Wicked Garden (6 page)

A lush male voice sang, “Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door…”

Eden looked up and smiled at the longhaired, leather-clad Indian casually leaning against the doorjamb.

Simply put, Jon White Feather was a beautiful man. His angular face, courtesy of his Swedish mother, was as striking as his pale blue eyes. His broad forehead sloped into high, wide cheekbones. A regal nose gave way to lush lips and a pointed chin. Copper-colored skin bespoke his Lakota heritage. Tall, muscularly lean, his meaty biceps and the insides of his forearms were decorated with tribal tattoos. His black hair flowed past his shoulders, giving him the look of a bad boy rocker mixed with an Indian warrior. He was built, he was hot and his intense gaze still made her belly quiver after years of friendship. “
Hoka-hey
,
kola
.”

“Jon. I was wondering when you’d get into town.”

He quirked a dark eyebrow at her. “You haven’t seen me in six months and that’s my welcome? How about some sugar from my best girl, eh?” He spread his arms wide.

She skirted the desk and launched herself at him. Jon spun her in a circle amidst her laughter.

“Didja miss me, my wicked little garden sprite?”

“No.”

He whispered, “Liar.”

“Fine. I missed you. Put me down.”

“Only if you promise to go out with me tomorrow night.”

“Where?” The last time she’d forgotten to ask specifics she’d ended up in a strip club in Wyoming with Jon and six of his bruiser roadies, watching them jump into a bar fight with a group of hot cowboys. After the blood and the insults dried up, the dozen or so guys had shot whiskey in the tour bus until dawn.

“How about dancin’, someplace off the beaten track?”

When he rolled into town, Jon preferred to lay low somewhere he wouldn’t be recognized. “Like the Silver Star?” The honky-tonk was one of the few places in town that didn’t cater to college students.

“I’ll probably be the only Indian in the place amidst cowboy hats and shitkickers, and you know what happened last time, but it’s a deal.”

She returned to her chair while Jon flopped across from her desk. “So what’re you doing at the community center? Working out that buff bod of yours?”

Jon gifted her with a smoldering look. “I’m here just for you, dollface.”

“Wrong. Try again.”

“Man. I can’t pull nothin’ over on you.” He grinned pure mischief. “I told Jim I’d pick up Micah from basketball practice since Cindy is dealing with sick kids. But I really did volunteer so I could pop in and see what you were up to.”

Eden gestured at the piles. “The usual.”

“You work too hard, which is why I’m taking you out for a night of fun. How long’s it been since you cut loose?”

“Months. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

“I heard. Jim says the center might be in trouble. What’s up with that?”

“The same old bullshit. It’s been coming for a year so I’m not surprised.”

He frowned. “Is your job in jeopardy?”

“Yeah.” She looked away to avoid his pity.

Papers rustled as Jon leaned across her desk and clasped her hand in his. “Hey. If the city is stupid enough to let you go, their loss, eh?”

Underneath Jon’s sexy persona of rocker Johnny Feather lurked a really sweet, thoughtful guy. “I guess.”

“You could always go on the road with me.”

“What would my job be?”

“My personal love slave.”

Eden snorted. “You’ve already got that position filled. They’re called groupies.”

Jon brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “None of them hold a candle to you.”

“Flatterer. But I will take it under consideration if this place goes belly up.” She threaded her fingers through his. “How long are you here?”

He sighed. “Only two days. This break isn’t near long enough.”

“And you say I work too hard?”

“Yeah, well, I’d like to hang out to catch up with Jim and his tribe, but unfortunately, most of my time will be spent in Eagle Butte.”

“Another last minute gig?”

“No. My bass guitarist is getting married.” He dropped his gaze to their joined hands. “I oughta be thrilled for him, right? His woman is awesome. He’s never been happier.”

“But?”

“That’s the thing. But nothin’. Him getting hitched won’t adversely affect the band, so it’s not a professional issue. I can’t figure out why I’m…pissed. Frustrated.”

“Jealous?” Eden offered.

“Maybe.” Jon’s thumb stroked the inside of her wrist. “He’s the first one of the band members to pair off. Which is cool. When he’s with her, it’s like they’re the only two people in the world, even if there’s a dozen people on the bus. I’m surrounded by people almost twenty-four/seven so why do I always feel so damn lonely?”

Eden was familiar with that feeling, but as this was one of the few times Jon had opened up in recent years, she didn’t interrupt.

“Do you ever look around at your life and feel like you’re missing out on what’s really important, even when you aren’t sure what that important something might be?”

“Yeah. We all have days like that.”

“Some of us more than others. I just wish…”

“What?” When his startling blue eyes connected with hers, her stomach cartwheeled.

“I forget how beautiful you are.”

Her face heated and she yanked her hand back. “Jon. Stop.”

“I’m serious, Eden. You’re beautiful. Smart. Successful. Funny as hell. Sweet as pie when you ain’t bein’ a pain in the ass.” His grin was there and gone. “You’ve dealt with the same Indian/white racist shit I have. The sex between us is great. My family adores you.
I
adore you.”

“I assume this sweet talk has a point,
kola
?”

“Sometimes I don’t just want to be your friend, Eden. I want more.” His eyes went from playful to haunted. “You are the perfect woman for me. So why can’t I settle down with you and let you fill the lonely spots in my life?”

“A—because you aren’t ready to abandon your wicked rocker ways and pledge your life to one woman. B—because you snore. C—because you don’t love me.”

“I should. You’d be good for me.”

“Would you be good for me, Jon?” Eden asked softly.

“No.” Jon sighed again. “It wouldn’t be fair because I don’t know if I can ever…” He briefly shut his eyes. “You deserve so much more than the pittance I can offer you,
winyan
.”

Eden’s heart clenched at the raw pain in his melodic voice. “Are you ever going to forgive yourself? It wasn’t your fault Juliette died.”

“Yeah, it was.”

They’d had this conversation dozens of times and it always ended the same way: with Jon changing the subject.

“You’re one of the few people in my life who doesn’t automatically say, ‘Yes, Johnny’ to whatever crazy thing I suggest. Not only do you know the real me—Jon the half-breed Indian with a checkered past—but you don’t want anything from me.”

“Except hot sex,” she teased, hoping to lighten his mood.

“But even that is different, truer, than with the groupies hanging around, waiting to fuck me in the tour bus strictly for the bragging rights that they nailed Johnny Feather.”

“The price of being semi-famous.”

“Price,” he scoffed. “My agent, the promoters, the tour director, the radio stations, the assorted tribes, the fans; they all see me as a commodity. Dollar signs. A brand. It gets old.”

Eden didn’t say anything.

Jon grimaced. “Listen to me. I have everything I ever dreamed of as a poor kid on the rez and I’m complaining? You probably think I’m a self-indulgent prick, eh?”

“No, I think you need a friend.”

“Thanks. You are a damn good friend, Eden, and I missed you.” He kissed her knuckles again before releasing her hand. “But we’re still friends with bennies, right? Because I’m about a quart low on sweet lovin’.”

What kind of woman even considers a round of no-strings-sex with one guy mere hours after screwing another one?

The answer was a stab in her gut,
the kind of woman who raised you. You’re just like your mother.

“Eden?”

She smiled tightly. “The truth is, I’m sort of seeing someone.”

“Anyone I know?”

“No.”

“Is it serious?”

Eden shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter. I still wanna hang out with you while I’m here.” Jon gave her a shrewd look. “Tell you what. Bring him along tomorrow night. I’ll check him out to see if he’s good enough for my best girl.”

And wouldn’t that be an awkward situation
? Billy, meet Johnny. Johnny and I play naked Indian poke-her whenever he rolls into town. Johnny, meet Billy. Billy is here to fuck up my life on a professional level, but that doesn’t matter because I let him fuck me any other way he pleases.

“What’s goin’ on in that pretty head of yours?” Jon murmured.

“Nothing. Just wondering if I should pick you up at Jim and Cindy’s tomorrow night?”

“Nah. Bebe and Stephie are both sick so I’m not staying with them. I’m crashing at Jim’s old condo.”

Eden frowned. Something about that seemed familiar.

“I’ll meet you. Silver Star at seven?”

“Deal.”

“You dressing up full-on bad boy rock star?” Eden asked slyly.

“Nope. I’m sticking with the poor Indian look. So don’t be surprised if you don’t recognize me.”

“Right, dollface,” Eden repeated his oft-used term of endearment. “You could wear sackcloth and ashes and you’d still be the hottest guy in the room and you damn well know it.”

“Now who’s the flatterer?”

Micah and Thomas burst in, dribbling a basketball, creating chaos and Eden was grateful for the diversion.

His focus centered around reliving Eden’s husky moans of delight as he slid in and out of her slick feminine heat, the satisfying weight of her lissome body wrapped around his, the remembrance of her sweet and hot kisses. Occasionally he’d catch a whiff of her scent on his skin and he’d go as hard as his protractor.

Before he’d left Bob’s office, he’d grudgingly grabbed the files concerning the community center. The logical thing would be to hole up and decide on a course of action for the city council.

Sometimes logic was highly overrated.

Almost on autopilot, Billy drove to the community center. He justified the burning need to see her because they had business to discuss, preferably in a room without a bed.

He winced. That hadn’t seemed to matter a few hours ago when he’d taken her hard and fast against the front door.

No regrets, but there hadn’t been any finesse either.

Her Jeep was parked in its usual spot and he wasn’t surprised she was working late. Briefcase in hand, he passed by the gym, stopping to observe a raucous basketball game. The men appeared to be his age, but that didn’t stop the cheap shots or the adolescent taunts. After a nasty elbow jab, in the next play, the jabber found himself facedown on the court courtesy of the jabbee.

Billy squinted at the kid leaning against the back wall. Was that Thomas? He waved.

But Thomas didn’t wave back. A stricken look crossed the kid’s face and he disappeared beneath the wooden bleachers.

Dammit. According to Eden, Thomas wasn’t supposed to be here this time of night. Had he snuck in again? It made Billy absolutely sick to think the kid had to figure out a way to avoid getting a beating on a regular basis. He suspected Eden’s bond with Thomas was partially because she’d been in that same “duck and run” family situation. Billy’s childhood hadn’t been ideal, but physical violence hadn’t been an issue. So did he keep Thomas’s secret so the kid would be safe tonight? Or did Billy tell Eden he’d spied her young friend hiding out again?

The empty corridors were quiet, save for the far-off mechanical whine of a vacuum cleaner and the shuffle of his hard soled dress shoes on the marble floor. Light shone through the half-closed blinds in Eden’s office.

He knocked and heard a brusque, “Come in.”

Billy hesitated on the threshold. “Am I interrupting?”

“Would it matter?”

“No.”

“Why are you here?”

“I need to talk to you.”

A deliberate pause. “Is this a matter concerning the center?”

Concerning the center
. No surprise she wouldn’t discuss their mind-scrambling sex that’d ruined him for any other woman. “Actually, yes, I do have some questions.” He slid into the chair opposite her desk and opened his briefcase, shuffling through the papers until he found the one he needed. “My research shows nothing’s been done with the electrical system since the city took over this building twenty-five years ago?”

“We’ve hired an electrician to put in additional outlets or fix some minor glitch, but as far as major rework? Not in the five years I’ve been in charge. Why?”

“Seems the city only did minimal changes back then,” he said, scanning his notes.

“Didn’t it pass inspection?”

“Yes, but neither the city nor the contractor kept a detailed list of what’d been updated. My understanding is that this building was a temporary solution, so they only made the most rudimentary updates.”

“Which means…?” Eden looked at him expectantly.

“A whole different set of unforeseen problems with wiring codes.”

“I don’t understand. How can you assume the wiring is faulty if you can’t see it?”

Billy snapped the briefcase shut, using it as a lap desk. “That’s the crux of the problem. The only way we can determine whether the wiring is coated with asbestos is to rip out all the walls. And if we rip out all the walls…”

“The city might as well rip out everything and start from scratch.” Her glance darted to the fire alarm across the room. “Is there a danger of an electrical fire?”

“Certainly it’s a possibility.”

Eden mulled it over. “What the hell else can go wrong?”

The bitterness in her tone didn’t surprise him. If his livelihood were at stake he imagined he’d be testy, too. “The family who owns the land has no interest in buying the building. It’s a tricky situation when the landowner and the building owner aren’t the same party, but I’ve seen this type of situation before—where one party puts land in a trust and another party builds on it in the guise of civic improvement.”

“Have you spoken with the landowners?”

“No. It seemed irrelevant. Why?”

Eden’s shrug was nonchalant, yet her fingers folded a neon post-it-note as if she was practicing origami. “Rumor has it if the city’s findings are against improving the center, and they level the building, the landowners will use the lot and the empty one directly behind us to construct a fitness center that’d be in direct competition with the city’s new digs.”

Billy smiled, even if it felt a bit grim. “No love lost, huh?”

“No. I’m surprised the land trust agreement hasn’t been challenged in court. Not only have the council members been bickering among themselves about this situation for years, the family owning the land has been stuck dealing with the bureaucracy.”

“Have the landowners asked you to get involved if they do build the new facility?”

“Probably they won’t, since I am a city employee. They’ll assume I have a job.” She sighed. “I hate politics. My main concern, my only concern, has been how this will affect the kids.”

Devoted to others needs before her own—that was Eden to the core. He paused to gather his thoughts in the pretext of double-checking his notes. When he glanced up, she was rubbing her temple. “You okay?”

“Makes my head hurt thinking about this stuff.”

“I’m not trying to give you a headache, Eden. I’m just trying to do my job.”

A second passed. Then two. If this were a normal relationship, Billy supposed he’d cross the room, gather her in his arms and offer reassurances. So why was his dumb ass still glued to this cheap chair? Why were his hands still gripping his hard leather briefcase instead of her soft curves? He scooted forward, determined to prove this “thing” happening between them could be permanent and he was finally man enough to stand up for what he wanted: her.

But it wasn’t her voice that stopped him cold; it was her utter look of defeat. “So what do we do now?”

“Have you eaten?”

“I’m not hungry. I had a late lunch.”

Their gazes locked. “I know. I was there, remember?”

Eden opened her mouth then snapped it shut.

“Can we talk about our lunch date today?”

“No.” She wheeled back and stood, snatching her keys from her desk. “Did I answer all of your questions? Because I—”

Billy was next to her before she could retreat. “Don’t do this, Eden. Don’t pretend nothing changed between us and we’re just opposing sides in a business disagreement.”

“What do you want me to do? Ignore it?”

“Yes.” Billy tilted her chin up. “Put it aside. Just for tonight. Be with me. Let me come home with you.”

Her eyes darkened with reproach as he leaned close enough to kiss her. “Not here—”

“Then invite me over. Please.” He swept a tangled strand of hair from the corner of her mouth. “I want to be with you.”

Eden twirled her car keys on her index finger. “Who the hell am I kidding? I want to be with you too. Let me lock up.”

“While you’re locking up, I think we should look for Thomas. I thought I saw him in the gym.”

“That little sneak. He knows he’s not supposed to be here this late. I’ll check his usual hiding spots and meet you at my house.”

“Do you need help?”

“No. Actually it’d be better if you left. He might stay hidden if he sees you.”

“Be careful.”