“It’s about getting a job done. Doing something right. It’s about proving….”
He stopped mid-sentence. I watched his face in the moonlight, waiting for him to continue. “Proving what?” I prodded. It was so difficult to get him to open up.
He motioned for me to scoot closer. I leaned against his chest, my legs stretched out in front of me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, his chin resting on the top of my head. I could feel my heartbeat accelerate, but I focused on him, on his answer. I wanted him to talk to me.
“Proving what?” I asked again.
He exhaled. “It’s about proving to my father that I can do something right.”
“Surely he already knows that.” I rubbed my palms along his arms, until my hands came to rest on top of his.
“You know why I started going to Quail Mountain High?” he asked.
“Why?”
“Because I flunked out of boarding school. My father was furious. He demanded to know why I couldn’t be more like my brother, who graduated with honors.”
“Why did you flunk out?” I asked, wondering if he would answer.
“Because I didn’t care. It didn’t matter how good my grades were. In my father’s eyes, they would never be good enough. I would never be good enough.”
“That’s what parents do. They push their children to do their very best. Well, most of them do.” I certainly couldn’t say that my parents had ever fallen into that category.
“Let’s change the subject,” Stone suggested.
“Okay,” I agreed. “I did have something I wanted to run by you.”
“What’s that?”
“Remember when we were talking about the Fourth of July promotion for the bookstore?”
“Yeah.”
“Remember when I told you that I had a couple of friends who might be willing to braid hair and paint fingernails?”
“Yeah.”
“I was talking about Crimson and Scarlet. They want to open their own salon, and they agreed that this would give them the chance to meet some potential clients. What do you think?”
“Let’s do it. Sounds like it would be a win-win.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Really. But we don’t have much time. We’ve only got two weeks to make a plan and advertise it. We’ll start first thing tomorrow.”
“I’m so excited!”
He chuckled against my hair. “That’s what I do best. Get the girls excited.” His thumbs traced my ribs, as his palms slid to my sides and worked down to my hips.
I elbowed him in the stomach and was satisfied when a soft grunt escaped his lips. He moved his palm to my chest and whispered, “Your heart beats faster when you’re with me.” It wasn’t a question. He was stating a fact, and it was slightly unnerving that he knew it. “Faster than the wings of a hummingbird.”
I swallowed hard, unable to respond.
Stone
Her hair smelled good, and I breathed in deeply. I could tell that I had made her nervous, and she didn’t know what to say. I remained quiet, content holding her in my arms while I waited for her to speak. I shouldn’t have let Chance bait me with his note. I should’ve put some distance between us and spent the evening with Jess instead. But I was finding Dara increasingly more difficult to resist.
I skimmed my fingertips along the back of her neck, and her tiny shudder was audible. I smiled in the dark. It seemed every nerve ending she possessed snapped to attention at my slightest touch. The gleam of her hair appeared almost silver in the moonlight, and I stroked the silken strands, appreciating the softness.
“Has a girl ever made your heart beat faster?” she whispered.
I stopped all movement, allowing her words to flow through my mind. Dara had a knack for asking difficult questions, and I frowned, wondering how much to say or whether I should answer the question at all. There was something about her that made me want to answer her, her goodness or maybe her innocence. There was something about me that sent warning bells ringing loudly in my head. I ignored them.
“Yes, once, a long time ago.”
“Who was she?” Dara asked, her voice as soft as a whisper in the stillness of the summer air.
I closed my eyes and let the memories tumble in my head. It seemed like a lifetime ago. To say it aloud would send the painful memories crashing back down. To say it aloud would make it seem terrifyingly real, and although I knew it was real, I had been able to deal with it by shutting it all out, locking it away in the deepest recesses of my soul.
She softly rubbed my left hand, which was sprawled across her thigh. She stroked my knuckles, outlining my fingers, as if her touch were coaxing the answer from my lips.
“Her name was Tiffany. Her family was renting a nearby cabin for the summer. I was sixteen, and I thought she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. So did my brother.”
“What’s your brother’s name?”
“Dylan is my older brother, but I had a twin brother, too.” I blew air out between my clenched teeth. I hadn’t talked about my twin since the months following the accident.
“You had a twin brother?” she asked, waiting for me to clarify. She turned sideways, so that she could get a better look at my face, her legs dangling over my thigh.
“He died.”
She gasped. “How?”
I rubbed my palm over my face. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
She leaned over against my chest and hugged me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
I laid my chin on the top of her head and held her close. She was so easy to talk to, maybe too easy. But I couldn’t do it. Not now.
I needed to be on my bike. I didn’t want these memories swirling in my head like heavy fog creeping along a mountain road, just waiting to wreak havoc.
“You want to go for a ride?” I asked, knowing that I would only accept one answer.
Dara leaned up and looked at me, and I thought perhaps I had caught her off guard. “Yeah. Sure.” She scrambled over my leg and rose to her feet.
I stood and led her back into the house. Mike and Crimson were curled up on the couch watching a movie.
“Hey, guys. We’re going for a ride. Stay as long as you want, but lock the house up when you leave.”
Mike waved his hand in acknowledgement. “Sure thing. We’ll probably leave as soon as this movie’s over. See ya later, man.”
“Later.” I rushed out the front door, feeling the overwhelming need to be under the night sky.
I tried to slow my stride, so that Dara wasn’t too far behind me as we walked along the sidewalk to the driveway. When I reached my bike, I swung my leg over it and grabbed the handgrips, relief washing over me and pushing some of the uneasiness of our former conversation out of my mind.
As she climbed on the back of the bike, I noticed the note tucked in the same spot as the previous note. One note was bad enough, but this guy was really starting to piss me off. I snatched up the note and crammed it into my front pocket. If Dara wasn’t with me, I’d probably take off looking for Chance. A few punches might actually make for some stress relief right about now.
***
The alarm on my cell phone alerted me to the fact that morning had arrived. I forced my eyes open, and memories of the previous evening came flooding back. I had said too much to Dara in a moment of weakness. Now she would be asking more questions, and I had no desire to answer them.
I showered and dressed for work. Thanks to my big mouth, it would be incredibly awkward working side-by-side with Dara.
I searched for my wallet, realizing I had left it in the jeans that I had worn the previous night. I scooped them up off my chair and fished the wallet from the back pocket. Then I remembered. I stuffed my hand in the front pocket of the jeans and pulled out the note that had been left on my motorcycle last night. It angered me that Chance had the audacity to step foot on my property. I’d have to pay him a little visit later and tell him what he could do with his note
. If he thought I would stay away from Dara because he had left me a note, he was incapable of properly assessing the situation. If anything, it would only make me want to prove to him that his words had no effect on me.
I tossed last night’s jeans back on the chair and unfurled the note to reveal another typewritten message. Dara doesn’t belong with you.
I laughed. What a freaking stalker! Who was Chance Murray to say whether Dara belonged with me or not?
I never liked Chance, but I wouldn’t have taken him to be such a wuss. What self-respecting guy ran around leaving notes? I couldn’t fathom why he wouldn’t just say it to my face. Or better yet, why didn’t he tell Dara? Now that I’d like to see. Dara wasn’t the confrontational type, but in my experience, females didn’t typically like it when a guy tried to tell them what to do.
I tossed the curled piece of paper on my dresser. I’d already spent way too much time entertaining Chance’s I’m-too-chicken-to-say-it-to-your-face note. I had to get to work.
When I arrived at the bookstore, Dara was dusting the shelves, and I found Tom working on spreadsheets at the front counter. “Got the sales numbers for last week?” I asked over his shoulder.
“Yeah. They’re slightly better, but still weak.”
I ran my hands through my hair. That wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear.
Dara approached us from the opposite side of the counter with a dust cloth in her hand. “Hey, Stone. How’re you this morning?”
I glanced up to see her eyes locked on me. Crap. I knew it’d be coming. Her question sounded innocent enough, but I had a feeling it was geared more towards how I felt this morning after our conversation led to a rather touchy subject last night. Girls like Dara always wanted to talk about feelings and peek into a guy’s brain. I wanted no part of that. She waited for an answer. “If I was any better, the girls wouldn’t be able to keep their hands off me. Oh, wait…they can’t.”
“Conceited much?”
“Very much.” I leaned over the counter and whispered, “You can’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I turned my attention back to Tom who was watching us with interest. “We need to work on the Fourth of July promotion. It would be nice to start the month off with a bang.” I paused. “Pun intended.”
“Speaking of bangs. I’ve been thinking about the promotion,” Dara said.
“Have you?” I asked, studying her lips and then forcing myself to focus on her eyes and await her answer.
“What do you think about a Beauty with a Bang promotion?”
“Go on.”
She glanced from me to Tom and continued. “Customers can have their nails painted for ninety-nine cents with any twenty-dollar purchase, and they get a free box of snap ‘n pops.”
“Painting nails is fine for the female customers, but what do the guys get?” I asked, not sure how many customers could be enticed with that promotion.
“Did you hear me say customers get a free box of snap ‘n pops? Like grown men don’t get into those just as much as kids do?” She rolled her eyes as if I had asked a silly question. “Besides, I could also line up the reigning Miss Quail Mountain for an appearance. She always draws in a crowd. Most of them are males.
“We could also have face painting for the kids, and we could put a grill out front and sell a hot dog combo meal for about a dollar and a half.”
I had to admit that she had given it a lot of thought, and her ideas were just as good, if not better, than any of the ones that I had come up with. “Tom, what do you think?”
“Sounds better than any ideas I could come up with. I’ll take a look at the budget and let y’all know how much we should spend.” He turned back to the computer and began pulling up spreadsheets.
“Dara, do you want to handle the whole promotion?”
“Me?”
“Well, it sounds like you already have it planned out in your head. Tom can give you the numbers. Just call Quail Mountain News and place an ad in the paper and have some flyers printed up. Tom can give you the name of the printer that we normally use. When you have everything in place, we can go over the details. In the meantime, if you need any help, just let me know.”
“Sure,” she answered, shaking her head in agreement, her golden locks brushing across her shoulders with the movement. “I can handle that.”
“Great.” I went to grab boxes of inventory that needed to be shelved, leaving her with Tom.
This would work out well for my own purposes. The promotion should keep Dara busy, which would put some space between us. And just to make sure that I kept with the plan, I would text Jess and see if she wanted to hang out tonight.
***
During the following week, I made a point to avoid Dara at all costs. Other than going over the final plans for the promotion, we hadn’t spoken ten words to each other.
I had picked up either Jess or one of my other female friends every night to ensure that I wouldn’t screw up and ask Dara out again.
As Jess and I waited for our check in a booth tucked in the back of Awesome Sauce, Jess nibbled on my earlobe. Her long fingers stroked the back of my neck, and her perfume hung heavy in the air, like a vapor cloud. It had never bothered me before, but now it poisoned the environment, and I had the overwhelming urge to cover my mouth and nose with the palm of my hand. Dara usually wore a delicate fragrance, just enough scent to make my mouth water, and I caught myself closing my eyes and trying to remember the way it smelled.
I hadn’t received any new notes, so I assumed that Chance was satisfied with the current arrangements and the fact that I hadn’t been out socially with Dara. He certainly had nothing to do with my decision, and it wouldn’t take much for me to stand nose to nose with him and tell him so.
Jess bit my ear a little too hard, bringing my attention back to her.
“What is it, Stone?” she asked, cooing softly in my ear.
“I’m just ready to get out of here.” As if the stars had finally aligned, the server dropped the check on our table, smiled, and thanked us for eating at Awesome Sauce. I snatched it up and helped Jess out of the booth, wanting nothing more than to be cruising on my bike underneath a warm, moonlit sky.
I paid the check and as I was leaving, I saw Dara at a booth with Chance. He had her full attention, and she was laughing as if she were deliriously happy. Good for her. Maybe I could make her happy, but sooner or later, she’d see the real me, the self-centered me, who watched out only for himself.
“Come on, Stone. Let’s go back to your place.” Jess tugged on my hand, her dark eyes assessing me, her mouth turned down in a frown. “What are you waitin’ for?”
“Nothin’,” I said, motioning her toward the glass door that would lead us out of the crowded building and away from the shimmering-pink lips that were smiling at Chance.
Twenty minutes later, we were standing on the back patio behind my house, staring down at the valley below. It made me think of the night that Dara was here.
Jess brushed against me and kissed my lips. When I was with her, there was no one to probe in my past, no questions to answer, no expectations. Jess couldn’t care less. She was exactly what I needed, and I fervently returned her kiss.
As we made out in the moonlight, I was relieved that I had returned to my senses.
I vowed never to stray away from bad girls again.
Chapter 5
Dara
While relaxing in the shade on my front porch, a gentle breeze jingled the wind chimes, their high-pitched tinkling taking flight like the laughter of a thousand fairies. An ancient, knotted oak spread its branches across the entire yard, making the front of the house a good ten degrees cooler than the backyard. The front porch had always been one of Granny’s favorite places, and like her, I found it to be a comforting place to rest, a safe haven from the rest of the world.
We were in our usual spots, rocking on each side of the front door, watching tall shoots of grass sway in the wind. Each of us was talking about the g
uys in our lives, and Granny chattered excitedly about her upcoming luncheon date with Mr. Milton. Her happiness made me smile, and it even offered me a small comfort from the entangled mess my own emotions had created. Stone had been avoiding me, and it was painfully obvious.
I had no one to blame but myself. I should’ve known to keep my guard up. Stone wasn’t known for being in serious relationships. He and Jess hung out a lot, but it was evident that they had never dated exclusively. It seemed more like their relationship was one of convenience, like they were each the fail-safe for the other.
“You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?” Granny asked.
I glanced at her and smiled, realizing I had been lost in my own thoughts. “Sorry, Granny.”
“It’s him, isn’t it? That handsome, hunk-of-a-devil at the bookstore?” she asked.
“Busted.”
“Dara, honey, when you meet a guy you like, you just have to go for it. Don’t overthink it.”
“He’s been avoiding me, and well, Chance wants to get back together.” I twiddled my thumbs in my lap. “I don’t know what to do.”
“What’s your heart telling you to do?”
“I have no idea.” I cracked a smile. “My heart is just as confused as my head.”
“You know what you need to do, don’t you?”
I grunted. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
“You need to administer the kissing test,” she advised
“The kissing test?” I repeated, knowing that I would never be able to predict what words might come out of her mouth.
“Trust me,” she said. “Whichever one makes you weak in the knees, whichever one makes your heart beat faster, whichever one makes you swoon with adoration…that’s the one you need to choose.
“But…,” she continued, “you also need to test his reaction to you.”
“And how do I do that?”
“See if he touches your face.”
“See if he touches my face?” Where the devil was she going with this? Or did I really want to know? I supposed I should be relieved that she hadn’t told me to see who would touch my butt.
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