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“Please.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it for emphasis, and she made a pained sound of longing in the back of her throat. He chose to ignore what that reaction might mean. She was a beautiful young woman—he couldn’t deny that obvious fact—but he’d just me
t someone he liked and they’d already forged a connection, one he hoped strengthened and lasted. Owen might be the kind of guy who fucked a lot of women, but he was not a cheater. Things would not progress with Lindsey, no matter how often she looked at him with longing. He knew how to keep it in his pants; he’d just rather let it out to play.
“I’ll find you a place to stay,” he said, “and get you the medical care you need.” His mind scrambled for ways to sweeten the deal. “I’ll even help you find a job, and if the baby is proven to be mine, I’ll take full responsibility, but don’t tell anyone the truth about why I’m helping you.”
“People make mistakes, Owen. It’s not the end of the world.”
Oh, but it was. The end of his carefree days, in any case. He didn’t even want Kelly to know that he’d fucked up so spectacularly, and Kelly knew everything about him. Owen planned to lie his ass off to his best friend for the first time in his life, and he didn’t even feel a twinge of guilt about it.
“If you want my help, Lindsey, you have to promise not to tell anyone,” Owen said, using his only bargaining chip. He knew he’d help her even if she held a press conference and told the world all about how stupid and irresponsible he’d been, but he was banking on her not knowing that. “Just let them think I’m a nice guy who wants to help you out. They’ll probably think I’m a sucker.”
In his book, being thought of as a nice-guy sucker was a lot better than being known as the idiot who attempted to apply a condom wrong side out and instead of discarding it, flipped it over and used it anyway.
“I think you should tell them why I think this baby is yours,” Lindsey said. “So they don’t keep wondering if it’s theirs.”
“Why does it matter as long as I’m helping you? You’re getting what you want.”
“I want more than financial support, Owen. I want my child to have a father.”
“And that’s why you waited until you were huge pregnant to come looking for one?”
Lindsey hung her head. “I was too ashamed. I’d been made to feel like getting pregnant was my fault alone because I was promiscuous once, but it takes two to make a baby, Owen.”
And in the case of that fateful Christmas Eve, it took six—or had it been seven? The details were a little fuzzy.
“I wasn’t the only one being promiscuous that night,” she continued. “Don’t make me feel guilty with your double standards.”
“I wasn’t trying to make you feel guilty.”
“And you shouldn’t. I saw another example of your promiscuity just before we got on the bus.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Leave Caitlyn out of this,” Owen said, his stomach sinking even further. He liked Caitlyn. A lot. And Lindsey showing up out of the blue with a baby on board had more than likely ruined any chance he had to be with Caitlyn in any serious capacity.
“Is that her name, Caitlyn?” Lindsey sneered as she tried out the name for the first time.
Owen shook his head. “I said leave her out of it. She has nothing to do with this.”
“How long have you been seeing her?”
One night. One amazing night that had felt like forever and mere seconds all at once.
“That’s none of your business. And just so you don’t think I’m going to start seeing you, I’m letting you know now that I plan to pursue Caitlyn. Even if that baby is mine . . .”
This could not be happening!
“. . . I can still be a good father without getting entangled with you.”
Lindsey shook her head. “I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Why not? We can be friends, civil to each other. Make sound, unified decisions about any issues that arise with the child. Both be actively involved in the kid’s life.” He was saying the words calmly, but was pretty sure he was breaking out into hives. He was completely unprepared to be a father. He figured someday he’d settle down and have a family, but baby or no baby, he didn’t want to settle for a woman he wasn’t in love with.
“Do you really think you could do that?” she asked. At his nod, her shoulders sagged with relief. “I’m so glad this baby is yours and not someone like Adam’s or that bus driver guy’s. I can’t even remember his name.”
Owen was pretty sure she’d sucked the bus driver guy’s dick while one of his bandmates fucked her doggy style, but she didn’t remember his name? Owen was struggling with that double standard she’d called him on. “Tex.”
She grimaced. “That’s right.”
“So do we have a deal? I’ll help you get on your feet and you’ll keep my condom mishap a secret from the guys.”
“And if the baby is yours . . .”
“And if it isn’t mine?”
Her long lashes lowered to cover her lovely but troubled blue eyes. “I guess we’ll figure that part out after the baby is born,” she said.
“How long do we have?”
“I’m due mid-September.”
That was soon. Less than three months away.
“The tour will be winding down around then, so I’ll be able to help with the baby.” Ugh, why had he said it that way? It was almost as if he knew the baby was his when he truly didn’t. Maybe he hadn’t been the only idiot on the bus that cold December night. Maybe someone else had made a monumental mistake as well.
Lindsey touched his wrist, and an unwanted spark of attraction made his arm muscles tighten.
“Thank you, Tags. Owen,” she corrected.
“For?”
“Being the man I thought you were. And for helping me out.”
He smiled. He did love compliments. “Don’t feel too special. I’d help out a stranger on the street.”
“Exactly.”
“You should get some rest,” he said. “You look exhausted.”
“And hungry?” she asked, sucking in her cheeks. “Do I look hungry?”
He had no idea what possessed him to stroke a lock of hair from her cheek and tuck it behind her ear. He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea and have her think he actually cared about her. “You do look hungry,” he said. “We should stop at a restaurant soon, but I’ll go see if there’s anything on the bus to eat besides beef jerky and peanuts. We might have some pretzels to tide you over.”
Her body stiffened unexpectedly, and she laughed. “I think he heard you,” she said, taking his hand and placing it on her distended abdomen. Something hard and round moved beneath her skin along his palm and then thumped against his hand. It was the strangest yet most awe-inspiring sensation he’d ever felt. There was a tiny person growing inside of her. A living being that might be half him.
“He’s got quite a kick,” Owen said, laughing when what he figured was a foot thumped against his palm again.
“I think he’d like some of those pretzels,” Lindsey said.
Owen drew his hand from her belly, strangely reluctant to do so, and rose from the edge of the bed. “Make yourself comfortable,” he said. “I’ll scrounge up a snack for you. We’ll stop for real food in about an hour.”
“Thanks again, Owen,” she said, scooting awkwardly up the mattress and rolling onto her side. She squirmed around for a full minute trying to get comfortable before stuffing a pillow between her knees. She was asleep almost instantly—her breathing even, her body relaxed. Owen covered her with a blanket and quietly shut the door on his way out. He didn’t bother finding the probably stale pretzels he’d promised, but instead made his way to the front of the bus. “When are we stopping for dinner?”
Tex glanced at the cellphone he had stuck to the dashboard with directions to a suitable restaurant displayed through his map app. “Forty-seven minutes,” Tex said. “Approximately.”
“I’m hungry now.”
“We called ahead, and they’re already preparing to serve the busloads of crew headed their direction.”
“Did you remember to include Lindsey in your head count?” he asked.
“The pregnant chick?”
“Lindsey.” They might as well get used to saying her name and not referring to her as the object she’d been to them all the last time she’d been on the bus.
“No, I just gave them our usual numbers. But Kellen’s not here, is he?”
