Read Online Wicked Garden by Lorelei James - Free Book Online Page A

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