Falling for Sierra

Chapter 1

Blake Winters stepped into the Round Up bar and looked around the dim room. This wasn’t the type of crowd he was used to, but tonight, that was exactly what he was looking for. He’d come in from Denver a couple hours earlier and checked into one of two small hotels in town to be prepared for his meeting the next day, but tonight, he wanted to relax.

He was tired of women who knew who he was. Women who knew his net worth and were after little more than a piece of his money or their fifteen minutes of fame. He wanted someone real. Someone who was attracted to him for something more than the number of zeros on his bank account.

Tonight, he’d traded his designer suit for a pair of worn jeans and a faded cap. He’d never been to the area before, so there was little chance he’d be recognized. Tonight, Blake was going to find out if he still knew how to pick up a woman by charm alone.

He scanned the room, looking for something, anything, that caught his attention. At first, nothing stood out, then after a moment, he spotted her. He’d missed her for a moment because she wasn’t looking for attention. Instead, she sat alone at a table, sipping a frozen drink through a straw, while she made notes in the notebook sitting open beside her drink. A woman about his age, maybe a couple years younger, with an understated beauty. Pretty without being overblown or over-made up.

Blake wasn’t sure if it was her lack of interest in what was going on around her or the self-confidence required to be in a busy room like this and do her own thing. Either way, it intrigued him. The woman who’d caught his eye was one of only a few people in the entire place. He was another, who wasn’t all decked out. She looked nice, but not like she’d spent half the day making sure she looked just right before hitting the bar. Something about her, whether it was the way she didn’t seem to care that she wasn’t the center of attention or something else he hadn’t figured out yet, seemed to call out to Blake.

He was out of his element.

Blake was used to boardrooms, and high rises, not small towns where everybody knew everyone. He was used to everyone knowing who he was, but tonight he was the stranger. He had come to town to meet with a realtor about buying a home in the area. But that wasn’t until tomorrow. He shook his head as he gave a mental laugh. He originally thought of the area as rural and maybe a little backward, but he was looking for something bigger than the average house. He’d done his research and knew there were places not too far away like what he was after.

If things worked out the way he wanted, this place would be his escape, his haven. Where he went, and took his family when he had one, when he didn’t have to be in the city. Which, if things went along with his plans, would be often.

Blake had high hopes about how much time he’d be able to spend away from the city. He had started a few months ago, trying to set things up so he wouldn’t have to be there all the time and could build a life outside the office.

From what little he’d seen so far, he liked the little town of Hawthorne, Wyoming. It reminded him of the small mid-west town where he’d grown up.

A wry smile curved his lips as he remembered how much he’d hated the tiny town he’d grown up in and how badly he’d wanted to get out.

He had gotten out. He’d gone to school and made a good living. Now he wanted a life. The irony that seeking happiness should take him back to what he’d once hated and couldn’t wait to escape wasn’t lost on him. He just ignored it as he shook his head and turned his attention to other things.

He glanced again at the woman still sitting at the table. She looked content and like perhaps she wanted to be left alone. Maybe he should stay where he was or find someone else? With a shake of his head, he dismissed the idea. Blake hadn’t gotten where he was today by letting doubt get in his way. If she wasn’t interested, all she had to do was say so. He’d back off.

“Hello, mind if I join you?” he asked as he stopped beside her table.

She looked up and blinked. Blake found that not only was she confident enough to do her own thing in a crowded bar, but she was also beautiful too. More than the just pretty as he’d originally thought. She blinked again as if it took a moment for his words to register.

“Um, sure.” She used her pen to motion to the other side of the table, then laid it on top of her notebook. “You’re not from around here.” She gave him a friendly smile as she turned her attention to him instead of whatever she’d been doing.

“No,” he smiled back, “not yet at least.” He glanced around again and wondered if she was as interested in him as he was in her, or just being polite.

“Not yet?” She tilted her head as she watched him.

“I’m supposed to look at some places tomorrow,” he scanned the room, catching the eye of the waitress and giving her a nod to let her know he was ready. “I’m considering buying a place and moving out here, if I can find what I’m after.”

She narrowed her eyes as she watched him for just a moment. “Where are you from?”

“Originally? Missouri, but I’ve been in Denver for the last ten years.” Blake wasn’t sure why he’d told her that. He normally didn’t tell anyone where he’d grown up. It wasn’t a secret, just something he didn’t enjoy talking about.

“What kind of place you looking for? I grew up around here, and I know most of the area pretty well.”

“A good-sized place, both the house and property. I’ll need at least ten acres, if not more. I want a house big enough for a family.”

“Planning to move your family here? We’ve got wonderful schools. How old are your kids?”

“No kids, I’m not married. At least not yet. I’m looking though.” He gave her his best enticing smile, but hers didn’t change.

Instead, she watched him for a moment, saying nothing.

“You wouldn’t be Blake Winters, would you?” She tilted her head to one side.

He hesitated a moment, wondering who here, in the small town of Hawthorne, might recognize him and why. He wasn’t a celebrity, but he wasn’t a stranger to the press either. His name had been in the paper several times, but he hadn’t expected anyone to know that out here. It wasn’t an accident that he was several hours from Denver. He’d wanted more anonymity than being near the city would give him.

“I am. And you would be?” Had he said anything that might be used against him now that she knew who he was? He didn’t think so. Did she know more than his name? He had to assume so because few knew that without knowing more. He didn’t want to have given her something she might use against him.

Her smile turned blinding instead of the casually friendly it had been. “My name’s Sierra. Sierra Fulham. We’ve got an appointment to look at some properties tomorrow morning.”

So that was it. She was the realtor he was in town to meet. It made a little more sense now how she knew his name.

“I take it you don’t get a lot of out-of-towners looking to buy?”

“No, we do. Just not anyone as exacting about what they’re looking for, not at first and without a bit of coaching.”

“What do you mean?” Now he was intrigued. If people didn’t know what they were looking for, why would they start house shopping? She looked down at the notebook on the table, then back up.

“Your email was specific. You have certain things listed that are must-haves, others that you want but aren’t deal breakers, as well as a few things you don’t want at all. Very few people are that organized before they come to me. Usually, they have a budget and rough idea of what they want… three bedrooms, two baths, and a pool, or something like that.”

Blake frowned. He couldn’t imagine being ready to drop the money he would spend without having a decent idea of what he wanted, or what would fit his needs. He might have more money to spend than the average shopper, but he wasn’t interested in buying now only to find two or five or even ten years down the road he’d bought too quickly and needed to do it all over again. He wanted a place to raise the children he hoped to someday have, and he wanted it to be the right home.

“I’ve got several places lined up that meet your requirements.” She leaned to one side, opened the leather briefcase he hadn’t noticed in the seat beside her, and pulled out a thick file. “Would you like to see them now or wait until tomorrow?” She looked up at him, her pale blue eyes wide with anticipation.

“Let’s hold off until tomorrow. I came in here to relax a bit, unwind after the trip.” He nodded toward the notebook still open in front of her. “Were you working?”

She glanced down at the notebook and flushed. “Not really. I was just taking a few notes.” She tucked the file back into the briefcase and turned back to him.

Blake suspected there was more she wasn’t saying and instead of saying anything, he just watched her. One brow lifted. Sierra’s flush deepened.

Now he was intrigued. He wanted to know what she was up to, but he wouldn’t push. If she wasn’t ready to share, he wouldn’t force the issue.

The waitress appeared next to their table, and Blake placed his order.

“Do you have any Glenmorangie?”

“We do.”

“Then that’s what I want, neat.”

“Which one?”

“You have more than one?”

“We have original and Lasanta.”

“I’ll have the Lasanta, please.” He turned to Sierra. “Can I get you another?”

“I shouldn’t. We’re working together. I should buy your drink.”

“Non-sense. Tonight, we’re just Blake and Sierra. If you don’t want another, that’s fine, but if you do, let me get it for you.” He smiled as he waited for her answer.

After a moment, she nodded.

Blake turned back to the waitress. “And another of whatever she’s drinking.”

The waitress turned to Sierra. “A strawberry margarita?”

“Yes, please, Anna.” Sierra took a sip, draining the last of the frozen slurry from the bottom of the glass before setting it aside.

The waitress picked up the glass and walked away.

“I don’t mean this as the pickup line it’s going to sound like, but come here often?” Blake asked as he watched the woman seated across the table.

Sierra laughed. A loud, full belly laugh that touched something inside him. “I do, but that’s not how I know Anna. We went to school together.” She glanced around the room. “In fact, I know almost everyone here.”

Blake shook his head slowly, his eyes never leaving her as he remembered what it was like to know everyone. As a kid it had been the bane of his existence. He couldn’t do anything without word of it making it back to his parents before he did. Now, as an adult, the idea was more appealing.

But he didn’t want to live in the town where he grew up. He had briefly considered going back there and dismissed it. He liked the idea of people who know you and weren’t going to treat you special because they thought they might get something from it, whether it be fame or money. He didn’t get that back home.

“That’s part of what I’m looking for.” He knew his smile had turned a little reminiscent, not that he had any memories to share with Sierra, but the memories lingered in his mind, anyway.

“People who know you?”

“The sense of community. Of course, they don’t know me now, but give them time and they’ll get to know me. They’ll know my family as it grows. It will get to be home in a way I’ve not had in a long time.”

“What about where you grew up?”

“It’s still there, but I’ve never felt that way about it. I go home and—” he cut himself off, shaking his head instead of saying what he was thinking.

He didn’t want to tell her that when he went back to the small town where his parents still lived, he wasn’t the hometown boy they had all known growing up. He’d been too much of an outcast for that. Now he was the hometown boy made big. They treated him like any other celebrity. It had gotten to the point he hated going home to visit his parents because someone would stop him on the street for an autograph or a picture. They seemed to have forgotten that he was just another person, and one who’d grown up there at that.

It wasn’t the autographs and pictures, he didn’t mind so much, it was the constantly being hit up to donate to the fundraiser of the week, only it was never just one. He’d go back for a week and be hit up for a dozen different things to donate to.

He always donated. It really wasn’t the money that was the issue. Blake had more than enough money and didn’t mind sharing, but he hated being treated like a money tree. Few of the people who called or stopped him to ask for money bothered to even ask how he was doing or exchange small talk. That bothered him. They didn’t even treat him like a human, just an ATM machine for whatever they were looking to finance this time.

It had gotten to the point that stopped going back unless he had to. He’d taken to flying his parents to him for whatever event, or even just to visit, because his going to them caused him so much anxiety it took him days to recover after he returned to Denver. But his parents were getting older. Traveling was becoming more difficult for them. If Hawthorne worked out the way he hoped, he’d buy a second house here for his parents. He just hoped they wouldn’t fight him too hard about moving.

But he’d already considered that. He planned to wait at least until he was married and had a baby on the way, maybe until after the kid was born. He hoped the lure of being near their only grandchild would be enough to get them to move. He gave his head a slight shake, dragging his mind from his plans.

“Where I grew up is not what I’m looking for,” he said with a smile he hoped was friendly. “I need to be closer to Denver. Close enough that I can spend weekends here, at least in the beginning. I’d like to move most of my day-to-day operations here, eventually. Spending less time in the city is a long-term goal.” He didn’t say that his commute wouldn’t be the nearly six hours to his office in downtown Denver that most people had when they drove. Part of why he wanted so much land was so he could put in a runway and helipad. That would cut the travel time to under two hours. Blake had learned it didn’t pay to let people know how much he had to spend, at least not this soon. If he had his way, it would be years before anyone in town figured out how much he was worth, if ever.

“Either way. We’re not talking about business or the property you’re looking for tonight. We’ll have plenty of time for that tomorrow.” Sierra gave him a smile. “Tell me a little about you. How long have you been in Denver?”

“Almost ten years. It’s a good place, and there are times when I like that you can get lost in the crowd, but I want something more personal for my children.”

“Children you don’t have yet.” She smiled again.

“You’re right. Children I don’t have yet, but I’ve always been a planner. I turned thirty a few months ago and realized I’m running out of time. I need to start moving toward my next goal. A family.”

“You have a girlfriend? Does she have any requirements for your future home?”

Blake looked away for a moment trying to keep the pleased smile off his face. He could tell by the tone of her voice she was asking because she cared about more than just what he was looking to buy.

“No, no girlfriend. I realize some might think it’s a bit presumptuous to buy the house before I’ve even found a woman to marry, but it’s what I’m ready for.” He lifted one shoulder. “Besides, what if I was meant to come out here to find her?”

“Find who?”

“My future wife, the mother of my children.” He watched her carefully, waiting to see how she would respond.

She met his gaze and held it a moment. “You really think you’ll meet her here?” She used one hand to motion around the room.

“You never know. I haven’t found her yet, so obviously I’ve been looking in the wrong places. I figured might as well try somewhere a little different.”

She started to speak, but Anna appeared with their drinks. Blake pulled out his wallet while she put their drinks on the table and paid her with a twenty, waving one hand as she started to count back his change.

“You don’t seem like the kind of guy who picks up women in a bar,” Sierra said after Anna walked away. She looked him up and down again. “You don’t seem like the kind who spends much time in a bar, period.”

“I don’t?” He took a sip of scotch and swirled it in his mouth before swallowing.

Sierra shook her head.

“What kind of guy do I seem like?”

She frowned for a moment then tilted her head to one side and watched him for several more seconds.

“You look like you’re more at home in a suit than in those jeans.” Her lips curved in a slow smile as she let her gaze continue to skim him up and down.

“What makes you say so?” He pinched the front of his t-shirt and tugged it downward.

Her smile spread. “That’s the third time you’ve tugged at your shirt since you sat down. Which says you’re not comfortable in it, as if you don’t normally wear one, at least not as outerwear. But that wasn’t what gave you away.”

“What was it then?”

“Your hat.”

“My hat?” He couldn’t help but frown. It was the last thing he’d expected her to say.

“Mhm.” Sierra nodded as she took a sip from the fresh drink Anna had brought. She tilted her head to one side. “The brim is too straight, like it’s brand new.” Her eyes scanned the room. “Look around. You’re not wearing one of those useless fashion hats with the board straight brim, but it’s still in the factory curve. No one else in the place has a hat like that.”

Blake took his hat off and looked at the brim then looked around. There were several other men wearing caps like his, but they weren’t the same. Now that she’d pointed it out, he could see the difference.

“Why do they bend it like that?” He didn’t see the purpose.

Sierra blinked and stared at him for a moment. “Why do you wear a hat?” she asked instead of answering him. After a moment of silence, she spoke again, “Why you’re wearing it doesn’t matter. Why do these guys wear their hats?” She pointed around the room with one manicured finger.

Blake took a moment to think about it. He wore it as a disguise, but he knew that wasn’t why most people wore them.

“To shade their face.”

“Or keep the sun out of your eyes.” She smiled as bright and blinding as his last girl friend had when he’d given her a diamond tennis bracelet. “Curling the sides makes it shade your eyes a bit better.” She used her hands on either side of her face to demonstrate.

Blake frowned and looked back down at his hat.

“Now, that I can see your hair. I’ll double down on more comfortable in a suit than the jeans.”

He couldn’t erase his frown as he looked over at her. “Why?”

“Because even after having had the hat on, your hair is perfect. Impeccably cut and styled.”

“Is there something wrong with that?” He frowned and fought the urge to reach up and smooth any stray hair into place.

“No. Not at all. But it doesn’t fit in with the look you were trying for.”

Blake blinked and glanced at the hat in his hand again. Setting the hat on the table between them, he made a mental note to fix the brim before he wore it again.

“Thanks.” He turned his attention back to her. “You said you’re here often, do your friends hang out here?”

“It’s noisy, but not my noise.” She picked up the pen from her notebook and smoothed the paper before resting her hand on the page. “It’s too quiet at my place.”

“Too quiet for what?” Now he was intrigued. Too quiet? He wasn’t sure he’d heard that before.

“Well, maybe too quiet’s not exactly right. But at home there are other distractions. I need to do the laundry, clean the bathroom, find a snack, rearrange the bookshelf, whatever it is today that keeps me from sitting down and writing, I will find it. Here, that’s not a problem.”

“Writing? What do you write?” The animated way she spoke about writing called to him. He didn’t think she was aware of it, but her eyes lit. Even after what little she’d said, he could tell it was something she was passionate about.

Sierra hesitated a moment, glanced down at the table then back up to meet his gaze. “I write romance.”

“That’s great.” Blake read when he had time, not that it was much. He spent too much time working. He admired anyone who had the creativity to create a full story. He’d long since wondered how anyone managed to think of all the small details and work them together so seamlessly to make a good story.

“You think so? Really?” She tilted her head to one side.

“I do. I’ve never been able to write more than a term paper. I’m envious of anyone who can tell a complete story, not to mention come up with the entire thing out of nothing.” Blake could do a lot of things, but dreaming up a good tale had never been one of them. Give him a string of numbers to figure, and that he could do. Writing reports about things he knew or could research, he could do that too, though not as well. Manage people or turn a failing company into a success, those he had no problem with.

Her smile grew and her face flushed.

“What’s wrong?” Blake couldn’t help but ask.

“Nothing.” She looked down at the table then back up again. “I’ve never had anyone tell me something as simple as that’s good. I like it.”

“How do people usually respond?” Why wouldn’t people tell her it was nice she writes? He thought it was amazing and felt like she should be respected for the accomplishment.

Sierra lifted one shoulder and looked away. “Usually by telling me romance is stupid or asking if I write ‘those trashy sex filled ones’ some even tell me it’s easy or not really writing. A few others are nicer about it, they tell me they’ve always wanted to write, but don’t have the time.”

Blake made a face. Why were people so negative about so much? Sierra did something that made her happy, why couldn’t they be happy for her?

“Have you published anything?” He wasn’t going to be like the others. He wasn’t going to steal her sunshine.

“I’ve got three out.” She looked away again. “I’m working on another book, but sometimes the day job gets in the way.”

“But you’ve got to do something to keep the lights on and food in the cabinets, right? At least until your books earn enough to do that?”

“Thank you for that.” Her smile changed subtly. “I’m not sure I’ll ever completely quit my day job. I like being a realtor, though I’d like to cut my hours and not spend so much time at it. Hopefully, at some point I’ll make enough to do that.”

“I have no doubt you will.” He watched as she looked away again and a blush crept up her face.

“How could you know that? You’ve never read anything of mine. I could be worse than a four-year-old.”

“You could be. But something tells me you’re not.”

Sierra shook her head. “Enough about me. Tell me more about you. What makes you want to move so far from the city?”

“I already told you. I want a place to raise my family.”

She narrowed her eyes and watched him for a moment. “The family you haven’t started yet.”

“Exactly.”

Her gaze dropped. He could tell from the direction it was aimed she was checking his finger for a ring, or the pale circle where one had been removed. He took another sip of his scotch, making sure to use his left hand so she’d get a good look.

“Why’d you come here tonight?” Her gaze flicked to his face.

“Looking for a way to relax a little.” He lifted one shoulder in a lazy shrug. “I was half-way hoping to pick someone up, but not badly enough to move on once I realized we’ll be working together.”

“Don’t mix business and pleasure?”

“As a rule? No.” He might give that rule a second thought though; if she were interested.

“That’s too bad.” She looked down at the table and her blush deepened. “I don’t normally either, but I was willing to make an exception.” She glanced up and met his gaze with a bold stare.

Blake remained quiet a moment. For the first time in longer than he could remember, he wasn’t sure what to say. Damn. The soft looking curl of her blonde hair against her cheek made his fingers ache to brush it away from her face.

“Maybe we should go somewhere a little quieter and talk?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.” She tucked her notebook into the briefcase, took a final sip from the nearly empty margarita and slid to the edge of the booth seat. “Coming?” She looked back at him with half-hooded eyes that made his body clench and harden as he got a glimpse of what she’d look like with a haze of pleasure over her features.

“Right behind you.” He tossed back the last of his Glenmorangie, grabbed his cap off the table and slid from the seat. Following her out, Blake let his hand rest lightly on the small of her back as they made their way through the crowd to the door.