A Stone in the Sea

by A. L. Jackson

  I stopped back by Baz’s table, and Ash and Lyrik ordered another round of drinks, the two of them getting rowdy and unruly. Baz and Zee looked on them with a soft affection that seemed almost out of character for their harsh outward appearance, and again I didn’t know how to make sense of Baz. There were so many facets to his personality.

  Did I even know him at all?

  He cast me a slow smile when I walked by, one that wrapped me up in comfort.

  When Carolina George finished up, Derrick took over, playing some dance music to keep in step with the carefree atmosphere. Ash and Lyrik took to the dance floor, their moves a little on the goofy side, as if they didn’t have a care in the world—completely uninhibited, cutting loose. As I was passing him by, Ash grabbed me and spun me around. I squealed in surprise, enjoying myself far too much when I danced around with him for a few beats, before he released me and turned to take the hand of another girl who’d slid up to grab his attention.

  Laughing and trying to catch my breath, I peeked over at Baz who was relaxed back in the high-backed stool, taking me in like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like he was supposed to be looking at me because he couldn’t see anything else. Just like my eyes were continually drawn to his gaze.

  A shiver of pleasure rolled through me.

  It felt amazing to have someone looking at me that way, because it’d been a long, long time since anyone had. And even when they did, it’d never been real.

  Now?

  I craved it.

  Craved it, but only if it was him.

  I tore my attention away and focused on the rest of my tables. When I made my way back from the kitchen with an order of appetizers for some women sitting in one of my booths, Baz’s table had been vacated. Glasses drained. Stools empty. A short stack of large bills sat like a consolation prize in place of the face I wanted to see.

  Disappointment slammed me like a full body blow.

  Damn it, Shea. You can’t afford to do this.

  Couldn’t allow myself this type of foolishness.

  I knew better.

  I forced myself to get back to work, convincing myself it was for the best. Slowly the bar cleared out, and at three a.m. Charlie clicked off the blinking “Open” sign in the front window while the rest of us quickly cleaned up.

  Charlie tugged at a lock of my hair while I wiped down my last table. “I’m just about ready, Shea Bear. Let me drop tomorrow’s deposit in the safe and we can get out of here.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll meet you out back as I’m going to walk Tamar out. She’s antsy to get out of here.” Tamar, Charlie, and I were always the last to leave, and Charlie gave me a ride home every night, dropped me safely at my front door, something he’d insisted on doing since I began working here.

  “All right, sweetheart.”

  I grabbed my bag from behind the counter and stuffed the huge wad of money inside. One of the perks of working at this place? The tips always paid my bills. No. It didn’t come close to touching the wealth I’d been promised, the goals and aspirations my parents had grilled into my brain from when I was just a little girl.

  But I didn’t care.

  Never would I forget the day I’d been back visiting, in the kitchen baking with my grandma, the woman I’d loved more than anyone else in the world. I could still smell the cinnamon rolls in the oven, the overwhelming comfort I’d felt standing beside her at the counter like it was exactly where I was supposed to be. From the side, she’d smiled at me, softly, almost like she felt sorry for me, and she’d voiced what most would believe to be one the worst clichés that had ever existed.

  Money doesn’t bring happiness, sweet girl. You remember that, now.

  It remained one of the most impactful statements anyone had ever said to me.

  Because it’d been the truest.

  The most important.

  “You ready?” I asked Tamar who slung her purse over her shoulder.

  “Absolutely. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “Thought you said you loved it here?” I teased.

  “Ha. After eight hours? Not so much. My feet are killing me.”

  “That’s what you get for wearing five-inch heels.”

  Dark blue eyes gleamed back at me as we made our way down the long hall toward the back door. “I wouldn’t be able to see over the top of the bar if I didn’t wear them.”

  She pushed open the heavy metal door and stepped into the night, the small parking lot empty except for Tamar’s car and Charlie’s truck. Her super-high boots crunched against the loose gravel as we walked toward her car. She gave me a quick hug. “Night, Shea. See you Tuesday.”

  I groaned in contentment. “Two days off. Can’t wait.” Charlie’s was closed on Sundays and Mondays, the only days I took off. “Have a good weekend.”

  “You too.” She clicked the locks and slid into the driver’s seat, started her car, and backed out. I stepped away, arms over my chest, as I watched her drive off.

  With a smile, I turned around, then froze when my sight registered the obscured figure leaning against the wall. A strangled gasp caught in my throat, and my heart took off at a sprint, blood pounding hard in my ears.

  Pushing from the wall, he stepped from the shadows, his hands again stuffed deep in his pockets.

  My heart rate only increased, the energy radiating from him almost as strong as the disappointment he’d left me with when he’d gone.

  I pressed my hand to my chest to try to still the panic thundering against my ribs. “You scared me.”

  “I’m sorry.” The words were soft. “That’s the last thing I want to do.”

  But he did. I was scared of what he was capable of doing to me, the way I knew he held the power to trounce all over this hammering heart, to hold it in his hand and crush it into a million unrecognizable pieces.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked on a shaky breath.

  He looked to the sky and exhaled heavily, before he leveled his gaze back on me. “The same thing I’m doing every night, Shea. Thinking about you and wondering why the hell I can’t stop.”

  My stomach flipped, and I gulped for air.

  “What do you want from me?”

  He laughed, lifted his elbows out to his sides in a helpless gesture without pulling his hands free. “Dinner?”

  Nonsensical laughter shot from me. “At three in the morning?”

  “Breakfast?” he amended, a coy smile pulling at his full, crooked lips.

  Tingles spread across my skin, and I ran my hands up my bare arms. “I already told you I don’t have time for distractions.”

  “Come on, Shea. It’s just food. Go out with me. Just tonight.”

  Somehow I knew it was a lie, even though he wanted to believe it was true.

  Nervously, I glanced to the back door all the while being inexplicably drawn to this man I didn’t even know. I knew I should make a break for it, run for the safety of my little world and give him no opportunity to rip it apart.

  “I am hungry,” I found myself saying. After a long night of work, it was true. But it had nothing to do with the reason I was giving in.

  Because I just wanted to…

  I shook my head.

  That was it. I just wanted. I wanted to be in his space. I wanted to understand why he had this pull on me. I wanted him.

  Even though I’d never allow myself to have him.

  “Let me tell Charlie that you’re giving me a ride home. He usually takes me.”

  A smile spread to take up the whole of his face, and even in the shadows, it was the most brilliant thing I’d ever seen. “Sure. I’ll wait right here.”

  Rushing to the back door, I threw it open. Charlie was just starting down the hallway.

  “Hey, you okay?” he asked in concern when he noticed the rattled mess I had to be.

  “I think so.” I straightened myself and gave him a smile. “I just wanted to let you know I’m going to have Baz give me a ride home.”

&nb
sp; He scowled. “What? Who’s Baz?”

  “Suprema guy.” I knew that was all it would take to clue him in.

  Yep, that did it. His eyes grew wide with shock, then darkened in worry. Concern crested his brow. “You sure that’s a good idea, Shea Bear?”

  “Yeah, Charlie, I’m sure.”

  His mouth drew into a grim line, hands on his hips, then he puffed in surrender. “Just be careful.”

  “I’m not a little girl anymore. You don’t need to worry so much.”

  He chuckled low. “Doesn’t mean you’re not my girl, and I’m gonna worry about you, especially with the likes of him.”

  Likes of him?

  But I wasn’t about to get into that with Charlie right now.

  “I’ll be fine. We’re just going to grab something to eat and he’ll drop me home.”

  He gave me a sure you are kind of look before he lifted his chin. “All right then.”

  I turned to walk away when his voice hit me from behind. “And I expect a text from you when you get home, young lady.”

  I laughed him off with a wave. “Love you, Charlie.”

  “Love you more.”

  Stepping back out, the door closed behind me, and I was surrounded by all that energy again, although somehow it’d lightened in the moments I’d been inside. Baz flashed me a genuine smile. “Are you ready?”

  “Yeah, just let me text my roommate and tell her I’m going to be late.”

  He nodded, digging the toe of his shoe into the pavement while I fumbled through my bag and pulled out my phone. I shot out a quick text to my roommate and best friend, April.

  Mind if I’m a little late? Going to grab something to eat.

  My phone buzzed with her response. With who?

  Should have known she’d ask questions. I hardly went anywhere and she knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t do it alone, especially in the middle of the night.

  A guy, will fill you in later, was all I gave her.

  Wow, really? No worries here. We’re fine. Just be careful.

  Seemed a lot of people had been telling me that lately.

  I didn’t reply, and instead tossed my phone back in my bag, tucked the strap over my shoulder, and smiled at the gorgeous guy whose eyes were tracing my face. The way my skin tingled, I was pretty sure he’d been doing it the entire time.

  What was I getting myself into?

  “Lead the way,” I said, and apparently his idea of leading and mine were entirely different, because he reached for me. He enfolded my hand in his, and his consuming heat gave me a jolt.

  He peered over at me with an impish smile, like he felt it too, and he was just as intrigued by it as I was.

  He hauled me alongside him to the end of the lot where I hadn’t seen the motorcycle that sat gleaming at the edge of the road. “Here we go,” he said, swinging our hands between us.

  I gaped at him. “You expect me to get on that thing?”

  The bike was black and chrome and looked almost as dangerous as the crew he’d rolled in with earlier.

  “That thing?” he repeated in horror.

  “Yes, that thing.” The corner of my mouth quirked up at the wounded expression that took over his entire face.

  “Bite your tongue, woman. That thing would be the only girl I’ve ever loved. ”

  I bit my lip instead, my words becoming playful. “Well, doesn’t that answer a lot of questions about you, Sebastian from California?”

  Grey eyes danced. “I suppose it does, doesn’t it?”

  Releasing me, he straddled the heavy machine, legs spread out, feet braced on the ground.

  Magnificent.

  He handed me the helmet hanging from the handlebars. “Trust me?”

  Chuckling, I placed it on my head and fastened it. A surge of excitement engulfed me when I climbed on behind him. “No, not at all.”

  But tonight that didn’t seem to matter in the least. For a few hours, I was letting myself go. Just as long as I didn’t let myself go too far.

  I wrapped my arms around his waist, and that excitement shifted and transformed, a thrill of desire burning through my blood when he tucked me closer to his back. He drew my thighs around the outside of his legs and secured my hands across the flat, rigid planes of his abdomen.

  Oh God, I was in trouble.

  He patted my thigh, before he squeezed it tight. “Just for tonight, Shea. Just for tonight.”

  I tossed a fry at him, cracking up. I might have felt embarrassed at my reaction if it weren’t for the fact we were the only two people in the old diner. That and I hadn’t had this much fun in a very long time.

  “Shut up.” I probably sounded like a ditsy girl, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care because Baz looked like he hadn’t enjoyed himself so much in a long time, either. He looked relaxed, so different from the night when I first met him. Younger. Less intense.

  “What?” The most perfect kind of grin was plastered over his face, full, full lips playful, teasing me nonstop over the last hour we’d been sitting here. “You have the cutest drawl I’ve ever heard.”

  “I do not.”

  “You have no idea, do you? I should record you just so you can hear the way you talk.”

  “It sounds normal to me, crazy boy. Don’t you think you have an accent to me?”

  “Hell no.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  He crossed his arms over his wide chest. “And what do I sound like?”

  “You sound like California.”

  His mouth dropped open. “I take offense to that.”

  “You should,” I shot back, the force of my smile feeling like it might break my face.

  He made me feel young again. In reality, I guess I was young, but I didn’t have the time to feel like it normally.

  “Wow. You’re trying to rip my heart out, aren’t you?” He dipped a fry in ketchup and popped it in his mouth. “Have you even been to California to warrant such an undeserved hatred?”

  “Who hasn’t been to California? And eww…all that traffic and smog? No thank you.”

  He chuckled lightly. “I see your point, but you get used to it.”

  “Savannah is just fine.”

  “Not a big city kind of girl, huh?” Pensive eyes studied me, and his words sounded like a true question rather than another jab.

  “Definitely. When I came back, I knew I never wanted to leave again.”

  “Came back?”

  I cringed, faked a smile. “Yeah, moved away for a while. But I’m home now.”

  I was quick to change the subject. “So how long are you going to be in town?” I cringed again because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

  Tension wound through his muscles, and he ran an uneasy hand through his hair. “Don’t know, Shea. A little while at least.”

  My eyes narrowed in speculation, because his tone was all off. “What are you doing in town, anyway?”

  Something told me he wasn’t here on vacation.

  He sighed, an all around frustrated sound when he gave me the vague answer. “Staying at a friend’s house until I figure out what the hell I’m doing with my life.”

  “You don’t work?”

  Harsh laughter rocked from him. “That’s being called into question right now.”

  “Care to elaborate?” I asked with a lift of my brow, compelled to dig a little further into him, to all that mystery shrouded beneath that blasé, badass posture.

  “Care to tell me why a girl like you spends all her time working at a bar?” he countered.

  “A girl like me?”

  “Smart. Sweet. Seems like an odd place for you to be.”

  I dropped my gaze to the side. The fiery burn of a blush climbed up my neck and settled on my cheeks, while a flare of guilt licked up my insides. Perhaps I should just tell him. But I didn’t want to change the dynamic of tonight, because it was the only one we had.

  Just for tonight.

  He exhaled. “Why don’t we get out of here? If
I only have you for tonight, I don’t want to waste it on shit we can’t change.”

  I almost laughed because it was like he’d plucked the thoughts right out of my head, and the night would be coming to an end sooner than we knew it.

  Baz climbed out, dug into his wallet. Pulling out a large bill, he tossed it on the table.

  A smirk tugged at my upper lip. “You have a bad habit of over-tipping, Mr. Guy-Whose-Job-Is-Being-Called-Into-Question.”

  He barked out a laugh, those grey eyes filling with the sweetest kind of mischief. My body shook of its own accord, unable to stop the reaction he continued to draw right out of me.

  “Nah. I know what it’s like to work hard and not be appreciated. It’s my way of showing that everyone matters, no matter what they do.”

  Crawling out from the booth, I found myself once again completely confounded by this man, the continual contrast of brash and hard and intimidating up against the gentleness that seemed to seep from him without him even knowing it.

  Who is this man?

  His big hand closed over mine, his touch ushering in the tension that seemed to act as my own weakness. Enchanted, I followed him out of the diner and into the night. It was deep, the darkest hour that settled over the Earth before the sun shed its light to proclaim a new day.

  I wanted to put it on pause. To live in this fantasy, just for a little while.

  This time, Baz adjusted the helmet on my head, his eyes locked on mine as he slowly latched the strap, neither of us saying anything when he hooked his leg over the bike, never letting go of my hand as he gently tugged me to follow.

  I snuggled up against him, and my body released a contented sigh. I hooked my chin over his shoulder, getting the closest I could get, and Baz kicked it over. The bike rumbled, the engine vibrating beneath us as he took it to the pavement.

  He didn’t tell me where he was taking me or ask me where I wanted to go. He just rode. And it felt like forever and no time at all as his bike ate up the streets until there was no city behind us, just deserted roads, trees hugging them tight, as tight as Baz and I hugged the corners.

  But not nearly as tight as I hugged his waist.

  It was exhilarating, liberating. Baz had me feeling like a young girl with dreams again. But this time that young girl wasn’t suffocated with elevated dreams that were not her own. Instead she felt the fluttering of dreams that were simple.