“Come on, baby,” the woman purred, “you’re hard as a rock. Let’s go find a room and—”

“Of course I’m hard as a rock,” Kelly said testily. “You keep shoving your hand down my pants.”

Okay, it was rescue that Kelly needed.

Owen cleared his throat and grinned at his friend who, yeah, looked relieved to see him.

“Are you finally finished?” Kelly asked.

“Not really.”

“Then what—”

“I’m taking Caitlyn out. She doesn’t belong here. Or maybe I don’t feel right with her here.”

He wasn’t sure what he meant exactly. There was just something about her that deserved better than this. Better than him. And for fuck’s sake, she didn’t seem to see it at all. He wanted to show her, but not here. Here was seedy, and being in this place made him want to take a shower. He’d never felt that way about one of Tony’s clubs, but perhaps the entrepreneurial genius had just missed the mark with this one. Or maybe something in Owen’s mindset had shifted and he was ready for more than a string of one-night stands. He honestly didn’t know. But he meant to find out. Her reaction to his claim that he wouldn’t want to have sex outside of the club had given him hope. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was hoping for. More. But more what?

Kelly’s eyes widened. “Wait! You’re taking her home with you?”

It went against their rules and promises to each other, but Caitlyn was special. Kelly would recognize that soon enough.

“I don’t know if it’ll go that far, but maybe. We’re going to grab a bite to eat and see if it goes anywhere from there. Are you ready to go?”

Kelly tugged his companion’s hand out of his pants again. “I’m ready.”

“Can I come with you?” the woman asked.

“No,” Kelly said and slipped out of the booth.

Owen couldn’t help but notice that Kelly was indeed hard as a rock. He had no explanation as to why he was rapidly getting that way himself. He’d assumed that after that fantastic pair of orgasms, his lust would be sated for a while.

“You should at least let that chick blow you or something,” Owen said. “You have to be hurting right now.”

Kelly shifted the crotch of his pants. “I’ll take care of it back at the hotel.”

Owen tried to stop memories of Kelly masturbating backstage in the communal shower from entering his thoughts, but it was impossible. They used to compete with each other to see who could get himself off the fastest, though they hadn’t done it for several years. In a weird way, it had further cemented their friendship when Kelly was first trying to get over Sara. He still wasn’t over her and he kept receding deeper into himself. It wasn’t healthy. Owen supposed masturbating with your best friend in the shower was pretty fucked up as well, but at least Kelly hadn’t been alone. He didn’t like Kelly to be alone. Kelly had too much to give to be so bottled up inside.

Owen glanced at the girl who was sulking in the booth. Kelly deserved better than her. He deserved the best. Someone more like Caitlyn. Someone he was unlikely to meet in a seedy sex club. The kind of woman Owen had been purposely avoiding because he knew how easily he fell for them. Owen wasn’t sure if he’d gotten lucky tonight or was setting himself up to get hurt again. He’d been avoiding that at all costs for years now. Maybe he was ready to put his heart on the line, but he’d be an idiot to not see how far this thing with Caitlyn might progress. She didn’t seem like the type who’d rip his heart out just because she could.

Kelly headed for the exit, and Owen fell into step beside him.

“So you like this one, do ya?” Kelly asked.

Owen shrugged. “I guess so.”

“Or are you just trying to get me to help you pleasure her?”

Owen stopped midstep. Because, yeah, if Kelly was up for it, Owen would love his assistance.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” Kelly said. “You’re so predictable.”

“No, that isn’t it. Or it wasn’t until you mentioned it. Do you want to join us?”

“Not at all.”

Owen didn’t understand the feeling of disappointment in his chest, so he slugged Kelly in the shoulder. “Then don’t bring it up.”

“You’re the one who keeps bringing it up. I think you’re more worried about my love life than your own,” Kelly said.

“That’s because there’s more to worry about when it comes to your love life. Or complete lack of one.”

Kelly chuckled. “You’re as blind as you are predictable, Tags. Do you remember where you put your shoes?”

“In the locker room.”

“And your shirt?”

“Caitlyn’s borrowing it.”

Kelly nodded in the direction of the front door. “I’ll wait for you in the limo.”

“What about your shirt?” Owen glanced pointedly at Kelly’s bare chest.

“I didn’t bring a shirt.”

“You don’t own a shirt.”

“I own a shirt,” Kelly said. “A shirt. One.”

Owen grinned at him. “You’re an odd duck, Cuff.”

“That’s why you get along with me so well.”

A woman Owen didn’t recognize paused beside them, more diamonds on display than a De Beers store.

“I’ll pay you ten thousand dollars if you let me watch you two fuck,” she said.

When Owen and Kelly just gaped at her, she looked from one to the other and said, “Cash.”

“We were just leaving,” Kelly said.

“We’re not a couple,” Owen sputtered. Did they look like a couple? True they were standing rather close and were both shirtless, but…

“Obviously you’re not a couple,” she said, rolling her eyes. She had a thick European accent, but Owen couldn’t identify its origin. French, maybe. “Why would I pay ten thousand dollars to watch a gay couple fuck?” She laughed. “They’d probably let me watch for free.”

“We don’t need your money, lady,” Kelly said and pushed Owen to uproot his bare feet from the floor.

“Do straight guys actually fuck each other for you?” Owen had to ask.

“Depends on how desperate they are for money,” she said. She grinned slyly. “Or how much they’ve secretly wanted to fuck a man, but never had someone else to blame it on.”

“Owen?” Caitlyn said from just behind him.

Heat flooded his face. He cringed and turned to find her dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a white blouse with an out-of-style flop of a bow at the throat, and a tweed blazer his grandmother would be ashamed to own. And why did her conservative attire turn him on as much as that negligée had? He was in trouble.

“Hey, Caitlyn. Are you ready to leave?”

“Are you whoring yourself out?” she asked.

“What? No, of course not.”

“I’m not sure why you’re even having a discussion with this woman,” Kelly said, nodding toward the diamond queen. “As if you’re considering this bullshit or something.”

“I wasn’t considering it. I just wondered if men actually went through with it. That’s a lot of money.”

Caitlyn’s arm circled Owen’s waist, and her hand slid over his bare belly. “You know I get half of every dime you make, baby. How much did she offer you?”

Owen laughed. Kelly gaped at her. Owen slapped Kelly on the chest. “Inside joke. I’ll explain later. Let’s go.”

“How do you have inside jokes with someone you just met?” Kelly said as he started toward the exit again.

“Good luck finding your fantasy,” Owen said to the woman in diamonds. Sex with another man was one of those sex acts he’d never tried. Probably never would. Letting Caitlyn have her way with him was as close as he was going to get to having a homosexual encounter. He didn’t think reciprocal hand jobs counted.

As the three of them stepped onto the walkway outside, the cool cement registered in Owen’s brain. “Shit, I forgot my shoes,” he said. “I’ll catch up with you in the limo.”

“You sure you want to leave me alone with your girl?” Kelly asked.

“I expect you to take good care of her.”

“Oh, I’ll take real good care of her.” He wrapped an arm around Caitlyn and tugged her against his side. Her eyes opened wide. Kelly was only teasing, but Caitlyn had no way of knowing that.