Wicked Flower (2 page)

How in the hell could he have
done this to her? No, not the man upstairs, but Thom.

Dani’s hand dropped to her
stomach.

Her face was so tense she didn’t
feel the tears dripping down her cheeks until one streaked onto her forearm,
making the soft dark hairs there even darker. She gripped the steering wheel
tighter and stared up at the blue half of the sky where the sun poked through,
trying to feel its warmth. Even with that, she drove on, tears and all.

As if crying over a guy who’d
just shit all over her heart wasn’t ridiculous enough, she’d be lucky not to
disgrace
herself
before she got to the truck stop. Dani
hated empty gas tanks and full bladders just about as much as she despised men
right now. She hated it, but couldn’t help but wonder if Thom was safe, even
though he’d just emailed to say he had fallen in love with someone else.

Her fingers had hovered shakily over
the keyboard but she wouldn’t let herself type the words, I’M PREGNANT. Not
yet. It would be a distraction to a man she somehow still managed to care about.
Dani needed Thom to focus on his deployment and get himself home safe, even if
it wasn’t to her.

Soon it would be time for his
mid-tour leave. She’d tell him then. That way he wouldn’t be getting the news
in a faraway country and war zone, away from his family.
Somewhere safe
, she thought, as her breath hitched and she sniffed
her snot back in. “I’ll tell him then, not in an
email
,” she said and nodded her head.

And after that?
Who the hell knew?

Right now, Dani was a bloated and
confused mess, and she had to pee.

The only comfort, the one keeping
her from sinking into this ugly grief,
was knowing
she
was needed at home by Mrs. Calderon. Otherwise, she’d be a total wreck. Dani
flashed her blinker and drove the rest of the way to the truck stop. When she
pulled in, her phone flashed an incoming call.

“Shit.”

The clinic.

She stopped in the lot just in
time to answer. Except for her fingers were paralyzed and refused to move over
the answer call button. Being dumped via email was settling in, stiffening up
her joints and doing a number on her pride. Dani blew out then sucked air back
in, exhaust-filled air that was heavy with hot diesel engine and rubber, several
times. She wiped her cheeks dry and pushed in on her chin to stop the
trembling. The old style telephone tone rang three more times and then finally
she answered. It was just the automated reminder that she had her monthly OB
check-up in a few days. Her fists squeezed and to calm them, she put her car
back in drive, gripped the steering wheel as lightly as she could, and inched
into the shortest line behind two other cars.

She’d be having her ultrasound at
that appointment.

Alone.

Man, she felt like the most
inadequate woman on the planet.

I
don’t know how in the hell we’re going to do this, but it’s just you and me now,
baby.

A fresh storm of bumbling bees
felt like they’d just landed in her lap. She felt one more tear fall while she
rubbed the tiny rounded bump that was her belly. God, what if she’d have
emailed Thom to let him know when she’d first found out she was pregnant? He
probably would have never told her about his change of heart. She was glad
she’d decided to wait. No way would she ever want a man to be with her out of
obligation.

Dani rolled her window down to
let the air blow through while she waited her turn in line. The car idling one
pump over practically blinded her.
Sitting
inside the brilliant white convertible were two men. One wearing glasses, a
tank top and tattoos thumped the dashboard madly with his fingers and the
other, she couldn’t see as well, but he could pass for a bearded Superman with
the dark wavy hair and the strong arm draped over the steering wheel.

Talk about different and
distracting.

She couldn’t help but stare while
she waited. Yep, she got a view of the hood emblem and it was a Mercedes.
Must be nice.
When they pulled forward in their pump’s line,
she saw the plates. Tennessee.
Definitely not from around here.
Probably just passing through.
Dani had
always wondered what that would feel like, but she’d never left the western
half of Pennsylvania and in her current state, knew it wasn’t an option.
Besides, her Buick would never make it and men were just men, not super heroes.

****

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah?”
Will asked,
clearly amused at Stefan’s praise of the knock out getting gas in the next line.
“Care to elaborate?” His friend rubbed a hand over the long, currently unbleached
section of hair covering only the top of his head that had been whipped wild
from the wind. With the
mohawk
now lying flat like that, Will did look slightly less
sinfamous
.
“Dude, why are you staring at me like that? You want some?” Will
said
teasingly.

“Fuck you. I was just thinking
it’ll be nice not to be recognized out here. You know you almost pass for an
upstanding citizen without your platinum spikes.”

“I could say the same for you,
goat. That beard is temporary, right?” asked Will.
“Jealous
much?
The ladies haven’t had any complaints.” Stefan threw back at his
buddy but felt like shit as soon as he did, even though they were joking. Will
didn’t do women, not since losing his wife several years ago and he also had a
practical reason for his
mohawk
.
He’d been burned in the apartment fire that stole Honey from him and hair no
longer grew in some patches on his scalp. Stefan didn’t pretend to understand
how Will went without—that was some serious devotion—but his good friend had
become immune to most of his comments. Stefan eyed the dark haired woman across
the way again who kicked at her gas pump.

Will hiked up one eyebrow.
“You’ve only had that face rug for a few weeks. How many ladies are we talking
about with no complaints? On second thought, maybe I don’t
wanna
know.
You slut.”
Will
grinned
at the end. The man was entirely too gracious to him.
To all
his band mates.
It was why Stefan loved Will like a true brother and
knew he’d eventually be okay in Nashville. Stefan? Not so sure of himself yet.

The truth was Stefan had only
slept with one woman in that time
Will
just asked
about. It had been three weeks now. The Tennessee beauty liked his stubble, but
again, Stefan would keep those details to himself. It wasn’t his fault the
agent helping him find a place in Nashville was a triple threat and had liked
his face rough, among other things.
Funny though how Stefan
hadn’t been as into it as normal.
Too much on his mind with coming home,
he supposed, and finally showing up to Mom’s with his big idea that she return
to Nashville with him.
Reminders that he might still be an
embarrassment to her gnawed at his gut.

“Not my fault. She was a triple
red. Not like I had a choice in the matter,” he said eyeballing pump five some
more and accepting Will would just have to deal with Stefan as-is. Her stance
was so rigid, her shoulder blades showed through the back of her yellow hoodie.
Someone or something had her pissed. Memorial Day gas prices maybe? He rubbed
his lip and watched past Will.

Will waved a hand in front of
Stefan’s face to get his attention. “Triple red? Do I even
wanna
know?” he asked, his other brow hiked now.

“Hair.
Lips.
Thong.”
Stefan tossed Will
his wallet.
“Like I said, your turn to pump.”
He climbed
out of the driver seat, much more slowly so he could take more of
her
in. She turned to see something
behind her, giving him just enough of a glimpse before she was back at her
stare down with the pump.

Full lips, probably too full for
the average guy who wouldn’t know how to appreciate them. But he would.
Long legs.
A round ass that the snug tracksuit she wore couldn’t
hide. He liked how her black hair looked hanging against the bright yellow
color and Stefan wasn’t the only one gawking. Two other dudes at pumps were
checking her out too.
Keep your dicks in
your pants, assholes.
That sharp stare focused on her pump’s number ticker
told him she could give a shit about her admirers and might just be ready to
kick at something again. Probably didn’t even realize anyone was interested,
which made her all the more interesting.
“Nothing.
Just need to stretch my legs,” Stefan said to Will and rubbed at his chest
between his
pecs
.
Will would
see right through that lie.

“Pump five?
Predictable.
She’s gorgeous in a next door gorgeous kind of way. Not your type, though.”

Stefan just grinned and did his
best to mess up Will’s
mohawk
hanging limply to one side.

“Says who? She’s hot. She’s my
type.”

“Three words.
Black, as in
her hair, it’s not red. Sober, as in she’s not drunk therefore not falling all
over you. And employed, as in…”

“Wait, how can you tell she’s
employed?” Stefan asked, eager to hear this one and ticked that Will insinuated
he only got laid when alcohol was involved. Sober sex ranked right up there
with safe sex. Both must haves.

“Well, she has a car and she’s
paying for her own gas.
And uh, her shoes.
The only
woman I’ve ever seen in a pair like that was my dental hygienist.”

What could Stefan say?

Sin Pointe men knew women and
although Will didn’t touch, perhaps he did more looking than Stefan was aware
of.

Rather than argue the mountain of
other explanations for those fine points, Stefan conceded.
Sort
of.
Will deserved a little teasing.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I get it. She’s got a job which would seriously get in the way of all those
late nights…”

But he stopped there.

Something about the way she
looked like she’d love nothing more than to kick the shit out of the gas pump some
more and strangle someone with the fuel hose killed the playful vibe of his
chatter with Will. Something told Stefan she could really hurt a man. And hell,
now that thought piqued him too.

“Hey, you good
to get the gas?
I’m
gonna
head inside,” Stefan said, remembering why
he’d snatched his drummer up and dragged him on this trip. Neither one of them
were doing so hot on their own at the moment with the band’s recent move to Nashville,
even though it had been a year. He could pretend all he wanted, but deep down Stefan
knew it might be time to take settling down in the band’s new hometown
seriously. The thought of his mom’s age creeping up year by year, her need for
a live-in helper, it made him wonder how he could keep walking away from her. How
many more times could he leave, stay gone and then just assume she’d still be
there for the next sporadic visit? That’s where the crazy idea of relocating
her had come from. But, Stefan could also feel his mom’s rejection were he to
ask her to come with him, her shame for things he’d done in the past. Mom was a
proud woman.
Independent as shit.
The brand new house
he’d bought her, only a few miles away from her current home, probably sat
empty as the day he’d brought her to it and she’d told him no thank you. The
house was on his list of things to check out these next two weeks, especially
if he got to Mom’s and their reunion didn’t go well.

Just as he turned to head toward
the shop, he caught the voluptuous woman’s eye as she finished pumping her gas.
So brown they were practically black, she looked at him curtly. If it hadn’t
been for the complete lack of humor he saw in those eyes, their depth and fire would
have turned him hard.
But Stefan was a grown man and that
didn’t just happen on the fly anymore.
The pride he saw in her was
strong, though. A strong woman turned him on.

Some desperate fool whistled at
her back, and it wasn’t Stefan.

A few minutes later, Stefan
watched her hurry past the
dickwads
as she approached
him near where he now stood at the store entrance.

“Excuse me,” she said without
bothering to meet his stare. Her coldness shocked him. Maybe even hurt a
little.

Ridiculous,
he
thought, of his reaction to this stranger.

Stefan held the door open wider
and let her pass. The old him wouldn’t have let her get away so easily, instead
having some macho thing to prove. But something about the way she shoved past
without so much as a flirty nod told him he should let her be. Too bad it also
had him curious. So who was
gonna
go
inside and follow after her? The old
Stefan,
or the
new one?

He rubbed just under his lip,
deciding.