Devious (6 page)

“Sorry
about that,” a female voice called.  “I’m not use to driving this huge thing
yet.”

If
it’d been a guy, I’d probably flipped his ass off.  But considering she was
pretty damn good looking and I was busy with something more important at the
moment, I let it go.  “No problem,” I called, glancing at her as Drew answered.

“Hey,
Drew, this is Stone Hamilton.”

The
female walked toward me.  “Stone?”

I
glanced at her again, taking the time to really look at her now that she had
called out my name.  Damn, it couldn’t be.  My mouth dropped open, and I
quickly shut it, hoping to look a little more composed.

“Drew,
I’m gonna have to call you back.”  I hung up, not waiting for him to reply.

She
hurried toward me, her red-gold hair spilling around her navy pullover.  She
was just as sexy as I remembered her.

“Stone
Hamilton?”

“Tiffany?”

Her
perfectly formed mouth shot into a wide grin.  “You remember me.”

Hell,
how could I forget?

She
motioned back toward the truck, which had
Scholtz Coffee
painted on the
side of it.  “Sorry about almost running over you.  I usually work in the
office, but my dad’s driver was sick today.  Even though I could drive it
pretty good at one time, I’m afraid I’m a little rusty.”

“That’s
your dad’s company?”

“Yeah,
we’re actually based out of Knoxville.  We deliver coffee to businesses in the
Southeast.  Anyways…look at you.  You look great.”

“So
do you.”

“I
never got the chance to talk to you after Luke died.”  She fiddled with a
strand of hair.  “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,
it’s been hard.  But I appreciate that.”  I could see the genuine concern in
her sapphire eyes.

She
did something that I didn’t expect.  She reached out and took my hand.  Part of
me couldn’t get past the sixteen-year-old that had been infatuated with her.

She
smiled again.  “I had so much fun that summer, until…well, you know.”

I
nodded.  “Yeah, Luke and I had a lot of fun, too; although, I have to admit I
was jealous of him.”

“Why?” 
She furrowed her brow and looked at me inquisitively.

“Because
you liked him,” I said as if I couldn’t believe she didn’t already know the
answer.

“I
did?” she asked, clearly surprised by my words.

“Didn’t
you make out with him the night of the accident?”

“Uh,
no.  The last time that I saw him was the day before the wreck.  You thought I
liked Luke?” she asked, letting go of me and tucking her fingers in the front
pockets of her khakis.

All
these years I thought he had gone to see Tiffany.  Apparently, he had changed
his mind before he’d gotten there.  “Well, I’m pretty sure you spent a helluva
lot more time with him than you did with me.”

She
laughed.  “That was because you made me nervous, and I was always tongue-tied
when you were around.  I was totally infatuated with you.  You were the cutest
guy I’d ever seen, and I fantasized about kissing you every night.”

“You
did?”  Hell, if I’d known it at the time, she wouldn’t have been fantasizing. 
Shit.  If I’d known it at the time, I would’ve never dared Luke to go kiss her. 

She
nodded.  “I kept waiting on you to make a move.  And well, I’ve regretted ever
since that I didn’t….”  She took a business card from her pocket and placed it
in my hand. 

“Didn’t
what?” I asked, shifting my eyes from the card to her face.

“Do
this.”  The last thing I expected was for her to close the gap between us and
touch her lips to mine.  They were soft and warm, and I was in shock.  Instinctively,
my hands tangled in her hair as I cradled the back of her head.  It took me
longer than it should’ve to get my thoughts in order, but hell, I was a guy. 
Damn it, how was I supposed to think straight with a hottie pressed against me? 
And one that I had been crushing on at that?

When
her tongue slipped into my mouth, all conscious thought finally came crashing
back into my skull.  There was no taste of strawberries.  No familiar fragrance
filling the air.  No Dara.

I
grasped her arms and pushed her away from me.  “Shit, Tiffany, I can’t do
this.  I have a girlfriend.”

“Oh,”
she gasped.  “I’m so…sorry.”

Immediately,
I glanced at the hotel entrance. 

Dara
stood just outside the doors, and the look on her face as she watched our
interaction would forever be branded in my mind. 

Damn
it.  I’d screwed up again.

Chapter
6

Dara

I
literally felt like I was going to vomit.  It was bad enough that the clerk
hadn’t recognized my mother’s photo, but my eyes fell on Stone just as some
strange female rose on her tiptoes and kissed him.  Frozen to the spot, I tried
to remind myself to breathe as I watched him respond to her, his hands
encircling her as the kiss deepened.

When
he finally pushed her away, the girl followed his line of vision and turned to
look at me.  I immediately recognized her from the photo in Luke’s room.  If
anything, she was even more beautiful in person.

Stone
locked eyes with me.  I was too far away to hear what the girl murmured to him,
but she turned and scurried away, walking back to her truck.

I
had been horrified when I’d let my jealousy run away with me where Jessie had
been concerned, but unfortunately, this situation was entirely different.  I’d
seen him with my own eyes.  I knew what he’d done, and I knew he wouldn’t be
able to explain this one away.

I’d
believed him when he told me that Jessie had approached his table, but now, I
wondered if he’d even been telling me the truth.

Now,
I wondered if our entire relationship was a lie. 

It
didn’t take him long to cross the distance between us, his hands grasping my
upper arms.  “Dara, I can explain.”

“Scarlet’s
right.  You are devious.”  I don’t know why those words popped in my head, but
I suddenly had the feeling that maybe I didn’t know Stone as well as I thought
I did.  Or maybe he didn’t love me as much as I thought he did.

My
feet finally began to move, and I pulled myself from his hold and walked
quickly to my car, trying not to look at the girl who had been kissing my
boyfriend moments ago.  If I was going to direct my anger at anyone, it would
be Stone.  He was the one who had claimed to love me.

I
paused near the trunk and held my palm out.  “Give me my keys.”

Fishing
them from his front pocket, he obeyed.  “Are you okay?”

I
shot him an icy glare.  “Yeah, I’m great, Stone.  Why wouldn’t I be?”

I
started walking toward the driver’s door, and he grabbed me by the elbow. 
“Dara….”

“Please
don’t speak to me.  I don’t want to hear anything you have to say right now.”

He
released me and stood with his arms akimbo while he watched me slide in behind
the wheel.

I
backed the car out of the parking space and rolled down my window.  “Get in the
car, and I’ll take you home.”  The thought to leave him standing there had
occurred to me, but since we were a long ways from home, I just didn’t have the
heart to do it.

He
got in the car without saying a word and slid the seat back to accommodate his
long legs.  I drove away, trying not to look in my rearview mirror to see if
Tiffany was watching us.

“Dara….”

I
held my palm up towards him.  “I mean it, Stone.  I don’t want to talk to you
right now.”

“I
just want to explain,” he said calmly.  I kept my eyes focused on the road, but
I could feel him watching me.

I
said nothing, just stared straight ahead at the lines on the road, refusing to
acknowledge him.

We
rode in silence a moment more.

“Dara.”

If
I hadn’t been driving, I would’ve closed my eyes and blocked him from all my
senses.  But I could hear him.  I could smell his cologne.  I could see him in
my peripheral vision, despite my attempts to not look at him at all.  But the
one vision that overrode all of that was Stone clinging to her as they kissed.

I
swallowed, aggravated with the entire situation.  I left Oakley before finding
my mother, and my boyfriend had just kissed another girl.  That hurt to think
about.  My boyfriend had just kissed another girl.  How was I going to get that
out of my head?

“Shit,”
he grumbled from the passenger side as he shifted his body, his knees brushing
against the dash, and stared out the window.

I
fought the hot tears that stung my eyes, refusing to let him see me cry.  I
always knew he was dangerous, and this was the very situation that my head had
tried to warn me against.  Stone Hamilton had a reputation with the females. 
Why had I been foolish enough to think that I was anything special to him? 

I
knew he wanted a more intimate relationship than I was willing to give him. 
Maybe that had made him lose interest in me.  Maybe he just wasn’t the type of
guy who could go without.  Maybe he just wasn’t the type of guy to stick to one
girl.  Not for very long, anyway.

And
I loved him completely.  What did that make me?

I
inhaled deeply, trying to keep my breathing even and my tears at bay.  It was
hard.  Seeing him with Tiffany had ripped my heart out.  When I thought back to
everything we’d been through over the last few months, I couldn’t believe that
he had kissed her.

Stone
had genuinely made me feel like he cared about me.  Was I that easily deceived?

“Dara,
be reasonable.”

“Be
reasonable?  You just kissed another girl in front of me, and you want
me
to be reasonable?”  I was so angry I thought flames would shoot from my eyes. 
Maybe I should pull over and kick him out on the side of the Interstate.

“Let
me rephrase that.  I just meant that you should calm down.  Give me the chance
to explain.”

“There’s
no need for an explanation.  You do realize I saw you this time, right?”

“What
do you mean
this time
?” he asked, his voice demanding an answer.

“
This
time
as in maybe I didn’t see you with Jessie, but I did see you
this
time.
”  I gripped the steering wheel with such force that my knuckles turned
white.  I didn’t know how long I had been holding it so tightly, maybe since we
first left Oakley, but my hands were starting to cramp.

“I
told you that nothing happened with Jess.”

“I
don’t want to talk about it right now,” I reiterated, turning the radio up to
drown out our words.

I
needed some time to analyze the situation.  I needed to be able to think about
it without him sitting next to me.  I could never think things through when he
was near.

We
rode the rest of the way home with the radio blaring.  He didn’t try to speak
to me again, and I was more than happy with that arrangement.

I
pulled into the driveway and turned the radio down as he opened the door to get
out.  He stepped onto the driveway.

“Stone?”

He
leaned down and looked in the car, his eyes resting on my face, but he didn’t
speak.

He
handed me a business card.  I looked at him expectantly, wondering what he
wanted me to do with it.

“I’m
giving that to you,” he said.  “Tiffany handed it to me before I told her that
I had a girlfriend.  I have no need for her number.”

A
lump lodged in my throat.  Too bad he didn’t tell her he had a girlfriend
before he kissed her.  His clear blue eyes watched me intently, patiently, as
he waited for me to speak.  His jaw clenched.

“I
think it would be better if we didn’t see each other anymore,” I said, hoping
my voice didn’t sound as defeated as I felt.

“You’re
breaking up with me?”

I
didn’t say anything, merely nodded.

“Damn
it!” he shouted as he stood upright and slapped his palms on the roof of my
car.  He slammed the car door shut, and I immediately pulled the car forward to
drive in a small circle in front of his garage and continue back down his
driveway.

I
didn’t look at him directly, but he stood still, his thumbs tucked in the front
pockets of his jeans, and watched me as I drove away.

It
wasn’t until I was sure that he couldn’t see me that I let the tears slide down
my cheeks and the sobs that had been trapped inside of me escape.  Right or
wrong, I was in love with Stone Hamilton.

Stone

Well,
hell, I’d done it again.  Just when I finally thought I might not actually be a
total screw up….  Shit!  How the hell was I going to get out of this one?

I
needed to hit something.  Or better yet, I needed to be on my bike.  I went in
the house, grabbed my keys and my helmet, and hit the asphalt.  I knew from
personal experience that the only way to escape the hell that I created for
myself was to navigate the Black Snake, a challenging strip of road for
motorcycle enthusiasts.  That was the one place where my full attention had to
be on my bike, the one place where there was no room in my brain for thoughts
of my inadequacies.

***

Dara
spent the last two days avoiding me completely.  I tried calling, texting, and
leaving notes in her locker.  Nothing. 

I’d
set my alarm to go off a half hour early this morning, so that I could catch
her at home before she left for school.  I had no idea if she’d talk to me or
if Granny would break out her shotgun and run my ass off, but I was willing to
give it a try if it meant I might get the chance to talk to her.

When
I pulled into her driveway, I was relieved to see her car was still there. 
Granny’s ugly ass tank was parked right beside it, so being met by the barrel
of a shotgun drifted through my mind as a real possibility.  Granny was one of
the coolest old ladies I’d ever met, but if Dara had told her that I’d been
kissing Tiffany, well, Granny might not be inclined to be hospitable.

I
knocked on the front door.

Granny
opened it and peered out at me.

“Good
morning, Granny.  I was wondering if I could speak to Dara.”

“Come
on in, Stone.  She’s ready.  She’s just in her room waiting for time to leave.” 
Granny ushered me in the living room and pointed towards her room.  “Knock on
her door, honey.”

Granny
went into the kitchen while I went in the opposite direction toward Dara’s
room.  I tapped lightly on her door. 

“Come
in,” she called.

When
I opened the door, she was lying across her bed reading a text book, her face
hidden by a golden veil of silky hair.  “Granny, I think I’m ready for my
English exam,” she said.  When she turned towards the door, her eyes widened
and she scrambled into a sitting position in the center of her already-made-up
bed.  “What’re you doing here?”

I
closed the door softly behind me.  “Dara, I’m sorry.”

“I
don’t want to talk to you, Stone.”  She crossed her arms over her chest.

I
raked my fingers through my hair and exhaled.  “I know, but if you’ll just give
me the chance to explain….”

“Do
I have a choice?” she asked, her voice reflecting her anger.

“Yeah. 
You have a choice.  I’ll leave if that’s what you really want, but Dara, I’m
asking you to please hear me out.”

She
remained silent, so I took that as my cue to start explaining before she
changed her mind.

“I
didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“But
it did.”  She pursed her shimmering lips together and swallowed hard, a pained
expression crossing her features.

“I
know, and I’d be pissed if I were you, too.  But I was just talking to her, and
the next thing I knew, she kissed me.”

“From
my point of view, it looked like you were doing a pretty good job of kissing
her back.”  Dara lowered her lashes and traced a pattern on her comforter with
her fingertip.

“Shit,
Dara.  Do you think if I really meant to kiss her, I’d do it where you’d walk
out and see me?”

She
looked up at me, her eyes glazed with tears.  “I don’t know, would you?  It
seems to me that that’s exactly what you did.”

I
sat on the bed, close enough that I could touch her.  “It all happened really
fast.  One minute she was telling me that she had liked me all along, that she
had thought of Luke as a friend.  The next minute, she was kissing me, and I
was the sixteen-year-old who had wanted her to do it.

“But
then my brain finally caught up with the moment, and all I could think of was
you.”

“A
little late, don’t ya think?” she asked, glaring at me.

I
reached out and touched her hand, and she jerked away from my touch.

The
pain on her face was like a knife in my gut.  I did this to her.  I loved her,
and I’d been a total ass.

“I
screwed up,” I said forcefully.  “I know I did, but I love
you
, Dara. 
Hell, I screw up everything.  I’m damn good at it.  Just ask Luke.  If I’d
known that Tiffany liked me, I wouldn’t have dared Luke…I wouldn’t have sent
him…he’d still be here.  And now I’ve screwed up the best thing that’s happened
to me in a very long time.