hint or two before blindsiding a guy with the truth?”
Her arms lifted, fell again to her sides. “I threw my dress on the ground! You don’t call standing naked in front of you a hint?”
She had a point. And the fact was, he knew why she’d taken so long to be truthful with him, one of the consequences of being such close friends. A little of his anger evaporated. Men, starting with her father, had taken advantage of her. His gender hadn’t given her much reason to trust, and that she’d allowed herself feelings for him—even confessed them—was probably the biggest compliment Teague had ever been paid in his life.
“Oh, Polly,” he said, reaching for her.
She stepped back, her eyes wary.
Oh, Polly. “I love you,” he said softly, his chest aching like hell. “I know I’m an idiot for taking so long to acknowledge it, but I’m in love with you. I suspect it’s been that way for a long time.”
If he’d expected her to fall into his arms—but he didn’t; he knew her that well. When she took another step back, he sighed. His temper was still on edge, but he couldn’t be angry in the face of those big, scared blue eyes that fixed on his face with patent disbelief. “You don’t believe me,” he said.
“Of course I don’t.” She tapped her forefinger against her chest. “Unattainable. Now you care about me.”
“I—” His breath sighed out. Damn. He should have seen that coming. It was just that what he felt for Polly, his best-friend-who-was-a-girl, who was no longer his best friend but was something so much bigger, was not at all like the stupid crushes he’d had on Tess or on Amethyst Lake or the Belgian exchange student. This was so much more...vital.
Urgent.
Risky.
His father had loved his mother, and yet she’d still packed her bags. But his father hadn’t been willing to share his life or his heart. Teague was going to have to do both.
“C’mon, Pol,” he said, opening the passenger door. “Get in.”
“Why?”
He squeezed the chrome door handle as if it were her neck. “I want to show you something.” When she didn’t move, he decided throwing her bodily into the seat wasn’t his greatest idea. So he gave her another chance. “Please, Gator. For old times’ sake.”
The suspicious look on her face didn’t waver, causing his ire to rise once again. Damn, he wasn’t used to this...this passion. She’d always mattered so much to him, but now...now they mattered infinitely more. He hoped like hell he could convince her of his love before he killed her out of frustration.
* * *
POLLY FELT BATTERED all over, inside and out, as Teague drove northward. It was mostly silent between them, though every once in a while she saw his grip go white-knuckled on the steering wheel. Then he’d mutter, “You should give me the benefit of the doubt” or “At least you could credit me with the ability to take my head out of my ass.”
She just had to stay strong for a while longer, she consoled herself. He’d drop this harebrained notion of his—love! now, after all this time?—soon. They wouldn’t be friends like before; that relationship had been buried between the sheets of her bed, but they’d both be in a place to move on.
Except he’d moved into her workplace, she realized, trailing him from the parking lot of her elementary school to the classroom she’d occupy in just a few days. He hesitated outside the locked door. “Do you have your keys?” he asked. “Or I could track down Ted.”
She glanced up at him. “Ted? You know our janitor?”
Teague ran a hand through his hair. “We’re recent acquaintances. He let me in yesterday and this morning.”
“You’ve been in my room?” Polly dug into the pocket of her cutoffs. “Ted opened the door for a stranger?”
“Don’t blame him. I can be pretty persuasive,” he admitted. “And the firefighter thing is sort of like a free pass.”
“Don’t I know it?” Polly grumbled. She inserted the key in the lock and then pulled open the heavy metal door, latching it on the doorstop set in the outside wall. The scent of new paint and raw wood reached her nose.
“What—?” She made to step inside.
Teague caught her arm. She winced and he instantly turned it up, inspecting the scrape he’d brushed with his thumb. “Oh, sweetheart,” he said, so sympathetic she wanted to weep. “I should have looked you over before now. Let’s find your first-aid kit and