Kiss This (10 page)

Then his eyes met hers again and he paused.
He remained on his knees in front of her, but brought his upper
body to its full height so they were face to face. He put his hands
on the seat on either side of her head and continued to stare into
her.

“You know what the most beautiful thing
about you is?” Teague asked softly.

Camryn swallowed, her heart reacting to his
closeness, the way her body now felt because of him, and the
intensity in which he looked at her. She could barely shake her
head no.

“Your eyes,” he answered. He leaned forward,
and when she closed them, he kissed each eyelid. He pressed his
cheek to hers and whispered, “Because I can see your beautiful soul
every time I look into them. I can’t even fucking comprehend how
they pull me in.”

God, this guy was going to undo her! Camryn
couldn’t even think of anything to say, she was so dumbstruck.
Normally she could battle back with some sort of smartass remark to
keep things light, but Teague left her tongue-tied. This was not
what she’d been expecting. A bit of fooling around to get her back
into the game, yeah. But not the emotional shit to go with it. He
was either the sweetest guy she’d ever spent time with, or the
biggest charmer she’d ever met. Was he really that introspective,
or was he just trying to get in her pants?

But to Camryn’s surprise, Teague pulled away
and he carefully secured her bra back together. Then he closed her
shirt and re-buttoned each button. She couldn’t help but stare at
his lashes that were angled down as he worked, and then he returned
to his seat. Camryn slowly released the breath she was holding, a
mixture of disappointment and relief rushing through her at the
same time.

Teague slid his arm around her shoulder and
pulled her close again. She relaxed against him willingly as they
turned their attention to the movie. Her heart was still pounding
from the emotions brewing inside her, but when he gave her a kiss
on the top of her head, she felt a level of peace and contentment
she’d been missing for the last couple of years.

Chapter Nine

Jay was still crashed on the couch when
Teague returned home from the movie with Camryn, and then he was in
the kitchen when Teague entered ten minutes later, freshly
showered.

“Where you headed?” Jay asked, looking over
his hair that was styled into a perfect mess.

“Nowhere.”

Jay looked him over carefully. “You wearing
cologne?”

“No,” Teague scoffed. He stiffed his armpit.
“Probably my deodorant. Is it that strong?”

With a shrug Jay shook his head. “We got any
more ham?” he asked, peering into the refrigerator.

“I don’t think so. We’ve got eggs. Should I
make something?”

Jay turned around and gave him a funny
look.

“What?” Teague asked.

With a studying eye, Jay shook his head.
“Normally you’d tell me to go to the fucking store or make
something myself if I want food to eat.” He examined his cousin
closer. “You did her, didn’t you,” he concluded with a laugh. “You
nailed the blonde hottie down the road!”

“Hey, don’t be crass,” Teague warned him.
Then he smiled. “But yeah, we did fool around a little bit.”

“Oh my God! Details, brother! Give ‘em
up.”

“Nope, not gonna share,” Teague shook his
head. Mainly because Jay would have considered what he did with
Camryn “first base.” Even though he normally would laugh at Jay’s
humor, this time was different. His time spent with Camryn meant
more to him than just a sex-capade conversation with his cousin.
Teague couldn’t explain it, but talking about Camryn in that way
felt cheap. She was better than that. “All I gotta say is… Wow, I
don’t even know what to say about her.”

“Shit,” Jay murmured. “You are a goner.
Hopefully you get a screw out of her before she leaves. Don’t put
anything into it if she’s not gonna put out. Remember your chick
mantra, man,” he added lightly. “Don’t love ‘em, just leave
‘em.”

Teague pretended not to hear him as he
stepped through the sliding glass door onto the deck.
Like he’d
ever forget
. He leaned forward against the railing and looked
out at the Pacific where the sun had just disappeared into the
water. After a minute, he patted his chest out of habit, finding
nothing there. The nicotine craving had been manageable for barely
a day; now he was wearing down.

“You really don’t have to quit, you know,” a
now familiar voice said.

Teague whipped around to see Camryn coming
through the back door. She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder and
said, “Jay let me in.”

Teague glanced her over briefly. She looked
sexy in a pair of jeans, a thin sweater, and the one jacket she
came with. “I thought you were headed for the beach. I was just
babe watching for you.”

She smiled as she joined him at the railing.
“I’m tired. And I figured we got our share of sand last night.” She
gave him a side-glance and he laughed.

“Yeah, I don’t need more sand on my cock.
But it was worth it,” he added quickly.

Glancing over him in a pair of jeans and a
t-shirt she said, “Don’t you ever get cold out here?” Even then she
shivered.

Teague stepped behind her and wrapped her up
in his arms. She relaxed against him and he answered, “Nah, not
really. It feels…refreshing to me. Like…I can breathe instead of
being smothered by things in my life.”

There was silence between the two of them as
they watched the waves crash ahead. Teague pressed his mouth
against the top of her head and slowly breathed in. She always
smelled good, this time kind of…peachy.

“What kind of things smother you, Teague?”
she asked softly.

He froze, hit with mixed emotions and not
exactly prepared that she would actually ask about it. Why the fuck
did he have to say something so personal?

“My dad,” he finally answered. “He’s a dick.
Can’t ever do anything to please him so I just stopped trying.”

Camryn didn’t reply but he could feel her
take a slow breath in and release it. Then she gently pulled his
arms off of her and stepped away like she wanted to take in the
view from the other end of the deck. Teague watched her lean over
the edge and look along the side of the house and then back towards
the water. He gradually joined her but didn’t touch her again. She
was putting up another wall.

“This place is really nice,” she observed.
“How long have you lived here?”

He barely shrugged. “Not long. Did you want
something to eat? I’m a little hungry and… Well, you didn’t even
get to eat dinner, did you?”

“Oh,” she said brightly. “I brought you
dinner.”

“You did?”

“Yep, it’s in the kitchen,” she pointed.
“But Jay kind of looked like a bear that’d been hibernating so I’m
not sure if there’s anything left.”

“That fucker,” Teague joked with a laugh. He
motioned for her to follow him inside, and sure enough, Jay was at
the table scarfing on a huge plate of food.

“This is fan-fucking-tastic,” he said,
pointing to it with the fork. “What the hell is it?”

“You don’t even know what you’re eating?”
Camryn scoffed. “And I told you to back off; that’s for Teague so I
hope you left him something.”

“Hey, I’m the younger cousin. He’s gotta
take care of me.”

“How much younger?”

He took another full bite and mumbled,
“Eleven months. I’ll be twenty-three next month.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Um, yeah, I
think a twenty-three-year-old should be able to take care of
himself.”

“Yeah, you’d think,” Jay kidded. “Anyways,
there’s plenty,” he added, motioning to the kitchen. “You plan on
feeding an army?”

“Or a gluttonous animal,” she remarked,
following Teague into the kitchen. “It’s just a ham and potato
casserole,” she informed him. “I made it this morning for my mom,
but she wouldn’t touch it. I forgot she doesn’t eat ham.”

“Good thing for me,” Teague stated.

“You can just microwave it for a minute or
so.”

“You have to heat it?” Jay asked with his
mouth full. “Oh.”

Camryn playfully rolled her eyes as Teague
smiled and stuck the casserole dish in the microwave. Jay was up
from the table by then and he just shoved his plate in the fridge
as-is. “I’m heading to Grady’s,” he said. “See ya tomorrow,
fucker.”

“Stay out of trouble, asshole. I’m not
coming to get you tonight.”

Jay flipped him the bird on his way out the
door.

Teague winked at Camryn and said, “We have a
very loving relationship.”

“I see that. He seems warm and cuddly.”

“Nah, he can be. Jay’s a good guy. The only
person I can trust, really.” He removed the food from the
microwave, and then motioned for her to join him on the couch after
he grabbed forks and drinks. “I’d offer you a beer but there’s no
alcohol in this house,” he informed her. “Oh wait, you stopped
drinking.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him as she sat
down. “You think so, huh?”

He smiled as he turned on the television.
“Well, I’m pretty sure. You don’t really drink a lot, do you.” It
was a statement, not a question, because Teague was confident that
he knew the answer.

Camryn barely shrugged and said, “No, not
really. I’m around too many people that live it up with alcohol.
I’d rather remember the dumb things I do.”

He smiled with agreement. “Exactly my
feelings, too. I mean even Jay pisses me off when he gets
shitfaced. He doesn’t exactly realize all of the crap he says and
does, and how he involves me in it. I, uh, used to drink a lot not
too long ago. It got a little out of hand so…I just stopped
altogether. It definitely doesn’t solve any problems, that’s for
sure. You wanna just chill in front of the TV?” he asked, just to
change the subject.

She nodded as Teague flipped through the
channels and ate at the same time. He complimented her on the food,
and even though she only ate a little of it, they shared it between
them.

“So tell me about these rowdy people you
have to be around,” Teague said after a while. “Who are you around
that parties a lot?”

She set her bottle of water on the coffee
table and sighed. “Well, I’m a dancer, right? So I’m around a lot
of…high profile people because of my job.”

He stared at her as he uncapped his water.
High profile people? Shit, what exactly did that mean? The images
were coming to him vividly. “You mean you… Wait, I guess I never
really asked what kind of dancer you are.”

“We only established that I’m not a
stripper.”

He smiled at her dry humor. “Yeah, pretty
much. So where do you dance? Hey, are you a booty shaker in those
music videos and stuff?” he joked.

“You’re not far off,” she informed him with
a shrug. “I kind of started there. And then I did the live music
tours instead.”

Teague stared at her with a blank
expression.

“I’ve danced with big time performers,” she
clarified.

He blinked and tilted his head. “Really,” he
stated.

She nodded. “But now I mainly do
choreography for just a few of them. None of the huge productions
quite yet—I’m still pretty young—but for a lot of music videos and
some of the tours. I’m just barely transitioning from dancer to
choreographer, so I do both.”

Teague leaned back against the couch. “Wow.
That’s kind of a lot more than ‘just a dancer’.”

“Who called me ‘just a dancer’?”

“No one,” he laughed, shaking his head.
“Sorry, I guess I just did. But transitioning? What does that mean?
You don’t want to dance anymore?”

“Well…yeah, I do if it works out that way.
But the lifespan of a dancer isn’t all that long. I mean it can be,
but there are other things I’d rather accomplish, too.”

“Like what?”

When she smiled, she actually blushed.
Teague thought it was pretty cute, but it also intrigued him.

“Like what?” he asked again, his curiosity
entirely piqued.

“Well, um, I’ll just say that I’d rather not
be having kids into my forties.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Ah, I see. A family
girl. Hmm.”
So
not what he needed to hear right now. Time to
move the conversation along. “So your life as a dancer is pretty
busy?”

“It does get pretty busy. I’ve worked with a
lot of great people. And also a lot of not-so-great people. But I’m
getting a little more established in the industry; I have more
options now. I teach a lot, too. I have friends that have studios I
teach at sometimes; a former teacher of mine runs huge conventions
and competitions all over. There’s a lot of variety to get involved
with.”

He slowly nodded. “Yeah, sounds like it.
So…do I get to see some of your work?”

“Um, I suppose,” she smiled. “There are some
things online I’m sure you could find.”

“You mean if I Google you?”

“Yeah, I guess. Or I could just point you in
the right direction.”

“You mean prevent me from seeing something
you’re not proud of?”

She laughed a little. “Well, I can only
think of a few jobs that I wish I hadn’t done just because of the
people I had to work with or whatever, but the end products are all
pretty good.”

“Well I’m sure it is if you’re in it.” He
got up and retrieved a laptop from a chair in the corner and
brought it to the couch. “Okay, so catch me up on the professional
life of Camryn…?”

“Jacobs,” she snickered. “You don’t even
know my last name.”

“Actually I did,” he protested with a smile.
“Just forgot it for a second. I’m just used to calling you
Trouble.”

Chapter Ten

The beach was warm this time. California
warm. She was in Teague’s arms, standing in the surf. Ahh, this was
the kind of weather she liked. It was sunny, eighty degrees, and
the beach was empty.

Wait…what’s this? And they were both naked.
Camryn smiled. She liked seeing Teague naked. His body was
beautiful—smooth, hard and chiseled—and she fit against him
perfectly. His hands—oh lord, his hands—were sexy and strong, and
when he slid them down her body he whispered dirty things in her
ear—