

Eventually, the weight of the cuff in his pocket became unbearable. He tugged it out, stared at it for a long moment, and then secured it to his wrist. He wouldn’t be taking it off again. When he took it off, he forgot his promises, made mistakes, potentially hurt people besides himself. He felt his resolve strengthen as soon as the cuff was in place. Wearing it didn’t keep his thoughts from returning to Dawn, but the reminder would keep him from turning this fucking car around and returning to her.

“I’m surprised this is your first ticket,” the officer said from outside Kellen’s window.

Why? Because he was barefoot and shirtless, tattooed and long-haired, or because Toyota Corollas were notoriously fast cars?

“Usually folks who go as fast as you were going make a habit of it.”

“I don’t speed. I just have a lot on my mind this morning.”

“If you hadn’t been going so fast, I’d have let you off with a warning—”

Kellen tugged the ticket and his identification from the officer’s hand. He didn’t feel like shooting the breeze, thanks.

“I understand. Have a nice day,” Kellen said, rolling up his window.

“Watch your speed,” he heard the officer call.

Kellen nodded and shifted the car into drive.

He kept his attention on the road and his speed. It was a lot easier to concentrate on his driving with Sara’s wrist cuff in his peripheral view, reminding him to play by the rules, not take chances, and to love her forever.

He drove the length of Seawall Boulevard on his way to the ferry that would take him to Bolivar Peninsula and bypass the traffic nightmare that often surrounded Houston. It was still rather early, so there were only a few people out on the beaches that bordered the wide roadway. He sat at stop lights, watching pedestrians walk their dogs, parents lug beach gear while attempting to corral their children away from the road, and tourists snap pictures of ordinary seagulls. They all seemed to know where they belonged and what they were doing. Must be nice.

He passed hotel after hotel, restaurant after restaurant, and even a small amusement park that was built on a pier extending over the ocean. The Pleasure Pier. He couldn’t even find enough of a sense of humor to develop a joke about that one. He bet Owen would like to go to a place called The Pleasure Pier, but Owen’s preference wouldn’t be family friendly. A tiny smile felt foreign on his Kellen’s face. He needed to get back to Owen. Owen was the one person who only made him happy and never gave him grief. Kellen was lucky to have someone like Owen in his life, and he desperately needed someone to confide in at the moment.

Kellen followed the road signs to the ferry dock and was glad the line was short. He had no idea how long he’d be stuck on the boat with nothing to occupy his mind while it crossed the wide bay bustling with barge traffic. Maybe he’d have time to call Owen. Just a few minutes’ conversation with him was sure to put Kellen in a better frame of mind. He was about to crawl out of his skin.

He waited until the ferry launched from the dock before removing his seatbelt and leaving the car with cellphone in hand to stand along the railing. He turned on his phone and found he had multiple messages in voicemail. All of them were from Owen. Kellen had told him that he was turning his phone off. He wondered if he’d missed out on anything important the night before or if Owen was just bored because he had no one better to bug when Kellen wasn’t on the bus.

Kellen didn’t bother listening to the voicemails, noting that his phone’s battery was low, and dialed Owen’s number.

Owen answered on the second ring. “There you are. I was starting to think you’d been eaten by sharks.”

“Didn’t encounter any sharks. A pig this morning, but no sharks.”

“A pig?”

“I got a speeding ticket.”

“Are you sure?” Owen said. “Wait, is this really Kelly? Adam, did you steal Kelly’s phone again? This has to be a joke.”

Kellen smiled, feeling better already. “I had a lot on my mind when I, uh,
left…
the woman I… sort of slept with last night.”

There was dead silence on the other end. Kellen tugged the phone from his ear and stared at the screen to make sure the call hadn’t dropped. Still connected.

“Owen? Are you there?”

“You slept with a woman last night. You? Kellen Soaring Eagle Jamison slept with a woman? Were you conscious?”

Kellen chuckled. “Yes, I was a willing participant. But this morning, I sort of just… left. Should I go back? I shouldn’t, should I? Better to cut all ties now, right?”

“I don’t know. Do you like her or was it just a crazy, I-haven’t-been-properly-laid-in-five-years, lust-type thing?”

Kellen blew out his cheeks. “A bit of both, I think. I do like her, but I don’t think I would have slept with her if you’d been there to keep me in check.”

“Fuck,” Owen said. “Do you mean to tell me the only thing I had to do to get you to sleep with a chick was disappear?”

“No,” Kellen said, shaking his head. “There was something special between me and her. I just got freaked out about cheating on Sara and left before she woke up.”

“Then, yes, you should turn around immediately and go back to her, you fucking idiot. You haven’t felt so much as a tickle in your cock for a woman in over five years, much less anything deeper. The thing with Lindsey can wait.”

“Lindsey?” Kellen said, his eyebrows drawing together. “Who’s Lindsey? Her name is Dawn.”

“Didn’t you get my voicemails? All seven of them?”

“My battery is low, so I haven’t listened to them yet.”

Owen laughed. “Well, dude, we all got a bit of shocking news last night. Lindsey, that pretty little groupie you tied up on Christmas Eve, she showed up after the concert and, you are not going to believe this bro, she’s…”

Kellen waited for him to finish, knowing Owen liked to fuck with him by creating long, pregnant pauses. “She’s what?” No answer. “Owen?”

He looked at his phone and found the screen blank. Dead battery. Damn it. With a huff of frustration, Kellen shoved the phone into his pocket, tugging a bit of blue rope free when he jerked his hand back out.

He clutched the piece of rope in his fist. “Dawn,” he whispered and looked back toward the island. Missing her. Wishing he hadn’t left without saying goodbye.

A large gray body, slick and sleek, crested above the water. His breath caught. He’d never seen a wild dolphin before. Sara would have been over the moon with excitement.

“Sara,” he said under his breath.

Kellen sighed and clutched his forehead in one had.

Dawn. Sara. Lindsey. Women would be the death of him. He tried to avoid them, but his actions didn’t do any good.

The ferry began to slow as it approached the dock at the tip of Bolivar Peninsula. Kellen climbed back in the rental car and contemplated his options. He couldn’t go back to Dawn; she was sure to read something into that. And he was exceedingly curious to find out what was going on with that Lindsey woman. All he remembered about her was that she held a shocking resemblance to Sara, had a pussy that tasted sweeter than honey, and was really good at sharing. Had she come back to the bus for another orgy? Kellen was not interested. He’d find a hotel to hole up in for the night if that was the case. Besides, the guys were more involved with relationships than they had been six months ago. Surely they didn’t plan to compromise something important for a piece of hot and willing tail.

Kellen decided he’d go straight to the bus. Maybe after he got his head on straight, he’d head back to Galveston to apologize to Dawn for being a cowardly bastard. But that wouldn’t happen tonight. He could only stand so much confusion and heartache in one twenty-four-hour period.

The drive to Beaumont was uneventful. His churning thoughts kept him company. He thought about Dawn. And he thought about Sara. But mostly he cursed himself for not bringing his cellphone charger. He spends one night away from the band, and Owen sees fit to call him seven times to talk about some groupie. Kellen knew he wouldn’t do that unless it was something important. Had she given them all some incurable disease? Kellen hadn’t slept with her, but he had eaten her out.

Kellen parked near the venue where the band and crew were getting ready for the concert and headed toward the bus, prepared for the worst. But nothing could have prepared him for what he saw standing at the top of the bus steps.

Her hair was swept back from her lovely face in a loose ponytail. Her brilliant blue eyes sparked with recognition as a smile spread across her soft, sensual lips. She rested a hand on her obviously distended belly and offered him a small wave.

She was pregnant and beautiful and very much alive.

“Sara?” he whispered, clutching the doorframe so he didn’t collapse into a heap on the asphalt.

Chapter Ten

Dawn shoved the pillow off her head and blinked in the bright sunshine streaming through the open blinds of her bedroom. It had to be close to noon. Why was she still so exhausted? She smiled as memories of the night she’d shared with Kellen filtered through her thoughts. She couldn’t wait to add to her pleasant experiences today. She was a bit disappointed to find his side of the bed empty, but she vaguely recalled him murmuring her name to awaken her and her foolishly demanding coffee. Who needed coffee with that man as her wake-up call? She’d just been a bit groggy and obviously out of her mind. She was wide awake now. Still naked, she slipped out of bed and padded down the hall to the stairs.

“Kellen,” she called down into the foyer below. “I changed my mind. I don’t need coffee. I just need you.”

When he didn’t answer, she continued down the stairs. “Kellen, come out, come out, wherever you are.”

She entered the kitchen and noticed a full carafe of coffee sitting untouched in the coffee maker. The power was obviously back on. It had been sweet of him to make coffee for her, but why hadn’t he rejoined her in bed once he’d finished making it?

“Kellen, are you down here?” she called, peeking over the breakfast bar into the family room, where the piano sat as silent as a stone. Bits of rope littered the piano’s lid and the floor. Dawn smiled. She would always remember the feel of it pressing into her skin and opening her eyes to truths she hadn’t recognized about herself. It was a shame that the rope had been cut and was now unusable. She wondered if there was any spare rope in the garage beneath the house. If not, she was all about making a trip to the nearest hardware store for supplies.

She wasn’t sure where Kellen had wandered off to. Maybe he was in the bathroom, or maybe he’d taken a walk on the beach. She always found the most interesting goodies washed up on the shore after a storm. She completely understood the draw of the water. She turned back to the kitchen. When she opened a cabinet, she noticed the broken mug in the sink. She picked up a large shard of ceramic and caught sight of the big yellow house next door. Kellen’s house, she realized with a smile. She looked again at the broken mug, at the full coffee carafe. At Kellen’s house. Her smile faded.
Sara’s
house, she corrected herself.

Shit. He’d left, hadn’t he? Saw that gorgeous, empty house across the way, started thinking about
her
again—
Sara
—and ran away.

Even after all they’d shared the night before, he still hadn’t given up that other woman. What a jerk! If all he’d wanted from her was sex, he could have just been straight with her. He didn’t have to pretend to be so wonderful. She was a big girl. And even though her heart was aching so badly she could scarcely breathe and her lower lip was trembling uncontrollably, Dawn was
not
going to cry over this. She refused to let a single tear fall. She kicked a lower cabinet as hard as she could and winced when her toe exploded with pain.

“Damn him,” she muttered. “He could have at least had the decency to tell me to my face that he wasn’t interested.”

Determined to have a great day despite the dark cloud that was suddenly obscuring her sunshine from the inside out, Dawn poured herself a cup of coffee and went to sulk—contemplate life—at her piano. She righted the piano bench, which had been overturned during all those wonderfully sensual activities she refused to dwell upon, and plopped down. She dribbled coffee down her bare front when she noticed Kellen’s handwritten note.