“Not really.”
“Me neither,” she offered.
“Bad memories?” he asked mildly.
“Something like that,” she admitted. Now that she was an architect, she understood how a house could affect a person’s personality, could even contribute to a happy family life…or not. The palatial home she’d grown up in represented loneliness—she hated it, feltthe despair squeezing her lungs every time she walked through the front door into the cavernous foyer. Only the guesthouse held good memories….
“Do you have family here?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
“Are you asking if I’m married?”
She squirmed. “I…was just making conversation.”
“No—no wife, no kids. It’s just me and Dixon.”
At the sound of his name, the dog lifted his head and gave a low woof.
Sam patted his head, oddly pleased to know that Teague was still single. Odd because it wasn’t as if they were going to pick up where they’d left off.
“How about you?” Teague asked, breaking into her troubling thoughts.
She blinked. “Me? I’m not married.”
He gave a little laugh, a surprisingly pleasant noise. “You say that as if you have no intention of settling down.”
Instead of answering, she continued to pat Dixon’s head. The dog shifted and settled his head on her thigh.
“Careful,” Teague warned. “He likes to be rubbed. You’ll have to run him off to get rid of him.”
His words vibrated in the air between them, and she had the strangest feeling he wasn’t talking about the dog.
Teague wheeled the vehicle into the parking lot of city hall and cut the engine. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll come with you,” Sam said, climbing out. She didn’t want to admit that she was unfamiliar with all the permits that needed to be applied for.
“Okay,” Teague said, then lowered the windows enough to give Dixon plenty of air while they were gone.
She followed him into the building, surprised when he held open the doors for her. He seemed to know his way around, taking the stairs to an office on the second floor. The cute brunette standing behind the counter dimpled when he walked in.
“Hi, Teague. What can I do for you today?”
“Hi, Julie.” He grinned and leaned into the counter, his body language easy and flirtatious. “I need to file paperwork for a new project site.”
As he rattled off the form names, Sam wryly observed him interacting with the young woman as if they were old friends—no, lovers. An unpleasant feeling spread through her chest. Jealousy? Impossible, she decided. More like incredulity that the brooding, surly man could be so…likable.
Sam ignored the wary glances from Julie while Teague filled out miscellaneous forms. She recognized the look on the woman’s face—she’d seen many girls in high school gaze at Teague Brownlee with similar adoration and longing. If Teague was still single, it was because he wanted to be.
She made a mental note of the forms he filled out, sober with the comprehension of just how much she was trusting him to manage and execute the job that could make or break her career. The thought had barely slipped through her head when he turned to lock gazes with her, his eyes dark and unfathomable…and oh, so sexy.
The realization hit her like a thunderbolt as incredulity swelled in her chest—she wanted him. Just yesterday she was talking with her friends about not getting involved with men who were beneath them in terms of respectability and earning power, yet here she was less than twenty-four hours later, lusting over…aditch-digger.
Teague’s lips parted and his expression grew wary. Sam averted her gaze and swallowed to regain her composure. Because the only thing more stupid than having a crush on Teague Brownlee was acting on it. She had fought too hard and now had too much at stake to let a man get the upper hand.
Especially this man.
