Dangerous (8 page)

“It is?” I asked as we both rose to our feet, standing beneath the canopy of the willow tree.

“Yes. Your magic fingers put a spell on me, like the evil stepmother in Sleeping Beauty.”

“I’m evil, but I’m definitely not your stepmother.” I grabbed her back pockets, pulled her backwards against my chest, and nibbled at her earlobe just to prove my point.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I groaned as I released her and answered it.

“Hey, Mom.”

“Everything’s fine. Are y’all enjoying your trip to Italy?”

“What? But Mom…I was going to…I know, but….”

“Yeah, I’ll see you when you get back. Tell Dad I say ‘Hey’.”

“I love you, too, Mom.”

Dara watched me as I hung up the phone. “Your parents are in Italy?” she asked.

“Yeah.
They were supposed to be back by the Fourth of July, but it looks like they’ve decided to stay two more weeks. So much for my Fourth of July plans….”

“You can hang out with me and Granny, if you want.”

I knew she didn’t understand my frustration, the reason why I was hoping they would be here, and I felt no need to clarify it at this point.

“And what do you and Granny
do
? Knit socks? Bake apple pies? Make quilts?”

She frowned at me. “My Granny happens to be very cool. She couldn’t knit a sock or make a quilt if it were the key to a man’s heart—not that knitting and quilting aren’t cool.”

“Yeah, knitting and quilting are definite requirements if you want to sit at the lunch table with the cool kids.”

She punched me lightly in the arm. “Don’t be mean.”

“Yes, Mother.”

She punched me in the arm again. Then, she quickly added, “Not that being compared to your mother is a bad thing, it’s just….”

“Dara, you’re way too nice for your own good. You’re going to pop a gasket worrying about everyone else’s feelings all the time.”

“Well, I didn’t want you to think that I was insulting your mother.”

I smirked and slightly shook my head. “The thought never even crossed my mind.”

“It didn’t?”

“No,” I responded while staring at her lips. “I was thinking about other things.”

“Like?”

I grabbed her hands and tugged her until she was pressed against my body. “Like this.” I bent down and kissed her. She tasted so good, like strawberries, and I wondered if that pink sparkly gloss she always wore was flavored. My hand moved up just under the back of her shirt, and I massaged the small of her back. Her skin was soft and smooth, and I couldn’t keep myself from wanting to touch her. My fingers skimmed just below the edge of her jeans, and I could feel her tiny gasp as we kissed. She responded to me in a way that excited me.

Her arms were wound around me in another death grip, and I couldn’t keep the corners of my mouth from turning up in a grin. She was sweet. If I kept up this pace, I would push things too far. It wouldn’t be a problem with most girls that I dated, but this was Dara. I should’ve stayed away from her to begin with. I knew she wasn’t my type. She wasn’t the kind of girl who sought out relationships just for the physical aspects.

I moved my hands to her face, splaying my fingers across her cheeks. I had to end this now. I kissed her a moment longer and pulled away just enough to break the kiss. My hands remained in place, holding her face close to mine. She watched me with wide, green eyes.

“We’d best be getting back,” I said, my voice sounding deep and rough.

I didn’t know what I had been thinking when I asked Dara to ride out here with me, but I had a feeling my impromptu actions were going to come back and bite me in the ass.

Chapter 4

Dara

I rode to Awesome Sauce with Crimson and Scarlet. The juke box was booming as the bubble lights that arched around it glowed, and teenagers and twenty-
somethings
packed the restaurant in booths and at the long, red counter that lined part of the back wall.

“Mike is sooo sweet,” Crimson cooed, as she recounted her motorcycle ride with him the other night. “I can’t believe I never really talked to him much at school. He’s pretty hot in a shy, quiet kind of way.”

“That’s exactly the kind of boyfriend you need,” Scarlet said. “He won’t be offended by your loquaciousness.”

“I don’t talk any more than you do,” Crimson snapped.

“I never said you did, but when I speak, it’s because I have something intelligent to say.”

“That must be why you’re not dating anyone,” Crimson said. “Who wants to date a brainiac?”

Scarlet laughed.
“Other braniacs.
You
know,
those smart people who run the world, own the businesses, and make a lot of money.”

“That shows how much you know,” Crimson smirked. “Those guys marry trophy wives. Intelligence is not a requirement.”

I laughed. “She does have a point. I can’t picture too many powerful men who are married to ugly wives.”

“Dara, stop drinking from her water fountain,” Scarlet urged, thumbing in Crimson’s direction.
“Joke all you want, but we all know that beauty is not a woman’s most important quality. Besides, I never said I was talking about men. The point that I was making is that braniacs like to date other braniacs. Plenty of women are braniacs, and they are becoming increasingly more powerful. I have every intention of being one of them.”

“You’re right, of course,” I agreed.

“Now that you know you’re right, can we get back to my story?” Crimson asked Scarlet.

She didn’t wait for Scarlet to answer. “Riding on the back of his motorcycle was so exciting.”

“I know what you mean,” I said. “I rode on the back of Stone’s yesterday. He took me to the park at the top of Quail Mountain. He is such a good kisser.”

“He kissed you?” Scarlet asked, her mouth dropping open as she stared at me waiting for details.

I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face. It had been all I could do to wait until today to tell Crimson and Scarlet about our time together. I knew I would be meeting them today, and I wanted to see their reactions when I told them.

“Mike didn’t even try to kiss me,” Crimson lamented.

“Probably because you were too busy talking,” Scarlet poked.

Crimson ignored her jibe. “Well, aren’t you going to tell us about it?” she asked, focusing on me.

“Tell us about what?” Chance asked as he walked up to the red, vinyl booth and sat down beside me, forcing me to scoot over.

Stone

Dara had been off of work today, and I couldn’t decide whether I was relieved or slightly irritated. Everything about her felt so right, but the warning bells rang loudly enough in my head to crack my skull in two.

I hadn’t trusted myself to say much to her once we had gotten back to the parking lot, so that she could pick up her grandmother’s car. I dared not touch her again, afraid that I would only invite her to spend the rest of the evening with me. And she would have. I could tell that she responded to my touch. She was sweet, gentle, and passionate, but she was also trusting and naïve. Other than her relationship with Chance, I didn’t think she had much experience with guys. And while I hadn’t questioned her about Chance, I knew enough to know that I was nothing like him, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing for her.

It was almost closing time, and sales had been good today. I should have been relieved, but my thoughts were never far from Dara. And that was my problem, one that would have to be rectified.

I locked the store and was just about to put on my helmet when I saw it—a white piece of paper rolled up and tucked between the handlebar and the clutch.

I snatched it up and unrolled it, bringing the typed letters into view.
Stay away from Dara.

I had actually planned on staying away from her, but that was when it was on my terms. I’d be damned if Chance Murray was going to keep me away from her.
Coward.
If he wanted to deliver a message, he should’ve said it to my face.

I crammed the note into the front pocket of my jeans and pushed the helmet on my head. I stood still a moment, gulping in the humid, late-afternoon air, trying desperately to abate the anger that was rapidly seething through my veins. Things never went well when I lost my temper. I breathed deeply, willing myself to calm down. Right now, I needed to go home and take a hot shower, allowing some of my fury to roll off my back along with the water. I needed to keep my cool and think. The only way I was going to be successful was if I was alone.

As my bike hummed along the road, I wondered why Chance would be so brazen as to order me to stay away from her. She wasn’t his property. They were no longer together, and that made her fair game for the taking. Why did it even matter? Hadn’t I been telling myself that I needed to let it end, to let the one memorable afternoon we had together be the extent of our relationship? I didn’t want to get serious with a girl like Dara. Chance would be doing me a favor if he got back together with her.

When I thought about it rationally, I agreed with him. So why had I just decided to go find her?

Dara

I could feel Chance looking at me as I stared at my hands in my lap.

“Well, tell us,” Chance prodded.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” I said, waving my hand in the air, as if that would make the whole conversation go away. I had no intention of rubbing my kiss with Stone in Chance’s face.

“No, I want to hear what’s been going on with my best girl,” he continued.

The awkwardness was so thick I thought I was going to choke. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, Stone walked up to our booth.

Crimson’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head and skitter across the table. A nervous giggle escaped my lips, and Scarlet proved her intelligence by being the only female at the table who had enough wits about her to actually speak. “Hello, Stone.”

He gave her a charming smile and nodded in greeting. “Ladies, you all look lovely tonight.
Especially you, Dara.”

My eyes flew to his, and he had me pinned to the booth seat with his smoldering gaze. I glanced at Chance. His lips were drawn into a tight, thin line, making it obvious that he was unhappy with the current circumstances.

I cleared my throat. “Thank you.” It came out little more than a whisper.

Chance had been my only serious boyfriend, and I had no experience to draw on that might assist me in handling this situation tactfully.

Luckily, Scarlet came to my rescue once again.

“Chance, would you do me a favor and order me a strawberry shake at the counter? I haven’t seen our server in a while, and I’m going to turn into a beast if I don’t get my strawberry fix soon.” She handed him a five-dollar bill.

He looked at her outstretched hand and reluctantly took it. His eyes found mine and lingered a moment before he shot a frown in Stone’s direction and excused himself.

Stone immediately sat in Chance’s seat and put his arm around me. “Hey, babe,” he greeted before giving me a chaste kiss on the lips. He pulled back just enough to gaze into my eyes and whisper, “You look amazing as always.”

I blushed and lowered my lashes, breaking his entrancing stare.

“Where’s Mike?” Crimson asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him today,” Stone answered. “I’m surprised he’s not here.” Stone gazed around the restaurant.

“I had a lot of fun riding with him the other night,” Crimson continued.

“He had a good time, too,” Stone replied. “I didn’t think he was ever going to shut up about it. You should give him a call.”

Crimson’s perfectly sculpted lips curved into a smile. “Maybe I will. Do you have his number?”

Stone pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and pulled up Mike’s number. He slowly gave the number to Crimson while she typed it in her contact list. Her thumbs worked wildly while she typed a message out to Mike.

A few seconds later, her phone dinged with a reply. She squealed. “He’s in the parking lot.
Said he’d be inside in a minute.”

I watched her as she kept her eyes glued to the entrance, which
was
a few booths behind me. When she started waving wildly, I knew he had entered the building.

She ordered Scarlet to squeeze into the wall, so that she could make room for Mike to sit on the edge of the booth seat.

Stone and Mike bumped fists across the table.

“Hey, bro.
You ride your bike tonight?” Stone asked.

“Yep.”
Mike turned his attention to Crimson. “I was hoping you’d go for another ride with me.”

I thought Crimson was going to melt into a puddle on the floor.

“I was hoping you’d ask me to,” she replied.

“Let’s go,” he said, standing up and offering her his hand.

“How about you, Dara?”
Stone asked. “You want to go?”