Page 116 of Let You Love Me

It’s then I notice his costume. I’d been too preoccupied with the range of feelings seeing him evoked to notice, but he is, infact, wearing some kind of faux leather dress-like ensemble with a ragged hem, fake wooden club in one hand, and a thick white bandage on the other, which appears to be speckled with blood.

I press my lips together to keep from laughing. All my fears from earlier, and all my anger from my encounter with Chance, vanish in an instant. “That’s”?I shake my head?“some costume.”

Thank God for his muscles because it’s the only thing keeping him from looking completely ridiculous.

I bite back a laugh when he grabs Sophie’s furry hand and approaches, his dimples deepening with every step while I take him in.

My gaze drops to his mouth, and I’m suddenly hungry.

“You’re not laughing at me, are you, Lane Turner?” He reaches out and flicks one of my furry bunny ears.

“No, of course not. I would never,” I say, my tone solemn. With him this close, I can smell him—all citrus and cinnamon and a hint of sweat that is utterly enticing. My gaze travels to his biceps, forearms roped with muscle, and his firm chest. “Actually, you really should put on some clothes.” I reach out and pluck at his caveman toga. “This is borderline indecent out here with all these children.”

He dips his head to whisper in my ear, and his breath tickles the side of my face. “Wanna hear a secret?”

I nod, biting my lip in anticipation.

“I’m actually fucking freezing.”

I bark out a laugh at the same time goose bumps cover my arms.

“Come on, Mom,” Sophie whines.

“Okay, okay,” I say, pulling away. “Let’s get a move on. We have candy to get!”

“Yes!” Sophie’s furry paw shoots in the air.

We walk to the next house with Sophie in-between us while she shows him the candy she’s collected so far, babbling a mile a minute. Every so often, Teagan reaches behind her to touch me as a reminder he’s here, as if I could forget.

A soft brush over the small of my back, fingertips whispering over my arms, a tug of my hair, brush of my neck, all while listening intently to Sophie.

A block later, Sophie starts for the door of another house, while Teagan and I hover behind her on the sidewalk, allowing the other children to pass.

“Sorry I’m late.” He reaches his hand to mine, lightly brushing my fingers with his before intertwining them. Then he releases them just as quickly, leaving my stomach tangled in knots.

“I thought you weren’t coming.” I swallow, remembering how utterly disappointed I’d felt when I left the house with Sophie. How pissed I was at Chance for being there and stepping in. “What happened?”

I glance up at him as Sophie returns to our side and we start toward the next house.

“This happened.” He lifts his bandaged hand out in front of himself with a grimace.

My gaze focuses on the blood-stained gauze, and I gasp as realization hits. It’s real, not a part of the costume like I’d originally assumed.

I stop in my tracks, and a trick or treater behind me nearly plows into my back.

I mutter an apology as I grab Sophie’s hand and keep moving, eyeing the white gauze. “Teagan, what the heck happened? That has to be a lot of blood for it to seep through the bandage like that.”

We turn into the driveway, and I guide Sophie to a woman dressed like a princess, sitting with a bowl of candy propped on her lap.

“I cut it on a chunk of glass right after practice.” Teagan shrugs it off. “I had Mark put some butterfly bandages on it for now.”

“You need stitches.” I frown.

“Probably.” Teagan purses his lips as he avoids my gaze, but he has the sense to at least look sheepish. “But I wasn’t about to leave you high and dry or—”

“Teagan, all you had to do was call. I would’ve understood.”

I glance down to see Sophie receiving a bag of potato chips before we turn and continue walking.

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