Teague by Juliana Stone Read Free Book Online Page B

coming Thursday and considering Saturday is Canada Day, she’ll be here at least until Monday.”
    A ghost of a smile curved his lips. “Is she that bad?”
    “No.” And she wasn’t. “Let’s just say that Morgan’s unfiltered mouth is something she comes by honestly. I love Brent’s mother, but she likes to butt in where she has no right to butt in. It was bad before, I mean this is the woman who had me in tears on my wedding day, but since Brent…”
    Her gaze slid away and she shrugged. “Well, since Brent passed, she’s been worse. She thinks that it’s time for me to move on. Says that I can’t grieve forever. What she doesn’t understand is that right now, it’s all I’ve got. As crazy as that sounds, it’s better than nothing.”
    He was silent for a few seconds and when he spoke, his voice was subdued. “Sometimes the pain or grief or whatever you want to call it, is the only thing that makes us remember that we’re still alive.”
    “Because it hurts so damn much,” she murmured. “Enough to poke through the fog.” He got it.
    Teague slipped his aviators back into place, his sculpted features hard, closed off. “I just wanted to let you know I’ll be using a hammer for the next few hours.”
    He didn’t give her a chance to reply but instead turned abruptly, making his way back to the Simon side of the beach. There were more scars visible across his back—some large, some small, but all of them angry looking.
    Sabrina imagined that her invisible scars—if she could see them—looked exactly like his.
    The kids slept for nearly two hours during which time Sabrina did laundry and caught up on some housework. Once they were awake, she spent the afternoon on the dock, pretending to read while her twins played in the sand and the puppy happily joined in.
    Directly across from her, Teague repaired some wind damage to the roof of the gazebo and by dinner, his sweat-slicked body had become Sabrina’s main focus.
    Thank God for sunglasses.
    The man was built like a god. There was no denying it. His shoulders were wide, his chest impressive and the eight-pack he sported attested to the fact that he was extremely physical. He had lean hips and those damn shorts did nothing but emphasize the cut that most women drooled over.
    Sabrina wasn’t drooling. She was just…appreciating. Or something.
    It had been a while.
    She watched him wipe sweat from his brow and when he glanced over to her, she froze. For a long while, the two of them stared across the beach at each other, and even though the large dark sunglasses she sported kept her eyes covered, there was no way he couldn’t know she’d been staring.
    “I’m hungry,” Harry said, tossing his purple plastic pail into the bin on the dock.
    “Okay,” she murmured, dragging her eyes away from Teague. She packed up her bag and stowed away the chairs before leading her kids back to their cottage, all the while hypersensitive about the man a few hundred feet from her. Was he watching her?
    But that would be silly. And besides, what did she care?
    Sabrina didn’t look back and busied herself with the children. She barbecued hamburgers and pretended not to notice when Teague hopped into his truck and left around seven. The kids had baths and then she let them watch a favorite movie until nearly ten before tucking them into bed. Bingo was equally tired, and the puppy squirmed his way onto Harry’s comforter and snuggled in for the night.
    Once they were settled, she stood in the living room, distracted and at odds with herself. That familiar ache was back and yet it was different. It wasn’t just the loneliness—it was something else. Why couldn’t she shake the images of Teague from her mind?
    Sabrina changed into a camisole and cotton shorts and then poured a glass of wine. She didn’t want to read. She didn’t want to watch TV. And she sure as hell didn’t want to sit here by herself.
    Kinda sucked that those were her only options.
    In the