Dangerous (24 page)

I knew addiction was tough, but I was her
daughter
.

The hum of a motorcycle interrupted my pensive thoughts. I exhaled loudly, knowing that I had no desire to speak to Stone. Couldn’t the guy take a hint?

A moment later, a loud knock sounded at the front door. I made no effort to rise from the couch. I paused my recording, waiting for him to get the message and go away.

He rapped loudly again. “Come on, Dara. I know you’re in there.”

I remained still.

“Please, Dara. I need to talk to you.”

I thought about the scene last night, the one where I was left standing alone while he left with Jessie. I didn’t much care what he had to say, but I suddenly felt the need to say a few words of my own.

Marching to the front door, I swung it open and stared at him through narrowed eyes.

“
Dara,
let me explain. Can I come in?”

“No.”

I stepped out onto the front porch and closed the front door behind me. “Let
me
explain,” I said, pointing my finger at him. “You humiliated me in front of all my friends. You were on a date with me, but you left me standing there like an idiot while you left with her. Who does that? Oh, wait…a pompous rakehell, a selfish cad, an arrogant asshat…that’s who. Do you know what those words mean or do you want me to hand you a dictionary?”

“There’s nothing wrong with my vocabulary. I may have flunked out of private school, but I’m not ignorant,” he snapped. “Look, Dara. I know you’re angry, but if you’ll just calm down and let me explain.”

“I don’t want you to explain,” I thundered. “I got the message loud and clear. It’s my own fault. I knew messing with you would be dangerous. I knew you’d make me care about you, and then you’d just
leave,
ready to move on to the next girl. I thought I saw another side of you. I thought you were smart and funny and kind. And it sucks to realize that I was wrong.”

“Dara,” he said softly, holding his hands out to me.

“Don’t touch me,” I whispered through clenched teeth. “I know you think everything’s about you, Stone, but I have problems of my own. I can’t deal with you right now.”

I turned on my heel, walked back into the house, and slammed the door in his face. I turned my cell phone off. If the house phone rang, I would refuse to answer it, although most of those calls were for Granny, anyway.

I cut off the television and closed myself up in my bedroom. I needed some serious alone time.

Stone

I stared at the front door. Only moments ago, she had been close enough that I could have reached out and touched her. The scent of her perfume had teased me, making me remember all the times I had held her in my arms, skimming her neck with kisses while breathing in her intoxicating fragrance. And I had wanted to wrap my arms around her then. I could see the pain etched on her face. I could hear it in her voice. I had wanted to explain my actions. It appeared that any reconciliation would be hopeless, except for the fact that she had insinuated that she cared about me.

That one statement gave me hope.

I rammed my hands through my hair, wondering how I could make this right. I needed to go home and regroup.

I texted Tom and told him that I wouldn’t be back at the store today. When I finally made it home, I avoided my parents on my way to my room and called Mike.

“Hey, Mike. What’s up?”

“Nothing much, man,” Mike answered.

“I need you to do me a favor. Text Crimson’s number to me.”

“Dang it, Stone.
You’d better not be moving in on my girl.”

“If you want to make her your girl, you’d better get some swagger.
Now text me her number.
I want to talk to her about Dara.”

“Fine,” Mike grumbled.
“Doing it now.”

I hung up and waited for his text. As soon as it arrived, I dialed her number.

“Hello.”

“Crimson?”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Stone.”

“Stone!” she scolded. “Do you have an idea how heartbroken Dara is?”

“I just left her house, but she wouldn’t give me the chance to explain. I was wondering if you’ve talked to her today.”

“No. She’s not answering my calls or Scarlet’s calls. I did call and talk to Granny earlier, but she said that Dara wasn’t having a good day today. She also said that Dara’s mother came to see her.”

“Her mother?”
I asked, surprised. Why hadn’t she said anything? Then it dawned on me. She had told me that everything wasn’t about me and that she had problems of her own. I wish I had known. I would have knocked on the door again until she agreed to talk to me.

“Yeah.
Granny didn’t say much about it, but I got the impression that it left Dara a little down in the dumps.”

“Why didn’t she tell me?”

“Um, hello?
Because you broke her heart last night, Romeo.
Surely you realize that girls don’t particularly enjoy watching their Prince Charming ride off into the sunset with another woman. Or do you just not care?”

Her last question settled on my shoulders like a yoke. Is that what she thought after last night? That I didn’t care? Why shouldn’t she think that? I had survived the last three years by not caring. But Dara changed things. Hell, I hadn’t wanted things to change, but it happened anyway.

“I’ve got to go,” I informed her, eager to find a solution to my latest screw-up.

“Stone,” she shouted. A lengthy pause ensued as I waited for her to speak. “Despite your reputation, Dara sees something special in you. Don’t prove her wrong.”

“All I can say is that I warned her. Now, I really have to go.”

I hung up the phone. I knew Crimson wanted me to say that I wouldn’t hurt Dara, but I couldn’t guarantee anything. There was a time when I would have lied and said exactly that, not because I meant it, but because that’s exactly what she wanted to hear. For now, saying nothing was the best I could do.

I needed to talk to Dara. I needed to explain the situation with Jess, and I needed Dara to need to talk to me about her mother. As if that wasn’t enough things to need, I also needed a plan.

I had one mission. By the end of the day, Dara would need
me
.

***

The late afternoon sun cast a golden glow on the horizon. I pulled into Dara’s driveway in my mother’s car. I would have preferred my dad’s sports car, but seeing as we weren’t on the same wavelength these days, I knew my chances of borrowing it were slim to none, which was only slightly worse than normal.

After parking the car and walking to the front porch, I knocked loudly.

I shifted my feet as I waited for someone to answer the door. Casting a glance back to the driveway, I realized that Granny’s car was gone. Maybe Dara had met Crimson and Scarlet at Awesome Sauce. I should’ve called Crimson back before I came over to see if she had ever talked to Dara.

I turned around to leave when I heard the door open. I spun back around and caught Dara giving me a wary gaze through the narrow opening.

“What do you want, Stone?”

She practically scalded me with the tone of her voice.

I moved closer to her, knowing that it would unsettle her. “Dara,” I said softly.

She said nothing more, just looked at me with her melancholy-filled eyes. I’d made more than my share of girls cry, and it was obvious from her tear-stained cheeks that Dara had been unhappy for a long while.

“Would you come out on the porch and talk to me?” I reached for her face, and she pushed the door shut until the opening was no more than a tiny slit. “Just give me a few minutes, Dara. You can get up and go back in any time you want.”

She remained motionless.

“Please, Dara. Just give me a chance to explain,” I cajoled. The door opened a little wider, and I reached in to caress her cheek with my fingertips. I could see the artery in the slender column of her neck begin to pulse as her heart rate sped up.

It gave me an odd sense of relief to see that my touch still affected her.

She opened the door a little wider and stepped onto the porch. She looked like hell, and I wasn’t prepared for the way it punched me in the gut.

I tugged her into my arms. I didn’t say anything as she buried her face in my neck and clung to my torso. Her vulnerability was nearly my undoing. I gently stroked her back as her body shook with tears.

“It’s okay, baby,” I whispered. “I’m here.”

She pulled back and looked at me, and the pain written across her delicate features made my heart lurch.

“For how long?” she choked out between sobs.

Damn. I thrust my hands through my hair, not knowing how to answer that question. I’d never met a girl who could ask so many freaking questions. Or maybe I just had more difficulty telling Dara something because that’s what I thought she wanted to hear.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “I feel like I’m in unchartered territory.”

“Is that what you told Jessie?”

Would the questions never end? “No. That’s not what I told Jess.”

I sat down in the rocker and motioned for her to sit across my lap. She plopped her tight, little bottom across my thighs and dangled her legs over the side of the rocker. Then, she looked at me, waiting for me to continue.

“When Jess told me that she loved me, it caught me completely off-guard. Our relationship was nothing like that. We liked to get together and hang out. No strings attached. She was as adamant about there being no strings as I was. Neither of us was looking for a relationship. I had no idea that she felt that way, and seeing as I had just rejected her in front of a whole crowd of people, I felt obligated to speak to her in private, to explain to her that I didn’t feel the same way, to tell her that I couldn’t see her anymore. Shit, Dara, since I met you everything has changed.”

I slid my palm across her legs, my fingertips dipping into the edge of her shorts. I placed my other palm at the nape of her neck and pulled her to me for a kiss. When I finally withdrew, I encircled my arms around her waist. “I’m sorry, Dara. I’m sorry that I hurt you last night. I just felt like I needed to explain everything to Jess, and I didn’t want to do it with a crowd of people surrounding us. I screwed up, but in my defense, she had just dropped two bombs on me. I had no idea that she had been the one leaving the notes, and I had no idea that she had any real feelings for me. Will you forgive me?”

She leaned over to me, cradling my face in her palms. “I’ll let you know.”

It was a better answer than I deserved, but I knew I could fully convince her to forgive me. Hell, as far as I was concerned, it was the only option.

“Come on. I want to take you somewhere,” I said quietly.

“Where?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Stone, I don’t really feel like going anywhere or seeing anyone.”

“Please, Dara. It’s somewhere private. You won’t have to see anyone but me.” He motioned for her to stand up. “Come on. Let’s go.”

“But Stone….”

“Come on. I promise you that it’ll be worth it.” I pulled her toward the car, and reluctantly, she agreed to go.

We drove up the mountain, and I pulled off onto a dirt road and drove approximately one mile before coming to a stop at the edge of some woods.

“Where are we?”

“We’re not far from my house. My parents own this property. Come on. There’s something I want to show you.”

We walked along a trail in the woods that led to a creek. I had been here earlier today, preparing everything for her.

“Here it is,” I told her.

“This is it?” she asked. “You brought me to a mud hole?”

I laughed. “This isn’t just any mud hole. Luke and I used to love to ride our dirt bikes through this mud. We had a lot of fun here, and I wanted to share this spot with you.” I walked over and picked up a couple of folded towels from the edge of the woods. I placed them near the mud hole. “Take your shoes off and have a seat.”

She looked at me a little surprised as I took my shoes and socks off, but she followed my lead and sat on the folded towel.

“I have a gift for you,” I said, retrieving a box from the edge of the woods and placing it across her silky thighs.

A small smile brightened her face.

“I made it myself. It’s not much, but….”

Her slender fingers worked deftly at opening the thin, cardboard flap. When she peered into the box, her laughter floated around me, making me feel like a little less of a douche.

“A mud pie!
It’s perfect!”

“You like it?” I asked, thinking she’d better. I’d never made a mud pie in my life, and I had a strong suspicion that if word got out, my manliness would take a good kick in the nuts. Not something I wanted to endure.

“I love it!” she squealed, poking her fingertips at the decorations.

“You once told me that mud pies were guaranteed to make the worst of days a little bit better. I know you’ve had a couple of crappy days, and I’d do pretty much anything to make you feel better.” I pointed at the mud pie. “If that doesn’t prove it, I don’t know what would. I wanted you to know that I’ve been thinking about you.
A lot.”