Dangerous (13 page)

I pointed at Chance. “I oughta beat the shit out of you.”

He looked at me a little surprised. Didn’t he think that I’d say it to his face? I sure wasn’t a note-writing coward.

“What’s your problem, dude?”

“You’re my freakin’ problem,” I spit out caustically as I walked toward him.

Dara held up her palm. “Stone, this is none of your business. You need to go back in the store.”

I pointed at Chance, the vein at my temple throbbing with anger. “He made it my business.”

“Stone, I mean it,” she shouted, fury evident in her voice. “Go back inside.”

“I made it your business?” Chance asked, his voice getting louder.

“Chance, stop it,” Dara ordered. “Stone, get back inside. It’s none of your business.”

I glared at Chance, wishing he’d give me a reason to knock the shit out of him. I was tempted to knock the shit out of him, anyway.

I tore my eyes away from Chance, long enough to look at Dara’s face. Her eyes sliced through me like daggers. Furious, I gave Chance one more I-dare-you-to-open-your-mouth glare before I turned and charged back into the building, longing to plant my fist into something. I went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face, hanging my head over the sink while the water sluiced down my face and dripped from my chin. I stared at myself in the mirror, trying to tamp down the eruption of emotions that coursed through my veins. I snatched a paper towel from the roll and dried my face.

I couldn’t afford to let Chance deter me from the more important matter of increasing sales and saving the store. Besides, Tom needed a break.

I would deal with Chance soon enough. I stayed away from her after his last note on my own accord, but I just decided that Dara was worth fighting for.

Chapter 6

Dara

“What was that about?” I thundered at Stone. Other than the confrontation between Chance and Stone, the day had been a smashing success. Everyone had left except for the two of us. It would be dark soon, and the Fourth of July parties would be gearing up for fireworks before long.

“What?” he asked innocently as he leaned against the kitchen counter.

I rolled my eyes. “You know what.”

“He’s lucky my fist didn’t connect with his face,” Stone muttered.

“Seriously?”
I asked, my hands on my hips, staring at him as if he were an unruly child.

He closed the distance between us and hovered just above my face.
“Seriously.”

“So your parents taught you to behave like a caveman?” I asked, angry with him for his dramatic display of testosterone earlier.

“Better a caveman than a yellow-bellied coward.”

“Who are you calling a coward?” I asked.

“The guy who left notes on my motorcycle warning me to stay away from you.”

I stared at him in disbelief. That didn’t sound like something that Chance would do. Of course, there had never been another guy in the picture since Chance and I had started dating, not that Stone was exactly in the picture.

“I have the notes at home to prove it,” he continued. “I say you can make up your own mind as to whether you want to be with me or not.”

I knew that Chance wanted to get back together, but would he have actually contacted Stone?

“On whether I
want
to be with you? Half the time you won’t even speak to me. What makes you think I would want to be with someone like you?”

I could see the flicker of emotions cross his face. His crisp, blue eyes seemed to dim the instant the words tumbled from my mouth.

He inched closer to me. “Because I can feel it,” he whispered, his fingers splaying across my hips as he pulled me to him. “The way your breath quickens, the way your pulse races, the way your heart beats like the wings of a hummingbird. The way your lips softly part as if they’re waiting for me to do this.” His lips touched mine as one hand moved to the small of my back, and he pressed his chest against me. He kissed me gently at first, but then he nibbled at my lip and his tongue slipped into my mouth. I wasn’t just being kissed. I was being devoured. My heart hammered against my ribcage, and before I knew what I was doing, my arms were wrapped around him, pulling him close, kneading his flesh. I could feel the hard, lean muscle beneath his shirt.

Forgetting that I was supposed to be angry with him, I hugged him to me more tightly as if I couldn’t get close enough. What was it about him that made all coherent thought flee from my mind?

I pushed him away. “You know what you feel?” I didn’t wait for him to answer. “You feel my astonishment that you really are as conceited as you warned me about. You’re not as badass as you think you are…but you definitely got the conceited part right.”

“Ouch.” He grinned, unperturbed, rubbing his exquisite jawline with his thumb and forefinger. “And I thought I was supposed to be the vampire. Be careful, Dara. Your fangs are showing.”

I turned my back to him and retrieved my messenger bag from the hook on the wall. “Guess you’re the one that needs the garlic necklace.”

He walked up behind me as I was fishing my car keys out of my bag. I didn’t hear him approach me from behind, but his fingers brushed across the nape of my neck as he swept my hair to the side and his fingertips gently caressed the exposed skin. “What makes you think I want to ward you off?”

I swirled around to face him, my ire rising. “I don’t know, Stone.
Your unpredictable behavior?”

“Most girls admire my spontaneity.”

“Spontaneity is not necessarily a bad thing, but when you’re drooling on me one minute and ignoring me the next…I can’t deal with that, Stone.”

“Drooling?
Seriously, Dara?
I do not drool.”

“You’re impossible!” I screamed in frustration.

He grasped my shoulders in his palms. “Look at me and tell me that when you kiss me, you don’t feel things that no guy has ever made you feel.”

I watched him as he waited on me to give him an answer. I wanted to tell him that he was wrong. I wanted to…but lying wasn’t something that I usually did. I
had
lied to Stone, but only because he put me on the spot and I was in an awkward situation. As much as I didn’t want him to know that he was right, I would not deny it.

“So it’s true?” he asked, trying to prod me to respond.

“And that’s why I can’t deal with it, Stone. One minute I feel like you genuinely like me, and the next, I feel like you’re playing me. You can say what you want about Chance, but he never toyed with my emotions.”

His hands dropped to his sides. “Let’s call a truce.
For tonight, at least.
Your promotion was a raving success, Dara. Hopefully, it
will
jumpstart good sales for the month, and my father won’t close Quail Mountain Books. And, it’s the Fourth of July. I was hoping you would celebrate with me.”

“I’ve got plans.”

“Come on, Dara,” he cajoled, his voice low and gruff. “I promise I’ll be good.”

I looked at him without saying a word. His clear, blue eyes watched me intently, and I saw no signs of mischief. He was ruggedly handsome with his angular jawline and beautifully sculpted features. He seemed genuinely sincere, and I squelched the tiny voice that warned me not to fall for his charm.

“Okay,” I agreed, “but it will be on my terms. We have a small get-together at my house every year, and you can come on one condition.”

“And what’s that?” he asked, shifting his weight as he tucked his thumbs in the front pocket of his jeans.

“You keep your hands to yourself, agreed?”

“You know how to suck the life out of a party, don’t you?” he asked, unsmiling.

After I gave him the address, I opened the back door. “Those are the terms, Stone. They’re not up for discussion.” I walked outside and just before the door closed, I heard his voice drifting after me.

“I love a good challenge.”

I smiled to myself and walked around the building to Granny’s car without looking back.

***

Stone

Dara lived in an old farmhouse situated on several acres of land near the base of Quail Mountain. Peeling white paint clung stubbornly to the wooden siding, and faded, black shutters framed the windows. A large porch stretched along the front of the house, and it boasted four white, wooden rockers and a porch swing on the far end. I recognized Dara’s guests as girls from school. An older couple swayed gently in the swing, and I assumed that the woman was Dara’s grandmother.

As I slowly pulled my bike into the driveway, carefully navigating the gravels, Dara pushed the screen door open, exiting the house with a pitcher. When she spotted me, she gingerly sat the pitcher on a small table between two of the rockers and walked out to greet me.

Coming to a stop in the grass on the edge of the driveway, I parked and removed my helmet. I sat quietly, watching her as she approached in a pair of cutoff blue jean shorts and a red tank top.

She looked sexy. As she approached, my eyes were drawn to her lips, and I had the urge to pull her to me and kiss her, regardless of her one condition to keep my hands to myself. Rules were made to be broken, and her rule seemed like a good one to break. I refrained, though I couldn’t quite figure out why.

“Hey, Stone,” she said smiling, teasing me with those full, pink lips again. Those sparkling lips were going to be my undoing, and I had visions of them kissing my body tenderly. I shook my head, clearing it of the thoughts that were going to force me to break her rule.

“Dara,” I answered in greeting.

“You want a glass of lemonade?”

“You got a beer?” I asked.

She shot me a look of disdain.

“Lemonade it is.” I hung my helmet on the mirror and swung my leg over the bike, joining her as she walked back to the porch.

“You know Crimson and Scarlet,” she stated, motioning to the twins who had claimed a rocker on each side of the front door.

“Good job today, ladies,” I said. “Y’all were amazing. I’m impressed.”

“Thank you,” they said in unison. Both girls were pretty hot with their dark brown hair and eyes. Their hair and makeup were always perfect, but I just didn’t find them as attractive as I found Dara.

“We rented the shop across the street from you,” Scarlet added. “So it worked out well. Hopefully, we’ll get some clients out of your customers today.”

“When will you be opening?” I asked.

As she swayed gently in the rocker, Crimson answered, “Hopefully in a month or two. So if you ever need a haircut, come on over.”

“I’ll be your first customer,” I promised.

Dara handed me a glass of lemonade, and we continued along the porch as she introduced the rest of her guests.

She introduced me to Brandy and Chloe, who were sitting in the last two rockers. Although we all went to the same school, I had never spoken to either of them. Then, she moved down to the porch swing.

“This is Granny and Mr. Milton,” she informed me. Then addressing them, she said, “I would like for y’all to meet Stone Hamilton. I work at the bookstore with him.”

“Hi, Stone,” her grandmother said, holding her hand out to me. I shook it, and then shook Mr. Milton’s outstretched hand.

“You were right, Dara,” her granny said. “He is the kind of guy that makes a girl forget her own name.”

“Granny!”
Dara groaned in protest.

I bit back a smile.

Her granny grinned and turned her attention to Mr. Milton. “Just like my George.”

Mr. Milton was a tiny, little man with a head full of white hair and a kind smile. He patted Dara’s granny on the knee. “That’s right,” he said in a gravelly voice. He looked at me. “We’re both lookers, so we get the good-looking honeys.”

I cracked a smile at his use of the word
honeys
. “The rest of the boys may as well fess up and go home. They don’t stand a chance against men like us.” I bumped knuckles with Mr. Milton.

“Sounds like you’re in need of some competition.” Chance walked up on the other side of Dara, draping his arm across her shoulders and glaring at me.

“Why? Do you know where I can find some?” I asked, watching his response closely.

His lips thinned, and his face reddened.

“Chance, could I speak to you for a minute?” Dara asked, dragging him away.

“Don’t mind him,” Dara’s granny said. “He’s a good boy. Their breakup has been hard on him.”

What did I say to that? I couldn’t very well tell Dara’s granny that I couldn’t care less about Chance. I took a sip of lemonade.

Thankfully, Mr. Milton changed the subject. “You have a sharp motorcycle.”

“Thank you.”

“I used to ride ‘em when I was much, much younger. When I was a kid,
me
and my brother would race our dirt bikes out in our field. He would get so mad because he could never beat me.”

Our attention was brought back to Dara as she walked back to our group.

“I see Chance is leaving,” Dara’s granny said, motioning to his sports car as he backed out of the driveway.