Running Through The Garden

High Horse

"You're crazy." Stevie shook her head.

"Stevie it's a flawless plan!"

She stood with her hands planted firmly on her hips, standing her ground. "If you think I'm just going to sit around and act as bait, you're off your fucking rocker."

  Lindsey sighed, gripping his hair in frustration. "Well what do you suggest Ms. Nicks?"

   Stevie clenched her teeth, taking in a deep breath. "Let's hide."

    "I'm sorry?"

   "We'll leave tonight, we won't tell anyone, and we'll keep an eye out from a distance."

        "You want to run away?"

"Not run away, get  somewhere safe. This psycho obviously knows more than we do, we need to take away his advantage of knowing where we are."

"We can't just hide away." He spat at her.

"Why are you being so hostile?" She was thrown off by his aggressive tone, starring at him with hurt in her eyes.

"Because you don't get it!" He yelled, gripping his hair in frustration. "Stevie, this person is not an amateur. They're not going to stop until they get what their after. They won't go away because we disappear, we have to stop them."

"That's why we have to go! I will not sit around for this psycho to attack me. At least then we can figure out a plan."

Lindsey sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Where do you want to go?"

"I have a cabin in Tahoe, nobody knows about it not even Karen."

That peaked his interest, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you have a secret cabin in Tahoe?"

Stevie met his eyes, shrugging, dropping her stare to the floor. "It's silly."

"I'm sure it's not."

Stevie took a deep breath, she couldn't look at him. "It's nice to go somewhere and not have to be Stevie Nicks. I'm Stephanie. There's no pressure, no worries."

"I didn't know that was your real name."

Stevie nodded. "It is."

"It's beautiful."

Her breathing hitched. She felt his stare on her, her eyes slowly creeping over to meet his.

Lindsey was having trouble with his own breath, his heart thumping as he leaned in. Her eyes fluttered shut, his breath warm against her lips.

"Stephanie." Her name rolled off the tip of his tongue, reaching up to tuck her hair behind an ear. His thumb stroking the sensitive skin just under her ear.

A whimper got caught in the back of her throat, her hand had traveled between them, smoothing across his hard abdomen.

Just one more inch until they kissed. Neither one of them made the final move, a silent challenge of who would give in first.

They heard the door open, quickly pulling away. Stevie struggled to sit up from her current position, her heart pounding as she saw her mother standing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry, i didn't mean to interrupt anything." Her eyes shot to Stevie's, a small smirk on the older woman's face.

Stevie's cheeks burned red, silently cursing her mother. "No, mom you didn't."

"I made you some tea, if you'd like it."

Stevie nodded her appreciation. "Thank you mom, I'll be right down."

Barbara shot her a knowing grin, shutting the door behind her.

Silence consumed the space between them, Lindsey reaching a hand out to touch her shoulder.

She quickly recoiled, putting distance between them. "I'm going to go join my mother."

Lindsey nodded, his blue eyes burning into hers. "Stevie-"

"You should get some rest." She cut him off. "I assume you'll want to leave early in the morning."

Lindsey nodded, dropping his gaze to the floor. They didn't know what to say, Stevie quickly getting out of the situation and leaving the room. She paused while midway down the stairs, laying a hand across her chest to soothe her pounding heart.

Taking a deep breathe, she joined Barbara in the kitchen, thanking her when she slid a steaming cup her way as she sat down at the island.

"So what's going on?"

Stevie sighed, resting her head against her hand. "Nothing."

"Bullshit."

Stevie's eyes widened, starring at her mother speechless. "What?"

Barbara rolled her eyes. "You are so naive when it comes to yourself. I've seen the way you look at him, I know you TeeDee."

"Mom he's my body guard."

"He's also another human being." Stevie fell silent. "Maybe you should get off your high horse and stop seeing him as just someone who works for you."

"There's nothing going on between us."

Barbara grinned at her, taking a sip of her tea. "He smiles."

"I'm sorry?" Stevie raised an eyebrow.

"When you come in to the room. He smiles every time, I've noticed."

Stevie didn't know how to respond. Watching as her mother made up another cup of tea. "Bring that to Lindsey."

   Stevie grabbed the tea, rounding the island and going towards the cabinets.

   "What are you doing?" Barbara asked her daughter.

   Stevie pulled out the sweet syrup, flipping the lid open. "He likes honey in his tea."

   Barbara grinned at her. "Kind of intimate information to know about someone who's just working for you."
 
   Stevie shrugged her off, kissing her on the cheek as she grabbed both cups and headed upstairs.

   "Lindsey?" She stopped outside his door, waiting for a response. She didn't get one and hesitantly creaked the door open.

   Glancing in, her heart melted a bit seeing him fast asleep.
  
   Quietly creeping in, she set the cups of tea on the nightstand, taking a moment to study him.

    Noticing his shoes were still on, she gently slid them off his feet, letting them thud against the carpet.

  Her pulse was thudding harshly, sliding on to the bed next to him. A hand came up to rest against his heart, feeling it beat beneath her touch.

   Scooting a little closer, her head hesitantly rested against his chest, her arm sliding around his waist.

     Following the rise and fall of his chest, she drifted off to sleep, nestled against him comfortably as she slipped out of consciousness.