“Too late, I’m already falling.” This time when she looked over her shoulder, her eyes were warm and full of something a hell of a lot like love. If not, then it was damn near close. They hadn’t said those words, but he was pretty sure he was half in love with her.
Hell, he’d fallen hard and fast. He couldn’t wait to be with her, and when he wasn’t with her, he was thinking about being with her. So there was something inhischest that felt a lot like love too.
“I know the feeling.”
She turned in his arms and looped her fingers in the belt loops of his jeans. “That makes me remarkably happy.”
“Remarkable, huh?”
“Which is why I’ll let you live even though you won’t give me a hint,” she said. “But I’m still using the door. Last night, I woke Poppy when I snuck out my window. My body doesn’t recover from that kind of jump like it used to.”
“It reminded me of the first time you snuck out your window.”
It had been a long time since that night, but he still remembered the barely there white bikini, the way the summer air smelled on her skin, and how she’d felt in his arms. It would take another two summers before they took the final step, but that kiss was enough to carry him through the school year until he was able to see her again.
Even now, it was one of his favorite memories. Hair slicked back with water, her smile full of life, her sea-wet lips on his.
“I had to help you back inside, remember? You almost woke Rose up with your giggling.” He took the knife from her hands and diced the remaining tomatoes.
“It was also the first time I’d had alcohol.”
He handed her a beer and she laughed. “You hoping for a reenactment?”
“Hell, yes,” he whispered. “Only this time I don’t have to worry about Rose. Man, when she chased me across the lawn, I thought I was done for.”
“You had a foot and fifty pounds on her. I think you could have taken her.” He thought back to how protective Rose had been and grinned. “Or at least outrun her.”
“Trust me, I ran for my life but still came within an inch of being skinned alive.”
Teagan’s face softened with nostalgia. “She loved you, you know.”
He did. Rose was the kind of person whose heart was so big, she had enough love for everyone in her life. She took pride in the way she cared for her family and friends and showed that love through food. Kind of like her granddaughter.
A gagging sound came from behind. Fucking Frank. They looked around, and he was playing innocent, sitting at the kitchen table with the girls on his lap, helping them fold the dinner napkins.
“Colin?” Harley called out, then walked in holding his cell, her hands over the mouthpiece and talking in a hushed voice. “I didn’t mean to answer it, but your phone kept ringing and ringing and I wasn’t sure if it was an emergency.”
He didn’t know if anything could be more dire than the last few weeks. He’d quit the practice he’d spent the past decade building up, argued with his ex about coming through on her promise to their daughter. Then, because he wasn’t one to dole out advice and not take it, he heard Amanda out about the pros of Maddie going to NYU. Even mailed in the forms for a student loan, if Maddie decided it was still her college of choice.
Yet things with Teagan were damn near perfect.
“It’s someone named Jack,” Harley explained, handing Colin the phone. “He said he needs to talk to you. It’s urgent.”
Jack rarely used Colin’s cell number unless it was an emergency. Colin took the phone. “Hey, is everything okay? How is Sugar?”
“Oh, she’s fine. Nothing like that. I just heard back from Teagan’s lender and, well . . .” Jack sounded genuinely regretful. “Her loan didn’t go through. She was denied.”
“I thought it was a done deal.” He’d cosigned so it would be a done deal. He’d felt a strange prickle in his gut when they’d dropped off the loan papers. Something hadn’t felt right then, and it sure as hell didn’t feel right now.
“I thought so too, which is why I started the renovations. You and I have known each other for years now.” He could almost hear Jack nervously scratching his bald head. “I went forward with the construction to meet the move-in date Teagan wanted.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Colin said, his gaze meeting Teagan’s anxious one.
“I did it based on our long-standing relationship.”
“I appreciate that. What happened?”
Teagan placed a supportive hand on his arm and whispered, “Is everything okay?”
