Teague (The Family Simon 4)

“But I hate the city,” Morgan said. Her eyes, so much like Sabrina’s, were dark and stormy.

“Then you’ll follow the rules.” Sabrina’s gaze moved to the men. “And Teague will follow them as well or else.”

Teague took a sip from his mug, a half smile on his face. “Or else what?”

Sabrina’s eyes flashed. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

He held her gaze a heartbeat longer and when Sabrina finally tore her eyes away, she had the distinct feeling that if the kids weren’t there he would have said something entirely inappropriate.

“Sabrina, everything okay? Besides these two rascals giving you a heart attack?”

She turned to Josiah. He had a few inches on Teague and that was saying something considering Teague was pushing six-four. The carpenter was like a bear, with wide shoulders and long muscular legs. With his shaved head and assortment of tattoos, he was a bit of a roughneck, but it was the kind of roughneck a lot of women found irresistible. He had a ready smile, nice eyes, and a great big laugh that was contagious. He’d always been a bit of a player though, and she wondered if he’d finally settled down.

“It’s going,” she said slowly. She didn’t want to talk about herself. “What about you? Anything new?”

Josiah shrugged and smiled. “Nah. Same old, same old.”

“No woman in the picture?” Small talk had never been her thing but she attempted to be polite.

Josiah cleared his throat. “Not since Katie McKelvie demanded a ring.”

“Oh?” Sabrina’s eyebrow shot up. She remembered Katie. Blond. Big boobs. Nice smile. The woman filled out a bathing suit the way it should be.

“She wasn’t the one.”

That made Sabrina smile. “But I’m sure you had fun figuring that out.”

“You want a coffee?” Teague interrupted.

“No,” she responded without thinking, even though the smell was to die for.

“Mommy, Mr. Josiah said that the Ribfest is this weekend.” Harry smiled sweetly. “Are we going to go?”

“I want to go,” Morgan piped up. “I love ribs.”

Sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Ribfest was the last thing on her mind these days. The thought of jostling crowds made her cringe. She’d never been the one to do festivals—that had been Brent’s thing. Then there was the fact that she would run into a lot of folks who’d want to talk. And she hated making small talk. Hated the intrusion into her private life.

How are you doing?

Are the kids coping?

And the kicker….

Have you met anyone?

“Teague is going,” Morgan said. “Maybe we can go with him?”

Sabrina’s eyes widened. What the…

“No,” she answered sharply.

“But,” Morgan said.

“I said no,” Sabrina replied impatiently. What was it with her kids and this man? Didn’t they know Teague Simon wanted nothing to do with them?

She sighed and rubbed her temples. Was that a headache starting?

Truthfully she was surprised Teague was going, considering he’d been grumpy as hell the day before. But then he was a man. It was a Friday night and the town would be hopping. And that meant lots of single women. Lots of single women who’d be all over a guy like Teague Simon.