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“I promise not to sneak into your bed and molest you while you’re sleeping,” she said.
He shook his head, wondering if she realized how easy he was at the moment, and started toward the front of the bus, ignoring the way she was rubbing both hands over her belly.
“I’m tired too,” Owen said, sounding almost as out of sorts as he felt. Yeah, celibacy was so not his thing. Well, he could be celibate as long as he could masturbate, but Caitlyn said he couldn’t do that either, and something about her telling him what to do made him gladly obey. She’d make it up to him. He had no doubt about that.
“Do you think I want to deal with this right now?” he snapped. “I’d much rather be with Caitlyn than trying to figure out what to do with you.”
He heard Lindsey sniff and turned around to see why she was suddenly lagging behind, wishing he hadn’t when he saw the tears welling up in her tired blue eyes. When she noticed him watching her, she turned her back and hugged herself. Guilt squeezed his insides. Yes, he was uncomfortably horny. Yes, he was exhausted. Yes, he was admittedly tired of being the only one looking out for Lindsey. But none of those things made it right to take out his frustration on her. She was struggling enough as it was. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, he put a hopefully comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
“Fine. You can stay at my place tonight,” he said. “But don’t think it’s going to be a permanent situation.”
“Thank you,” she said, giving him a weak one-armed hug. “I wouldn’t have even asked to stay, but I’m so exhausted.”
That made two of them. His tiredness was probably the reason why he had so few alarm bells going off over Lindsey staying in his home. He shifted her in front of him and followed her toward the exit.
“What time will Caitlyn be over tomorrow?” she asked. “I’ll be sure to be gone before she gets there.”
He grabbed his bag and Lindsey’s from the shelves near the front of the shuttle, keeping an eye on her as she navigated the steps.
He stepped off the bus onto the overwarm asphalt of the parking lot where his Jeep—and the vehicles of his bandmates—was parked. He sighed in relief. Almost home. His sanctuary.
“Actually,” he said, shifting Lindsey’s bag onto his shoulder, “she’s not coming to my house.”
“Oh?” Lindsey asked. “Is she still mad at you? It isn’t on my account, is it?”
Probably, but not for the reason she thought. “No. We just changed our plans. I’m heading to Houston in the morning to see her for the weekend instead of her coming to me.”
Coming? He really needed to do some of that as soon as fucking possible.
“Oh . . . well . . .” Her smile wavered slightly as he gazed down at her beneath a humming streetlight. “That’s fine. I hope you have fun together.”
“I’m sure we’ll have a lot of sex,” he said with a grin, but then felt bad when Lindsey glanced away. “The black Jeep Wrangler is mine. Over there.” He nodded toward his vehicle.
He’d have offered his arm for balance, but he was overloaded with luggage, so he headed off, hoping she’d be able to keep up. He unlocked the Jeep, tossed their bags into the back, and climbed into the driver’s side. After a moment, Lindsey opened the passenger door and scrambled into her seat.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Fine,” she said, but she didn’t look at him as she closed her door and fastened her seat belt.
He started the Jeep and watched her for a moment as she intentionally avoided his gaze.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said.
“Look, Lindsey, I already told you I plan to keep seeing Caitlyn even if I did knock you up.”
“I know that,” she said quietly.
“Then why are you so upset about it?”
“It isn’t that,” she said. “You’re ditching me in Austin, I get that. It’s just . . .” She glanced at him and wasn’t sporting the jealous look he’d been anticipating. Her eyes were wide with fear. “I don’t know anyone in Austin.”
“You’ll be fine here,” Owen said. “People are real friendly. And I live in a great neighborhood.” Wait—why did that matter? She was only staying at his place for one night. Or until she could find her own place. Without any money. Shit, how did that work exactly?
“So what do I tell people?” she asked. “When they ask about us?”
“Us?’ he said under his breath.
He floored the accelerator as he backed out of his parking spot so he didn’t have to give her disturbing question an immediate answer.
She was still staring at him expectantly when he pulled out of the lot. “Uh, well, don’t tell them anything,” he said.
“I think they’ll notice that I’m pregnant.”
“So?”
She rubbed at her forehead. “Never mind. I’m too tired to think about this right now. Just take me home.”
Home? She was already calling it home? Shit.
They had to drive only a few miles to his home. His body immediately relaxed when he pulled into his drive and parked his Jeep in his garage. His. Not hers.
“Nice place,” she said. “What little I saw of it before you sped into the garage. Do you always drive like that?”
“Like what?” he asked.
“Like you’re trying to outrun the devil.”
“Yes,” he said and climbed out.
He collected their bags again and was grateful that Lindsey opened the door for him and then closed it behind them. She followed him along the short sidewalk to the back porch, up the steps, and into the small mudroom off the kitchen. He always left the mudroom light on when he was out of town. The glow made him feel like someone was waiting for him.
“Do you want something to eat before you go to bed?”
“I just want to sleep, thanks,” she said, glancing around the mudroom as if she’d just entered the Taj Mahal.
His house was on the small side, but he liked the homey touches of the Craftsman-style cottage. He’d bought the place as the worst house in his parents’ neighborhood and spent most of his free time fixing it up. The house was almost complete now, and every square foot of the place had his stamp on it because he’d redone it all himself. From the refinished original floors and woodwork to the crown molding he’d pieced together over several years, this house was his. His, not hers. But she was his guest, and he would treat her as such.
“You can take the guest bedroom upstairs,” he said, “but there’s only one bathroom up there, so we’ll have to share.”
“Thanks for letting me stay,” she said with a friendly smile. “I will warn you that I’ll probably be up to pee at least ten times throughout the night.” She seemed to have relaxed a bit now that she was inside his house. He was proud that his home had that kind of effect on everyone who entered. He just hoped she didn’t get too attached to the place, because she was not staying for long. Was not.
He switched on a light as they entered the kitchen through the mudroom. “If you do get hungry, help yourself to anything not past its expiration date.” He typically kept his kitchen well stocked and cooked regular meals, but when he was out on tour, sometimes his milk went bad or the bread molded.
“Thanks.” She ran her finger along the light gray stone of the countertop as she took in the darker gray country-style cabinets and the farm sink that had been a total bitch to install. “You really are a sweetheart.”
“And just the right amount of crazy and dangerous,” he said, thinking of Caitlyn. She was never far from
his thoughts. He wondered if she’d like his house as much as Lindsey seemed to. And also wondered what kind of house Caitlyn had. She was a well-off business owner. Would she have a modern loft in downtown Houston, a quaint townhouse near the city, or maybe something bigger out in the suburbs? He’d find out the next day. And the sooner he got to bed, the sooner the next day would arrive.
He shut off the kitchen light as they entered the cozy dining room that had a table so small it only comfortably sat four.
“It’s so cute,” she said. “I love it. Does your fireplace work?” she asked as she waddled into the living room.
“It does now. I had to replace the chimney flue. It used to blow all the smoke back into the house.” He chuckled, recalling the first time he’d tried to light a relaxing fire and had ended up in the ER with smoke inhalation.
“This is exactly the kind of house I’ve always pictured myself living in.”
Warning, warning! his brain blared at him.
“Raising a family in,” she added, rubbing her large belly with
