“Is that even legal?” He scoffed.
“No idea. Didn’t matter because there were never riches found.”
His brown eyes softened. “You don’t seem like someone to fall for the wanderlust type.”
“I thought he was eccentric, and”—she rolled her eyes—“I’m sure half this town still does. He blew in like a storm with tales of adventure, but I think he used me to have a home base.”
Noah’s lips flattened. “Hate you were used for anything.”
“I don’t hate it. Or anything. Realizations like Spence—Spencer, that’s his name—when you figure out that someone doesn’t love you and married you for a mailing address… It’s one of those things you go through, so you can grow through it. Something better is waiting for me on the other side one day.”
“I like that.” Noah leaned back as though he were turning that over, then he nodded. “That’s a good one.”
“Helps when it’s your job to figure out how to handle road bumps.”
“An ex-husband is a road bump?”
“Maybe roadkill.” She made a face. “Well, he’s still alive, but at that same level, dirtbag. Pardon my language.”
His mouth twitched. “I’ve heard worse.”
“Spence wasn’t into the idea of marriage. I’m not sure why I thought things would be different with a baby.”
The gleam in Noah’s eyes vanished. “Wasn’t a good dad?”
“Was never a dad. One look at a pregnancy test, and he split.” Teagan sighed. “Will wasn’t an accident, and I don’t know what I expected. But…”
Noah came closer, comforting her with a hand on her shoulder and a light squeeze. “Seems like you’re being hard on yourself.”
Her eyes slipped shut. In one simple moment, his palm copped her shoulder and the weight of her body wanted to lean into him. Her family wasn’t close, and Teagan had moved to Eagle’s Ridge for the great job opportunity in the school system. She stayed for the tight-knit community. But she didn’t have the closeness of a casual hug whenever she wanted, not that she had thought much about that need.
Sighing, she nodded, agreeing with him somewhat. “Maybe just annoyed. Everyone who knows Spence still thinks back to our marriage as though I married a fun guy who wasn’t meant to be tied down. It’s annoying, and it’s an excuse.”
Noah’s hand dropped, taking away its protective warmth. “It says something about society, honestly.”
Caught off guard, she hesitated. “What do you mean?”
“If a mother ran off to go hunt for treasure?” He shook his head. “She’d be roasted. I’m not sure how treasure pays in child support—”
“It doesn’t. He has no legal or financial responsibility.”
He leaned against the counter. “I can see why you’re careful.”
Careful… Very. Except with Noah. She’d told him more about herself than she’d told anyone. Teagan bit her lip. “About earlier, and every time today that I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth. I didn’t know you, but I know Lainey wouldn’t have put Bella in a bad situation.”
“You can stop explaining any time, Teagan.”
She dropped her head then looked back at him. “Okay, it was all for Bella’s best interest. More than mine, whatever defensive walls I may have.”
The corner of his soft brown eyes tightened. “You wouldn’t be half the woman you are if you didn’t protect those kids.”
It wasn’t just his compliment but how he said it. Earnest and soft. Thoughtful, as if each word cast a net around her, pulling her closer to hear more. “Thanks.”
“And, I can scale any wall.” There wasn’t a hint of innocence behind that SEAL’s smile. “Now that I know the history behind it? Doesn’t worry me at all.”
The air in the kitchen thinned. He stood, rugged and charming, laying on the line far more than she understood, and he was forward. Aggressive and charming, unlike Spence, who was just a charmer. But forward how? Noah hadn’t said a thing. Hadn’t made a move. She couldn’t breathe as fireworks threatened to ignite the air around them, and Noah hadn’t even hugged her. Not so much as a kiss, and nowhere near an inappropriate suggestion.
“You know the right things to say.” A fever smoldered under her skin.
His face searched hers. “How so?”
“I’m not sure. But…” They were two grown adults in the midst of a full-fledged moment where her breaths didn’t feel deep enough and her mind swam in warm circles. “I really like talking to you.”
“I…”
Did his skin feel hot like hers? Would his fingers grip her as tightly as his eyes promised he might hold her? She stepped closer, her hair falling across her face, and he didn’t move. His jaw tensed. His shoulders shifted back as his nostrils flared with a deep inhale.
What was she doing? She was too close! Her words were too intimate! Teagan’s cheeks blazed almost as hot as the sea of embarrassed tears that taunted her eyelids.
She was a helper. He needed help. Simple!
They had a friendly connection, and now she’d taken advantage of that.
“I am so sorry.” Teagan turned to the sink, hating the realization that she’d disclosed too much and the cold sweep rushing through her chest with the new space between them. “That was inappropriate.”
In all her years as a counselor, she had never taken advantage of a situation, and that was what she had just done. Humiliated, Teagan didn’t know what was worse. Rejection tonight, having to face Noah time and time again in the future, or knowing that she’d poured her heart out about the kids as her priority then almost made a move on Noah on his first day as Bella’s primary caretaker.
The dishwasher chugged. Teagan counted its rotations instead of focusing on the man who didn’t move from beside her. They both waited until the dishwater changed to a different cycle, and he gripped her bicep, gently swinging her in front of him. “Stop apologizing to me. We haven’t done anything wrong.”
We haven’t.
Not her or him but we, and that was because of him.
“Fine.” She forced a half smile onto her face, though her embarrassment was no less. Her gratitude, however, soared. She should have known the moment he walked up and shook her hand. Noah Coleman was a gentleman.
CHAPTER EIGHT
If Noah could survive BUD/S when he was naïve and too young to know how hard life could be, then he could survive an innocent evening with Teagan Shaw while she was wearing what had to be the cutest, comfiest, most form-fitting outfit known to man. He didn’t even have a foot fetish, but he’d already spent too much time focusing on how he’d pull those damn fuzzy socks off her feet.
Every part of him ached, and not in a way that he might’ve thought when it came to a woman he wanted and didn’t know if he should touch.
Scratch that. He’d never met a woman he didn’t know if he should touch. Noah had high standards. He wasn’t anywhere close to sainthood, but he made picky guys look as if they’d dive into an all-you-can-handle buffet of debauchery. So he knew quickly who might interest him. Looks played a role, but the number one quality for someone driving him wild was heart. Passion. A dedication to whatever made their world rock.
Teagan had that in droves, and she had that about something he cared about too. Bella. Will. The children she worked with.
There was no question that they had a mutual attraction, but she’d easily set that aside to make sure Bella was taken care of. He’d never met a woman like her before, and Noah didn’t know what he should do.
Now he questioned everything, and that was an unfamiliar situation. Uncertainty wasn’t acceptable. A measure of risk was allowed, but not unexpected uncertainty, and he’d pulled back hard and fast, needing to reassess his motives.
But with that half-appeased grin and ambiguous eyes on a woman he needed to kiss, Noah could’ve kicked his own butt from here back to Washington, DC.
Kissing Teagan in the middle of her kitchen… He inhaled again, wanting to calm the need ra
cing through him. But breathing wouldn’t do anything when he wanted the taste of her tongue on his. He couldn’t help grinding his molars now that he’d blown his chance to slide his hands along her back.
“The kids are quiet,” she said, punting the subject far away from his sexy thoughts of her in that sweater and those jeans.
He shifted his weight. “Must be a good movie.”
“They’ve only seen it a hundred times.”
Noah would have moved a mountain to take away her awkward blush and replace the color with cheeks aflush from kissing.
Maybe she needed a minute. “I’ll go check on the kids.”
Then Teagan could do whatever women did when they wanted to ignore a man and recalibrate. His fingers were crossed that she couldn’t see he needed a five-minute reprieve as well. His arousal might be poisoning his objectivity when it came to her.
“Sounds good.” She didn’t glance his way, reaching for Will’s lunch box.
Hell, who could blame her? He’d just spent the night hitting on her. There was crossing the line, then there was how he did life—big and bold. Not smart when there were two uncommonly quiet kids to take into account.
He left Teagan and her lunch making then headed toward the sound of the movie. He rounded the corner of the living room and stopped short, cracking a smile. Will and Bella were conked out and propped against each other in front of the television.
He crept a few inches into the living room, taking advantage of their stillness, and stood to study the kids. Amazing how both looked so much younger. How could these two tiny people produce so much noise and energy? He focused on Bella and her soft brown hair and angel’s skin.
If he screwed this up, the consequences would be epic—and tragic. The calamity of screwing up was much bigger than any parenting blogger could articulate in the crash-course of blog posts he read on flights overseas and links that his family had sent him.
Little strands of Bella’s brown hair lifted when she sneezed, and she scrubbed them off her face, not waking up or falling from the precarious position where she and Will balanced.
“Hey.” Teagan brushed his forearm. “Oh,” she whispered then nodded back to the hall after an exchange of silent looks.
He leaned against a bar area on the cedar wall across from the living room’s entryway, and she remained straight as an arrow. Noah sighed. “I’ll scoop her up and be out—”
“Sure.” Teagan gave a smile that must have made a thousand PTA meeting appearances. It was welcoming, safe, and surface level. He hated it. “Unless you have questions on school or kid stuff. Then let the kids sleep, and I can answer your questions.”
Her voice was firm and even. Helpful. He wished that he could feel the texture and pause that she put into every heartfelt thought. Noah licked his lips, looking away, understanding why she’d gone formal and wanted to reestablish their boundaries. That didn’t mean he liked it.
“Mm-hmm,” he grunted and ground his back into the cedar planks.
Teagan watched him for a second longer than he guessed she might’ve. Then, posture perfect—even in her casual clothes—she pivoted to face the kids, a picture of unmoved beauty. He held in a laugh. Here he was grunting and moping, and she could pull off being a smarmy teacher in fuzzy socks.
Fuzzy socks and an oversized sweater that taunted him with a bare shoulder. Add thick brown hair that could’ve passed for red in the right light, and he could’ve grumbled too.
Teagan turned, casting her amber eyes on him—him, but not his eyes. Barely his face, and he was tired of this already. Not fifteen minutes had passed.
“Teagan?”
Her eyes lifted to his. Finally.
“Back in the kitchen—” He lost her eyes, and no, that wasn’t how this was going to happen. Noah pushed off the wall, and her gaze jumped back to his as he stepped close. “I made you feel uncomfortable, and I’m kicking my ass for that.”
Those beautiful golden eyes widened. “What? No.”
“I did. You don’t have to be polite.” He gave his most earnest smile. “I said too much, and you’ve gone above and beyond. Not just Bella. But me.” He let the fake smile melt away and leaned close. “I’d really like to not screw that up on my first day.”
Her pink lips parted, holding back for a curious moment. “What are you talking about?”
He laughed, looking away then back. “I hit on you.”
“No, you didn’t. Not really.”
“You wouldn’t be half the woman. It wasn’t meant to be a line, I swear, and I get how it might’ve come off like that. Sorry.”
She balked. “I didn’t think it was a line, and Noah?”
“What?”
“I hit on you.”
There it was. The texture. That sound. The breathy anticipation of what might be. Her confession. Again, Teagan’s cheeks pinked, but this time, Noah cared a lot less, because she had that thing between them back in her voice. It was decipherable only by him, and he liked the way it tightened his lungs and made the muscles in his back strain.
Noah drew in a slow breath, searching for the right words. But they didn’t come. Who knew what those were supposed to be when they’d gone through the heartache that had pitched them together.
“Teagan.” He pressed them forward until her back met the cedar wood wall. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Her chin tilted up, her lips parting with tiny breaths he wanted to capture with a kiss.
“And that’s foreign to me.” He towered over her, but he gave her enough space that she could roll away, plenty of room so he could take in more than just her face. But she smelled like flowers. Not sweet but strong and wild. Noah ducked his cheek to hers, brushing his lips close to her ear.
Her palms smoothed the front of his Henley. Not pushing away, not grabbing for more.
Together they were back at the same line as in the kitchen earlier. The one they’d both eased away from. But this time they toed the line, savoring and wondering, testing whether the Do Not Cross was a figment of their imagination, a simple cautionary tale that they’d concocted for no good reason, or if hormones and arousal were calling the shots.
Teagan slid her cheek against his mouth, and he stifled a groan.
“Neither do I,” she whispered. “No clue.”
He chuckled quietly, leaning his weight against her. “It’d be easier if one of us knew.”
Pressed between them, her fingernails scratched down his stomach, and he nuzzled his nose against her neck, breathing against her skin and memorizing how she smelled. Teagan’s soft murmurs made the hairs on the back of his neck stand, and he let his lips drift to her cheek.
“I’m going to kiss you on one condition,” he whispered.
“What’s that?” Teagan’s breathlessness made his heart pound harder.
He let the rush roll through him then teased her lips with his, not making contact, keeping them a breath apart. “That neither of us will be sorry.”
“Promise.” Teagan’s fingers tightened against his chest. “I won’t be.”
CHAPTER NINE
Teagan pushed her hands up his Henley, teasing her fingernails along the unbuttoned top of his collar. “Do you promise too?”
She asked in a way that was less about reassurance and more about urging him on. They didn’t know what they were doing, but he was positive that wherever he went with her would be intense. “I promise.”
His hands swept into her hair, brushing the thick strands back, and his lips tickled against hers, hovering a kiss away, living for each of her needy breaths. He erased the minute space, and Teagan’s full lips stole his thoughts. Her hands drifted up, locking around his neck as he deepened their kiss, tongues testing, teasing—sliding with a growing want that consumed him.
Her soft sweater rubbed against him, and the curves of her breasts called for his attention. Teagan melted around his chest. His fingers threaded her hair, grabbing for more, holding onto the woman whose hot mouth opened an
d purred with a fiery fury.
They were gasping. Breathless. Her roaming hands explored his chest, knotting in his shirt, pulling Noah for more.
“Teagan…” He nibbled her lip then kissed her jawline, and the vibrations of her mews as her head dropped back were unlike any aphrodisiac he could recall.
This was a kiss. Nothing more. He needed to remember. Remind himself. Her hips rubbed against his growing erection, and Noah stifled a groan against her skin, biting and licking her earlobe until she moaned as he did.
She clung to his sides, her chest heaving against him when he whispered in her ear. Every word, each reaction, did nothing but urge him on, promising her the sweetest, most sinful things he could. Giving her the truth between the work his tongue levied from her ear to neck to lips.
I like how you sound.
I like how your kiss tastes.
That, Teagan, right there.
He pushed her until he couldn’t take it anymore then pried his hands from her body and stapled them to the wall, on either side of her face.
“Your promise still good?” he asked.
Teagan nodded with cheeks that he had pinked and lips that were swollen from kissing him. “Still good.”
“Me too.” Noah pressed forward and softened his kisses, staring into the amber eyes that had darkened to a rich hazel.
Their wild, groping need eased to a silent watchful pause, waiting to see if they could survive a first kiss with explosive firepower.
Thump. Thump.
Teagan startled. Her gaze sobered. “What was that?”
He had an idea what that noise might’ve been. The thuds came from directly behind the wall.
Straightening her clothes, Teagan ducked under his arm, her face panicked.
“They’re on the floor,” Noah said quietly as Teagan walked into the living room.
He followed, and bingo. Bella and Will lay side by side with their shared pillow in the middle. One of them had toppled, and having held each other, the other one fell.
“That could’ve been close,” she mumbled, twisting toward him with wide eyes. “Maybe that was a bad idea.”
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