Kiss This (12 page)

“Sure,” he agreed, trying not to sound so
sullen. But he could even hear the sulk in his own voice. He
switched her places, adjusting the throb in his pants at the same
time. By the time they were ready to roll again, it was Jay that
pulled up beside them.

“Dude, where you been? Thought your crazy
stunt ass put the two of you in the ocean or something!”

Teague gave him a
look
.

“Uh, see ya back at the lot,” Jay said,
reading him just fine. “We’re gonna go eat.” He steered the dune
buggy away from them and headed south.

Camryn was obviously busy trying to avoid
eye contact with him again, so Teague decided not to say another
word. The dune buggy jumped forward and the ride back was a silent
one.

Thankfully lunch was tolerable because there
were six other people for the two of them to socialize with, but
they barely said a few sentences to one another. When Camryn made a
trip to the restroom, Jay leaned over the table to Teague and
asked, “What the fuck is up with you guys?”

Teague feigned indifference. “Nothing.”

“Bullshit! It’s like the arctic between you
two. I fucking interrupted something out there, didn’t I? I’m
sorry, dude. What can I do to make it up to you?”

Teague barely shook his head. “It’s not your
fault. In fact, maybe I’m glad you came when you did. I just can’t
figure her out.”

“Why the hell would you have to ‘figure her
out’?” he scoffed. “God, Teague. You sound like you care.” Teague
only took a drink of his water and Jay’s eyes opened wider. “Shit,
you do care. I was right. You’re such a fucking goner.”

“You don’t even know the half of it.”

“Well I would if you’d talk to me about it.
You’ve been a total closed book. Happy as a fucking jaybird, but
you don’t share much.”

Teague thought about that for a moment. He
had
been happy lately. What guy wouldn’t be with Camryn to
touch? And he hadn’t even done all the things with her that he
wanted to do. A physical relationship he wanted, yes, but why was
he all of a sudden worried that there wouldn’t be anything
more?

He was acting like a chick.

“I need you and Grady to ride back with
someone else,” Teague finally said.

“Sure man, okay,” Jay nodded. “Hey, she’s on
her way back,” he murmured, looking over Teague’s head. “Anything
else?”

Teague thought for a moment as he took a
deep breath. “Don’t come home tonight?” he barely smiled.

Jay chuckled an agreement, even though his
assumption was off the mark.

Chapter Eleven

Camryn wasn’t sure what to think of Teague’s
mood after they left Sandlake. He didn’t seem upset, but he’d also
lost his playful edge. When they had joined the rest of the group
back at the parking lot after the dunes, they chose a place to meet
for a late lunch and climbed into various vehicles to head out. Jay
and Grady rode in the Jeep with them, and Camryn was grateful that
she didn’t have to get wrapped up in a serious conversation with
the sexy driver next to her.

But Jay and Grady had decided to ride with
someone else on the way back, and that left an unfinished
conversation floating in the air. Or
was
there a
conversation still to be had? She hoped that there wasn’t, but
Teague had hardly spoken to her after they got in the Jeep.

Thank God she received a call from Melanie
on their way back to Olivia Beach. But Melanie wasn’t much for
small talk and dove straight into her reason for calling.

“Mom says you’ve got a hot guy you’ve been
spending time with,” she said excitedly. “Give me details, Cam. How
hot?”

Camryn really didn’t want to have this
conversation with Teague sitting right next to her, but she’d
barely had a chance to talk to her sister since she’d been in
Oregon. Telling her she’d call her back wasn’t an option. Plus, if
Melanie had actually made a call to their mother, she felt like she
owed her one.

“Inferno,” Camryn answered.

“Holy crap!” Melanie squealed. “Body?”

“Grade A.”

“Eeeee!” she squealed again. “Eyes?”

“Tropical paradise.”

“Wow,” Melanie groaned. “Smile?”

“Mouth watering.”

“Voice?”

Camryn had to pause as she closed her eyes.
“Euphoric,” she sighed.

“Oh my God, Cam. This guy sounds delicious.
Bring him home with you, okay?” she giggled. “Ooh, McKenzie and
Lynn are here, I gotta jet! Love you, sis!”

She hung up without waiting for a
response.

Camryn slid her phone into her bag and
rested back against the seat. She felt Teague glance her way, so
she turned her head his direction.

“All you said was inferno, grade A, tropical
paradise, mouth watering and… euphoric? That’s a conversation with
your sister?”

She smiled uncomfortably. “Yeah, pretty
much. Speed Q-and-A.”

He barely nodded as he slowed for a truck
that was turning. “I’m intrigued to know what the questions
were.”

She shouldn’t even tread there, but what the
hell… “All about you,” she replied, staring ahead at the
highway.

Teague didn’t reply, but she could tell he
was glancing her way. Finally he said, “Really? Or are you just
being funny.”

She looked at him and smiled. “Was there a
description you didn’t like?”

He lightly laughed but said, “You were
describing me?”

Camryn shrugged. “She was rapid-firing
questions about you.”

He remained silent for a while, and Camryn
knew he was rolling the words around in his head. After a minute he
asked, “Okay, I’m hooked. Care to clarify?”

“No,” she answered, thrilled that she could
keep him guessing. At least for a while.

“Maybe I should take a crack at it,” he
shrugged. “Inferno… I’m guessing I’m hot.”

She didn’t reply but almost laughed at the
smile he was trying to hide.
Arrogant bastard
. He was
enjoying this.

“Hmm, let’s see, what was the next one…?
Grade A. Hell, that’s easy. I work out almost every day. I mean
look at my toned body.” He motioned down himself and Camryn had to
put a fist to her lips to keep from cracking up. She’d yet to see
him without a shirt on, but his arms and what she could see through
a t-shirt were proof enough. She’d seen him in shorts too, so she
knew his legs were nice as well.

“And then there was…tropical paradise. Hmm,
let’s see here… Wait, warm and… Well, I’m stumped. Heavenly? No,
probably not referring to my sexual prowess… Yet.”

She couldn’t help it. She laughed.

He smiled at her, and Camryn was glad the
ice seemed to be thawing between them. “Well,” he said, “I’ve been
told I have sexy tropical eyes, whatever the fuck that means. I’m
going with that.”

She only shrugged, unwilling to respond.

“Okay, next was… Eh, I forget.”

“Mouth watering.”

“Ah! Yes, mouth watering. Let’s see, we
already established the hotness factor, my body, how I look… I’d
say that has to do with how I taste, but I doubt that would be a
question someone would ask.”

“You don’t know my sister.”

“True. But what else could mouth watering be
a response to… Man, it could be anything in reference to me…”

Again she chuckled. This was kind of funny.
Of course Teague was trying to be cocky, but she had no doubt he
believed all of these things about himself.

“Okay, I’m stuck on the mouth watering one.
And euphoric… Shit, that could mean anything, too. If we had a
kissing
relationship, I might’ve guessed that. I mean that
seems like a question a chick would ask, right? ‘What’s it like to
kiss Teague?’” he chirped in a girly voice. “‘Oh, God, it’s so
euphoric!’” he squealed in the same pitch.

She punched him in the arm but still
couldn’t stop laughing. She was glad he was being an ass or she’d
be dwelling on his kissing comment. “You are so full of yourself!
And now I’m not so sure about my answer on that one,” she
added.

The grin disappeared and he gave her a
side-glance. Lifting an eyebrow he said, “Uh-oh, then maybe I
should just shut up.”

“Maybe you should,” she smiled playfully.
But she was glad his normal sexy voice was back.

“Come on, put yourself in my shoes. I’m
sitting here while you have a conversation with someone and all I
hear is: inferno…grade A…tropical paradise…mouth
watering…euphoric…” He grinned at her again. “Seriously, I was
trying not to bust up laughing.”

“Then next time I won’t give you the
privilege of hearing me say nice things about you.”

“Oh come on, I didn’t know it was about me!”
he laughed. “It was just funny.”

She smiled and nodded her head. “Yeah, I bet
it was. And I’m sorry I’m not good at thinking of descriptions on
the fly.”

“Hey, I’m not complaining. I’m totally
intrigued. Come on, mouth watering and euphoric… Tell me what you
were referring to.”

“Nope,” she shook her head.

“What if I gave you five descriptions about
you
,” he tried. He glanced at her as they turned down
29
^th
.

“I’m not really interested in how guys
describe girls,” she replied smugly. “You can only hear luscious
ass, smokin’ hot, and nice tits so many times before it gets
old.”

He chuckled, but at the same time, seemed to
be thinking over those descriptions. “Well I’m not like most guys,”
he told her as he pulled into his driveway. He winked at her as he
shut off the ignition and hopped out of the Jeep.

“No you’re not,” Camryn muttered to herself.
She watched him come around to the passenger’s door, and when he
opened it for her she said, “Thanks for the day, Teague. I had a
lot of—”

She didn’t finish the sentence, because
after she got out and shut the door, he put his hands against the
Jeep on either side of her head, blocking her in.

“What makes you think I’m done with you,” he
whispered in her ear. He pulled back to look her in the eye, like
he was studying her reaction.

“What makes you think I’m available?” she
countered.

He slowly smiled. “Because I prayed really
hard that you were.”

“You know the angels are on my side not
yours, right?”

A soft laugh escaped him and he pressed his
cheek against hers. “I believe that,” he murmured, and he kissed
her temple. Pulling back he asked, “Will you spend more time with
me? Please?”

“Are you sure you can handle it?”

He’d almost kissed her on the dunes—or at
least she
thought
he was going to—but knowing how confident
he was with his ability to win a bet, he was probably just pushing
to see if
she
would concede
first
. Her nerves had
been zinging all over the place. It would have been her first kiss
in over two years had he gone through with it. And the fact that
she
had put her lips on
him
was monumental. It didn’t
matter that it was a tiny little kiss next to his mouth; to make
the conscious decision to give him that was a huge milestone for
her.

“I’ll do my best,” Teague answered after
studying her for a moment. “Just give me another chance.”

Camryn wasn’t sure if he was apologizing for
what happened earlier or not, even though there wasn’t really
anything to apologize about. “Okay,” she agreed.

He took her hand and pulled her along to the
house, and after tossing their things by the couch, he offered to
make her some hot chocolate.

It was tempting since she was starting to
feel cold again. The adrenaline from driving the dune buggy and
wanting to paw Teague’s body had long worn off. “Actually I was
thinking about heading back to my mom’s so I can take a shower and
change. I feel kind of…salty and sandy.”

“The dunes have a way of doing that to a
person. You’re welcome to use mine,” he motioned to somewhere in
the house. “I promise I won’t suddenly appear in there with
you.”

Her instinct was to reply with something
clever, but all she did was smile.

“But go ahead,” he pointed. “My room is
through that hall; use whatever you need to.”

She pressed her lips together in thought but
ultimately shrugged. “Okay,” she said, picking up her bag.

***

Teague knew he was pacing and he couldn’t
help it. He looked at the clock again, noting that she’d only been
in the shower for a few minutes. He should have walked her there
himself, or at least asked if everything was okay. He considered
walking in on her, just to see what she’d do.

He smiled to himself. Well, he’d pretty much
already seen half of what she had. But holy hell, to see her wet
and lathered in the shower…

Shit, he was getting a boner.

He sat down on the couch and turned on the
TV as a distraction. Yeah, he was acting like a nervous teenager
that wanted to kiss a girl for the first time. It was fucking
ridiculous. And in the movie room that night, he felt he same way;
like an adolescent boy that had seen a pair of naked breasts for
the first time.

He was really, really horny, right? That’s
all it was. But he seriously had to cool it around Camryn or he was
going to lose his damn mind.
Just a few more days…

When she came out a few minutes later, he
was glad he was sitting down since she basically took his breath
away. He’d stopped breathing, at least. She was wearing a pair of
black leggings and a soft, loose sweater that hung off her
shoulder. Her hair was wet, she had no makeup on, and her feet were
bare.

She was so fucking gorgeous.

“I got sand on your damn floor,” she said.
“Do you have something to vacuum it up with or…? What?” she asked,
glancing down at herself. She’d caught him looking her up and down.
“Teague?”

“Huh?”

She sort of chuckled. “I said I need
something to clean up the sand on your bathroom floor.”