Wicked Flower

by Carlene Love Flores

“What?” she barely got out. “What? I don’t…”

  He took a minute to remove his hands from her wrists and rub his face and hair. When he did that, she rubbed her wrists too.

  “Fuck, did I hurt you?”

  “No,” she whimpered out.

  “Good. Do you promise to stand there and be quiet and let me finish?” he asked, trying with everything he had to be tender.

  But before he could say another word, she said, “Stefan, that was Thom calling me. He left a voicemail. He wants to see me when he comes home in two months on mid-tour leave.”

  He felt his face sink and his lips didn’t close. The fuck? Thom wanted to see her? Fuck Thom. His eyes darted around the bathroom ceiling, aware he was having the wrong reaction but unable to accept what he was hearing. He blinked so many times he had to concentrate on making himself stop and his throat had never felt so dry. He’s her baby’s father. He deserves a chance. For that look on her face, the one telling him she couldn’t possibly process what was going on because it was too much in that one moment, he kissed her forehead and then forced himself to take a step back. “That’s good news, sweetheart. That’s a good thing.”

  But the words of his heart stuck in his throat.

  Dani, I brought you here tonight because I want you to consider moving to Nashville and I want you to do that as my girlfriend. He thought them but would not say them. Not now. He wouldn’t put her in that position. Not on the chance that he might be ready to be a boyfriend. That just wasn’t a good enough reason. He took her hand and led her out to his car then drove her back to Daisy’s. She didn’t argue. Good thing he’d packed her that bag.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Two days later…

  “I think it’s time to get Dani back here. Your nurse skills have surprised me, but you need help. We need help,” Will said as he started the lawn mower back up and hiked it further up the hill of Mom’s back yard. More rain, more grass on crack. Will let it die again. The motor chortled a loud groaning sound then Will shouted from the top. “I’m glad we’re here to do the yard work and I kind of like being a handyman, but I think your mom needs a lady to help with the lady stuff. We suck at that.”

  It was true.

  Stefan yawned, then hoofed it up the hill to retrieve a rake and eyeball Will who stood there, waiting.

  “Not calling her. You know why,” Stefan said and grabbed the rake.

  “You’re making a mistake,” called Will after him.

  Stefan just flipped him off as he went over to clean out some leaves from Mom’s flower pots. He couldn’t bring himself to fuck with Dani’s life anymore and he’d told Will why. It was time to drop it.

  He’d just gone to get the weed whacker and start on some edging when Mom’s house phone started ringing. If she was up, he’d learned that she would get to it rather quickly and if her balance was off, she risked stumbling. If she didn’t, and the sun was out, she was probably down in the laundry room, in the sound proof basement. Another thing he’d noted about Mom being alone. That should never happen. She could fall down there and no one would hear a thing. Luckily he’d been there when it happened yesterday. Stefan dropped the whacker with a thud and jogged inside.

  “Hello,” he said, out of breath from sprinting down the hill and slamming inside the house’s back door. Irritated, he picked up.

  “Yes, I need to speak to…”

  “Oh, I’ve got it, Son.”

  Mom must have picked up one of the other house lines. Stefan heard the caller next.

  “May I please speak with Daniela Foster?”

  “Oh, she isn’t home right now but you can leave a message with me. This is Mrs. Calderon,” his mom said. Stefan just listened, unable to hang up because it was about Dani. He put his hand over the mouth piece and tried not to breathe loudly. Pathetic.

  “Sorry, I actually can’t disclose that information, Mrs. Calderon. But if you could please have her call this number back, that would be great. The number is 878-555-0100. She can ask for Sherri.”

  “Okay, thank you. I’ll give her the message.”

  Everyone hung up.

  Stefan wished Benny was there. He’d find out who that number belonged to. Same way as Benny had tracked down Honey’s address back when Will’s bright idea had been to hide her away from the band and pretend he wasn’t married. He’d done it in the name of shielding Honey from the ugly side of their band’s fame but eventually, life kicked everyone’s ass. Stefan understood Will’s motives so much better now.

  Stefan glanced out the window and saw Will with headphones in, making nice neat lines in his mom’s lawn. He ducked into the living room and opened the laptop he’d bought Mom, then did a Google search on the phone number, hoping it was really that easy. Holy shit. It was. No wonder fans seemed to catch him in the most inconvenient places these days. Fucking technology.

  The number belonged to a women’s clinic. Had to be where Dani got her checkups done.

  Was Dani okay? Was her baby okay? Why had the clinic called and spoken so cryptically? He’d never forgive himself if something happened to either of them on account of his stubbornness. This would hurt, but he had to call her and pass along the message.

  Stefan wiped at the sweat that beaded on his forehead. He scrolled to her cell number on his phone and waited for her to answer.

  “Stefan?”

  Fuck he still liked that she had his number programmed in her phone. Didn’t matter though.

  “Hey, are you screening your calls because the women’s clinic just called for you on the house phone. My mom took the message. A lady named Sherri wants you to call her.”

  The line was so quiet he couldn’t be sure she hadn’t hung up before he’d gotten that last part out. “Dani? You there?”

  “You know I haven’t told her yet,” she practically whispered.

  He should cuss her out for that but hell, Stefan knew all about not wanting to disappoint his mom. “Yeah, I know.” Did he tell Dani his mom might already know? No because he wasn’t sure. “The lady was very discreet and only left a name and number.”

  “But she must have said she was from the clinic.”

  Oh, that. Fuck.

  “No, that was me. I, fuck, I Googled the number she gave. Sorry. I was trying to help. I’m the only one who knows it was the clinic.”

  “All right, thanks for the message. So, have you talked to your mom about Nashville yet? I’m only asking because I’m coming back today. Out of clothes and I need to sleep in my own bed. I don’t want to accidentally say anything if you haven’t yet.”

  “No, didn’t wanna stress her out any worse.” And more than anything, he did not want to discuss it with Dani. Shit, he might not even ask Mom at this point. Knowing that Dani wouldn’t come, how did he separate them?

  He heard Dani blow out and then a car ignition started. She was coming back now?

  Stefan knew what he had to do. No heart allowed.

  “Drive safe, sexy,” he said, stripping down to the only thing he could give her for the remaining days he had here. Play.

  He hung up and then sat down and yawned. Shit he was beat. It was tiring work doing everything for someone else. Mentally, physically, emotionally. He could fall asleep, right now…

  Chapter Eighteen

  The next day…

  Dani walked into the living room, tired but too worn out for sleep. As was her nightly custom, she made her rounds, making sure all the doors were locked and all the appliances unplugged. Mrs. C’s string of rough days aside, it was nice to be home. Not avoiding Stefan as much as they’d done before under the same roof was like a fresh coat of paint in an old house.

  Sure he teased her, but something had changed with him the night of Thom’s voicemail. Stefan seemed to be trying really hard to be nice to everyone but if she knew any better, she’d say it was because he was avoiding things they’d discussed at their dinner date. His plans of taking his mom. As far as she knew, he hadn’t asked Gina and she wondered
why. Whenever she got him alone, he didn’t run but he pulled away, like he wasn’t really there with her. It was very frustrating because she wanted to come up with a plan. Now that the idea had settled in, she’d begun to think that taking his mom to Nashville was a good idea and if he could wait until she had a chance to talk to Thom in person, that she and Gina could then make the move together. Dani had no plans of staying with Thom. She didn’t love him like that and he had someone. She’d always let him be part of their baby’s life but it didn’t mean she had to stay in Moonlight. Now if Stefan would just hear her out.

  Dani’s eyelids had never felt heavier either. It had been another long day. The kind she wouldn’t wish on any mother and son. One had seen too much, the other had revealed too much. With the both of them trying to be strong for each other, it had worn everyone out. Even Will who uncharacteristically had one of his legs slung up over the back of Gina’s couch, seemed too tired to keep with his manners. His shorts were undone and his shirt was pulled up exposing his belly and more tattoos. The trademark pair of black rimmed glasses lay on the coffee table, just barely clinging to the edge.

  Dani saved them from falling, scooting them to safety, and left Will where he lay and crept quietly up the stairs. She checked in on Gina who was asleep. Then she made her way to Stefan’s door. It wasn’t closed and she wondered if he’d left it that way on purpose. It wasn’t the easiest thing to be sharing space with each other again. Dani knew that was the least of his worries after today. The anguish she’d seen him try to hide after Gina’s stumble on the stairs nearly buckled Dani’s knees. He’d probably crashed and forgotten to pull the door closed. She gave it a gentle push, wishing things were easier between them. Dinner at Mario’s had seemed like the gateway to that but now things were weird. What she’d give to have his wicked, playful beautiful ways back again.

  She peered around, focusing on where she knew furniture to be and tried to familiarize herself without the benefit of a light. Unsure if Stefan was on the air mattress or the bed, Dani took careful steps into the room. She squinted and once her eyes adjusted, she could see that he wasn’t there at all. Where had he gone?

  She checked her room and then Gina’s more closely in case he’d crashed at his mom’s bedside, worried she’d roll out of bed during the night. But no Stefan.

  She went downstairs and when she crossed into the kitchen, she noticed movement from the back porch which she hadn’t seen before. The porch light was off but aptly enough, moonlight shone down on Stefan as he sat in one of the rockers.

  Quietly, she opened the back porch door and went outside to check on him. Her heart broke for the worry he’d kept hidden today. If things hadn’t been so non-stop, she would have reminded him again how she sometimes bruised Gina too because her skin was just at that stage where that happened more easily now. But every little thing that could happen had. Just like the other day when he’d been here with Gina on his own and she and Will had gone to Daisy’s. Dani felt horrible for making him believe Mrs. C would bounce back and be good as new. The frown he’d gotten when she showed him the special place in the pantry where a months’ worth of protein shakes was stocked made her cringe now. But liquid nutrition was better than nothing.

  Was it really a good idea for her to be here, with her heart breaking for him so strongly? They still had their agreement in place. It was sort of going unspoken, but while under Gina’s roof, they were still holding to being nothing more than friends. And not the kinds with benefits.

  So why was she deliberately searching him out?

  She couldn’t stop thinking about him and how around his mom, Stefan was a beautiful and dutiful creature. Who was she to limit him to pleasantries in his own home? But he’d done it, because she’d asked. A thought nudged her. Stefan didn’t strike her as the type of man to cower to anyone’s demands.

  Dani could watch this moonlit porch and the shadow of him resting peacefully in the rocker, without needing for anything. Poor baby. Having to watch his mom unable to eat and not having the experience of knowing it was just a passing thing that really would get better. Dani’s fingers ached to take his curls and move them here and there, off his forehead so she could … plant a kiss there. Sleeping Superman. Watching Stefan deal with it all today, his helpless looks marring that handsome face, had left Dani heartbroken. Her energy spent, she could close her eyes and fall asleep standing and be dead to the world for the next twenty-four hours.

  If he wasn’t lying right there.

  Should she wake him up though to sleep inside? Not yet, he looked too peaceful and the night was a perfect temperature. She sat down in the rocker beside him, wanting some of that peace too.

  “Mom?” she heard him say. He sat up so fast. Her hand flew to steady him before he fell out of it and her heart trampled over itself when she saw his brow crinkled in a tight squint.

  “Um, no. Sorry, it’s me. I didn’t mean to wake you up.” All the times she’d seen him in those white shirts he favored so much, and the way they fit him so well, leaving little to the imagination. She was overwhelmed now at the sight of his bare chest combined with the exhaustion that had him fumbling with the chair pillow with those tattooed hands.

  “Is my mom okay?” he asked, obviously disoriented.

  “Hey, looks like you fell asleep out here. And yes, I just checked and she’s asleep.” His face relaxed. “Sorry I woke you. I’ll go back inside now.”

  “No,” he grumbled out.

  She swallowed.

  “I should go,” she said. A bird called from one of the surrounding forest trees.

  She watched him hold one of the quilts from the couch and wished she could cuddle up with him right now.

  He seemed to have gotten his whereabouts straightened back out and his hand came out from under the small pillow folded behind his head. He rubbed his chest like he’d forgotten she hadn’t seen him like this before. Or maybe he just hadn’t expected her to have a reaction under their platonic clause. Neither she nor Stefan would ever win an award for diplomacy. They both sucked at sticking to agreements.

  But all her eyes were capable of in that moment was following his hand and the colorful ink that coated his arms and shoulders. He rubbed his bare chest back and forth, split down the middle with two firm and equal sides of broad muscle. There was golden tanned skin. And there was the coating of black hairs over each side of his perfectly chiseled, tattoo free chest. Her gaze dipped to where the ink picked back up at his side, over his ribs. Something wicked looking wound down into his lounge pants. Why did he keep rubbing at his chest like that? So oblivious that her body and soul were turning to mush and fire all at once with each of his strokes.

  “I shouldn’t have come out. I’m sorry. I’ll let you sleep. It’s a nice night out for that.”

  A moment later, catching her just as she’d have been out of his sight, he responded with a softer voice, still deep, like dark honey dripping from barbed wire.

  “Don’t.”

  She hovered there, feeling the sting of what he didn’t say. Stay with me, Dani. I need you tonight. Maybe it was only what she wanted to hear. He’d done a stellar job of keeping things neighborly. That was his super power. Inhuman amounts of self-control.

  “Don’t leave?” she asked for clarification. He could have easily meant don’t come out here again.

  “Turn around. Look at me.”

  His voice gave her no choice but to obey.

  But what she saw broke her heart all over again. His hands weren’t rubbing through his chest hair anymore, they were at his temples, trailing down his nose and wiping under his eyes. And then they were folded, just like his arms, over his smooth abs. His rugged beauty slapped her senses awake. Dani stopped herself from crawling up his body and cradling his head in her arms. It would have been tricky in the rocker but she had no doubts he could have held her steady.

  He studied her, she felt like a sneaky little lab rat, playing with her life and his.

  “Don’t w
hat, Stefan?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” His eyes turned shiny and she nearly ran to his side because she knew what that meant.

  He pulled his lips in together and inhaled through his nose. She did the same and took in the scent of nature cooled by the night. Still sweet but more delicate. He shook his head like he was aggravated.

  “I’m trying real hard to do what I’m supposed to. For you, your baby, my mom. Fuck, it’s hard, sweetheart. Harder than I thought.”

  He rubbed at his eyes several times and cleared his throat. She expected to see bruises under his eyes when he finally pulled his hands away but he’d done a good job of avoiding those the past few days somehow. Still, he looked dead tired.

  If he wasn’t who he was, she’d have rolled onto that chair alongside him without a second thought. Something God-given about Stefan was exactly that inviting. Unfortunately, there was nothing either of them could do about the obstacle of whose roof they were under. Or the fact that she carried a child, by another man. Strangely enough, that hadn’t seemed to bother Stefan until the night at Mario’s.

  If he’d talk to her about it, she could clear things up.

  Dani pulled her rocker closer to him and sat down, not wanting to upset him but desperate to make things better for him.

  “I can’t sleep inside. I’m going crazy in there.”

  “I understand. Lucky it’s such a nice night.” They could talk. She could tell him about her plan to wait for Thom’s return and then the best way to transition Gina to Nashville. “Wanna talk?”

  “I suck at talking and I feel like shit. Believe it or not, I don’t want to be an asshole to you.”

  At that, she sat stiffly with her back against the chair and her arms tucked to her sides. She crossed her legs at the ankles. With their chairs lined up side by side, her feet stopped right around where his knees started. “You’re great at talking. Maybe not about anything serious. You and Will both. Great at getting laughs.”

  “You like Will a lot, don’t you.”