Dangerous (6 page)

“With you?”

It was so sexy the way she looked totally bewildered. “Well, unless you have a motorcycle’s license, then yeah, I guess it’d have to be with me.” How else would I get her to wrap those arms around me?

She swallowed hard and looked down at the bike, then back to my face again. I could see the indecision reflected in her features.

“It’s dangerous,” she whispered, so softly that I would almost think she was talking to herself.

“I have an extra helmet, and I won’t speed or pop wheelies,” I promised, trying to alleviate her fears.

“I wasn’t talking about the motorcycle,” she said softly. “I was talking about being with you.”

Unable to argue that point with her, I stood quietly, my expression never changing. Slowly, I approached her and ran my fingertips along the curve of her cheek, tracing her jawline to her chin, and then I rubbed my thumb across her plump, bottom lip. She looked so enticing perched on my motorcycle.

I leaned down toward her and watched as her lips parted, awaiting my kiss. Instead, I whispered in her ear, “Without a little danger to get your heart pounding every now and then, life would be incredibly dull.”

I stood up but didn’t move my hand from her face. “Don’t move. I’m going to get you a helmet and take you for a ride that you’ll never forget.”

Reluctantly, I dropped my hand away from her face and watched her watch me. Then, I turned and went into the building to get the helmets.

Dara

I was so nervous I was shaking. Was it because of Stone or because I was about to ride a motorcycle?
Probably a mixture of both.

I didn’t think it was possible for my heart to beat any faster, but when he came back out with the helmets, the thought of being pressed against a guy that I barely knew nearly sent my entire system into overdrive. I was usually comfortable around guys, but Stone was definitely different from most of the guys I knew. When I was near him, I found myself with bumbling speech, sweaty palms, and a case of arrhythmia that would compare to that of even the most dire heart patients.

Something about him threw my entire world off-kilter. And I wasn’t sure if I was going to survive.

He handed a helmet to me, and I smoothed my hair away from my face and put it on. When he finished putting on his helmet, he reached over and fastened my chin strap, his warm fingers brushing across my skin and sending tiny jolts of electricity down my body.

An extra pair of sunglasses hung along the rounded collar of his snug-fitting tee shirt. He removed them and handed them to me.

“Hop off and let me get on,” he said, holding his hand out to me. “Then you can get back on.”

I took his hand and slid off the motorcycle. When he was in position, he spoke again, “Okay.
Your turn.”

I climbed on the seat behind him, awkwardly trying to figure out what to do with my hands when he reached backwards, grabbed my hands in his own, and wrapped my arms around his taut stomach. I could feel the hard muscles below his silky shirt, probably one of those active wear fabrics that breathed easily. Speaking of breathing, I had to remind myself to do just that.

Good grief. I was doing it again. I was so wrapped up in the moment that I hadn’t even thought about my job. “What about Tom?” I asked, not wanting to be fired for disappearing.

Stone turned his head sideways, so that I could hear him through his open face shield. “He said it’s slow today, and he can handle it by himself. We can take the rest of the day off if we want. Do you want to?”

Taking the rest of the day off wouldn’t help me save up money for a car, but yes, I had to admit that I wanted to. “I guess so.” I didn’t want him to think that I was too eager to take the day off with him.

He started the motorcycle and revved the engine. I closed my eyes as the thrill of the moment washed over me.

“Hold on,” he warned as he revved the engine again.

I tightened my grip around him, pressing my body against his back. When I inhaled, I caught a faint whiff of his cologne. I breathed in deeply through my nose, concentrating on the scent. I liked the way he smelled, and I liked the way he felt. Was this the way Crimson had felt when she rode off with Mike Waters last night?

He revved the engine again, and we were moving forward. He didn’t pull out of the parking lot as fast as he usually did, and I thought perhaps he was giving me time to adjust to being on the back of a bike.

Once we hit the road, everything changed. We zipped along at a pretty fast pace, and as I watched the asphalt rush by in a blur, I clung to him, scared to death that I would fly right off the back of the motorcycle.

The wind whipped my hair as I turned my head. I couldn’t ever remember feeling so…free.
And terrified.
It was the kind of scary that people paid to experience, like on a rollercoaster or at a haunted house or at a horror flick.

We rode to the top of the mountain, and Stone pulled into Quail Mountain Park, a public park built at the summit, taking full advantage of the views of the valley below and the foliage of the trees that lined the side of the mountain.

We removed our helmets, and he hung one on each mirror. Then, we walked to the overlook and gazed at the valley below. It was cooler at the top of the mountain, and despite the fact that it was
June,
the heat wasn’t unbearable as we stood in the shade of two, old oak trees.

I gazed over the railing at the valley below. Rows of houses were lined along a grid of streets. Patches of trees dotted the landscape, and I saw cattle grazing in a field. Everything seemed so tiny that it reminded me of a model, kind of like the little villages people displayed at Christmas.

“Do you come here often?” I asked Stone.

He was fixated on the valley below. “I come here when I want to escape.”

“Escape what?”

“You know.
The usual shit.”

He didn’t look at me, and I got the feeling that his answer was more than just a general comment, that perhaps he really did come here to escape something. I studied his profile and found him enigmatic. He never volunteered information, and if I was ever going to know anything about him, it appeared that I was going to have to ask. I was relieved that he was standing a few feet away from me. When he was near, my brain turned to mush, but as long as he kept his distance, I would have no problem engaging him in conversation.

“Do you have girl problems?”

He did turn to look at me then and laughed.
“No, not hardly.”

He didn’t elaborate. I decided to offer him some information about me to open things up.

“My mother abandoned me when I was three.”

That got his attention. He removed his sunglasses and hung them on his shirt collar. He was definitely looking at me now. I didn’t know why I had started with that tidbit. It wasn’t something that I spoke of often, and there were so many other things that I could’ve said. I removed my sunglasses, too, and hung them from the waist of my jeans. I looked out over the valley, thinking that maybe I should’ve started out the conversation by telling him that I was terrified of water because I couldn’t swim.

“Seriously?” he asked.

“’Fraid so.”

“At school, you always seemed like your life was perfect, like you had everything going for you. I guess I never imagined you’d been through something like that.”

“You thought my life was perfect? You never even spoke to me, Stone.”

“I know. It was just my perception. You always seemed so happy. You made good grades, had lots of friends, dated your jock.”

“My jock?
He does have a name, you know.”

“He does, but it’s not worth remembering.”

I frowned. “His name is Chance. If you’re going to talk about him, then use his name.”

“I have no plans of discussing your jock with you.”

“He’s not my jock.” I blew out an exasperated breath and caught him grinning at me. “Are you always this difficult to get along with?” I asked, giving him a playful glare.

“My dad thinks so,” he said, then steered the conversation back to me. “Have you seen your mother since she left you?”

“Not once. I must’ve been a real heathern when I was two. On my third birthday, she took me to my paternal grandmother, who didn’t even know I existed, and just left me, never to be heard from again.”

“I’m sorry, Dara. I had no idea.”

“Hey, you called me by my name. I must be worth remembering.”

He smirked. “I never forget a beautiful girl’s name.
Ugly jocks?
Yeah.
Girls?
No.”

His comment was bittersweet. I was flattered that he insinuated that I was beautiful, but on the other hand, that wasn’t the reason that I wanted him to remember my name.

“What about your father?”

His question caught me off guard.
“My father?”

“Yes. You said that your mother left you with your paternal grandmother. What about your father? Do you ever see him?”

“My father’s dead.”

“I’m sorry.”

I tried to smile. “It’s okay. I have Granny.”

“Granny,” he repeated. “Now it makes sense.”

“What does?”

“That freakin’ ugly car you drive. It’s your Granny’s. She probably bought it brand new.”

I laughed, amused by his fairly accurate assessment. “Yes, it’s my Granny’s. Technically, my grandpa bought it brand new way before I was born, but he passed away when I was seven. So, my Granny has driven it ever since.

“I want to buy my own car, so that I can drive to school next year. That’s why I got a summer job. I’m hoping that I can make enough money to buy something by the end of summer.”

“Now there’s a worthy goal,” he said.

“Yeah, but taking off work like I did today won’t help me accomplish that goal.”

“No, but it’ll help me accomplish mine,” Stone said, taking a step toward me.

“What’s your goal?” I asked, watching as he approached me, his clear, blue eyes locked with mine.

“To kiss you,” he whispered against my lips, his hands on my hips, pulling me toward him.

I was powerless to resist him. He had moved in close enough to make me lose any coherent thoughts. I found myself leaning toward him, face upturned. If he was going to pull away without kissing me this time, then I was going to kiss him.

He didn’t disappoint. His lips were warm as they gently kissed my own. I found myself clinging to him even more desperately than I had on the back of the motorcycle. In response, his hands moved around my back, pressing me against his chest. He nipped my lower lip, and his tongue slipped into my mouth. My heart thudded against my ribcage as I was lost in his embrace. When he finally pulled away, he watched me with intense eyes just a hand’s breadth from my face.

“Damn,” he rasped.

I
blinked,
my mind still fuzzy from his nearness.

“If you keep looking at me like that, then I’m going to have to do it again,” he said hoarsely.

“Like what?” I asked, finally finding my voice.

He didn’t answer. He leaned down and kissed me again, his hands moving low on my hips as he pulled me firmly against him. His lips left a searing trail of kisses along my jawline to my ear, where he nipped playfully at my lobe.

“You are so freakin’ sexy,” he whispered.

I knew that he probably said the exact same thing to every girl he kissed, and there had probably been a lot of them. But it felt so good for someone to tell me that I was sexy. I couldn’t ever remember Chance telling me that. I had to be careful. I didn’t want Stone to think that he could just feed me his usual lines and that I would eat them up.

“I know,” I replied, taking a step back, out of his mesmerizing aura. It was all I could do not to giggle when I saw the look on his face. I bet of all the times that he had told girls that same line, not one of them had ever told him that. Good. Apparently, he needed a challenge, and I was just the person to give it to him…as long as I didn’t get swept away in his spell. Maybe I really did need a garlic necklace.

He recovered quickly. “Modesty,” he said, nodding his head in approval. “I like that in a girl.”

I turned back toward the view of the valley and leaned on the railing with outstretched arms. The breeze lifted loose strands of hair, and they tickled my skin. “What about you, Stone? Last year was the first year that you went to Quail Mountain schools. Did y’all just move here?” I purposely kept my eyes on the view, hoping that he would open up if I wasn’t staring at him, waiting for his response.

He stood beside me, his gaze locked on the town below. “No. I’ve lived here my whole life. I went to a private school when I was younger. Then, I was shipped off to boarding school.”

That wasn’t what I had expected. Private school was expensive, but boarding school? His parents must be pretty well off. “You went to boarding school?”

“Yes, and I hated it. My older brother was a year ahead of me. My father always thought that…well, it doesn’t matter.”