I looked at him without saying a word. His clear, blue eyes watched me intently, and I saw no signs of mischief. He was ruggedly handsome with his angular jawline and beautifully sculpted features. He seemed genuinely sincere, and I squelched the tiny voice that warned me not to fall for his charm.
“Okay,” I agreed, “but it will be on my terms. We have a small get-together at my house every year, and you can come on one condition.”
“And what’s that?” he asked, shifting his weight as he tucked his thumbs in the front pocket of his jeans.
“You keep your hands to yourself, agreed?”
“You know how to suck the life out of a party, don’t you?” he asked, unsmiling.
After I gave him the address, I opened the back door. “Those are the terms, Stone. They’re not up for discussion.” I walked outside and just before the door closed, I heard his voice drifting after me.
“I love a good challenge.”
I smiled to myself and walked around the building to Granny’s car without looking back.
***
Stone
Dara lived in an old farmhouse situated on several acres of land near the base of Quail Mountain. Peeling white paint clung stubbornly to the wooden siding, and faded, black shutters framed the windows. A large porch stretched along the front of the house, and it boasted four white, wooden rockers and a porch swing on the far end. I recognized Dara’s guests as girls from school. An older couple swayed gently in the swing, and I assumed that the woman was Dara’s grandmother.
As I slowly pulled my bike into the driveway, carefully navigating the gravels, Dara pushed the screen door open, exiting the house with a pitcher. When she spotted me, she gingerly sat the pitcher on a small table between two of the rockers and walked out to greet me.
Coming to a stop in the grass on the edge of the driveway, I parked and removed my helmet. I sat quietly, watching her as she approached in a pair of cutoff blue jean shorts and a red tank top.
She looked sexy. As she approached, my eyes were drawn to her lips, and I had the urge to pull her to me and kiss her, regardless of her one condition to keep my hands to myself. Rules were made to be broken, and her rule seemed like a good one to break. I refrained, though I couldn’t quite figure out why.
“Hey, Stone,” she said smiling, teasing me with those full, pink lips again. Those sparkling lips were going to be my undoing, and I had visions of them kissing my body tenderly. I shook my head, clearing it of the thoughts that were going to force me to break her rule.
“Dara,” I answered in greeting.
“You want a glass of lemonade?”
“You got a beer?” I asked.
She shot me a look of disdain.
“Lemonade it is.” I hung my helmet on the mirror and swung my leg over the bike, joining her as she walked back to the porch.
“You know Crimson and Scarlet,” she stated, motioning to the twins who had claimed a rocker on each side of the front door.
“Good job today, ladies,” I said. “Y’all were amazing. I’m impressed.”
“Thank you,” they said in unison. Both girls were pretty hot with their dark brown hair and eyes. Their hair and makeup were always perfect, but I just didn’t find them as attractive as I found Dara.
“We rented the shop across the street from you,” Scarlet added. “So it worked out well. Hopefully, we’ll get some clients out of your customers today.”
“When will you be opening?” I asked.
As she swayed gently in the rocker, Crimson answered, “Hopefully in a month or two. So if you ever need a haircut, come on over.”
“I’ll be your first customer,” I promised.
Dara handed me a glass of lemonade, and we continued along the porch as she introduced the rest of her guests.
She introduced me to Brandy and Chloe, who were sitting in the last two rockers. Although we all went to the same school, I had never spoken to either of them. Then, she moved down to the porch swing.
“This is Granny and Mr. Milton,” she informed me. Then addressing them, she said, “I would like for y’all to meet Stone Hamilton. I work at the bookstore with him.”
“Hi, Stone,” her grandmother said, holding her hand out to me. I shook it, and then shook Mr. Milton’s outstretched hand.
“You were right, Dara,” her granny said. “He is the kind of guy that makes a girl forget her own name.”
“Granny!” Dara groaned in protest.
I bit back a smile.
Her granny grinned and turned her attention to Mr. Milton. “Just like my George.”
Mr. Milton was a tiny, little man with a head full of white hair and a kind smile. He patted Dara’s granny on the knee. “That’s right,” he said in a gravelly voice. He looked at me. “We’re both lookers, so we get the good-looking honeys.”
I cracked a smile at his use of the word honeys. “The rest of the boys may as well fess up and go home. They don’t stand a chance against men like us.” I bumped knuckles with Mr. Milton.
“Sounds like you’re in need of some competition.” Chance walked up on the other side of Dara, draping his arm across her shoulders and glaring at me.
“Why? Do you know where I can find some?” I asked, watching his response closely.
His lips thinned, and his face reddened.
“Chance, could I speak to you for a minute?” Dara asked, dragging him away.
“Don’t mind him,” Dara’s granny said. “He’s a good boy. Their breakup has been hard on him.”
What did I say to that? I couldn’t very well tell Dara’s granny that I couldn’t care less about Chance. I took a sip of lemonade.
Thankfully, Mr. Milton changed the subject. “You have a sharp motorcycle.”
“Thank you.”
“I used to ride ‘em when I was much, much younger. When I was a kid, me and my brother would race our dirt bikes out in our field. He would get so mad because he could never beat me.”
Our attention was brought back to Dara as she walked back to our group.
“I see Chance is leaving,” Dara’s granny said, motioning to his sports car as he backed out of the driveway.
“Yeah, I told him that maybe we’d spend some time together later,” Dara said. “Come on, Stone. It’s starting to get dark. We’ll get the bonfire started.”
I didn’t know there was going to be a bonfire, but I followed her as she led me to a large, grassy field on the side of the house. A huge pile of dried wood was surrounded by chunks of tree trunks to be used as makeshift stools and benches. An old, wooden work table, draped with a red-white-and-blue, vinyl table cloth held long sticks intended to be skewers for wienies and marshmallows. I saw all the makings for hot dogs and s’mores.
“So why did Chance leave?”
Dara looked at me and hesitated before she spoke, as if she were mulling her words over carefully. “I asked him to. I didn’t think it was wise to have both of you here, especially after today. I had invited you, not Chance. He’s just been used to coming during the last few years.”
“I guess he wasn’t too happy about that.” I sat my cup of lemonade on the table and turned my attention to her.
“No, he wasn’t, which was why I promised him that we would spend some time together soon. He wants to get back together.”
“Is that what you want?” I hovered close to her face, my lips inches from hers. I should do it. I should kiss her right here, right now, just to prove to her that she wouldn’t stop me. But I had promised her that I would keep my hands to myself. Rather than break the promise, I decided to make her regret her one condition.
Dara looked at my lips and swallowed. I made her nervous. Her eyes fluttered back to my face. “I don’t know what I want.”
I inched closer. “You want to kiss me.”
She moved toward me, and I backed away. “I guess we should get the fire started.” I retrieved a lighter from the table and lit some newspaper that had been crammed in the cracks between th
e long logs that had been propped up like a teepee. The kindling burst into flames that slowly licked their way up the logs. It glowed brightly in the twilight as it eventually engulfed the entire stack of wood. A stone ring encircled the bonfire, and two buckets of water were tucked just beneath the food table.
I sat on a long piece of trunk and waited as Dara went to tell her guests that the bonfire was ready.
The group chattered as everyone gathered around the fire. I held a long stick over the flames and roasted two wienies. When they were done, Dara and I fixed a hot dog and sat on the tree trunk I had claimed earlier.
I glanced at the driveway and saw a small compact car pull in. I motioned to Dara. “Is that one of your friends?”
She cocked her head in the direction of the car and studied it a moment. It was difficult to see much about the car since the sun was just about to set behind the surrounding mountains.
“Everyone I invited is already here,” she said. “Granny, do you know who that is?”
Dara’s granny and Mr. Milton turned around to look at the driveway. “I have no idea, but we’ll go see who it is. You stay here with your friends.”
They walked hand-in-hand toward the driveway, and I turned my attention back to Dara. “So what’s for dessert?”
“S’mores.”
“And if I don’t like s’mores?” I asked, watching the fire reflected in her eyes.
“Then you’re out of luck.”
I laughed. “You think so?” I flattened my palm out over the rough bark beside her hand. I never touched hers, but I did compare how much smaller her hand was than mine. I leaned closer to her. I wanted her to be aware of me.
“So tell me about your brothers,” she said softly.
She screwed up my carefully devised plan of making her want me. Instead, she now had me off-kilter by trying to get me to talk about personal things. I shouldn’t have been surprised. The fire crackled and popped, and I tried to focus on the sound while I got my thoughts together.
“Dylan, my older brother, just finished his freshman year in college.”
“Does he ride motorcycles, too?”
A lump rose in my throat. She may as well have pummeled me. “He used to.”
“And your twin?” She watched me with interest, and I could tell that she was genuinely interested in my family.
“Dara, I can’t talk about him right now.”
I could see the sympathy on her face, the way her brows furrowed, and she moved her hand over mine, squeezing gently. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“It’s okay,” I assured her. “It’s just….”
“I understand,” she interrupted. “I’m sure it’s very painful for you.”
I nodded, hoping that she wouldn’t ask anything further. I wasn’t ready to tell her about Luke. Thankfully, her granny and Mr. Milton approached the bonfire.
“Who was it, Granny?”
Her grandmother looked at Dara, and for just an instant, I saw a strange look of horror on her face before it was replaced with a wide smile. “No one. Just a wrong turn. Dara, honey, we’re going into the house.”
“Don’t you want to make a s’more?” Dara asked.
“Not tonight. But y’all stay out here and have a good time.”
“Okay.”
I was relieved when Scarlet demanded everyone’s attention as she launched into a ghost story. The last thing that I wanted was for Dara to bombard me with more questions that I wasn’t prepared to answer.
As Scarlet’s story gained momentum in creepiness, Dara scooted closer to me. “I’d put my arm around you right now if I hadn’t sworn to keep my hands to myself,” I whispered in her ear.
“Who knew you’d actually do it?” she asked.
I slid my fingertip along the edge of her hand. “Are you saying that you don’t want me to keep my hands to myself?”
“I’m saying that I didn’t really think you had it in you. When I’m with you, I don’t know what I want, Stone. My head says to keep my distance from you, but the rest of me….”
“The rest of you wants me to do this?” I leaned in and lightly kissed her lips. I traced my fingertips along her cheek and kissed her lightly again. “The fire’s a bit warm. Do you want to take a walk?”
She seemed hesitant, but when I stood and held my hand out to her, she placed her hand in mine. As we left the bonfire, I could feel the stares of her friends on my back, but I didn’t care. I wanted to be alone with Dara.
We walked away from the fire to the edge of the property. Stars glittered in the night, and random fireworks boomed overhead, lighting the skies with brilliant shades of color. As beautiful as the evening was, it was Dara who had me captivated. She was gorgeous and sexy, but her appeal was more than that. She had a sweetness about her that made me want to protect her.
“I like your grandmother,” I said, holding her hand as we walked through the freshly mown grass.
“She’s been wanting to meet you. I can tell that she liked you, too.”
“Good. Maybe she won’t object when I ask you if you want to go out tomorrow night.”
She stopped and looked at me in the moonlight. “You’re asking me out?”
“Yes. I’ll pick you up at 6:30.”
“But I haven’t accepted yet.”
“You will.” I grinned and started walking again.
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m the kind of guy that makes a girl forget her own name.”
“Yeah, I’m going to have a long talk with Granny about that.”
I stopped then and pulled her into my embrace. “I found it incredibly sexy that you would say something like that about me.”
“Like you don’t hear things like that all the time.”
“I’ve heard my share of comments like that, but this time was different. This time it was you who was saying something like that.” As I thought about Dara being with someone like me, my heart sank. The more time I spent with her, the more time I wanted to spend with her. I didn’t know if I could live up to her expectations. I was being selfish. I knew she was the kind of girl who would want more than I was usually willing to give, more than I could give.
If I had an honorable bone in my body, then I should leave her alone and let her go back to Chance. I had too much baggage, and it was obvious that Chance was in love with her.
I wasn’t known for making the right choices. No point in starting now. The fact remained that there was something about Dara that wrapped its tiny fingers around me and wouldn’t let go.
We continued walking around the house, approaching the front yard. “Dara, I want you to know that you did a great job on the promotion. Much better than I ever could have.”
“Thank you, Stone. That means a lot to me. I know you’ve been working through some problems with your father. I really wanted it to be a success, so that sales would be up. I’ll keep helping you in any way that I can.”
I squeezed her hand. “I can’t remember the last time that I felt like anyone wanted to help me.”
“I have a feeling that a lot of people are willing to help you whether you realize it or not.”
“This is starting to sound like a therapy session,” I said.
Her laughter drifted into the still, night air. “Do you want me to be your therapist?”
“Hell, no. I want you to be my girlfriend.”
She stood still, her back ramrod straight. “Are you serious?”
Shit. Was I? Where had that come from? “Yeah. I’m serious.” For the first time in a long time, I wanted something more meaningful than the relationships that I had been having. I wanted Dara.
She was quiet, and I tried to search her face in the darkness for any glimpse of what was going through her mind.
“What is it?” I coaxed quietly.
“If I agreed to be your girlfriend, then you’d have nothing to look forward to.”
I chuckled. She obviously didn’t know me very well. “I’
d have plenty to look forward to, and so would you.”
“The thrill of the chase is half the fun, don’t you think?” she asked.
“Maybe, but I’m thinking about the other half.”
She watched me quietly.
I nibbled on her ear and whispered, “Will you, Dara?” I closed my eyes and kissed her forehead, as I stroked her silky hair. She felt so good in my arms.
Silence.
I froze. This couldn’t be a good sign. I pulled back and gazed upon her face. Apparently, she had failed to realize how lucky she was.
“What has happened to you, Stone, that you shut yourself off from the rest of the world?” she whispered against my lips.
Her words splintered through my psyche as visions flashed violently in my mind. I was taken aback, never expecting this tiny girl, to whom I was attracted in every sense of the word, to be so adept at tuning in to my soul. It scared me, and I struggled to keep it from showing. “If this is about me not going to Europe with my parents, then….”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” She laid her head against my chest, and the faint smell of strawberries drifted up from her hair. “I won’t be your girlfriend, Stone. You didn’t ask me for the right reason.”
“And what’s the right reason?”
“If you’re doing it for the right reason, then I won’t have to answer that question.”
I closed my eyes and suppressed a groan, as I reminded myself why I knew better than to be socializing with Dara Golding in the first place.
“Come on,” she urged, grabbing my hand and walking swiftly through the front yard. “I need to get back to the bonfire before my guests think I’m a horrible hostess.”
I had no idea what had just happened, and we said nothing as we headed toward the flickering flames. We stayed around the bonfire a while longer until her guests slowly started heading for home.
After the last guest left, Dara and I sat by the glowing embers, listening to the crickets as they chirped in the distance. I sat on a tree trunk while she sat on the ground between my legs. I pulled her hair back, away from her shoulders, and caressed the nape of her neck as her delicate fragrance wafted through the air around us.
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