I was patting down new soil when Daemon swaggered over, dropping a heavy arm over his sister's shoulder. She tried to wiggle free, but he held her close. "Hey, Sis."
She rolled her eyes, but she was grinning. A look of hero-worship filled her eyes as she gazed at him. "Thanks for moving the bags for us."
"Wasn't me."
Dee rolled her eyes. "Whatever, butthead."
"That's not nice." He pulled her closer, smiling - really smiling, and it was a nice look on him. He should try it more often. Then he glanced over at me and his eyes narrowed, as if he just realized I was there, in my yard. The smile was completely gone. "What are you doing?" I glanced down at myself. It seemed pretty obvious considering I was covered with dirt and there were several plants scattered around me. "I'm fixing - "
"I wasn't asking you." He turned to his red-faced sister. "What are you doing?" I was not going to let him get to me again. I shrugged and picked up a potted plant. Yanking the plant out of its container, I ripped roots right along with it.
"I'm helping her with the flower bed. Be nice." Dee punched him in the stomach before squirming free. "Look at what we've done. I think I have a hidden talent." Daemon turned his eyes on my landscaping masterpiece. If I had to pick a dream job right now, it would be working with landscaping and the outdoors. Yeah, I sucked butt in the wilderness, but I was at my best with my hands sunk deep into the dirt. I loved everything about it. The numbing it brought, the way everything smelled earthy and rich, and how a little water and fresh soil could bring life back into something that was faded and dying.
And I was good at it. I watched every show on TLC. I knew where to place plants that needed more sun and ones that thrived in the shadows. There was a layered effect, taller and leafy, sturdier plants in the back and flowers in the front. All I had to do was put down soil and voila!
Daemon arched a brow.
My insides tightened. "What?"
He shrugged. "It's nice. I guess."
"Nice?" Dee sounded as offended as I felt.
"It's better than nice. We rocked this project.
Well, Katy rocked it. I kind of just handed her stuff."
"Is this what you do with your spare time?" he asked me, ignoring his sister.
"What - are you deciding to talk to me now?" Smiling tightly, I grabbed a handful of mulch and dumped it. Rinse and repeat. "Yeah, it's kind of a hobby. What's yours? Kicking puppies?"
"I'm not sure I should say in front of my sister," he replied, his expression turning wolfish.
"Ew." Dee made a face.
The images I got then were totally R-rated, and I could tell by his smug expression he knew it. I grabbed more mulch.
"But it's not nearly as lame as this," he added.
I froze. Pieces of red cedar floated from my fingers. "Why is this lame?"
His look said do I really need to explain?
And yeah, gardening wasn't the height of coolness. I knew that. But it wasn't lame.
Because I liked Dee, I clamped my mouth shut and started spreading the mulch out.
Dee pushed her brother, but he didn't move.
"Don't be a jerk. Please?"
"I'm not being a jerk," he denied.
I raised my eyebrows.
"What's that?" Daemon said. "You have something to say, Kitten?"
"Other than I'd like for you to never call me Kitten? No." I smoothed the mulch out, then stood, admiring our work. Casting Dee a look, I grinned. "I think we did good."
"Yes." She pushed her brother again, in the direction of their house. He still didn't move.
"We did good, lameness and all. And you know what? I kind of like being lame." Daemon stared at the freshly planted flowers, almost like he were dissecting them for a science experiment.
"And I think we need to spread our lameness to the flower bed in front of our house," she continued, her eyes filling with excitement. "We can go to the store, get stuff and you can - "
"She's not welcome in our house," Daemon snapped, turning to his sister. "Seriously." Surprised by the venom in his words, I took a step back.
Dee, however, did not. Her delicate hands balled into fists. "I was thinking we could work on the flower bed, which is outside - not inside - the last time I checked."
"I don't care. I don't want her over there."
"Daemon, don't do this," Dee whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "Please. I like her." The remarkable happened. His face softened. "Dee..."
"Please?" she asked again, bouncing like a little girl asking for her favorite toy, which was odd to watch given how tall she was. I wanted to kick Daemon for turning his sister into someone clearly starving for friendships.
He cursed under his breath, folding his arms.
"Dee, you have friends."
"It's not the same, and you know it." Her movements mimicked his. "It's different."
Daemon glanced over at me, his lip curling.
If I still held the spade, I might've chucked it at his head. "They're your friends, Dee. They're like you. You don't need to be friends with someone...someone like her." I'd kept quiet up to that point, because I had no idea what was going on and I didn't want to say anything that might upset Dee. Dickhead was her brother, after all, but that - that was way too much.
"What do you mean, someone like me?" He tilted his head to the side and let out a long breath.
His sister's eyes darted from me to him nervously. "He didn't mean anything by it."
"Bullshit," he muttered.
Now my hands were clenching into fists.
"What the hell is your problem?" Daemon faced me. There was a strange look on his face. "You."
"I'm your problem?" I took a step forward.
"I don't even know you. And you don't know me."
"You are all the same." A muscle popped in his jaw. "I don't need to get to know you. Or want to."
I threw my hands up, frustrated. "That works perfectly for me, buddy, because I don't want to get to know you either."
"Daemon," Dee said, grabbing his arm.
"Knock it off."
He smirked as he watched me. "I don't like that you're friends with my sister." I said the first thing that came to mind.
Probably not the smartest, and normally I wasn't the type of person to fire right back, but this guy got under my skin and made me see red. "And I don't give two shits what you like." One second he was standing next to Dee and the next he was right in front of me. And I mean, right in front of me. He couldn't have moved that fast. It was impossible. But there he was, towering over me and staring down.
"How...how did you move...?" I took a step back, words failing me. The intensity in his eyes sent shivers down my arms. Holy crap...
"Listen closely," he said, taking a step forward. I took one back, and he matched my steps until my back bit into one of the tall trees.
Daemon bent his head down, his unnatural green eyes taking up my whole world. Heat rolled off his body. "I'm only going to tell you this once.
If anything happens to my sister, so help me - " He stopped, taking a deep breath as his gaze dropped to my parted lips. My breath caught.
Something flickered in his eyes, but they narrowed again, hiding whatever had been there.