Dangerous (7 page)

Darn it. He had actually started talking and now he had shut down again. Why had he dropped out of boarding school? The economy had been tough in recent years. Maybe his father had lost his job, forcing his parents to withdraw him from a pricey boarding school and put him in a public school.

I wanted to ask him, but thought better of it. Money could be a sensitive subject for some people. I decided to change the subject entirely.

“How long have you been riding motorcycles?”

Stone ran his fingers through his hair, the motion accentuating his bicep as his muscle flexed with the movement.

“I learned to ride a bicycle when I was three. I had a motorcycle by the time I was five.”

“That young?”

“Yeah.
My mother still tells stories about how terrified she was when my father brought the first motorcycle home.”

“I bet. It’s hard to imagine a five-year-old riding a motorcycle.”

“It was a little, blue fifty, and I loved it. My brothers and I used to build ramps all over the yard, despite my mother’s protests.”

“When I was five, I was still making mud pies. There was little chance that Granny and Grandpa would let me anywhere near a motorized vehicle.
At least not if I was going to be the one driving.”

“Mud pies, huh?”

“Yep.
Mud pies.
They’re a lot of fun.
Guaranteed to make the worst of days a little bit better.”

“I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

We stood in silence, gazing down at the valley. A hawk circled over the town below, its long wings gliding on the breeze that rustled through the leaves above us. I pictured Stone as a small boy riding a tiny dirt bike. I grinned, knowing somehow that he was just as cocky on a motorcycle then as he was now.

He pushed off the railing and walked toward a tall willow tree in the middle of a grassy field. He glanced over his shoulder. “Aren’t you coming?”

“What? I’m supposed to just follow you around like a hummingbird chasing a sweet drink of nectar?”

He stopped and turned to look at me, his thumbs tucked in the front pocket of his jeans. “I’ve been compared to a lot of things, but never have I been compared to a sweet drink of nectar. I kinda like it, though.” He winked. “And to answer your question about whether you should follow me around—well, that’s what most girls do.” He turned back toward the tree, and I could hear him chuckling. He didn’t even look back to see if I was coming. Did he seriously think I was going to follow him because he expected me to?

I stared at him as he walked farther and farther away.

When he reached the tree, he turned to look at me and found me standing in the same position that I was when he first started walking.

“Of course, I do love a good game of hard-to-get,” he called.

I just stared at him, refusing to take one step toward him.

To my surprise, he started sprinting toward me. As he neared me, I heard myself squeal, and I turned and ran. I could hear his footsteps closing in on me, and I tried to push myself to run faster. I hadn’t gotten far when he scooped me off my feet, and I found myself lying horizontally in his arms, my feet kicking and dangling in the air. I giggled breathlessly in the excitement.

“That was much too easy,” he boasted, carrying me back toward the tree in the field.

I squirmed to get loose, but his arms tightened their hold on me. He carried me under the willow tree, its branches brushing across us like a curtain of leaves. Once we neared the trunk, he released my feet and wrapped both arms around my torso. My body slid down his until my feet finally reached the ground. I could feel my heart hammering as it always did at his nearness.

“Now, didn’t you say something about being thirsty?” he asked, his voice low and rough.

“I don’t recall being thirsty.”

“You didn’t say something about wanting a sweet drink of nectar?” he asked, his breath tickling my ear.

I started to protest, but I found his lips on mine. Whatever words had been forming in my head, slipped away as his tongue teased my lips until I parted them. His hands skimmed up my sides until he held my face between his palms, his fingers splayed, warm against my skin.

He kissed me with gentle urgency, and all conscious thought melted away as I succumbed to that dangerous aura that surrounded him, the one that left me unable to think coherently.

Disappointed that he had ended the kiss, I leaned into him as he pulled away. He remained close, his thumbs caressing my cheeks. “My little hummingbird,” he whispered against my lips.

“Your nectar isn’t quite as sweet as you seem to think it is,” I muttered.

He smirked. “Then why do you have a death grip around my waist?”

I jumped away from him as if we had been separated by a bolt of lightning. I could feel my face burning a brilliant shade of red, and I turned away from him in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, facing the tree.

He walked up behind me and slid his arms around my waist, clasping his hands in front of me. “I liked it,” he whispered in my ear.

I could feel my face burning even brighter, though I wouldn’t have thought it possible. I couldn’t stop the smile tugging at my lips. At least my back was to him, which saved me from further embarrassment. I leaned against him, savoring the feel of his arms around me. He nuzzled my neck with tender kisses, sending tingling jolts of electricity through my body. His fingers skimmed along the edge of my low-rise jeans, before gripping my waist on each side and turning me to face him.

“You feel so good,” he whispered, running his hand under the back of my shirt and pressing his palm against the small of my back, pulling me to him for another kiss.

I couldn’t think with his lips on mine and his warm fingers rhythmically stroking my bare skin along the edge of my jeans.
Dangerous.
He was dangerous. This was dangerous. It took all my strength and willpower to place my palms on his chest and gently push him away, breaking the spellbinding lip-lock.

He cast a lopsided grin. “You’re afraid of losing control with me.”

I was shocked, though I wasn’t sure if it was because he just said that out loud or because it was true. I opened my mouth to deny it, but quickly shut it again. I wasn’t a very good liar. I dropped my eyes to his neck, too nervous to look him in the eye.

He kissed the tip of my nose and gave a playful tug to a strand of my hair. “Don’t worry. I have no plans to ravish you on our first date.”

Surprised that he considered this our first date, my eyes flew to his.

He tugged at my hand and motioned toward the trunk of the willow tree. “Come on. Let’s sit and talk a while.”

We both sat at the base of the tree, but he didn’t let go of my hand. He positioned it on his thigh, cupping his hand around mine, his thumb caressing the tip of my pinkie.

“So how do you like working at the bookstore?” he asked.

“So far, so good.
Tom seems very nice.”

“Yeah, Tom’s a good guy, even if he is a little nerdy.”

“You seem to be a good guy, too, even if you are a little conceited,” I jabbed.

“Conceited is just another word for self-confident. And sometimes, the only confidence one can depend on is his own.”

I watched his face, wondering what he meant by that, but he didn’t elaborate.

“And rule number one…don’t ever assume that I’m a good guy. I’m not. And I could give you a whole list of people who would trip all over themselves to verify that.”

“And who would be on that list?” If he was trying to scare me away, it was working. Who wanted to go out with someone who was a self-proclaimed bad guy? But I really wasn’t getting that vibe from him despite his words.

“My father for one.”

“Your dad?”
I asked, surprised.

He stared at our hands. “Let’s just say I’m not his pick.”

“You think he prefers your brothers over you?”

“I know he does.”

“I’m sure your dad loves you just as much as them.”

He stopped caressing my hand with his thumb. “You sound like my mother.”

“If your mother says it, then it must be true. Mothers don’t just say things for the heck of it.”

“Yes, Dara, they do. Besides, how would you know?”

Shock assaulted my system. How could he say such a thing? I could feel hot tears stinging the corners of my eyes and a lump of raw ache rising in my throat. I pulled my hand away from him and tucked it between my knees, my legs stretched out in front of me.

“Shit,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry, Dara. I wasn’t thinking. I guess I can add you to my list now, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Not a day goes by that I don’t wonder where my mother is and why she gave me up,” I whispered.

“Look,” he said. “You don’t have to talk about it. I should’ve never said what I said.”

“No, Stone, it’s okay. I want to talk about it. I miss her, you know?”

He exhaled loudly. “Yeah, I do. I do know.”

“I wonder what she looks like, whether I look anything like her, what she’s doing. There are so many questions whirling in my head that sometimes I think it’ll explode.”

“Have you ever thought about trying to find her?”

“Yeah, I have, but I figure I got my granny. If my mother wanted me in her life, then she would’ve come back for me. I used to dream about her coming back for me, but after almost fifteen years, I know it’ll never happen. I’ve accepted it, and I’ve moved on. And you know what? Life is good.”

“I wish I could be as upbeat as you.”

“It’s taken me a long time to get to this point. I don’t think I would’ve ever made it without Granny. She’s a pretty incredible woman. Sometimes I don’t know how she does it.”

“She sounds awesome.”

“Yeah, you’ll have to meet her sometime.”

“Maybe one of these days, I’ll play my cards right, and you’ll give me a ride in her awesome vehicle to meet her.”

“Maybe so,” I agreed, smiling.

I leaned against the tree trunk, watching the willow branches dance in the balmy breeze. Stone seemed to be content watching them, too, and we fell into a comfortable silence.

I yawned.

“Am I that boring?” he asked.

I laughed. “No, you’re not boring at all. I just didn’t sleep well last night, and my eyelids are getting a little heavy.”

“Come here,” he said, gesturing with his hands.

“What?”

“Why don’t you lay your head in my lap and rest your eyes?”

“I’m fine,” I said, horrified at the thought of putting my head in his lap. Heck, I barely knew him.

“Come on,” he insisted. “I promise not to bite, even if you aren’t wearing your garlic necklace today.”

I gulped and scooted closer to him, while he put his hands on my shoulders, guiding me to his lap. His legs were stretched out in front of him, his ankles crossed. I fanned my hair out across his legs and carefully laid my head down on the thigh nearest me, praying that I didn’t cut off his circulation.

“Close your eyes,” he instructed.

I obeyed, and his warm fingertips smoothed my hair away from my forehead and began tracing tiny circles on my temples. Once I got over my nervousness, it actually felt quite pleasant. I could feel the tension ease out of my neck and shoulders as I concentrated on his magic fingers.

Stone

I knew the moment that she fell asleep, her pink lips parting slightly as she drifted into a peaceful slumber. I glided my fingers through her silky hair and studied her face, her dark lashes fanned across her cheeks. She was one of the prettiest girls at Quail Mountain High, but to me, her attraction wasn’t so much her looks. I wasn’t a stranger to beautiful girls. It was her goodness, a quality that seemed harder and harder to find—not that I had necessarily been looking for it. On the contrary, I usually avoided girls like her. I would only disappoint her. It was much better for me to stick to girls like Jess, girls with no expectations, no specific lists of qualifications, no strings.

I sighed. Dara was already probing through my walls of privacy. I liked it and hated it at the same time. She had opened up to me regarding her innermost thoughts and insecurities, and I had been tempted to do the same. Hell, I had already told her more than I had told anyone in the last three years.

What was I doing? I was breaking all of my own rules, and I didn’t give a damn. I gazed at Dara. As tempting as she was, I really needed to rethink my strategy where she was concerned. There was no harm in hanging out with her once in a while, but I could not do a relationship. I knew that before I ever asked her to hop on the back of my bike with me. I couldn’t stomach the look on her face when the day came that she discovered the real me.

Her eyes fluttered open. I smiled at her. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She smiled back. Pulling herself into a seated position, she laughed. “Wow! I can’t believe I actually dozed off. You must be amazed at my dating skills. It’s your fault, you know?”