Dangerous by Suzannah Daniels Page B

your mother says it, then it must be true. Mothers don’t just say things for the heck of it.”
    “Yes, Dara, they do. Besides, how would you know?”
    Shock assaulted my system. How could he say such a thing? I could feel hot tears stinging the corners of my eyes and a lump of raw ache rising in my throat. I pulled my hand away from him and tucked it between my knees, my legs stretched out in front of me.
    “Shit,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry, Dara. I wasn’t thinking. I guess I can add you to my list now, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
    “Not a day goes by that I don’t wonder where my mother is and why she gave me up,” I whispered.
    “Look,” he said. “You don’t have to talk about it. I should’ve never said what I said.”
    “No, Stone, it’s okay. I want to talk about it. I miss her, you know?”
    He exhaled loudly. “Yeah, I do. I do know.”
    “I wonder what she looks like, whether I look anything like her, what she’s doing. There are so many questions whirling in my head that sometimes I think it’ll explode.”
    “Have you ever thought about trying to find her?”
    “Yeah, I have, but I figure I got my granny. If my mother wanted me in her life, then she would’ve come back for me. I used to dream about her coming back for me, but after almost fifteen years, I know it’ll never happen. I’ve accepted it, and I’ve moved on. And you know what? Life is good.”
    “I wish I could be as upbeat as you.”
    “It’s taken me a long time to get to this point. I don’t think I would’ve ever made it without Granny. She’s a pretty incredible woman. Sometimes I don’t know how she does it.”
    “She sounds awesome.”
    “Yeah, you’ll have to meet her sometime.”
    “Maybe one of these days, I’ll play my cards right, and you’ll give me a ride in her awesome vehicle to meet her.”
    “Maybe so,” I agreed, smiling.
    I leaned against the tree trunk, watching the willow branches dance in the balmy breeze. Stone seemed to be content watching them, too, and we fell into a comfortable silence.
    I yawned.
    “Am I that boring?” he asked.
    I laughed. “No, you’re not boring at all. I just didn’t sleep well last night, and my eyelids are getting a little heavy.”
    “Come here,” he said, gesturing with his hands.
    “What?”
    “Why don’t you lay your head in my lap and rest your eyes?”
    “I’m fine,” I said, horrified at the thought of putting my head in his lap. Heck, I barely knew him.
    “Come on,” he insisted. “I promise not to bite, even if you aren’t wearing your garlic necklace today.”
    I gulped and scooted closer to him, while he put his hands on my shoulders, guiding me to his lap. His legs were stretched out in front of him, his ankles crossed. I fanned my hair out across his legs and carefully laid my head down on the thigh nearest me, praying that I didn’t cut off his circulation.
    “Close your eyes,” he instructed.
    I obeyed, and his warm fingertips smoothed my hair away from my forehead and began tracing tiny circles on my temples. Once I got over my nervousness, it actually felt quite pleasant. I could feel the tension ease out of my neck and shoulders as I concentrated on his magic fingers.

    Stone

    I knew the moment that she fell asleep, her pink lips parting slightly as she drifted into a peaceful slumber. I glided my fingers through her silky hair and studied her face, her dark lashes fanned across her cheeks. She was one of the prettiest girls at Quail Mountain High, but to me, her attraction wasn’t so much her looks. I wasn’t a stranger to beautiful girls. It was her goodness, a quality that seemed harder and harder to find—not that I had necessarily been looking for it. On the contrary, I usually avoided girls like her. I would only disappoint her. It was much better for me to stick to girls like Jess, girls with no expectations, no specific lists of qualifications, no strings.
    I sighed. Dara was already probing through