by Hadley Quinn
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.
Well, what the hell, right? Maybe Camryn would find out that he was married or had seven illegitimate children. Maybe he was the neighborhood man whore that wanted to move on to unsuspecting visitors. Stalking the beach like that could totally fit the profile. The only thing she knew about him was that he was extremely gorgeous, and his wit was so charming she couldn’t get his voice out of her head. She was hoping her mom could tell her something that would extinguish her interest in him.
“Do you know a guy named Teague that lives nearby?” she finally asked, trying to sound indifferent.
Serena eyed her for a moment before shaking her head. “I don’t believe so. Why?”
“Nothing. Just, um, ran into him today. Wondered if he was a weirdo freak or anything like that.”
Serena smiled, and it was probably the first genuine smile that Camryn had witnessed all week. “So this is a guy that seems interesting to you?” she asked, putting down the scarf. She left the bed and decided to walk down the hall with Camryn to the kitchen. It was totally unexpected, but Camryn just went along with it.
“Yeah, he was pretty good-looking.”
“And what was his name again?”
“Teague.”
She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “Hmm, that’s not a name I’m used to hearing.”
“Mmhmm,” Camryn replied as she removed the meat from the fridge.
“So did you exchange numbers or anything?” Serena asked, preparing a pot for the noodles at the same time.
Since Camryn was so happy that her mom was actually doing something, she decided to keep answering her questions. “Nah, we didn’t. Maybe I’ll see him around again. Hey, I met Kyah,” she added, changing the subject.
“Oh, did you? What’d you think of her?”
“She seems really nice. I think we really should go over there for Christmas dinner.” She noticed her mom’s frown and said, “Why don’t you want to go? It’s for Christmas, Mom. Please?”
“Cami, I’m not ready to be around people. Why don’t you go? You and Kyah are both twenty-two; you’ll have someone fun to spend the holiday with. I really wish you didn’t have to be here this time of year and…” The waterworks returned and she grabbed a paper towel from the counter to blot her tears. “I’d feel so much happier if you just went, Camryn.”
“Fine, I’ll go,” she agreed. It bothered her that she was going to spend Christmas with a bunch of strangers, but if it meant getting out of her mom’s house again, she’d do it. She almost wished she hadn’t told Serena she could stay with her for a couple of weeks, but being dishonest about stuff like that wasn’t Camryn’s style.
For now she would just bide her time the best she could.
Chapter Four
A run was a run. At least that’s what Camryn tried convincing herself. It was four o’clock on Christmas Eve and now she was facing the nine flights of stairs that led to the beach. Teague might not even be at home, but she was still driving herself crazy with anxiety. Maybe what she felt was fear, but she was trying her best to ignore it. She was interested in Teague—which was understandable since he was sexy as hell—but she did not like how off-balanced he made her feel. After one run-in with him—one, damn it—he had her thoughts jumbled up instead of nicely arranged with logic. That hadn’t happened since Zach, and Camryn was taken by surprise that she had actually met someone she couldn’t stop thinking about.
“It’s called lust,” she decided, and she descended the stairs in record time, breaking into a jog the second she hit the sand. But she wasn’t going to kill herself this time. The tide was out and she had no reason to hurry.
She didn’t even look directly at his house as she got closer. She could see the stairs were empty, but he was never there on her first trip by anyways. Out of the corner of her eye she couldn’t tell if anyone was on the deck, either.
Damn, she was tempted to push herself, just to get through her run faster so she could pass by his house on her way back. She did urge herself to hurry—just a little—but didn’t want to overdo it. When she was finally close enough to see his stairs on the way back, she didn’t like the disappointment that rushed through her. He wasn’t there, and she was mad at
herself for even caring.
To hell with pacing. She pushed even harder, passing his house and using the memories of her crashing into him on the sidewalk to punish herself. She’d been utterly humiliated, but landing on his body like that had been entirely worth it. She wondered what it would be like to have his arms wrapped around her. Better yet, what it would feel like to rub her own hands all over his body, and to find out if he really did look like how she’d pictured him naked.
Definitely lust.
Camryn glanced out toward the water, trying to place that image in the surf. She could even hear his sexy deep voice but couldn’t tell what he was saying—
Her shoe hit a rock and she pitched forward. A large pair of hands grabbed her arm and her waist, pulling her upright before she did a nosedive into the sand.
“What the—”
“Fuck?” Teague finished for her with a laugh, as they awkwardly lurched to a stop. “Yeah, it’s me again.”
She whipped around with wide eyes, wondering how he’d suddenly appeared right next to her. Was she hallucinating? She couldn’t even catch her breath, she was breathing so hard.
“Jesus, where’s the fire?” he asked, also breathing heavy. “You were just… Hey, were you running away from me?” he wondered, raking a hand through his dark hair.
“What?” she exhaled, leaning onto her knees. “No I wasn’t running from you. I didn’t even see you.”
He reached over and nudged her shoulder upward. “Even I know not to hunch over like that. Come on, runner girl. What’s the deal?”
She barely scoffed out a laugh. “What’s the deal? I just ran almost four miles.” She glanced down the beach to where his house was a football field away. “You only ran a hundred yards. I surely hope you don’t need to keel over.”
“I’d like to curl into the fetal position right now. I just sprinted those hundred yards in sand. I don’t think I’ve ever run that hard in my entire life. Not to mention almost breaking my ass jumping down entire flights of stairs at a time till I hit sand.”
She laughed again as she studied his face. He was smiling and looking beautiful of course. But she glanced down the length of him, realizing he was wearing shorts and a pair of running shoes with his sweatshirt.
He noticed her onceover and grinned. “Yes, I was gonna run with you. Thought if I could impress you by keeping up, you’d give me your name.”
She pretended to consider it as her breathing began to slow a bit. “And you ran those hundred yards to catch up with me?”
“I sprinted them. Fiercely. With determination. And passion.”
“Passion?” she repeated, raising her eyebrows.
“It just slipped out. But it must mean something for sure.”
“Hmm, I guess so.” She tried not to smile as she deliberated a response. “Okay, fair enough. It’s Camryn. Spelled C-a-m-r-y-n.”
Teague picked up a stick a few feet away and started writing it in the wet sand.
“What are you doing?” she smiled.
“Making sure I’ve got a visual.” He finished the last letter and looked it over. “Camryn,” he repeated, eyeing her next. “It suits you.”
She stifled a laugh.
“What, you don’t like your name?” he asked. “I like it a lot.”
Shaking her head, she went with the truth. “I thought the same thing about you when you told me your name. Teague seems to fit you.”
“Huh, interesting. I never spelled it for you, though. Maybe you’d feel differently if you saw it spelled. I mean even saying the letters out loud sounds weird to me. T-e-a-g-u-e. Really? G-u-e? Sounds kind of stupid.”
“I already figured it was spelled that way,” she told him with a chuckle, writing it in the sand below her own name.
“Really? I’ve never met anyone with my name. I’ve met a Teagan, but that was a chick.”
Camryn would have responded, but Teague took the stick from her hand and drew a heart around their names. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and took a picture of it. “You tell anyone I did something that sappy, I’ll throw you in the ocean to never be found.”
She didn’t know whether to laugh at his words or remain stunned by his actions. Either way, she decided he was pretty good at this flirting stuff, so she only smiled as they both started walking.
“So, Camryn,” he said, emphasizing her name that time. “You weren’t even watching where you were going when you almost biffed it in the sand. What was in the water?”
“Oh, you would have to ask that exact question, huh?” she said with a laugh. “Really?”
He tossed her a quizzical look. “What’s wrong with the question? You were booking it down the beach, not even watching where you were going. If you ran like that any further, you’d have run dead smack into that log,” he pointed. “What was in the water?”
She shook her head with a smile, but not because she wasn’t going to tell him. It was because she was going to tell him. “I was picturing you naked,” she stated.
He stopped dead in his tracks and she had to turn around to face him. His mouth was open in an “oh,” but then he smiled like he was sure she was just pulling his leg.
“I’m being serious,” she added. “I was picturing you naked.”
He pretended to cough his disbelief. “No way. Like I was just…standing there naked in the ocean?”
She had to laugh. “Yeah, pretty much.”
He laughed out loud as he clutched his stomach. “Oh my God, you totally rock my world.”
“Because I’ve pictured you naked?”
“Uh, pictured me naked, admitted it, and are totally embarrassed by it. I love it.”
“I’m not embarrassed. Can’t exactly control my thoughts sometimes.”
“Well holy fuck, and us guys get a bad rep because of the same thing?”
“Well I’d say it’s because guys are a little more vulgar when it comes to stuff like that. All I did was wonder if you have a six-pack and that’s it. You, on the other hand, have probably pictured me naked, pictured what you would do with me naked, and pictured what I could do for you naked. After all of that, you most likely felt a little bit turned on by it and—”
“Oh my God!” he yelled with a laugh, waving for her to stop. He doubled over with his hands propped on his knees, laughing his ass off. “Please tell me you’re for real. I’m not sure I can handle this if you’re not.”
She nudged him upward like he’d done to her earlier. They were toe to toe, and with her looking up and him looking down, their faces were only inches apart. “Yes, I’m for real. But you’re only witnessing my very best angle. The rest is nothing to be impressed by.” She left him standing there and started walking again.
He only paused for a moment before he caught up to her. “I have a Christmas present for you.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “A present? You don’t even know me, Teague.”
“Exactly. This is gonna help.”
She chuckled uncomfortably. “Um, okay.”
Teague grinned and said, “Well maybe you aren’t ready for it yet.”
“Probably not,” she countered wryly.
“I figured you’d say that. But what if I told you I worked really, really hard on it for you?”
Camryn cast him a side-glance. “Is it something you made?” She smiled and added, “Wait, is it bar of soap carved into a heart?”
His smile slowly grew. “Hey, not a bad idea. Next time, though. This is something very, very valuable.”
“Valuable, huh. I’m not sure I want it, then.”
“Not pricewise.”
She glanced at him again before finally stopping in the sand. He stopped too and faced her, pulling a piece of paper out of the pocket of his shorts to hand to her.
Her eyes suspiciously remained fixed on his before she finally took the paper and glanced down at it. Then she tried not to laugh too hard.
“Very few people have that, you know,” he told her, trying to keep a stra
ight face. “I’m trusting you’ll keep it safe but use it yourself as often as you can. And I have shitty handwriting, so you can see how much effort I put into that to make it legible.”
“Your phone number?” she finally got out. “God, Teague, you’re really good, you know? This is… Wow, I don’t know how to compete with you.”
He looked pretty damn proud of himself. After giving her an elated grin, they continued walking.
But Camryn’s words were more devastating to herself than she made them sound, and that scared the hell out of her. Teague was gorgeous, smart, and humorous. She knew right then and there that she had her work cut out for her. Keeping a casual friendship with this guy until she left might prove to be a little difficult.
“Oh, and Camryn?” he said as they walked towards the public stairs. “I don’t have a six-pack,” he smiled, shaking his head. “For you I have an eight-pack.”
***
Teague returned to his house an hour later, a stupid ass smile on his face and a skip in his step. Jay was sitting on the couch in the back room, watching TV while playing his guitar.
“What the hell’s up with you?” Jay asked. “You look like you just screwed the head cheerleader. You catch up to her?”
“Don’t be such a sick perv. Yeah I caught up to her. Barely. And no we didn’t,” he added, just before Jay asked again.
“So what happened?”
Teague shrugged. “We talked. I walked her home. Well, she’s just visiting her mom, I guess.”
“Ah, so a quick fling and then she’s out of your hair. Sounds perfect! I’m fucking jealous.”
Teague didn’t respond and made his way to the kitchen. Nothing about him screamed commitment these days. He liked it that way.
