Teague (8 page)

“Too late for that. Louise is already grilling up burgers and Tucker’s helping her out.”

Tucker.

“So your brother is up?”

Teague nodded and moved aside so that she had room to navigate the stairs. “Yeah. Apparently he decided that I needed the company. I don’t know why.”

Sabrina looked at him questioningly. Was that a hint of sarcasm?

Teague shrugged. “I’ve got you guys for that.”

Sabrina didn’t have a response. She stepped onto the deck and was immediately besieged with hugs and kisses from her kids. When she finally managed to break free she spied Teague’s brother and his fiancée.

“Hello,” the woman said with a smile. “I think we met at Jack’s wedding?”

Sabrina nodded. The wedding had taken place weeks after Brent’s passing and a lot of it was a blur. But she remembered the pretty redhead. “We did. Abby right?”

The woman nodded. “Yes. I’m sure you already know this, but I’ve got to tell you…you’ve got great kids.”

Tucker Simon walked over to Sabrina and gave her a big hug. “Nice to see you again.”

Sabrina had met Tucker several times over the last few years. He’d been a good friend to Brent and they’d hung out whenever Tucker was up at the cottage. He was open, engaging, and funny as hell.

Pretty much the opposite of his dark and somewhat twisty twin.

“How long are you guys up?” Sabrina asked.

“We head back to New York day after tomorrow. My family has a big event planned for Independence Day and my brother Mitch will have my ass if I’m not there. But at least we have tonight.”

“Tonight?” Sabrina glanced over to her mother-in-law. Louise’s smile was way too satisfied and that was never a good thing.

Abby nodded excitedly. “There’s a big event on the water and the four of us are going.”

Right. The extravaganza the local hotel put on every year on the last day of June. Sabrina shook her head. “I don’t think I can swing that. Thank you for thinking of me but I just…I don’t…”

“And you can’t say no,” Abby continued.

Sabrina glanced at her mother-in-law again. Louise was humming a tune and trying to look innocent. With a shrug, she flipped the last burger.

“Don’t worry about the kids,” Louise said. “I’ve got that covered.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“You can’t argue with Louise,” Teague said, offering her a beer. Sabrina accepted it and took a good draw from the longneck. “I told her you wouldn’t want to go and she told me to mind my business.”

Sabrina gave a tight smile. She wasn’t sure what annoyed her more. The fact that her mother-in-law’s love of interfering seemed to have ramped up to the next level, or the fact that Teague automatically assumed she wouldn’t be up for a good time.

Or maybe it was because he’d be right.

She took another sip of beer, fingering her new bangs, watching Tucker nuzzle Abby in the corner as her kids giggled and pointed. Maybe it
was
time for her to let loose. Maybe it
was
time for her to have some fun.

“This isn’t a date,” she said before she could stop herself.

Jesus. What. The. Hell?

“Relax,” Teague replied, that crooked smile back in place. “That’s pretty much a given.”

Sabrina should not have been insulted by that comment. But she kinda sorta was.

But by ten o’clock that night Sabrina was asking herself why the hell she hadn’t stuck to her guns and just stayed home. They’d watched the water extravaganza. Observed one hundred and ten ways to jump ramps on water skis. They’d walked the boardwalk. They’d visited the antique car show in the park. They’d done all the things that couples do except Teague and Sabrina were no couple. In fact it was glaringly obvious Teague would have preferred to be with anyone else. He hardly looked at her and barely spoke, but then it must be hard to do considering his jaw was clenched so tight he’d have to use a knife to pry it open.

Of course Sabrina wasn’t a barrel of laughs either, and she sure as hell didn’t look like Candace—she knew that—but sheesh, she wasn’t chopped liver.

Now they were stuck inside The Rocking Saddle and Sabrina would have given her right hand to be anywhere else. The place was packed, standing room only, and as she leaned up against the bar. Sabrina’s gaze swept the room. There were couples of all ages here enjoying the music and kick off to the long weekend—all of them loud and happy and
connected.

All these people were living their lives and she was just standing still.

Sabrina felt as if she was swimming against a strong current with a ball of lead attached to her waist. She was drowning and suddenly it was too much. She set her drink onto the bar and shoved her way past Teague. Not that he would notice. Candace had shown up and wiggled her way into the small space between Sabrina and Teague, and she hadn’t shut up for the last five minutes.

Sabrina pushed her way through the crowd and found solace in the bathroom, thankful that both stalls were empty. God she was hot. She splashed cold water on her face and shoved a hunk of hair from her eyes.

She stared at herself in the mirror for a long, long time. There were new wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Lovely. And the dark circles underneath them—the ones she’d tried to hide with concealer—were visible. They were faint, but they were still there.

Ugh. When had she started looking so old?

Not old, a voice whispered in her head. Just sad.

Sniffling, she splashed more warm water on her face and then ran fingers through her hair. The humidity had made it kink into big waves, but she didn’t see how cute she looked. Didn’t see the big topaz eyes fringed with thick long lashes, or the small pert nose and the smattering of freckles.

She didn’t see how the deep green halter-top enhanced the color of her eyes, or how the white skirt hugged her hips and showed off her tanned legs.

She saw none of that because she wasn’t looking or maybe it was because she forgot what that girl looked like.

With a sigh Sabrina turned away and headed back out into the busy bar. Maybe she would just plead a headache and take a cab home.

She was halfway across the large room when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her backward.

“Hey,” she said with a sputter, cranking her neck so that she could see properly.

Josiah.
The big guy was sweaty from the heat and most likely beer. A big grin swept across his face. “I didn’t know you were coming out,” he said, leaning forward. Sabrina puckered her nose. Definitely beer.

“I kind of got roped into it.”

“Well I’m not going to complain about that.” Josiah grinned and then swayed a bit. “Can I get you something? A drink?”

“No,” she said, taking a step back. “Thank you but I’m heading out anyway.”

“You can’t,” he said, making a grab for her other arm. “Come on Bree. Dance with me first. I like this one.”

Bree. No one called her that. No one but Brent.

Anger flashed through her. “No, Josiah. I need to get back.” And suddenly she did. It was all too much. The people. The noise. This big man who suddenly didn’t seem to understand what the word ‘no’ meant.

His grip was hard and Sabrina pursed her lips. People were starting to stare.

“Josiah, please.”

He held her hand for another moment or so and then let it go. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t mean to come off like a goddamn Neanderthal.”

“It’s okay,” she replied, taking a step back. It really wasn’t but Sabrina didn’t feel like arguing the point. She just wanted to leave.

She made her way to the bar, upset and not really knowing why. Sure, Josiah had acted like an idiot, but still, she’d been able to handle him. Biting her lip, her gaze wandered across the bar, resting on the couples slowly dancing to the song that fell from the overhead speakers.

The song was beautiful. A slow, sensual love song that was perfect for a hot summer’s night.

She saw Tucker and Abby, moving together in the dark, their love for each other so obvious and so genuine.

And this song, damn but it made her heart hurt.

Sabrina turned blindly and pushed her way through the crowd. By the time she reached the doors, her chest was tight with emotion, and when she finally made it outside, she exhaled, drawing in great gasps of fresh air.

She made her way to the parking lot and leaned against Teague’s truck, eyes on a midnight sky that was lit up with a million stars. Her chest was tight. It felt as if there was a ball of something in there that needed release.

“You okay?”

The words slid from the dark. Teague.

“Yes,” she answered after a while.

“Liar.”

Eyes still on the sky, she froze when he approached. He turned his head upward and followed her gaze. For a moment there was nothing but the muffled sounds from the bar, the people and the music.

“Funny how the sky looks the same no matter where you are,” Teague murmured. “Alaska. Hawaii. Afghanistan. China. Different perspectives but basically the same.”

Sabrina exhaled and glanced at him. He didn’t look as angry as he had earlier. In fact he looked kind of relaxed.

“Why are you out here?” she asked. “Thought you’d be inside with your girlfriend.”

He arched an eyebrow, but ignored the dig. “I don’t like crowds. I don’t like the unpredictable.”

He turned to her suddenly. “You okay?” he asked again.

Her eyes slipped away. “No,” she whispered, feeling the heat of tears sting her eyes. “I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again.”

“You have to want to be okay. That’s the first step.”

“Really.” She found his gaze again, shivering at the intensity in them. “How’s that working for you?”

A heartbeat passed.

“I don’t know how to be okay.” His answer was so brutally honest. So very much like the man. Was it that honesty that had her opening her mouth and disclosing her secrets?

“I love to dance and I don’t think I will ever dance again.”

Teague stared at her for a long time. So long in fact that by the time his gaze slid from hers, Sabrina’s cheeks were flushed. Something had just changed. The energy in the air was different. It was hot and dark and full of needful things.

Teague reached into his front pocket. He retrieved the keys to his truck and unlocked the vehicle. He fired it up. Got out his phone and a few seconds later, a love song about want and need and pain filled her ears.

A ballad with a haunting melody that made her ache even more than she already did.

Teague slid from the truck and stood in front of her. His white button down shirt made his skin look even darker, and those eyes…those dangerous, intense eyes never left hers.

He held out his hand. “Dance with me,” he said. There was nothing coy in his tone. Nothing playful or flirtatious. But there was danger there and she’d be crazy to poke the tiger.

Sabrina slowly exhaled. Was she crazy?

“We don’t even like each other,” she said softly.

“That’s a little strong, don’t you think?”

She shrugged. She had nothing.

“Doesn’t matter really. We don’t have to like each other to dance.”

“No,” she whispered, after a few seconds. “I guess we don’t.”

Sabrina Campbell smelled like the sweetest honeysuckle ever. It reminded him of the vines growing in his mother’s gardens, of hot summer nights and cold iced tea. She was so damn small next to him, so fragile and feminine. And so incredibly sad.

What the hell was he doing out here with her?

Sure she was cute as hell, but that didn’t matter because a woman like Sabrina wasn’t a good fit for a man like Teague. She had kids. Responsibilities. A family that she needed to answer to.

None of those things interested him. He’d always been a lone wolf. Always been the guy to leave. Nothing had changed. Even after the hell he’d been through,
nothing had changed.

He should have gone home with Candace. Then he wouldn’t be out here in the dark with Sabrina. And he sure as hell wouldn’t be slow dancing in the parking lot of some country bar.

And yet here he was, pulling her into his arms and settling her against him like she belonged there. The top of her head fit just below his chin and he slid his arms around her small waist.

“Relax,” he breathed into her hair. She was strung so tight he could feel the muscles bunched in her back.

She didn’t say a word. Hell, he wasn’t even sure she took a breath. But eventually he felt her relax and after a few moments she turned her head and rested her cheek against his chest.

The song was about lost love, of mistakes and redemption and of finding your way back. Funny. He knew the song but he’d never really listened to the words before. Never took notice of the meaning.

But right now, under a night sky that made him feel about as relevant as a gnat, he listened to the message behind the music. He wanted to say that the words gave him hope, but in truth they just made him feel empty.

He would never have that kind of love because that kind of love demanded sacrifice, and Teague Simon had nothing left to sacrifice.

But maybe he wouldn’t think about that right now. Maybe he would just enjoy this one moment that shouldn’t have been.

So he moved slowly, eyes closed as he enjoyed the feel of Sabrina against him. His hands moved down her back until they settled in the hollow.

He fought the urge to let them wander lower, and it was harder than it should have been. She smelled too damn good and she felt even better. When the song ended, she stopped moving and for several moments they didn’t speak. They did nothing but breathe each other in.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice so low he barely heard her.

Reluctantly Teague let her go and she took a step back. He shoved his hands into his front pockets because he needed to do something with them.

“What for?” he replied.

She shrugged and opened her mouth but no words came out. After a while she cleared her throat and attempted a smile. “I should go home.”

“I’ll give you a ride.”

“No. I’ll call a cab. Tucker and Abby are still inside.”

Teague reached for his cell. “Don’t worry about them.”