Wicked Flower

by Carlene Love Flores

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2014 Carlene Love Flores

  ISBN: 978-1-77130-987-5

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: JS Cook

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  For Adrian

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I was really touched during the writing of this book by some very special people who helped me with the research. A giant thanks to Josh “The Kentucky Gent” Johnson for being the visual of Will’s tank tops which might seem like a small thing but to a writer, is huge. Smiles and fist bumps to a great bass player, Dino Villanueva, for happily taking time out of his busy schedule to answer a very long list of my bass playing questions. As always, thank you to my critique partners, Lynne and Kerri, my editor, JS Cook, and everyone at Evernight for continuing to support this series. All my love to my incredibly loving family. Most importantly, to you the reader, thank you from the bottom of my lucky little heart. Take it, it’s yours. Enjoy. xoxo

  WICKED FLOWER

  A Sin Pointe Novel, 5

  Carlene Love Flores

  Copyright © 2014

  If you cannot be good, you should be the least bad you can be.

  —Thomas More

  Chapter One

  Stefan could always tell when Will was about to lay one on him.

  This should be fun.

  He stared at the road ahead and waited while Will ran his usual course of fingers tapping his knees to hands tucking into his armpits and finally a mouthed “Oh shit.” Will closed his eyes and fisted wads of his shorts into his hands. Stefan grinned and eased up on the gas before he took the next curve.

  It was coming. Something good by the twist to his drummer’s lips. Any second now…

  “Have you ever had a girl go down on you while you were driving?” Will asked as they passed into the vicinity of Moonlight, Pennsylvania. “Because driving like a fricking maniac could kill any hopes of that ever happening and mangle your brand new baby too. Just sayin’. I know how much you love your new car.”

  Stefan flipped Will off. God, he loved this man.

  But was Will kidding? Of course he had. It came with being Stefan Calderon. Will, of all people, shouldn’t have had to ask.

  Must be the outdoors. Or the insane amount of curves they’d flown through the last half hour.

  Fresh air and curves, albeit not the ones found while driving, were known to have that effect on Sin Pointe members and the air didn’t get much fresher through these old hills.

  Since he was feeling kind, Stefan bit down to keep the answer to his friend’s question to himself, even though something sweet and flowery in the air reminded him of the exact night the last time that very thing had indeed blown his mind. He’d enjoyed himself immensely. Jasmine, he thought. In a game of “Fuck truth, let’s dare”, the temptress had fair and square lost the right to tell him her name, but that scent made his mouth water. He took in a deep whiff and had to bite down even harder to spare Will the gory details.

  With wind whipping through the convertible at all angles, Will secured the strip of mohawk he’d left unmoussed. It flogged him in the face as soon as he let go.

  “Have you?” Stefan asked, wondering what his drummer would say. If Stefan had to guess, knowing Will like he did, he’d go with no. Check that. Will before Honey? Yes. Will after Honey? No. Love fucked men up. It was a mistake Stefan had yet to make like the rest of his bandmates.

  “Nope, Honey was too shy for that kind of thing.” Will’s face was blank.

  No big revelation there. Stefan knew his bandmates like he knew sex, music and breathing. In that order. In a few weeks, they’d be going back out on tour. Still the four original guys after all these years. Yeah, Stefan hadn’t needed Will to confess his late wife’s shyness and Will’s devotion to her wasn’t just written all over his stoic face, it was inked permanently around the drummer’s wrist, over his heart, and across his ribs.

  Stefan reached over and knocked Will’s hand from the top of his head to lighten the mood, vowing to get Will back out there someday. The hair got sucked up into the wind again, bringing his mohawk back to life. Will adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, letting his hair fly. Clearly, his drummer was the most interesting bastard in the band. Stefan would gladly share his bedmates with Will but the man had yet to take him up on the offer. Fucking love.

  Back to that blow job question. Stefan could tell the truth, but a lie seemed way nicer. “Nah, man. But that’s fucking hot.”

  Will nodded his head and then let it fall back into the headrest while Stefan remembered a few years ago and the mess of red hair bobbing up and down in his lap as he sped down the 5. California had been bad but oh so good at times too. In an effort to save their souls, Jaxon had moved Sin Pointe out of the seedy streets of Los Angeles to the country loving arms of Nashville. Code for Jaxon and Marion had finally settled down and had their families with them so Stefan and Will needed to get with the program. Leave it to Jaxon to prove anything was possible. Stefan cleared his throat and Will threw him one quick look which he ignored.

  “Oh, gas station sign. Twenty miles to the exit. Did you see it?” Will asked him, pointing.

  “Food. Gas. Piss,” Stefan said. “In that order.”

  “Gas. Piss. Food,” Will echoed back at him. “In that order. Your new baby is almost on E.”

  This had been a long ass road trip and yes, his girl needed filling. But it looked like they were finally close to his mom’s. There were truly beautiful green, lush trees everywhere. Tall ones that practically blacked out the sky in broad daylight. The hills went on forever. Stefan remembered the landscape well. Moonlight was close.

  He blinked, but shadows from giant trees wouldn’t hide Stefan’s reluctance any more than closing his eyes to the past would. He wouldn’t claim a fucked up childhood, just a confusing one.

  More importantly, how was she doing? How was Mom going to look when he finally saw her? His seven year absence had been too long, he knew. Shit, the band had put out two records, even experimented with new sounds, and toured hundreds of cities since he’d last been here. Stefan closed his eyes tight, held them closed for several seconds, then cleared his throat again and playfully grabbed at Will’s crotch as a diversion to his guilt and doubts about this return.

  “Hey sexy, it’s your turn to pump.” He forced a grin out and Will punched his shoulder so hard it made the dog tags Will wore for his brother clink. Stefan rubbed the sting away and took in a deep breath of Pennsylvania air.

  It had been so fucking long since he’d called this place home and trapped wasn’t a good feeling for a grown man. Not one like him whose idea of ultimate happiness was to rip pleasure from life and its beautiful, willing creatures.

  Reminders of his mistakes were not so appealing. Moonlight was full of them. He wiped at his brow and clenched the marbled toffee swirls of his lady’s hard steering wheel tightly. Forgetting why you left this place isn’t as important as remembering why you’re back now.

  His mom wasn’t sick this time, but she was aging, it seemed faster than ever this last decade. Calling to wish her a happy seventieth had blown his mind. He’d promised himself then and there to visit more often, whether Mom welcomed it or not. Where had the ti
me gone? If there was ever a time to show Mom she’d been wrong about him all those years ago and shouldn’t be ashamed, it was now. “I have to show her,” he muttered into the wind. His best friend graciously ignored him.

  ****

  “God dammit,” she said when her car lurched.

  She’d seen that capital red “E” light up after leaving home but it hadn’t seemed too important half an hour ago compared to the crappy morning she’d just had. When Dani could afford it, she was trading in her old gas guzzling Buick and getting herself one of those fancy new hybrids. Toyota or Honda, she couldn’t decide, but one of them.

  How far had she driven herself in her daze anyway? At this point, who the hell cared? It sure as shit wasn’t far enough away. When she saw the sign for the truck stop, she sighed in relief. Far enough away from her bedroom and the damned email, but close enough if Mrs. C had an emergency.

  Dani pushed her tongue against her cheek, feeling its heat, and debated cursing the Lord again or begging He let her at least make it to the next exit without stalling on the highway. Cursing the Lord wasn’t cool and right now, He was undoubtedly the only good guy on her side. He was certainly the only man she cared to talk to after this morning.

  “That’s all I need,” she said shaking her head. She pulled pieces of hair being whipped into her mouth back out but wasn’t willing to roll up the windows to avoid it happening again and again and again. There’d be snarls to fight with later but she welcomed the perfect mix of cold and hot air while she could. A storm was due soon, the charcoal grey clouds pushing their way in and the battle between the cold and hot air all but guaranteed it. She, along with the rest of the town population, was out running errands before anything ugly hit. Just like they always did. Nothing new. She dreaded the lines and the familiar meddling faces. Especially today, a day when she just wanted to be left alone.

  Even though her first instinct was to floor it to the truck stop when she saw the Pump-n-Go’s billboard, she eased up on the gas pedal and came to a compromise on the tirade she’d been working on. “Thanks,” she said under her breath.

  What in the hell was she being punished for?

  Wasn’t she trying her best to do all the right things?

  “Thanks for this damn messy day.” Not only did she need to gas up, but her patience had been reduced to fumes.

  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 th
ought, 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.