Kiss This (3 page)

“You just sit down on the beach until she
comes by? That’s pathetic, man.”

Teague knew he was giving him a hard time
but he didn’t care. It’s not like he had anything positive to say
about the female population, but there was something different this
time. Or maybe he just
wanted
there to be something
different. Either way, the girl had made an impression on him.
Physically she was all that and more.

“When I see her run by the first time,” he
motioned, pointing to the beach from left to right, “I make my way
down the stairs. She comes back by about ten minutes later. And
don’t give me that shit. You know I’m out here at this time after
work five days a week.”

“I know. Just fucking with ya. So talk to
her next time.”

Teague stared ahead at the waves and took
another drag of nicotine. He wasn’t so sure about that, but he’d
think about it. There were some ground rules he needed to go over
with himself first…

Chapter Three

“Mom, I’m not even kidding. You have got to
get out of this house! You left for the funeral, but other than
that, you’ve been cooped up inside all six days I’ve been here. At
least just go sit on the porch for a little bit!”

“It’s cold outside,” Serena pouted. But it
was another excuse, just like Melanie could so easily dish out.

Camryn sighed, trying to rein in some
patience. “It’s sunny today and it actually feels pretty nice.”

Serena shook her head. “I still get chilly
and my joints are sensitive.”

“Then why don’t you go take a bath for a
little bit? If you want, I’ll do your hair and nails when you get
out.” She cringed inside. She was trying to channel some of her
sister since Melanie was more like their mom than she was. Camryn
saw a tiny glint of interest in Serena’s eyes, but it disappeared
just as quickly.

“Primping myself is not going to bring Lyle
back.”

“No, it’s not,” Camryn growled, feeling the
anger beginning to rise. She couldn’t even believe she was here
with her mom to begin with. Where was her mother when
she
needed her the most? Oh yeah, self-absorbed in her own life as
usual. Camryn couldn’t muster up any sympathy at the moment so she
sighed and said, “Well, if you’re going to mope around and do
nothing with your life, I’m just gonna have to call Sally.”

Serena’s eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t
dare
call my aunt!”

“I would, because I’m sick of this shit. And
I don’t even care if she has to fly from Pennsylvania. She told me
to call if I needed her, and I’m thinking maybe I do. It’s not like
I’m asking you to do something impossible, or to stop mourning or
whatever, but at least try to do a damn load of laundry, or go for
a walk, or something! I don’t care what, just do
something
!”

“Why are you being so nasty? I know we’ve
never been close, but you have no right to talk to me that
way!”

“I’m not trying to be mean,” Camryn sighed,
trying to summon her patience again.

Or maybe it was compassion she needed. What
do people need when they lose someone they love? Everyone was
different, obviously. Camryn had needed a damn punching bag.

“I’m sorry, Mom, but I need to get out of
the house for a bit. I’d like it if you took a bath or something.
Go lay on the yoga ball and just roll into some stretches. I can
join you when I get back. Do something. That’s all I ask.”

Camryn left for the room she’d been staying
in—a suite, practically, with a king-sized bed and its own
bathroom. She threw on some running clothes and tied her hair into
a ponytail. It was pretty sunny out, so she decided to forego a
stocking hat and gloves and just stuck with her favorite
long-sleeved running shirt.

She left out the side door so she didn’t
have to face her mom again.

***

“This is called the gas tank,” Teague
informed Jay, giving him his most serious expression.

“Fuck off, man. Let the mechanic preach to
you
, bro.”

Jay was chuckling, though, and the two
continued tinkering with his newest project—an ’86 Nighthawk 450.
It was parked in the garage with the door rolled up, and the
mid-morning sun warmed the space up just right. They were both in
t-shirts and jeans.

“Where’d you put the new battery?” Teague
asked, looking around the garage.

“Oh, it’s still in the Jeep,” Jay nodded to
the driveway.

Teague made the motions of air drumming to
the music playing as he walked along the side of the Jeep. He
turned for the back end when a flash of bright pink smacked right
into him, sending him flat on his back to the sidewalk with an
“
Oof
!”

“What the fuck!” he heard a female voice
exclaim.

It was then that he realized the bright pink
assailant was lying right on top of him, front to front.

She used her forearms to hold herself off
his chest, and just stared at him until all she said was, “Oh. My.
God.”

Teague didn’t know whether to laugh or be
shocked, but he was sure he did a little of both. At first he was
shocked as he stared into gorgeous green eyes that looked
absolutely horrified. And then he might’ve scoffed with utter
disbelief. It was
her
. The girl from the beach!

“Well hello,” he smiled, trying not to sound
as out of breath as he actually was. “It’s nice to finally meet
you.”

She blinked, seeming dazed, but didn’t
budge.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She blinked again, and then quickly peeled
herself off of him. Teague stood up after she did and watched her
brush herself off.

“I-I’m sorry,” she finally said. “I didn’t
even see you.”

He lightly laughed. “Well I kind of jumped
out from behind the Jeep to surprise you.” She gave him a blank
stare until he added, “I’m kidding. I didn’t see you, either.”

Her face softened a little bit. “Oh,” she
exhaled.

She continued to breathe heavily, but Teague
assumed it was because she’d been running. He didn’t feel there was
an excuse for
his
stupid shortness of breath, though.

“Again, I’m sorry about that,” she said,
stepping to the side like she was going to pass him to continue her
run. “Maybe I should stick to the beach.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” he countered with a
smile. “Everything worked out just fine.”

She paused instead of taking off. “Well it
might have been a lot less painful if we’d met on the beach,” she
stated casually.

He was amused, picturing the two of them in
the sand and what else he wanted to do with her. The image of that,
and the fact that she was right here in front of him, had almost
deterred him from the pain radiating across his backside. It was
nothing he wasn’t familiar with, but he realized just her presence
had easily distracted him from it.

He automatically touched the back of his
head. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

After a few seconds she cringed, like she
just realized what he meant. “Oh no, are you okay?” she asked. “Was
that sound your
head
hitting the cement? I thought it was my
knee.”

“You hurt your knee?”

“Is your head okay?”

“It’s fine. Is your knee all right?”

“I’ll live. Do you have brain damage?”

He froze before he noticed she was biting
back a smile. Then he laughed at how smoothly she threw that in
there. “If I do, I think I had it before the fact.”

“Thank God,” she exhaled. “I don’t want to
pay medical bills or be sued for brain damage.”

He smiled and shook his head. “Nah, I’m very
well insured. And I’m not the type to throw around a lawsuit.”

“Well had the roles been reversed, you may
have been thrown in jail for involuntary manslaughter. You would’ve
squished me to death.” She was looking him up and down, seeming to
note his height and physique to back up her claim. “All six feet of
you.”

It was only fair that Teague got to look her
over the same way. Just to make a fair assessment for the sake of
the discussion, of course. Only his eyes lingered a bit longer as
he blatantly checked her out, and she narrowed her emerald eyes at
him.

“Six-
two
,” he smirked. And he looked
her up and down again, just for the benefit of her reaction. “Seems
like all five-eight of you was meant to be cushioned like
that.”

She placed her hands on her hips but didn’t
banter back. “Maybe so,” she finally answered, and she turned for
the direction she came from.

“Hey,” Teague said, softly grabbing her arm
and stepping toward her. He was really close to her; close enough
that he could lean down and kiss her if he dared. And he wanted to.
He wanted to run his tongue across her pretty lips and then kiss
her senseless. But he let go of her as he lowered his voice and
said, “I’m Teague. What’s your name?”

Her smirk slowly returned. “I already threw
myself at you,” she replied, nodding to the sidewalk. “What more do
you expect?”

“A name isn’t asking much,” he shrugged.

“Well in that case, it won’t matter if I
don’t give it to you.”

He paused briefly. “Well I cushioned your
fall
and
I gave you my name. Only seems fair.”

“You
caused
my fall and I didn’t
ask
for your name,” she countered.

Teague bit the corner of his lip as he
quickly assessed his options. Goddamn, she was a hard ass. “Okay,
fair enough,” he said, holding up his hands. He stepped back from
her and added, “Just know that I’d really love to know your name.
In fact, I’d love to know more than just your name, but tonight
I’ll cross my fingers, wish upon a star, and pray that someday
you’ll just give me a name. Tomorrow I’ll rub Buddha’s belly, light
a candle, do a juju dance around the fire… Sound like a good
start?”

Her light laughter totally thrilled him.
What a beautiful sound that struck a chord in his chest.

“Okay,” she answered, still smiling. She had
the prettiest fucking smile he’d ever seen. “If you do all of that,
maybe
next time
I’ll give you my name. But you have to earn
it.”

She winked and took off at a jog.

***

Camryn avoided her mom again, going straight
to her room for a shower. When Teague had smiled, her insides
fluttered. They
fluttered
. The guy’s wit was completely
intriguing but she was totally overwhelmed by his confident,
dimpled smile. She wanted to ask him what kind of sexy name Teague
was.
Teague
? God, he even looked like a Teague if that made
any sense. With his dark hair messy at the top and those deep
tropical eyes she might have been drowning in, that man was well
beyond beautiful.

She peeled off her sweaty clothes and was
about to toss them into the hamper when she paused. No, she
shouldn’t do it… She put her shirt to her nose and breathed in.
Hell, it still smelled like him. Barely, but just enough. His scent
had soaked in with her sweat and lingered there.

She pictured crashing into him, landing with
a grunt right on top of his body. His chest was firm, shoulders
broad, and he smelled delicious. He had the most beautiful teal
eyes she had ever seen and it had jolted her like nothing before.
Could you blame a girl for wanting to stay there?

Holy
hell
.

With a sigh she tried to take a quick shower
but found that her thoughts kept drifting. She stood there with her
eyes closed, imagining his ocean eyes gazing into hers. He had
lashes that were dark and full, but not so long that they were
girly. She’d noticed this while practically humping him on the
sidewalk.

Not giving her name was her usual form of
defense. Wit and sass were her best methods to keep things under
her control. That way she could walk away with the upper hand every
time. But this time there was something different that made her
self-confidence falter. His physical attraction had literally
knocked a brick out of her wall. Teague’s smile had riled a
vulnerability she wasn’t aware she still had. After Zach, she
didn’t think she’d ever feel that again.

It was the flutter…

Oh God, it really was!
It was the damn
flutter
!

She groaned as she stepped out of the
shower. Soaking wet she stalked to the bed and dropped onto it. She
was overheating and even considered stepping outside completely
naked, just to cool off. Instead she worked on her breathing—in
through her nose for three, out her mouth for three—and pictured
something repetitious so it could soothe her.

The waves of the ocean. Camryn imagined a
wave building up to its final height, and then rolling over until
it crashed and crawled to the shore. The next wave did the same,
and the next wave, and the next… And then Teague was standing
there, totally naked at the edge of the water—

She crawled off the bed to find some
clothes, forcing her mind to switch to the one thing that could
totally squash her sexual fantasies. There was nothing like your
grief-stricken mother to send your immoral thoughts into hiding.
She dressed and made her way down the hall, through the dining
room, past the living room, and into another hall to find her.

“What do you want for dinner?” she asked
abruptly at the open bedroom door.

Serena was sitting on the bed, knitting a
scarf, and had Camryn been at all aware that her mom was actually
doing something productive, she might have commented on it.

“There’s some ground turkey in the fridge.
You can use it to make some spaghetti.”

“Okay.”

Camryn turned to leave but stopped when her
mom asked if she was okay. She turned back around and sighed. She
was trying to avoid thoughts of him, and now her mom wanted to know
why she seemed disgruntled. Fantasizing about a stranger naked
could do that to a person, apparently.