Kiss This (11 page)

“Did you hear me?” a voice screeched.

What the hell was her mom doing here? Oh
God, and they were both naked—

“Camryn, I know you’re awake. If you’re
going to play games I’ll just tell Teague to go home—”

Her eyes shot open only to find her mom
standing over her bed. “What the hell?” she mumbled, rubbing her
face as she sat up.

“You weren’t honestly asleep, were you? You
were smiling and then frowning…”

Camryn cleared her throat and blinked. “I
was having a dream,” she muttered, throwing the covers off. Just as
quickly, she threw them back on, risking a glance down her body.
Thank God she was dressed!

“What’s the matter with you?” her mom
frowned. “Are you hungover? Camryn, I know you’re an adult, but I’m
worried if you’re spending your time with men getting drunk
and—”

“I’m not hungover,” Camryn interrupted,
climbing out of bed. “You scared the shit out of me, waking me up
like that. Of course I’m a little out of it.”

“Well it’s almost nine in the morning. What
time did you get home last night?”

Camryn looked at her suspiciously, wondering
who this woman was. She couldn’t recall that question coming out of
her mom’s mouth a single time growing up.

Last night Teague held her as they watched
TV for a while, but other than a simple kiss on the head, neck or
cheek, he kept his hands to himself and was a perfect gentleman. He
walked her home around eleven, kissed her on the cheek again and
told her goodnight. The time with him was surprising, and for some
reason, his chaste actions had caused her to have dirty dreams
about him.

“And why are
you
up at this time?”
Camryn countered.

Serena’s frown was almost a scowl. “I told
you, Teague is here. If you’re going to invite people to come over
this early, maybe you could at least be up to answer—”

“I didn’t know he was coming over,” Camryn
defended herself, heading for the bathroom. “If you don’t mind,
I’ll get dressed now.”

Her mom shrugged and left the room.

Teague was here? After going to the
bathroom, she washed her hands and face, and then quickly brushed
her teeth. She ran a comb through her hair and tied it up in a
messy up-do. Since she was in just a tank top and booty shorts, she
threw on some sweats and a hoodie.

Teague was sitting on the couch when she
came out and he made a face. “What, no see-through nightie or
teddy?”

She chuckled. “What I wear to bed is
actually under this,” she motioned down her body.

He cocked an eyebrow and stood. “Ah, now
that’s a lovely image.”

“Well no need to get excited. Nothing
special.”

“Oh, now that’s where you’re wrong. Anything
on you is special. In fact,” he said, taking a step so he was right
in front of her, “I’m kind of impressed that you obviously just
woke up and look absolutely gorgeous.”

“Pssh,” she scoffed. She wanted to make a
smart remark but for some reason she was too embarrassed. She could
even feel her cheeks heat up.

“And I’m not sure if I should be insulted or
impressed,” he added, “but you didn’t feel the need to throw on
makeup or anything, either.”

She slowly smiled. “I only wear eyeliner and
mascara, anyways. Take it however you feel necessary.”

“Hmm, I think I will,” he nodded, sliding a
hand behind her neck. He stepped even closer to her and pressed his
lips against her cheek. “You still smell good,” he said softly.
“Makes me want to march you back to your room and see if I can
sweat it right off of you.”

Her body reacted to his bold insinuation. It
was risky, but she wanted to flirt right back. “I thought I already
did from the dream I just had about you.”

He leaned back with a huge grin on his face.
“Really, now. Tell me about it. No, wait… Let’s reenact it.”

She bit the corner of her lip and glanced
down his body. “Okay, take off your clothes.”

His jaw dropped playfully. “Another naked
dream, huh? Holy hell, you have it bad for me.”

She smiled good-naturedly. “Apparently I’m
at least attracted to you.”

“Hell, I’d say so. The feeling is mutual,
beautiful.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds
without saying anything. Teague was probably waiting for her to
continue the banter but she finally shrugged and asked, “So what’s
up? Why the hell are you here interrupting my dreams about
you?”

“Because the real thing is better than a
dream.”

He smiled, stepping back to give her a
better view as he motioned to himself. He even turned around to
give her the entire view, and if his ass in a pair of jeans made
her mouth salivate, she might as well bag the idea of seeing him
naked. She’d never be able to handle it.

“But actually,” he continued, turning around
to face her again, “we’re gonna go hang out for a bit. You can have
my body later, but right now, you’re heading to the dunes with
me.”

“The dunes?”

“Yep. You’re gonna drive your first dune
buggy.”

Laughing, she said, “I thought you were
joking last night.”

“Nope, I never joke about playtime.”

“What about my surf lesson? You said we
could do that while I was here.”

“I said
maybe
we could. But this will
be better, trust me. Even in a 5/3 wetsuit you’ll probably feel
pretty cold. And I’d rather you not learn with so much thickness
fighting against you.”

She barely shrugged. “Okay, whatever all
that means.”

“It means we’re going dune buggying.”

“Okay,” she chuckled. Looking down at
herself she said, “So what do I wear, then?”

“Well let’s head to your room and I’ll…”

He left it at that and smiled at something
behind her. Camryn turned around to find Kyah cautiously descending
the stairs.

“I don’t even want to know,” Kyah joked,
waving them away.

“Hey, Ky,” Teague greeted her
confidently.

“Morning, Teague.”

Camryn was speechless because she had no
idea how much of their conversation Kyah had heard. It was obvious
that Teague didn’t care, but he waited until Kyah made it to the
kitchen before he said, “Okay, go get dressed and we can stop for
breakfast along the way.”

“Um, okay. But really, what do I wear?”

“Just layer it—jeans, sweatshirt, and a
coat. I’m sure Ky has one you can borrow, or we can stop at
Columbia and grabbed you one.”

She shrugged. “Alright. Be back in a
few.”

“Oh Camryn?”

“Yeah?” she turned back around.

He reached for her hand and placed something
on her palm. “I brought you a gift.”

Looking down, she paused as she stared at
the white heart in her hand. Then he took his finger and traced
around it. His touch not only tickled her skin, but it traveled
low, all the way to the very bottom of her abdomen.

“Your bar of soap, beautiful girl,” he
winked at her.

She walked back to her room still holding
her palm flat with the carved heart carefully in place, like she
was afraid to move it. She could still feel the heat of his touch
on her skin, as if his heart had been permanently etched on her
hand…

***

After breakfast, Teague took Camryn to meet
up with a few of his friends at Sandlake, including Jay. Their
buddies had a pair of dune buggies that the group was sharing, and
Teague couldn’t wait to take Camryn for a ride.

“I’m the only girl here,” she observed as
she climbed into a vehicle with him. “Are you sure you want me
tagging along? Maybe you’d rather just hang out with the guys—”

“No way,” he scoffed, putting an arm around
her from the driver’s seat. He pulled her to him and added, “You’re
way more fun than any of them,” and kissed the top of her head.

“You sure you’re not humoring me for other
reasons?” she asked as he helped her into a helmet.

He raised an eyebrow but felt guilty because
he knew what she meant. “Like what reasons?” he asked anyways.

She barely shook her head. “Nothing,” she
mumbled.

Teague fastened his own helmet and then slid
on a pair of sunglasses, glad he didn’t have to get in to that
particular conversation. The dune buggy lurched forward in the
sand, and not much was said after that. There was a lot of laughter
and one-word exclamations that ensued, and Camryn kept teasing that
he had a bit of a daring streak to him. He made sure he was safe
though, and he asked if she was okay on several occasions, but she
seemed thrilled when he made her drive for a while.

“You know I’m gonna buy me one of these now,
right?” she asked when she stopped a ways away from the other
off-road vehicles.

“Can’t say I’d blame you. It’s fun.”

“It is. And I would’ve never thought to do
something like this. Thank you, Teague.”

He shrugged, trying to appear casual. He
really wanted to pat himself on the back for making her smile and
laugh so much. He couldn’t get enough of the sound and sight of her
having fun. “You’re welcome. You ready to drive back? You getting
hungry or anything?”

She removed her sunglasses and helmet and
shook out her hair. Slipping out of her coat she said, “I’m still
full from breakfast, actually. How ‘bout you?”

Teague took off his helmet and sunglasses
too. “Yeah, I’m good.” He glanced around at their surroundings,
realizing that they were basically pretty secluded from everyone.
They were even parked near a grouping of trees that offered quite a
bit of privacy. “You park here on purpose?” he flirted, running a
hand over her thigh. He leaned into her and kissed the side of her
neck. He heard her release a shaky breath as he sucked on her skin
a little, and then kissed along her jaw toward her chin. He paused
just before her mouth, using the three seconds to determine which
part of his body was in control here.

It was his brain, he decided.

He pulled away to study her reaction. Her
eyes had been closed but she opened them when he returned to his
seat, and after staring at each other for a few seconds, he could
tell she was uncomfortable again. Her earlier comment about reasons
he would be spending time with her was bugging the hell out of him.
He wanted her to clarify but he also didn’t. It would probably be
awkward if she stated out loud that she didn’t trust him. Or what
if she accused him of using her just until the one-week deal was
finally up? Sure it had started out that way, but now that he’d
spent some time getting to know her, his feelings had changed. The
bet had seemed like an interesting way to kill time, but now,
because of mistakes in the past, he was contemplating things way
more than he was comfortable with.

Camryn leaned forward and kissed Teague’s
cheek where it met the corner of his mouth, and even though it
wasn’t a tongue in his mouth or even just lip-to-lip, the soft
contact did a number on him. It was the first time her sweet lips
had been on him, and one tiny little kiss was more damaging than he
expected.

She pulled away and smiled at him, and
fucking hell if he didn’t think she enjoyed torturing him this way.
One half of him was pissed that she was so good at playing this
game, but the other half of him was impressed beyond belief. At
this rate the girl was going to have him begging by nightfall.

Well two could play that game. He pulled her
onto his lap with her back to his chest, and gathered her hair in
his hand as he kissed her neck again. His other hand wrapped around
her waist until his fingers found hers and linked them
together.

“I love touching you, Camryn,” he said in
her ear.

The words could have easily been spoken
after they’d been doing naughtier things than what they were
actually doing, but Teague deliberately made his voice a husky
whisper. He truly did cherish this kind of contact with her, but
since he couldn’t do anything about the way she was affecting him,
he was really starting to get flustered.

He softly kissed her neck again. His lips
traveled along her jaw until she turned just slightly. He looked
into her eyes; he was only inches away from pressing his mouth to
hers and he could actually
feel
the electricity buzzing
between them.

Teague placed his hands on either side of
her face to figure this shit out. He had to know if she really
wanted him to. Right now she was still as a statue, but he figured
her heart had to be crashing in her chest like his was. He stared
into her eyes but he couldn’t tell what was going on in that
paradoxical head of hers. He wasn’t sure if she desired his kiss or
was
scared
of him.

Well fuck it. There was only one way to find
out, and if it cost Teague a night with her in his bed, he’d be
shocked. There was no way she’d spend so much time with him if she
didn’t want to. Was she tentative around him? Hell yes. But all
that would change once his mouth was all over hers. He believed she
really was a tough little thing, but he was beginning to see what
was underneath her defensive shell and she was definitely soft for
him
.

His hands were still on her face, but he
moved his thumbs across her skin to prepare her. If she seriously
didn’t want him to kiss her, she’d have pulled away by now. When he
angled his mouth, her eyes dropped to his lips. He was just about
to ask her something stupid, like if it was okay if he kissed her,
when her head slightly turned away and she looked past him. It was
as if rejection just totally pummeled him in the gut until he
realized what had caught her attention.

Another dune buggy was approaching and an
intruder was now in their not-so-private spot. And now Camryn would
barely look at him when she climbed out and said, “I’ll let you
take us back.” She grabbed her things that had ended up in various
places, and waited for Teague to move from the passenger’s
seat.