Dangerous (2 page)

“Have you already added them into inventory?” I asked.

“Yep.
They’re ready to stock.”

I walked to the stack of boxes and flipped open the flaps, satisfied when I saw a much anticipated release in hardback from a popular author. I lifted the box and carried it to the empty endcap next to Dara and began neatly arranging the books on the shelf.

“Thanks for the towel,” Dara said as I bent over to pick up another stack of books.

“No problem,” I replied, not bothering to look away from my task at hand.

“Have you ever played this game?”

I glanced at her as she waved one of the games in the air. She was watching me, awaiting my answer. “It’s a new release,” I said, hoping that answered her question and shut her up. I really wasn’t in the mood to chitchat.

“I’ll have to tell Chance about this. He likes to play video games when he’s not practicing football.”

Great.
Of all the people I didn’t want to hear about….

“Do you play video games?” she asked.

I slid the last book into place and grabbed another stack, shoving them into place before I answered her. “Not much. Every once in a while, Tom and I will test a new release.”

“Cool.”

I finished emptying the box, turning some of the books cover side out, so customers could easily spot the title and author. Glancing over at Dara, I realized her box was still half full. Looking out the plate glass window, I frowned at the ugly, black clouds. If sales didn’t pick up soon, I didn’t know how much longer this shop would be in business, and this weather wasn’t helping.

“Didn’t you go to Quail Mountain High last year?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I answered, grabbing a handful of games out of her box and helping her fill the shelf on the endcap.

“You’ll be a senior next year, right?” she asked.

“Yes,” I answered. I didn’t need to ask her what grade she’d be in next year. The whole school knew she would be a senior.

She and I bent down at the same time to grab another stack of games and bumped heads.

“Shit!” I blurted before I could catch myself. I had a really bad habit of speaking now and thinking about what I was actually saying later, a trait that had pissed off my parents on more than one occasion. Dang, she had a hard head. I blinked, trying to clear the stars that had blurred my vision.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered frantically. “Are you okay?”

I rubbed the side of my temple, trying to determine the answer to her question. I felt a lump rising, and I closed my eyes for just a moment and breathed deeply.

“Let me see,” she said.

I held my palm up toward her. “I’m fine.” I dropped my palm to my knee, not yet rising from my stooped position.

Before I knew what she was doing, her fingers were in my hair, her gentle touch skimming over the spot where our heads bumped. She was so close that I could smell the delicate fragrance on her skin, and I found myself enticed by her.

“Oh,
my gosh
!” she exclaimed.
“A knot.
Great.
My first day of work, and I’ve already given someone a concussion.”

I laughed, but I didn’t move. I didn’t know why I found her comment so amusing or why I didn’t want her to move her hands. Slowly, I rose, catching her slender wrists in my grasp. “I’m fine,” I said, feeling the pulse in her wrist quicken against my fingertips. Her brilliant green eyes widened, and her full, shimmering-pink lips parted in surprise. “What about you?” I asked.

I wasn’t sure if she heard my question. She stared at me in shock as if the principal had just caught her making out behind the bleachers.

“Dara?”
I asked, starting to wonder if she was the one with the concussion.

“I’m…fine,” she said breathlessly.

I’d been around enough girls to know when I had an effect on them. And she was definitely affected.

Dara wasn’t the type of female I usually hung out with, but it was nice to know I had the same effect on the goody-two-shoes that I did on the bad girls.

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out of my pocket, glancing at the caller’s name. Speaking of bad girls, Jessie was calling.

Dara

I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest. If I hadn’t still been freezing from the cold rain that soaked my hair and clothes, sweat would’ve been trickling down my temples. The warmth from his hands was like heaven against my icy skin, but his close proximity was dangerous to my hammering heart. In fact, if I had to describe Stone Hamilton in one word, it would be
dangerous.

He was everything I was scared of.

Thank goodness he had gotten a phone call. The distraction was just what I needed to get myself back on track, to remember why I had taken this job in the first place.

I watched as he walked toward the door that led to the kitchen. I didn’t know who had called him, but it appeared that he wanted privacy before he answered.

I had gone to Quail Mountain schools my whole life. Last year was the first year that I had ever seen Stone Hamilton. I assumed that he had moved to the area recently. I didn’t really know, though, because I had never spoken to him until today. He wasn’t the kind of guy that I usually conversed with. He was kind of dark and broody. I had tried to be nice and strike up a conversation with him, but it was difficult when all he would do was
give
me short answers to my questions.

Stone had a reputation for attracting females—not females like me, but the ones that seemed to be a little more on the wild side or maybe I should say were more like free spirits, the kind of girls that weren’t weighed down by inhibitions.

I turned my attention back to the box of games and finished putting them on the shelves. I picked up my empty box and the empty box that Stone had left in front of the endcap beside me.

“What should I do with these?” I asked Tom, who was still hunched over the computer keyboard, tapping away.

“We break the boxes down and put them in the cardboard recycling dumpster out back. There’s a box knife in the kitchen drawer by the back door. Just break them down and lean them against the wall behind the door, and we can take them out after it’s stopped raining.”

“Okay.” I carried the boxes into the kitchen and set them on the counter. I had no idea what a box knife was, but I looked in the drawer that Tom mentioned. There were three box knives in the drawer. At least, I assumed they were box knives. I pulled one out of the drawer and slid the button on the side of it until the edge of a razor blade popped out of the opening on the top. I grabbed the box and flipped it over.

Stone opened the back door and stepped into the kitchen, sliding his phone back in his pocket.

He looked at me with clear blue eyes and nodded toward the boxes. “Need some help?”

“I got it,” I answered, not wanting him to think I couldn’t handle it myself.

I put the edge of the razor blade on the far end of the box, sliding it toward me as it sliced the center of the wide, clear tape that held the box together.

“Stop,” Stone said authoritatively, moving closer to me.

I froze and looked up at him expectantly.

“Always cut away from
yourself
,” he said softly.

When I stared at him because I had no idea what he was trying to say, he took my hand in his and moved it to the end of the tape nearest my body. His hand was warm, his fingernails neatly manicured. As he guided my hand, his face close to mine, I was incredibly aware of him, of the scent of his cologne, of his gray tee shirt stretched taut over his pectoral muscles.

“Start here and move the blade away from your body,” he said. “It’s safer.”

I watched his lips as he spoke. His nearness made it difficult to breathe, and I stood motionless as I gazed up at his eyes, mine locking with his. I suppose I stared a little too long.

“You wouldn’t want to accidentally cut yourself,” he explained as he held my gaze. “The smell of blood sends me into
a frenzy
, and well, I’d hate to sink my fangs into that pretty, little neck of yours.”

I continued to stare like a complete idiot. Words usually flowed from my mouth effortlessly, but right now, I couldn’t put a coherent thought together to save my life.

He grinned. “I’m kidding.”

The transformation was amazing. He was handsome, whether he smiled or not, but watching him as he grinned sent my heartbeat into high-speed mode. His eyes seemed a little brighter, his mood a little lighter. I finally snapped out of my stupor and smiled back. “I’ll have to make sure I wear my garlic necklace from now on.”

“And don’t forget your holy water perfume,” he added, those glacier-like eyes studying my face.

I grinned.

“You can’t take too many precautions to keep yourself safe from people like me.” With that, he left the room, going back to the front of the store.

What did he mean by that? I was unsure of whether he was still joking, referring to himself as a vampire, or whether he meant people wanted to be safe from guys like him.

I finished breaking down the boxes and was setting them by the back door when Stone came back into the kitchen.

Any happiness that had shown on his face moments ago was gone now. He scowled as he said, “Thought you might want to know your boyfriend’s here.”

“Technically, I don’t have a boyfriend, but I assume you’re talking about Chance?”
I asked, a little surprised.

It took him a moment to respond. “I’m talking about the jock
who
was attached to your hip last year at school. He’s not your boyfriend?”

“No.”

“What happened? I didn’t think he could function if you weren’t hanging off his arm, laughing and fluttering your eyelashes at him.”

Was this the same guy who was joking just moments ago? I didn’t respond to his question or his snide comment. Why was he being such a jerk?

“Let me guess. You finally realized that you could do so much better.”

“You don’t even know him,” I muttered as I brushed past him, leaving him in the kitchen alone.

Chance was standing at the endcap I had just stocked, reading the package of the newly released video game.

“You should buy that,” I suggested, walking toward him.

He ran his fingers through his feathered, blond hair, pushing it out of his eyes.
“Hey, Dara!
I thought I’d stop by and see how the first day of your new job’s going.”

“So far, so good.”
I hadn’t seen Chance since we broke up a week ago. We had been inseparable for the last year, and it had been a little strange without him during the last few days.

“How’re you doing?” he asked as he scanned my face with caring, hazel eyes.

I smiled at him. “I’m okay.
How about you?”

He grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. “It’s definitely different without you, but I’m okay, too.”

“We made the right decision, Chance.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I squeezed his fingers and then slid my hand out of his. “So do you have big plans for this summer?”

“Not really. I’ll probably just hang out with friends for the most part.
You?”

“I’ll be working,” I said with a grin. “Hopefully, I’ll make enough money to buy me a car. Granny is always happy to let me drive hers, but…it’s a little embarrassing, if you know what I mean. Besides, I want to drive to school next year, and even though she would probably let me drive hers, I don’t want to leave her without a vehicle all day.”

“She does like to go to the grocery store and visit Mr. Milton,” he said, a mischievous grin on his face.

Granny went to the small, local grocery store almost every day. Mr. Milton was a sweet, little, old man that the whole town knew. He had owned the grocery store since my grandmother was a teenager. Papa had passed away ten years ago when I was seven, and Mr. Milton’s wife passed away a couple of years ago. In the last few months, Chance and I noticed how Granny’s eyes seemed to light up when she saw Mr. Milton. I knew she was lonely.

“Yeah, there’s no way I could keep Granny from getting her Mr. Milton fix. That settles it. My number one goal for the summer is to save enough money to buy a car.”

“When you get ready to buy something, let me know. My dad might be able to help you find a decent set of wheels.”

“I will. Thanks, Chance. I can use all the help I can get. I know nothing about cars.” In an odd way, it really was a relief to know that someone would be able to help me. The thought of buying a car kind of scared me. There were only two car lots on Quail Mountain, and Chance’s father owned one of them.

“Well, I guess I’d better get going so you can get back to work. I think I’ll buy this game. It’ll give me something to do.”

I walked Chance to the cash register. Tom let me scan the game and ring up the purchase. It was really easy and kind of fun. Other than dealing with Stone’s mood swings, I was going to like this job.

I watched Chance walk out the door and get into his shiny, red convertible. His top was up, of course, but I did notice the rain had stopped and the sky was beginning to clear.