Delirious (5 page)

I didn’t know how much time had passed, though I knew our pizza was quite cold. We lay in each other arms, my hand resting on his chest. I marveled at how fortunate I was to find someone like Stone while I was young. We would live a long and happy life together.

He rose from the bed and dressed.

“Where’re you going?”

He looked at me, an unreadable expression on his face. He sat on the edge of the mattress, and it dipped with his weight. He picked up a strand of my hair and rubbed it between his fingers.

“Stone?”

“I’ve got to run some errands,” he said softly, turning away from me.

“Now?
But we haven’t even eaten.”

“I’ll
grab something at home.”

“But I don’t understand. You have to run errands now?”

He turned then and brushed his knuckle along my cheek. “Yes, now. Don’t worry. I know we’re supposed to meet my mom and the caterer at my house in the morning to go over cake flavors. I’ll be there.”

“You’re not coming back tonight?”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, babe. It won’t be long until you’ll see so much of me, you’ll be begging me to get out of your hair.” He leaned down and kissed me. “I just have to take care of a few things for my parents. You know my dad’s still out of town, and my mom has been pretty tied up with wedding stuff.” He kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Now, go eat some pizza. You look like you’re losing a little weight.”

“I’ve just been really busy lately…and maybe a little nervous.”

He pulled on his shoes. “Nothing to be nervous about, babe. It’s me and you.” He stood. “See you in the morning.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

After he left, I gathered the pillow that he’d been lying on and smelled of it, his scent filling my nostrils. I could hardly wait for morning to come, let alone wait the three weeks until our wedding.

As I made my way into the kitchen, I missed him already.

Flipping open the pizza box, I grabbed a slice of cold pepperoni pizza and took a bite. I peeked into the bag on the table. No honey. I smiled to myself as I pulled out a can of whipped cream and a half-melted carton of ice cream. I stuck the ice cream in the freezer and sprayed some whipped cream on my finger. After I licked it off, I put the lid on it and put it in the refrigerator.

Whipped cream was much better than honey.

Chapter 5

Stone

My bloodshot eyes stared back at me in the mirror
as I brushed my teeth. I had done a lot of things last night, tossed, paced, worried, but I never could actually sleep. I looked like shit.

I rubbed my palm across my bare chest. I had fifteen minutes to make myself presentable before Dara showed up at my house. In an effort to join the living, I squirted eye
drops over the swollen blood vessels and took a steaming shower.

Twenty minutes later, I answered the doorbell and led Dara to the kitchen where my mother and the caterer were already talking cake.

“Good morning, Dara,” my mother chirped enthusiastically.

“Good morning.” Dara waved.

After my mother introduced us to Mindy, the caterer, Dara and I sat down at the kitchen table, where an assortment of cake slices had already been divvied up on small plates. We tasted several options and looked at a portfolio with way too many choices.

“What do y
ou like?” Dara asked, her Kawasaki green eyes focusing on my face. The truth was I couldn’t concentrate on something as insignificant as cake flavors, not with all the shit I had churning in my brain.

“Whatever you pick is fine.”

“Stone,” she said, dragging my name out like she was aggravated. “It’s your wedding, too. I want your opinion.”

“My opinion is that I trust your opinion. If you’re happy, I’m happy. I don’t care if the cake is chocolate or raspberry or guacamole.”

“You should care. All of your family and friends will be eating it.”

My mother scowled at me from her seat across the table.

“The only thing that matters to me is that you’re my wife by the end of the ceremony.”

“
Stone, help me,” she pleaded.

“Don’t get raspberry. I hate raspberry. Everything else I liked.”

“What about strawberry?” she asked, her voice sounding hopeful. “I think it would look pretty to have pink cake and white icing with pink flowers and green accents.”

“Strawberry’s good.”

“Good. That’s settled,” she said. “What do you think about the chocolate groom’s cake with white icing, decorated with drizzled chocolate and chocolate-covered strawberries?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, trying to show some modicum of interest when all I could really
think about were the forces that were trying to sabotage our happiness.

“
Excellent choices,” my mother said softly as she turned her attention back to Mindy. The women chatted about the arrangements and final numbers and other details that my mind had already tuned out.

After the caterer left, I returned to my room while my mother and Dara remained at the table discussing the wedding details.

Damn, my eyes were aching, and if I didn’t close them soon, they were going to explode.

***

When I woke up, I was stretched across my bed, the covers barely clinging to the end of the mattress. Dara was curled beside me, her cheek pressed against my bicep, her hand curved around my forearm. I must’ve been out of it because I didn’t remember her lying down beside me. The TV played softly in the background, and I assumed that she had watched it quietly until she fell asleep.

Afternoon sunlight filtered through the blinds, motes of dust dancing in its rays.

I kissed Dara’s temple, and I could smell the clean scent of her shampoo. Lying still, I listened to her soft, even breathing.

Reluctantly, I moved my arm, wrapping it around her and gathering her up against my chest. Her eyelids fluttered, and the faintest smile crossed her lips as she curled into me. It was one of those moments when I knew she was truly
happy because people who were half-asleep had no time or inclination to paste phony expressions on their faces.

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on nothing but her, he
r gentle breathing, her sweet fragrance, the slight movement of her palm against my chest. A plethora of emotions eddied inside me.

Before Dara, I never knew that I was capable of this kind
of love, and while we were young when we first met, it was more than that. Dara had shown me kindness and compassion, patience and understanding, at a time when I needed it most—at a time when I didn’t even know that I needed it—at a time when I didn’t deserve it.

Our lives had entwined so integrally
that I couldn’t imagine being without her. In fact, even the
thought
of being without her scared the hell out of me.

No, I could never let that happen. I could never allow anything to come between us.

“Are you asleep?” her soft voice chased the horrible thoughts from my mind.

I cracked my lids open.
“No, my little hummingbird. I’m just enjoying the moment.”

She stretched and pressed a kiss to my neck. “
And what moment is that?”

I caressed the small of her back.
“The moment where I wake up and find the most beautiful, most caring, most amazing woman by my side.”

“Well, you better get used to it because in exactly three weeks, I’m gonna be beside you every time you wake up.”

“Mmm, I know, and you wanna know what the best part is?”

She thumped my chest. “What can be better than that?”

“Not only are you gonna be beside me every morning, but you’re also gonna be naked.”

She thumped me again.
“Stone!”

I hugged her tighter against me. “Don’t act like that doesn’t excite you.”

She giggled. “Well, okay, maybe a little.”

“A little?”
I asked in disbelief. “Woman, you need to fess up. I know the effect I have on you. I’ve known it since the first day you walked into the bookstore.”

Her smile drifted away. “It’s true.”

“I know. It’s true for me, too. My life hasn’t been the same since that day.”

“
I guess fate really does exist,” she said softly.

I certainly
hoped so, and I hoped that fate didn’t decide that I really wasn’t worthy of someone as wonderful as Dara and snatch her away from me before we could be married.

I loved her.

“We used to have so much fun,” she said.

“Used to?”

“I was just thinking about when we first started dating. Remember that mud fight we had?”

“That mud fight
we
had? You were the one slinging mud. If I remember correctly, though, making out in the mud was a whole lot more fun.”

She smiled. “
And then we rinsed off in the creek. That was so cold.” She shivered at the memory.

“I did my manly duty of warming you up afterwards.”

Her eyes shifted downward coyly. “I remember.”

We lay in silence a moment more, each of
us remembering that day.

With a burst of energy, she propped herself up on her elbow.
“Let’s go for a motorcycle ride.” She looked at me hopefully.

I reached out and threaded my fingers through
hers, my thumb rubbing her palm rhythmically. “I like that idea. Let me get ready.” With all the things on my mind, a motorcycle ride would do me good. It didn’t hurt that a hot chick would have her arms wrapped around me, either.

Dara sat up, and I scooted off the bed. After brushing my teeth and making
myself presentable, we headed out through the garage to my bike. Several times during the last few years, I’d contemplated getting a new bike. I’d also considered getting my own place, but I’d opted instead to save my money towards the purchase of a house. My parents owned a large home. My brother, Dylan, had already gotten married and moved out, and my father was often away on business. I think my mother was relieved that I was still around.

A few months back, I’d bought a large piece of property on the mountain where Dara and I intended to build a home.
I’d spent most of the money I’d saved, and she and I had agreed to move into her house after we were married until we built our dream home on our mountain property.

Everything had been flowing so damn well until this major snafu.
I could wonder what I’d done to deserve this shit, but I tried not to ask those types of questions because I knew all too well the answer. But what had Dara done to deserve it? If I knew anyone who deserved to be happy, it was she.

I glanced at her as she stood in the driveway, squinting from the sun as she smiled up at me.

She shielded her eyes with her hand. “It’s a beautiful day.”

“Yeah, it’ll be a nice ride.” I handed her a helmet.

I fastened my helmet and climbed on my bike. After sliding the key in the ignition, I cranked it, revved the throttle a few times, and waited for her to climb on behind me.

Her arms wrapped around me, and she squeezed my torso. “Hold on tight,” I warned her.

She knew what that meant, and she clung to me, her chest pressed against my back as I barreled down the driveway and pulled the bike up into a wheelie. I knew her heart was racing, and judging by the death grip she had around my waist, a bit of fear had shot through her veins, along with the adrenaline.

As we reached the main road,
our bodies vibrated as the front wheel fell back to the ground. I took a deep breath. I didn’t realize just how much I needed this, and once I checked for traffic, I sped onto the main road.

I liked having Dara near me, trusting me, and
I liked that while we were riding, I didn’t have to say anything, to hide anything, to feel like I had made the wrong choice by deciding to keep the current quagmire to myself.

She was my girl.
My forever.

And I wanted her to be happy.

At all costs.

Chapter 6

Dara

The weekend blew by even faster than most weekends. Stone and I had a relaxing day on Saturday, but we spent most of the day on Sunday going over wedding details with his mother.
My mom had cooked dinner Sunday evening, and we ate with her and Emma, filling them in with the current details of the wedding.

Emma was so excited
about her new dress and shoes, and she was looking forward to the day that we would both wear our princess dresses.

I’d spent most of the day on Monday making sure everything was ready for the ribbon cutting of the new salon in Atlanta and working on the name change for Luke’s Place.

Now that it was Tuesday, Stone and I loaded marketing supplies in the company car as we prepared for the drive to Atlanta.

He was wearing a
sleek, charcoal suit with a black shirt and a burgundy tie. His dark hair was styled perfectly, and his eyes glowed like the blue part of a flame against all the somber colors.

I, on the other hand, wore a pastel pink pantsuit, and I worried that he would be too hot while we were outside during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

We fastened our seatbelts and headed toward Georgia’s capital with the air conditioner blowing full blast.

“When’s your father gonna be back in town?” I asked as Stone zipped down the Interstate.

“He should be back sometime tonight.”

“What about Dylan?”

“He’ll be back tonight, too.”

“Good. Maybe we could have a meeting soon about Luke’s Place. I’ve talked to my mom, and she said she’s ready to implement the change.”

“Yeah. I’ll check with them tomorrow and see if we can set up a meeting.”

“I’ve already written an article to be distributed to the email list as soon as you tell me we have the green light.
If they approve the logo, I could start getting printed material ordered and have it within a couple of weeks.”

“Let’s focus on branding, too,” Stone said
. “When customers see a store or a pamphlet, a bookmarker or whatever, I want them to know that it’s Luke’s Place. I want a color scheme or a design or a combination to be on everything associated with it.”

“I’
m on it.”

“That’s my girl.” He turned to me and smiled, and it struck me how handsome he was
, even if he did seem to be a bit tired. If our babies looked anything like their father, they would be beautiful.

I took a deep breath as I watched the road through the windshield. It seemed that I was thin
king about babies more and more.

“How many babies do you want?” I asked.

“That was random.”

A grin exploded across my face
as I glanced at him. “I know. I was just thinking. I know I said before that we should get married first before we talked about me getting pregnant, but now I’m thinking couples should talk about these things before they get married, you know—just in case they don’t want the same thing.”

“I think we’ve already determined that we both want babies.”

I nodded. “Yes, but how many? Do you want four?”

“At one time?”
He gave me an odd look, his eyebrows raised.

“Heck, no.”

He laughed. “Do you think we should be counting our babies before they’ve hatched?”

“Hatched? I have no in
tentions of hatching any babies,” I declared.

“Well, I sure as hell ain’t gonna hatch any.”

“Fine,” I said, feigning exasperation. “I’ll hatch them if you’ll change the dirty diapers."

“
Deal. As long as we don’t have four of them at one time.”

“
You’ll get no argument from me on that one.” I fingered the silver necklace he’d given me for the first anniversary of our engagement. Along with a few trinkets I had of Granny’s, it was my most prized possession.

He yawned, and I watched as he stretche
d in an effort to stave off sleepiness. He obviously hadn’t been sleeping well. Part of me worried that he was having second thoughts about our marriage.

“Do you need me to drive?” I asked.

“No, I got it.”

I didn’t ask again because I knew Stone well enough to know that he would want to be the driver. He’d told me before that he would never ride on the back of a motorcycle, and while he had been a passenger in my car often enough, it was obvious that he preferred to be the
one behind the wheel.

Stone was such a guy. In a lot of ways, he was very traditional when it came to the roles of men and women. Yet even though he was traditional, he wasn’t confining
or controlling. He wasn’t the kind of guy who wanted me home in the kitchen, but he did like to be the one taking care of me. And I had to admit that I loved that about him. What woman didn’t want to be taken care of?

I knew that with him I would have the best of both worlds. I had the education and the ability to take care of myself, but as long as I was with Stone, I knew that he would work hard to ensure that I and our children were loved and cared for.
But it wasn’t a one-way street. I wanted to take care of him, too. I wanted him to be happy. I wanted to help him erase the pain of the past, so that he could focus on the happy memories.

I treasured him, us, our future together
.

As if he could read my mind, he reached over and covered my hand with the warmth of his palm. “I love you, Dara.”

I smiled, my heart warming. “I love you, too, Stone.” And with those words, my fear of him questioning our marriage melted away. My hands instinctively reached for the necklace. I knew Stone loved me. I knew that he wanted to be with me. I knew that he would be mine—forever.

I pulled his hand to my mouth and kissed his knuckles.

He smiled at me. “What was that for?”

“For being you.”

“Haven’t I been telling you how amazing I am? Is it just now sinking in?”

I turned my head and looked out my window, grinning. I wasn’t giving him the satisfaction of answering that. “
I don’t recall mentioning anything about you being amazing.”

“You didn’t have to,” he countered. “It shows on your face.”

I looked at him. “I think you’ve mistaken my look of amusement for amazement.”

“Amusement.
Amazement. It’s all the same. Either way, you can’t get enough.”

I hacked out a cough on that one.

He shot me a crooked grin. “Yeah, you know it’s true.”

Maybe it was. But I wasn’t confirming it.

He snickered. “Five years later and my little hummingbird is still chasing that sweet drink of nectar.”

My mouth fell
open, and he looked way too amused. I had no witty comebacks. I wasn’t much of a liar, so it would do me no good to deny it.

“It’s okay, babe,” he assured me. “Tenacity is an admirable trait.”

“So is modesty.”

A burst of laughter erupted from Stone,
and he squeezed my hand. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

“Right now, it
might be in your best interest to tell me again.”

“You’re the girl I want to make mud pies with for the rest of my life, Dara.”

“That’s a lot of mud pies.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it.” Stone shot me a mischievous grin, and if there was one thing that I was sure of, it was that our marriage would never be boring.

It took us a couple of hours to arrive at the new salon in Atlanta. Crimson let us in the back door, and we unloaded marketing supplies. The ribbon cutting was scheduled for noon, and today would be the grand opening.

Several stylists were in the building, setting up their work stations and preparing for the first day of business.

When it was almost noon, we all waited out front as the local officials gathered for the ribbon cutting ceremony. I had hired a photographer to capture the ceremony and to take photos during the grand opening celebration, but the local media would also be present and would be taking photos of their own.

Stone gave a brief speech to the small crowd that had arrived, and Crimson used the ceremonial scissors to cut the ribbon.
Immediately afterward, we started the grand opening celebration with a local radio station present for a live broadcast.

Crimson greeted clients as they came in.
Having moved into more of an administrative role, she rarely cut hair or performed any of the other services offered to clients. Together, she and I had organized every facet of the grand opening. She had arranged to have several appointments for today already scheduled, and we had advertised a walk-in special to fill the remaining seats and to entice new clients to the salon.

“Good job, girlie,” she whispered to me as she took a moment to escape the chaos. She whisked her sleek, dark hair over her shoulder and hugged my neck. “This is so exciting! I hate that Scarlet’s missing it.”

“I know,” I agreed, “but she can catch the next one. We’re not done yet.” I pulled back from the hug and smiled at her. Straightening my jacket, I continued, “I’m gonna go check on Stone. I have him giving the interviews on the radio. He has such a nice voice. He would’ve made a good radio personality.”

Crimson shook her head in disagreement
. “With his looks, he shouldn’t be hidden behind a microphone.”

“Don’t tell him that,”
I joked. “His ego is big enough as it is.”

Crimson sighed introspectively.
“Yeah, but I have to confess that’s one of the things I kinda like about him. He’s just arrogant enough to be confident and playful, but not totally annoying. I dated a guy who lacked self-confidence. It took him forever just to kiss me.”

I gasped. “Are you talking about Mike?”

She looked at me with huge, chocolate eyes. “You know I am. If he had Stone’s confidence, maybe we’d still be together.”

“Well, he may
not’ve been the guy for you, but Mike’s a sweetie.”

“
What’s he doing these days?”

“He’s working for a construction company in Knoxville.”
I thumbed toward the door. “Well, I’m heading out here.”

“Okay. I’ll hold down the fort inside.”

When I opened the glass door to exit, I was hit with a blast of heat from the hot, June day. I waited patiently while Stone finished up his interview.

He walked toward me as they went off the air. “I’m roasting,” he complained,
a sheen of sweat on his forehead.

“You shouldn’t of worn black,” I told him.

“I sure as hell wasn’t gonna sport a white suit,” he countered.

“Okay, you win that one,” I conceded. “But you could’ve worn a white shirt. Take your jacket off and let’s go inside and cool off.”

He removed his jacket.

“Hand it to me, and I’ll find somewhere to hang it up while you get a drink.”

When we entered the salon, Stone walked to the refreshments table while I hung his jacket up in a closet in the office.

I found him conversing with one of the stylists and her client, an empty glass of pineapple punch in his hand.

Walking up to him without interrupting, I took the glass from him and refilled it. When I handed it back to him, he asked the stylist, “Cindy, have you met my fiancee, Dara Golding?”

“I have.” Cindy smiled at me.

“Dara,” Stone continued, motioning toward the client in the barber chair, “this is Max.”

I shook hands with him. “Hi, Max. I’m so glad you could join us today.”

He nodded a greeting. “Thank you.”

T
wo hours later after things died down, Stone, Crimson, and I met in the office.

“Ladies, I have to hand it to you, y’all pulled today off fla
wlessly,” Stone complimented as he leaned against the desk.

“Thank you,” Crimson and I said in unison.

“Have you settled into your apartment okay? Is there anything that you need us to do for you either personally or with the salon?” I asked Crimson.

She
tapped her perfectly manicured nails against the wood desk. “I’m good. Now that I’ve been here for a couple of months, I can find my way around the city pretty well. It’s a good thing I found an apartment so close because traffic around here is awful. As far as the salon goes, I think I’m all set.”

“Well, I guess Stone and I are gonna head back to Quail Mountain now. Are you sure you don’t need anything else before we go?”

Crimson stood and walked around the desk to hug my neck. “I’m sure,” she said as she pulled away from me and hugged Stone. “Thanks for all of your help today. Give Isabella a hug for me.”

“We will,” I assured her.

I retrieved Stone’s jacket from the closet and folded it over my arm.

“Later,
gater,” Stone told her as he walked out into the hallway.