Seducing His Wife

by Elizabeth Lennox

  He looked down at her as she tucked the second pair of boots under her arm. “Just jeans? That’s all you need?”

  “I’ll be fine with a pair of jeans.” She had no idea why he thought that was so funny, but she wasn’t going to look at him. No way was she looking up at him. He would be smiling and that irritating sparkle would be in his eyes and she’d get all googly-eyed again. Nope, just stare straight ahead!

  “What?” she finally snapped when he didn’t elaborate.

  He chuckled as he shrugged. “Just thinking that I’m going to love watching you stomp after me in your boots and jeans,” he leaned forward to whisper in her ear, “and nothing else.”

  She pulled back as she gasped in horror. “A shirt would be good too!” she growled, finally understanding why he was so amused.

  “Darn,” he mumbled, but led her over to one of the other stores. This wasn’t the kind that she normally frequented, but it had a wall of jeans on one side and other clothes for both men and women in the middle.

  “Jeans for the lady,” he told the sales clerk that walked up to greet them. “Size ten.” His eyes moved over her figure, almost caressing her backside. “I’ll pick out the tops. You try on the jeans.”

  Gabriella rolled her eyes. She wasn’t sure why but she was fairly certain that he was up to something and she wouldn’t like it. But what was the alternative? She needed to try on the jeans even though she absolutely hated jeans. She didn’t even own a pair of jeans, preferring leggings and a tunic top when she was relaxing. Jeans just…they didn’t fit her properly.

  And it was fairly embarrassing that he knew her size. The man knew women too well, she thought as she followed the sales clerk to one of the dressing rooms. There was a stack of jeans in different styles in the teenager’s arms. “Try these on and let me know which style suits you the best.”

  Gabriella walked into the dressing room, glancing back at Teague, not sure if she should leave him to pick out her tops. She wasn’t sure she wanted him to be in charge of that task. But she had to get something other than these ridiculous sweat pants to wear. Once she had the jeans, she could go shopping on her own. Of course, she’d left her purse back in his truck. Ugh! She hadn’t even realized that she was walking around a mall without a purse! The man made her so nuts!

  Okay. Fine. This was fixable. She’d just walk back out to his truck so that she could retrieve her purse before she dismissed him completely and then grab a cab back to the city to find a hotel. Or maybe she should find a hotel out this way, further outside of the city. The hotels were probably cheaper. She’d just pulled on a pair of jeans and was looking at the way they fit her when the door to the dressing room opened up.

  The whistle was her first hint that it was Teague. Well, the fact that the door swung open without any warning should have been her first clue, but she was too worried about the way her butt looked in the jeans.

  “We’ll get those,” he told her with finality, his eyes heating up as he continued to stare at her bottom.

  She glanced up at him, then at the stack of jeans still to try on. “I haven’t even tried on the others. They might…”

  He shook his head. “Those. Definitely.”

  A moment later, the door was closed and he was gone.

  With resentment, she still went through the other jeans. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she twisted and turned, the first pair of jeans were still the ones that looked the best. She hated that he was right, but the man knew his denim, she supposed. She didn’t want to know how he was so knowledgeable regarding women’s derrieres. Nope, not a subject she was willing to ponder. And the feeling behind that issue had absolutely nothing to do with jealousy, she promised herself.

  She carefully folded all of the jeans, placing them in a stack with the sizing stickers exactly as they had been on the shelf, then walked out again. “I’ll take…”

  He was sitting in a chair looking at his cell phone when she walked back out, several bags filled with clothes already paid for.

  “What have you done?” she demanded.

  He looked up at her, a black eyebrow going up. “Go put the jeans back on. I’ve paid for everything, including the ones you liked.”

  She huffed a bit, irritated that he was taking control. “What if I liked one of the other styles better?”

  He shrugged. “I’ll get you those too, if you want. But I got you seven pairs of the others.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Seven pairs?”

  He stood up, his eyes doing that “dare ya” thing that he seemed to have perfected. “Sure, one for each day of the week. If you’re staying till I sign those papers, then you’ve got a long wait ahead of you.”

  With that, he turned and walked out of the store. “You coming?” he called back when he was at the entrance.

  She hurried after him, grabbing the extra pair of jeans the sales clerk tossed to her in her rush. “Jerk,” she mumbled under her breath but she hurried after him.

  When he stopped at the next store, Gabriella came to a screeching halt. “Woah! I’m not going in there.”

  He laughed, his eyes bright with anticipation. “Fine, you stay out here. I’ll get what you need.”

  The pink store filled with bras and underwear was not the place she normally purchased her underwear. “Teague, don’t…” but he was already tossing things into the basket. “Thirty-six D, right?”

  She was still standing at the entrance, but when he called out to her from one of the displays, she rushed into the store, fully aware that he would simply yell to her from wherever he was in the store. If she didn’t want her intimate sizes discussed at top volume, she had to go to him. “C. I’m only a C cup,” she hissed, glancing around to see if anyone else was noticing her embarrassment.

  She should have kept her mouth shut because her correction caused the odious man to turn around and look at her, or more specifically, her breasts. She couldn’t stop the way her nipples hardened under his intense scrutiny, but she lifted her arms to cover them anyway, wishing that her cheeks didn’t have the horrible habit of turning red when he looked at her that way.

  “Prove it,” he said, leaning a very large hand on top of one of the dainty dressers filled with provocative bras.

  Gabriella backed up a step as she shook her head. “I’m not proving anything to you!”

  He laughed softly but started filling the basket once again. “Didn’t think so,” he said and tossed in several more.

  She watched in horror as he threw in the sexiest pieces. She’d never dare to wear things like that! “I don’t wear thongs!” she hissed, glancing around at the other shoppers who were all smiling, obviously jealous. A tall, gorgeous man buying loads of sexy underwear? Oh yeah, every woman’s fantasy. Well, her nightmare, she thought, but still, she could understand the other women’s thoughts. Yeah, it would be nice. If she were still attracted to Teague. And willing to act on that attraction.

  But she wasn’t! She was cool and calm. Toby’s kisses never made her crazy like Teague’s had so there was no insanity, no need to wear sexy underwear like the pieces he was throwing into the basket.

  “You do now,” Teague told her and tossed in a black lace thong after holding it up to examine it carefully. “What do you normally sleep in?” he asked. “When you’re not sleeping naked with me, that is.”

  Gabriella heard the other ladies chuckle and covered her face with her hands. “You’re incorrigible,” she groaned.

  He leaned closer. “Either you tell me or I pick something for you myself.”

  “Leave!” she snapped at him.

  “Fine,” he replied and walked to one of the walls where he started to examine the outfits that were definitely not for sleeping.

  “I’m leaving,” she told him and walked out of the store.

  His only response to her emphatic statement was that sexy, deep chuckle and she almost growled out her frustration. The man was annoying and irritating and he knew her enough to know exactly how to push h
er buttons. They might not know each other well, but the things he did know, he used to his advantage.

  When he came out twenty minutes later, she had no idea what he’d bought, but he had four bags filled with whatever was in that store, and the bags all looked packed! “You bought more underwear than clothing!”

  He shrugged. “What else do you need?” he asked, carrying everything but the boxes of shoes and extra pair of jeans.

  She gritted her teeth, trying for patience. “I need you to sign those papers and let me get back to Boston.”

  He glanced at his watch. “I have meetings this afternoon. Are you going to be okay by yourself?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m a big girl, Teague. I can take care of myself.”

  His eyes moved up and down her figure with that teasing smile. “Yes, you can.”

  They walked in silence out to his truck and he stored all the bags back under the hardtop of his truck. She peered under the cover, fascinated by all the items in his truck. When she spotted her purse, she gasped with horror. “My purse!” she almost sobbed. It was ruined! The black leather was coated with globs of cement and cement dust, all of it dried into the fine leather tote bag. “It’s ruined.”

  Teague stood at her side, looking at the bag in her hands. “Back into the stores for a bag?” he suggested.

  Gabriella sighed, dropping the bag back into the truck. “No. I’m fine,” she told him with resentment and more than a little embarrassment. She could just scrape the stupid cement off of the leather for now. She’d find a new one when she got back to Boston. That bag had cost her a lot and there was no way she’d allow Teague to buy her a new leather bag. He couldn’t afford it. Good grief, he probably couldn’t afford all of the stuff he’d already bought her! The man lived in a trailer, after all.

  After rummaging around in the various bags, she selected what she hoped were the least risqué underwear items and a soft, red sweater. When she had everything she might need, she stepped into the truck, the jeans clutched to her chest. “Stay out for a moment,” she ordered and slammed the door closed.

  Teague was stunned for about half a minute before he realized what she was going to do. And hell, it turned him on when he thought of her naked…or almost naked…in his truck. Of course, it would be better if he were in there with her. Or better still, if she were getting naked in his bedroom. He pictured her in his house, with the old wood floors and the large windows that looked out into the woods. She’d look perfect just about anywhere in that house, he thought. In jeans, out of jeans, in his old shirts, or just with the sunshine to compete with the beauty of her skin.

  What was he doing? Leaning against the truck, he looked out at the parking lot, trying to figure out his plan. She was here and she was more beautiful than he remembered. And feistier! Damn, she was stunning when she was trying to put him down. She even looked adorable in his old sweats and shirt. With a figure like hers, she could make just about anything look good, he thought.

  He should just sign the papers and get on with his life, let her go back to Boston, and marry whatever idiot she’d chosen that would give her the life she wanted.

  But when had he ever taken the easy, sensible path?

  Looking into the truck, he saw one slender foot pop into the air as she pulled the jeans on over her sexy legs. It was the pink-tipped toes that did it for him. That pink, so completely wrong for her, made him want to piss her off to the point that she told him why she’d left him.

  Oh, she’d given him some load of BS about how they wanted different things in life, but that made no sense since the previous five days they’d laid in each other’s arms, talking about what they both wanted out of life, and their hopes and dreams had seemed pretty damn similar.

  So maybe he’d keep her around for a few days, find out a bit more about the woman who took his ring but refused to take his name. Interesting choice, he thought as his phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket.

  It was his brother. “Marcy’s okay, right?” he asked in place of a greeting.

  “She’s in labor,” Zeke announced and Teague could hear the strain in his voice.

  “I’m on my way. I’ll call the others to let them know.”

  “Thanks. I’m going back in.”

  Teague jumped into the truck and started the engine, his mind only partially aware of Gabby pulling the shirt down over the pale skin of her sexy stomach. “We have to go,” he told her as he revved the engine and backed up the truck. “Put your seatbelt on.”

  She did as he told her but her eyes were wide, worried. “What’s wrong?” she asked, knowing that something was wrong.

  “Marcy. She went into labor. We have to go to the hospital.” He tossed her his phone. “Call my other brothers, Logan and Luke. Tell them she’s at University of Washington Medical Center and that Marcy is okay, but we need to get there for Zeke.”

  Gabby looked down at the fancy phone, not sure how to even unlock it. But as she looked over at him, a thought occurred to her. As soon as she punched in the numbers he called out to her, the phone unlocked and something in her heart twisted. With pain? Regret? Hope? It was the date of their wedding. His password was their anniversary!

  She rejected that last possibility and ran her finger over the screen, looking through his contacts for his brothers’ phone numbers. She came to Logan’s number first and dialed.

  “I thought you had the inspector this afternoon?” a deep voice asked by way of greeting.

  Gabriella hesitated for a moment. “Um, is this Logan Steele?”

  There was a long moment of silence before he said, “Yes. Who is this and why do you have my brother’s phone?”

  Gabriella cringed at both the voice and the speed with which Teague was taking a corner. “Yes, well, I’m uh…this is Gabriella Hicks. I’m calling for your brother. He’s driving. He said that…”

  “Is Marcy okay?” he interrupted.

  Gabriella was relieved that the man immediately understood the reason for the call. “Yes. But she’s in labor. Marcy and Zeke are at Washington University Medical Center.”

  “Got it. We’ll meet you there.”

  She called the next number, Luke Steele, and had almost the exact same conversation. But at the end, Teague was pulling into a parking space and she told Luke that she’d let them know if there was any additional information once they were in the hospital and had found Zeke.

  “Come on,” he said and came around the truck again, opening her door before she’d even gotten her seat belt off. He held her hand, helping her down even though she was now in boots, jeans, and the softest cashmere sweater she’d ever pulled against her skin.

  He looked down at her and she reached up to try and smooth her hair, feeling self-conscious with it going all crazy like this. She didn’t have a brush or makeup and felt completely off balance. But that was actually the norm when she was around Teague.

  “I look a mess,” she mumbled.

  Teague took her hand and pulled her through the other cars. “You look beautiful,” and he burst through the doors of the hospital. He spoke to the receptionist and found out what room Marcy and Zeke were in. “Got it,” he said. He looked down at Gabriella. “Can you text my brothers the information while I talk with the doctor?

  “Sure,” she said and plugged in his cell phone unlock code again. Was it significant that she’d already memorized that? Or was she just being silly and trying to find something to connect them?

  No! No way! Good grief, what was she thinking? She was trying to make subconscious connections with a man she didn’t want to have in her life! Was she crazy?

  Yes, she must be, she thought as she raced along the hallway next to Teague, almost out of breath because he was so much taller than she was and had a longer stride. She was practically running beside him but didn’t want to ask him to slow down. She knew that he was worried about his brother and sister-in-law. The faster Teague found his brother, the better off he would be.

  Whe
n they’d reached the maternity wing of the hospital, Teague spotted Zeke and went over to talk with him. Gabriella held back, not wanting to intrude. This was a private, family time and she wasn’t family. Not really.

  Gabriella went into the waiting room and took a breath, looking out at the cloudy day. She couldn’t see it from this view, but she knew that, in the distance, was Portage Bay, a large body of water with a beach off to the left. Not that many people went to beaches in Seattle. She thought about that for a moment. Maybe they did, and maybe they didn’t. It was so cloudy and rainy in Seattle, and she suspected that the waters here were as cold as they were in Maine, which was too cold for her to even dip her toes into.

  She shook her head and focused on the task at hand. She’d sort of assumed the role of communications person for the moment, at least until she could give Teague his phone back. Taking Teague’s phone out again, she texted both brothers the new information on the room number as well as the news that Teague was trying to speak with a doctor.

  Not five minutes later, two large and familiar looking men walked into the waiting room and stopped, looking at her with the same startlingly green eyes that Teague had. Both sets of eyes were staring at her and she took a step back. They looked exactly alike, and yet, not alike. Their features were similar, but there was something about the two men that was different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was though. She’d known that Teague’s younger brothers were twins, but facing the two enormous men, both of whom were almost as large as Teague, was startling and overwhelming.

  She rallied quickly though, assessing the two men and trying to find that space in her mind that wasn’t occupied with thoughts of Teague. “One of you must be Luke and the other is Logan,” she said, digging deep for some long forgotten confidence.

  “I’m Logan,” one of them stepped forward. This man looked like Teague, but he didn’t have Teague’s laughing green eyes. In fact, both men looked significantly more serious than Teague. If they didn’t look like him, she might even suspect that Teague was not related.