One Night with Sole Regret 06 Tell Me (10 page)

She knocked on the bathroom door and eased it open. “Gabe, are you almost
ready to go?”

She entered the room, making her way through the steam to the running shower. She found
Gabe leaning against the tile wall with his hair soapy and his eyes closed.

“You okay?” she asked.

He started and opened his eyes. “Yeah. Shows always sap my strength. I get an incredible high while I’m on stage, and then the adrenaline wanes and I crash hard.”

All those lean, wet muscles looked perfectly
dynamic from her angle. His slack face looked tired though.

“Do you want me to get you some coffee or something?”

“Naw, I’ll catch a nap on the plane. But I would love a Gatorade if you can find one. I think I sweated out half my body weight tonight.”

“I’ll see what I can find. Shade says you need to hurry.
They’re waiting for us in the limo.”

Gabe
rinsed himself, turned off the water and reached for a towel. “I’m on it.”

She
’d much rather stay and ogle him while he dried himself, but she was concerned for his comfort and so she returned to the dressing room and hunted through a mini-fridge behind the bar. She found mixers, liquor, beer, soda and water, but no sports drinks. She was about to go hunting for a drink machine in the stadium when he came out of the bathroom, fully dressed and looking slightly more alert.

“I looked in the fridge, but all they have in there is
alcohol, water, and soda. I was about to go search the stadium.”

“Don’t trouble
yourself,” he said. “Water will do.”

Melanie felt a strange sense of self-importance as they walked hand in hand toward the exit.
Envious female heads turned as they passed, and all she could think was,
Yeah, he’s all mine this weekend. Eat your hearts out, bitches.

Warm breath stirred against Melanie
’s ear and she jerked awake, banging her head on something hard as she was thrown back into consciousness. The something hard grunted in pain.
Gabe!
Her hand shot up to rectify the damage and she caught him in the nose with her palm.

“Jeez, woman, remind me not to wake you by blowing in your ear,” Gabe complained. “I’ll stand at a distance and poke you with a stick next time.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, sitting up in the seat. “I didn’t mean to become violent. When did I fall asleep?”

“About three seconds after you snuggled up against me.”

He’d felt so warm and comforting with his arm around her that she hadn’t stood a chance at keeping her eyes open. “I guess I was tired. Are we here?”

“Well, we’re in the parking lot where we store our vehicles.”

Melanie blinked her eyes to adjust them to the lights that were suddenly glaring inside the shuttle bus. Shade was already halfway down the bus steps. She glanced up at Gabe and smiled. His mohawk was lying flat after his shower, so she reached up and stroked the soft strands.

“I can’t wait to see your house,” she said. “I have no idea what to expect.”

“It’s not a mansion or anything,” he said. “But I like it. It’s a bit outside of town, so we still have an hour of driving before we get there.”

She would do her best to keep her eyes open
and provide entertaining company while he drove; they could sleep late in the morning. At least she assumed he’d let her get her full eight hours. She couldn’t think of anything grander than spending her entire Saturday in his bed. Sleep optional.

“Did you catch a nap while I was sleeping?”

He’d slept some on the plane. She knew, because she’d watched him.

“Nope,” he said.
“I mostly felt you up to keep you from snoring too loud.”

She grinned, knowing he was only teasing.
“Enjoy yourself?”

“Until you started moaning some other guy’s name,” he said.
“Who is
Juan
?”

“I did not!” She hooked an arm around his neck and kissed him hungrily. He produced a groan deep in his chest, reawakening the part of her that was addicted to the man on a physical level. She tugged her lips from his and stared up into his heavily lidded green eyes. He looked hot as fuck when he was sleepy. Did she really get to be with him the entire weekend?

“If I’m moaning anyone’s name in my sleep,” she said, “it’s yours.”

“I’d rather you moan it while you’re awake.” His eyebrows wiggled suggestively.

Melanie caught movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head to the seat across the aisle.

“I’m so tired,” Lindsey complained as Owen hefted her to her feet. “Do I really have to check into a hotel tonight? Can’t you just let me
crash on your couch? I promise I won’t sneak into your bed and try to molest you while you’re sleeping.”

She rubbed her belly with one hand and covered an extended yawn with her other as she shuffled toward the exit.

“I’m tired too,” Owen said, sounding more cross than Melanie had ever heard him. “Do you think I want to deal with this right now? I’d much rather be with Caitlyn than trying to figure out what to do with you.”

Lindsey
’s eyes filled with tears and she turned her back to him, struggling not to cry. Melanie was on her feet, prepared to comfort her, when Owen closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and placed a hand on her shoulder. He gave it a slight squeeze.

“Fine,” he said, “you can stay at my place tonight, but don’t think it’s going to become a permanent situation.”

“Thank you,” she said, and hugged him with one arm. “I wouldn’t even ask to stay, but I’m so exhausted. What time will Caitlyn be over in the morning? I’ll be sure to be gone before she gets there.”

Melanie had a hard time reading the young woman. Lindsey seemed completely sincere, but Melanie couldn
’t help but wonder if the pregnant woman was really on a mission to turn Owen’s head. Melanie didn’t know whose side she should champion. She’d never met Caitlyn, though Owen seemed to be smitten with her. But shouldn’t a man be a little more concerned about the mother of his child? But was it his child? Melanie still wasn’t sure.

She glanced at Gabe and found him looking half
-sick as he watched Owen assist Lindsey down the bus steps. “Something wrong?” she asked.

He shook his head.
“Everything is right in my world now that you’re here,” he said.

“Are we going to camp out on th
is shuttle tonight?” she asked, wondering why he was taking so long to disembark. “I did enjoy my nap on your shoulder, but I can’t guarantee your safety when you wake me from that position.”

He unfolded his tall frame from the seat and
took her hand.

The driver was waiting for them to
leave. The woman covered her mouth to stifle a yawn as Melanie and Gabe made their way to the luggage rack.

With
in minutes Melanie was scrambling into Gabe’s enormous pickup truck and settling into the comfortable leather seat. She smiled at him in the glare of the cabin lights when he climbed in beside her.

“I know you’re not compensating for anything,” she said, nodding at his crotch, “so what’s with the ginormous truck?”

“I need something to pull my boat,” he said. “It’s badass.”

She grinned at him, loving that he could be such a guy.

As it was so late, traffic was light outside of Austin. Away from the city, they scarcely met another car on the desolate road.

She was still a bit sleepy, but did her duty and talked to Gabe about trivial things
, such as his boat and the weather, to keep him awake. Though he looked ready to pass out from exhaustion, he perked right up when she got up the nerve to ask what was truly weighing on her mind.

“So what’s the deal with Lindsey?” she asked. “Madison seemed to think the baby is Owen’s and Lindsey does too, but you don’t seem convinced.”

“It’s probably his,” Gabe said, reaching for the stereo knob and turning blaring metal music on.

Melanie turned it back off. “How can it
probably
be his? It either is or it isn’t.”

Gabe rubbed the back of his neck and became fascinated with the side view mirror.

“Gabe!”

“You’re not going to like what I have to say.”

Her stomach dropped. “It’s yours, isn’t it?”

“I’m pretty sure that it’s not.”

“What the fuck, Gabe? Did the entire band have an orgy with the chick or what?”

He blew at his cheeks, still refusing to look at her.
“Yeah, pretty much.”

She’d been joking, so his validation of her question made her
eyes bug out.

“It was Christmas Eve
,” he said. “We were far from home and trapped on the bus together in a blizzard with Lindsey and her friend. Things got out of hand. I honestly don’t remember much about it. I do know that I never have sex without a condom, but I was completely trashed that night. So like I said, I’m pretty sure it’s not mine, but I can’t guarantee that it’s not.”

Melanie
was too stunned to form a response. Should she berate him or console him? She couldn’t decide.

After a long tense moment, he reached for her hand. “If it is mine, will you turn your back on me?”
he asked.

Would she? That was a pretty big question to ask so early in their acquaintance.

“Would you want to be with the mother if it’s your baby?” she forced herself to ask, not sure if she could handle his response. She liked him so much. She didn’t want anything to come between them.

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “No,” he said. “I want to be with you, but I
can’t lie. I would feel an obligation toward the child. Not just financially. Emotionally.”

And she wouldn’t want him to feel any other way.

“I want to be with you too,” she said. “I want this to work even if…” She took a deep breath. “Even if the baby is yours.”

He smiled.
She saw the flash of his white teeth in the headlights of a passing car. “But I’m pretty sure it’s not.”

And secretly she really hoped it wasn’t. She wasn’t thinking about marriage and
having a family just yet, but if she did fall in love with this man and have his children, she selfishly wanted all of his babies to be hers.

“
I can’t help but wonder why Lindsey’s convinced that the baby is Owen’s. Maybe she knows he didn’t use protection or something.”

“
She’s convinced because she
likes
him and wants it to be his. Owen used protection. He does have his cock pierced though, so if one of us was going to compromise the integrity of a rubber, it would be him. Still, no guarantees that’s what happened either.”

“So we won’t know who the father is until the baby’s born?”

“You planning to stick around that long?” He looked at her and squeezed her hand. His hopeful smile was barely illuminated by the dashboard lights.

“I’d like to.”

“So we cross that bridge when we come to it.”

She paused to reflect on his suggestion and then nodded.
“Agreed.”

There was nothing they could do about the situation now anyway. Best to not let the slim possibility that Gabe was an expectant father ruin their time together. Her shoulders sagged as the tension drained from them. If they were still together in three months, they would get through this together. She could handle that. She was used to
dealing with other people’s drama.

They turned off the highway and
travelled almost a mile on a bumpy gravel road. When the truck entered a driveway and Gabe’s house loomed out of the darkness, Melanie’s breath caught. A spectacular A-framed log cabin sat at the end of the long, paved lane. The entire front of the house was an expanse of windows, blocked only by a huge porch and a smaller deck on the second level.

“It’s beautiful,”
she said.

“It’s not as big as
Jacob’s place, but I like it.”

If she’d have tried to guess what his house would be like, a log cabin in the country would not have been her first guess or even her twentieth but now that she’d seen it, she knew that it fit him perfectly.

“You’re a country boy at heart,” she accused.

“What?” he said. “
Naw, I’m pure metal, baby.”

He turned on the truck stereo and blasted her ears with loud music. He banged his head and roared with the vocalist. She knew he was metal
; she’d watched him punish a set of skins before an audience of thousands not five hours ago. It was the country part that she’d completely misidentified.

He turned off the stereo and leaned across the truck cabin to steal a kiss. “Would you prefer if I was all country?”

“I prefer you to be exactly who you are.” And she wasn’t just saying that. His mix of traits was fascinating. She doubted she’d ever get bored with him. She just hoped she could keep his attention half as well as he kept hers.

“Want to see the inside of the house?” he asked. “Or are you planning on sleeping in the truck?”

“I’m tired enough to do exactly that.”

“So I won’t be getting any tonight?”

“Is that all you think about?”

“When you’re around?” He grinned. “Pretty much.”

“I guess we do have something in common,” she said.

“We have plenty in common,” he said, “and we have all weekend to figure
out what.”

She was looking forward to
spending time with him more than he could possibly realize. They talked on the phone a lot, but those conversations always quickly turned to sex and them spouting their attraction to each other. She was ready to get to know him on a deeper level. He never said much about himself, and she couldn’t help but wonder about him. She was naturally nosy.

He opened the truck door and
Melanie climbed out her side, practically collapsing from weariness when her feet touched the ground.

“I hope you like to sleep in,” she said, stifling a yawn behind her hand.

“My second favorite thing to do.”

She had a suspicion as to what his first favorite thing was and
that it also involved a bed.
Sometimes
.

She
weaved her way toward the front porch, glad she was responsible for carrying only herself and her purse. She doubted she could have lifted her poorly packed suitcase. She appreciated Gabe being her baggage handler.

When she stepped
on the porch, a security light blinded her and a deep, loud woof, accompanied by a second, less terrifying bark, boomed from the house. Heart thudding, she froze. Gabe nudged her in the back with his shoulder.

“I hope you aren’t afraid
of dogs,” he said.