Beach House No. 9

Teague White’s appreciative expression took some of the sting out of the thought. “You look exactly the same.”

“I’ve had four kids since then.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head.

She felt her dimples dig deep in her cheeks. “Yes.” Maybe that last pregnancy hadn’t completely taken her out of the realm of attractiveness, after all. She plugged the Pilates DVD into the player twice a week and ran with Russ in the jogging stroller every other day. Night and morning, she brushed, she flossed, she glossed what she could gloss and she moisturized the rest.

Yet her husband, David, didn’t look at her the way this stranger did. Her husband, David, barely looked at her at all anymore. This unknown man recognized that eighteen-year-old girl in the wifely shell, and he seemed pretty pleased about it. She cocked her head, the moves not so hard to remember now. “What is it you do, Teague?”

“I’m with the fire department,” he said.

“Doing…?” Not that she couldn’t guess.

A grin popped out, as if he couldn’t hold it back. “I’m a firefighter.”

She figured then that he got his own share of appreciative glances with all those manly muscles and the studly occupation. “Day off?”

He nodded. “We wanted surf and sand. You’re an added bonus.”

It was heady stuff, the attention of an attractive member of the opposite sex. She had plenty of close encounters with males in her daily life, but mostly they wanted to wipe their noses on the tails of her shirt or use her limbs for climbing like a jungle gym at the park.

Down the beach, someone yelled the handsome stranger’s name. Both he and Tess looked toward the surf, where a handful of equally muscled men were tossing around a football. They gestured to him and one threw the ball, a perfect spiral that landed at Teague’s feet. With a show of reluctance, he picked it up, then clambered to a stand. “You going to be here awhile?”

“I…” If she agreed, she could tell herself she wasn’t staying put for David. She could pretend to herself that she was instead waiting for the handsome stranger to return and make her feel desirable again. “Maybe.”

His grin flashed on. “And later this week? My friends and I have some time off. We’ll be here again.”

“I…I have those four kids.” Her palm caressed the tuft of Russ’s dark hair that was the only part of him visible beneath the towel.

“So? I like kids. And I have a wild mind that maybe only you can tame.”

That little thrill buzzed through her veins again. Still… “Four kids and a husband.”

She liked him more for not losing the smile. “Lucky guy. Unlucky me.” Tossing the football up and down in one hand, he walked backward, his gaze still on her face. “Does that mean you won’t run away with me? We could go to Arizona.”