Teague (The Family Simon 4)

Teague that.

Ugh. She didn’t want to think about him right now because she was still trying to process what had gone down the night before.

But kids aren’t easily swayed or put off and their questions didn’t let up. By four o’clock, she shooed them back outside to play while she figured out dinner and worked on the laundry situation. She had The Eagles playing from her iPod, which usually lifted her spirits, but no dice today. No Tequila Sunrise for this girl. Figures.

The sun was shining, the early fall colors were breathtaking, and yet she felt as gray and dull as a slug. As far as she was concerned, it was a certain someone’s fault.

How could he drop that on her after weeks of silence? Who did that? He’d said the L-word and now her head was spinning.

She slammed the washing machine door closed and swore when her finger caught in it. Sucking the tip to ease the pain, she headed for the kitchen, only to turn on a dime when the doorbell went.

Must be Allie, she thought, but frowned as she reached for the handle. Allie would have rung and then walked in. She peered through the frosted glass. The shadow on the other side of the door was definitely not Allie. It was tall and male, and tall…and…

Teague.

Shit.

For a second, Sabrina’s mind went blank. And then all sorts of ridiculous things crowded the space inside her head, but the gist was pretty much the same. Hide. Now. Don’t let him see you looking like crap because he’ll know you spent the entire night thinking about him.

“I can see you Sabrina.” Teague’s deep voice made her jump and she reached for the door handle, taking a few seconds to get her nerves settled.

She swung the door open and her heart fell out of her chest. If it were physically possible, her heart would be lying on the ground at her feet, flopping around like a fish out of water.

Flop. Flop. Flop. How could this man still have this kind of power over her? And yet, the cells in her body erupted and every single one of them was literally singing.

Teague stood with legs spread slightly, one hand shoved into the front pocket of his pants, the other holding a vase filled to the brim with deep red roses. He was dressed formally, and holy hell did formal look good on Teague Simon. The black suit and crisp white shirt made him look darker, more dangerous and—she couldn’t lie—sexy as hell.

Calm the hell down.

“Are you going to invite me in?” His voice was light, and a hint of that lopsided grin she so desperately missed, hung around the corners of his mouth. “It’s not like I’m a vampire.”

“You don’t have to be a vampire to bite,” she responded, glad that she didn’t sound like a complete idiot.

“True, but I promise I won’t bite unless you ask me to.”

She hesitated and that smile of his deepened. And even though her body was saying COME THE HELL IN, that part of her that had gotten her through all the darkness of the past few years, well, it roared to life and infused her with some sort of calm. She wasn’t going to roll over this easily.

“How did you find out where I live?” Sabrina asked.

“Allie.”

“Of course,” she replied, disgusted by how easily her friend had caved.

“Are you going to let me in?”

“Why are you here?”

“I’m here because I love you Sabrina.”

Shocked at his forthright words, she was left with her mouth hanging open. There was that L-word again. Dammit. Why was he doing this to her?

“I’m prepared to camp out here all night, but I’m not sure if Chef Jean is. She’s come a long way to cook dinner for us, so you might want to at least think about letting her in.”

Chef who?

Sabrina cranked her head to the side and spied a small woman standing behind Teague. Dressed in white, she nodded and pointed to the basket of vegetables at her feet. “I bring?” she asked with a grin.

The woman didn’t bother to wait for an answer. She scooped up the basket of vegetables and stepped past Teague. “You get the rest, okay big man?”