"You would do anything for someone in need. Anything to make someone else's wrong a right. Can you promise me that you'll do something for yourself?"
"I'm working on it," he managed to say.
His mother smiled, a gentle sort of thing. She caressed his brow and stepped out of his embrace.
"Good," Eden said, her voice matter of fact. "You need to find your place, Teague. You need to find that one spot on this earth that's strong enough to keep you grounded. That's strong enough to keep you with us." She paused. "Might help if you told Sabrina how you feel."
He shouldn't have been surprised at her frankness. But still, it took him a few seconds to get his thoughts straight. Was he that transparent?
He cleared his throat. "I'm working on that too."
"Don't expect her to fall at your feet. She's no pushover, that one. She's strong and fierce and with two little ones to protect, it's not going to be easy to get back into her good graces."
He was starting to get that.
Eden glanced to their right. "And honey, I wouldn't waste any time if I were you."
His smile faded as he followed her gaze. Sabrina was deep in conversation with Cooper Simon.
"Son-of-a-bitch," he growled. Damned if the man wasn't standing just a little too close for his liking.
"Let me take that," Eden said reaching for his half empty beer bottle. Teague handed it to his mother and, with determined strides, headed toward Sabrina.
They both looked up as he approached-Sabrina's expression was shuttered, while Cooper's, well, he had that look in his eyes and it was one Teague had seen before. The guy was interested and there was no way in hell Teague was letting him anywhere near Sabrina or her kids.
"Can we talk?" he asked rudely, ignoring his cousin and totally focused on Sabrina.
"Jesus, Teague. You lose your manners somewhere over the Atlantic?" Cooper frowned, straightening.
Teague ignored his cousin. "Sabrina?"
All around them, people were chatting, celebrating, catching up and being noisy. But here, in this little triangle Teague was caught up in, there was none of that joy. A few awkward moments passed and then Sabrina attempted a smile and thanked Cooper for bringing her a glass of water. She arched her brow at Teague and headed for the stairs without a word.
"That's gonna be a tough nut to crack, my friend." Cooper shrugged. "Good luck."
"No shit," Teague muttered.
He followed Sabrina, weaving his way through the crowd-shaking an uncle's hand, and leaning in for a kiss from his Auntie Beatrice. His sister Grace caught his eye, but he shook his head and kept moving. No way was he letting Sabrina out of his sight.
She was heading to her boathouse and a cool breeze lifted the hem of her skirt, showing him a tantalizing bit of leg. That little bit of skin had him hungry for more, and his eyes raked over Sabrina, taking in every detail.
Her hair was longer than when he'd last seen her, falling several inches past her shoulders, while the kiss of summer was starting to fade from her skin. She was so damn beautiful and every cell in his body screamed for a touch. This hunger, it wasn't going to fade and it hit him in that moment just how much he needed her.
She paused at the end of the dock, her hair blowing behind her like a dark chocolate cascade.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked in that no nonsense voice she usually reserved for the twins when they were being naughty.
Teague paused a few feet from her. He shoved his hands into his pockets because he didn't know what the hell to do with them.
"Can you turn around? I sure as hell don't want to talk to your back."
She slowly turned to face him and tucked a large chunk of hair behind her ear. A delicate pearl shimmered there from the late evening sun, and he dragged his gaze up to her eyes.
Damn.
It was still there. That physical connection. That need and want. And he could tell by the expression in her eyes that she felt the same.
"I called." Lame start to the conversation.
Sabrina's eyebrow arched. "Did you?" There was frost in her voice and he didn't like it.
"I left a message on your phone last night."
"Sorry. Didn't get it." Her voice was clipped and he swore under his breath. "My battery was dead."
"Look, Sabrina. I … shit, have I screwed things up this badly? We can't even talk?"
"Teague, there is no us to screw up. There never was an us. You left over two months ago and ended whatever it was that we had. And don't get me wrong, I understood your need to go to Syria. I understood that you needed to close that chapter of your life and that finding out what happened to your friend Dallas was the only way that you could achieve that. I get that. I really do. But then you never came back. You never even tried to come back and I knew … "
He took a step closer, and she took one back.
"What did you know?" Hell if he wanted to hear this but what other choice did he have? As much as her words made him feel like shit, they were the truth.
"I knew that you were never coming back."
"I'm here right now, Sabrina. In the flesh. Standing less than two feet from you." His voice was loud, but he didn't give a goddamn.
"I see you, Teague. All of you. And trust me, you'll leave again."
"Not going to happen. I'm not going anywhere."
She made a strangled noise and shook her head, silent for a few moments. When she spoke again, her voice was subdued. "Can I ask you something Teague?"
He nodded.
"What if evidence came up to dispute what you found out over there? Would you go back to Syria again?"
Okay, she was twisting things and he was starting to get pissed off.
"That's not going to happen."
She shrugged. "Say it did. Hypothetically. Would you go back there?"
"I … " He glared at her, hands clenched at his sides.
"Or what if Bowen called you up about a hot story in some dangerous part of the world that only Teague Simon could cover. Do you expect me to believe you wouldn't leave?"
"I'm not playing this game, Sabrina." Didn't she get what he was trying to say?
"But that's the thing, Teague. This is my life. It's not a game." She cocked her head to the side. "I've had, what, one conversation with you in two months? What the hell does that say about whatever this is between us?"
"I don't know," he exploded. "But maybe we can figure it out? I want to have a future with you, Sabrina. A life with you."
He could see the shock in her face. The hurt. The confusion. All of it settled into those big blue eyes and it cut him to the bone.
"You want a life with me?" she whispered hoarsely.
"I do," he said, taking a step closer. "I love you, Sabrina. And I'm not going anywhere."
Her eyes squeezed shut and stayed that way for a long time. So long that Teague became concerned. He took another step closer but just when he was about to touch her, they flew open. She glanced behind him and the fury inside their blue depths was something else. "Harry and Morgan, get to the car. We're leaving."
"But Mommy," Harry started.
"Car," she repeated. The kids stood near the edge of the dock and at the tone of their mother's voice, they didn't hesitate. They ran back up to the car without another word.
"Bree, give me a chance here. I know I screwed up and I want to make things right. I'll do whatever it takes. Just tell me what you need me to do."
"It's not that simple, Teague. This is not just about me and what I want and it sure as hell isn't about what you want. I have two kids who've already lost so much. How can I let you back into their lives, knowing that you could leave us again?"
"That's not going to happen." He was firm on that. Why couldn't she see?
"You love me," she repeated.
"I do."
A heartbeat passed. And then another. The pulse at her throat-the one he was dying to kiss-took off like a rocket. Her lips parted. Her eyes glistened and her chest heaved.
A shot of hope ran through him and he took a step toward her.
"You love me," she muttered, sparks flying from her eyes. "Prove it," she said, pushing past him.
Teague had no time to react, at least not without causing a scene, and he watched as Sabrina marched up her driveway. She fired up the engine of her vehicle and less than ten seconds later, disappeared from view.
What the hell had just happened?
Prove it, she'd said. She hadn't said, go to hell or get lost or I hate you. She'd said none of those things. She'd said prove it.
Guess Sabrina didn't know him as well as she thought she did. She'd just thrown down the gauntlet and fired him up. Teague Simon grinned into the early evening gloom and stood alone on the dock for a long, long time. So long that when he finally made his way back up to the house to join the party, the grass was wet with dew and the sun was long gone.
He made small talk with his family and all their friends who had gathered together for the event. He even held the new baby-a first for him. But his mind wasn't on those things. Nope.