She burst into tears again.

Owen wrapped his arms around her and drew her into a comforting embrace. He stroked her hair and murmured, “Don’t cry. We’ll get this sorted out. Don’t worry.”

So he held the woman who might or might not be pregnant with his child, a woman he had no interest in on an emotional level, while the woman he really wanted had left, perhaps forever. Why did he have to be so fucking weak to a woman’s tears?

“I know it’s your baby, Owen. When I feel him move inside me, I know he’s your son.” Lindsey’s sobs increased without provocation. “Oh God, I love our baby so much.”

Every hair on Owen’s body stood on end. No. Just no. He was in no way ready to be a father and certainly didn’t want to have a baby with a woman he didn’t love. “You can’t know that it’s mine,” he said. “You slept with every guy in the band that night. What makes you so sure I’m the father?”

Her sob fest made him wish he hadn’t said anything.

“You hate me, don’t you? I should just kill—”

He took her by both arms and shook her. “Don’t finish that sentence. Even if it isn’t my baby, I’m not going to toss you out in the street. Come inside while I figure out what to do with you.” He really wished Kelly’s calming presence was here. Kelly would help Owen figure out what to do. As it was, Owen couldn’t think. What he really wanted was to push Lindsey aside and go after Caitlyn. Not that he expected Caitlyn to ever speak to him again after what she’d just witnessed. He rubbed the center of his chest, took Lindsey by the elbow, and helped her ascend the steep steps of the tour bus. Adam, Shade, and Gabe’s round of laughter died as their eyes settled on Owen with Lindsey in tow.

“What happened to your other chick?” Shade asked.

“She, uh, had to go. We have a little situation here,” Owen said.

“I remember you,” Gabe said to Lindsey, a smile of recognition on his lean face. “Christmas Eve. We all…” His eyes widened as they settled on her distended abdomen.

“Is she…?” Adam’s dark eyebrows rose to comical peaks.

Lindsey avoided their eyes but straightened her shoulders. “I’m having Owen’s baby.”

“You can’t be sure that it’s mine,” Owen insisted. “Is there anyone on this bus you didn’t fuck that night?”

Her big blue eyes flooded with tears. “I know it’s yours, Owen. I just know.”

“Did you do her without protection?” Shade asked.

“No, I wore a condom. Did you forget?” Owen asked Shade.

“Of course I didn’t forget. I might be dumb, but I’m not stupid.”

“I wore a condom and I’m getting a vasectomy, so it’s definitely not my kid,” Adam said.

“You have to actually have the procedure done before you have unprotected sex,” Shade reminded him.

Adam turned green. “Shit! That’s right. But still, it’s not mine.”

“Well, it sure as hell isn’t mine,” Shade said. “I already have one!”

“That doesn’t matter. Having one does not decrease your odds of having another,” Gabe said.

Owen looked at Gabe. His last hope.

“I only came in her mouth,” Gabe said. “Adam and Tex were taking turns and she was sucking me and… Wait… I was drunk. Don’t remember everything I did. But I always wear protection. Always.” Gabe blinked hard and turned his green-eyed gaze to the floor. “It’s not mine.”

“Was Tex wearing a condom?”

“Yes, we all used protection, Owen,” Shade said, “so it must be yours. Or Kellen’s.”

“Kellen didn’t even penetrate her. And I know I was protected. I didn’t even drink that night, so I clearly remember everything I did.”

“This is the worst episode of Jerry Springer ever,” Adam said.

Owen laughed so he wouldn’t start crying.

“You were all careful,” Lindsey said. “Condoms are not one hundred percent fail proof, you know.”

“Seriously?” Owen asked. She must have poked holes in their condoms hoping to get pregnant and make herself some bank off a group of idiotic rock stars just having a good time one Christmas Eve. They’d joked about it how many times? And now it had come to fruition.

“You don’t think I wanted to get pregnant, do you?” Lindsey said, emotions going from distress to anger like a switch had been flipped. “I had plans for my life! Now I’m knocked up, homeless, and considered a whore by my entire family. I wouldn’t have even come to ask for help if I had a choice.”

Owen looked imploringly at each member of the band and realized that even if the baby wasn’t his, he was going to be the one who took care of this. Why? Because he was a sucker. Or nice. Or something.

“She’s not coming on tour with us,” Shade said. “Put her in a hotel until after our show tomorrow night and then we’ll figure out something more permanent.”

Their driver, Tex, announced his arrival on the bus with a loud belch. “Y’all ready to hit the road? Where’s Kellen?”

“Kellen will meet us in Beaumont tomorrow night,” Owen said. “And no, we’re not quite ready to go. We have a bit of a problem.”

Owen shifted his position so he wasn’t blocking Lindsey from Tex’s view. Tex smiled when he recognized her. “Oh hey, honey, back for some more Texas-sized lovin’?” He wriggled his eyebrows and adjusted himself in the crotch of his pants.

Lindsey burst into tears again.

“What?” Tex said. “Hey, now, you didn’t complain the last time. Begged for more.”

Owen cringed and shook his head, hoping to get Tex to shut his big mouth.

“Did you remember to use protection that night, Tex?” Shade asked.

“What? ’Course I did. Don’t know where these loose groupie girls have been, you know? Gotta protect Big Hoss. Wouldn’t want him to catch nuthin’.”

Lindsey swayed sideways, and Owen grabbed her before she collapsed. “You okay?” he asked.

She leaned heavily on him, clinging to his arm for balance. “I think so. I feel a little dizzy.”

And who could blame her? He felt a little dizzy too.

“What’s this all about?” Tex asked. “Y’all are acting kinda strange.”

“You’re going to be a father, Tex,” Adam said. “Well, one of you are. It isn’t mine.”

“We’ll figure out who the father is when the time comes,” Gabe said. “Just shut up about it for now. You shouldn’t get a pregnant woman emotionally upset. It can harm the baby. Owen, help her sit down.”

But if she sat down, that meant she’d be staying.

“What?” Tex said. “She’s pregnant?”

“Just over six months pregnant,” Owen said. “Which correlates to—”

“The Christmas Eve fuck-fest!” Tex interrupted. His eyes widened as one and one made three. “I swear it isn’t mine.”

Lindsey flinched as if someone had slapped her. Now that his initial shock had receded a bit, Owen started to imagine what it must feel like to be her. To become pregnant while having a bit of sexy fun—which he did all the time, so he couldn’t judge her for it—and not know who had fathered the child. How would it feel to be ostracized by your family for making a mistake and have no one to turn to? He wouldn’t want to be in her shoes. But he could help her. Even if the baby wasn’t his. And he prayed to God it wasn’t his. He didn’t want to be a father but at the same time, he didn’t want harm to come to the child. It wasn’t the baby’s fault that no one wanted him.

“Just so everyone shuts the fuck up,” Owen said, “I’ll claim the child until we find out otherwise, okay?” Under his breath he added, “Someone around here needs to take responsibility for the places he sticks his dick.”

Owen eased Lindsey onto the sofa. She immediately covered her abdomen with both arms and gazed up at him with wide eyes. She had the face of an angel with the exception of the dark circles under her eyes. Physically, she was so Kelly’s type it was ridiculous. Kelly couldn’t resist a woman with big blue eyes and a look of innocence about her. But Lindsey wasn’t Owen’s type. Caitlyn was Owen’s type. Why did this have to happen just when he was finally ready to consider a serious relationship again? Another snafu—situation normal, all fucked up.