Chapter 3
Asher
“Where in the hell did she go?” I asked my brother, Cole, who was sitting calmly at my table, waiting for his new wife to reappear. “It doesn’t take this damn long to use the bathroom.”
“I already told you that she’s chatting with Lauren,” Cole said nonchalantly. “My wife saw Sierra headed for the house and she followed her. I think Lauren really wants to get to know her, and when Lauren sets her mind on something, she gets it done.”
I looked at my watch. “How long can two women talk?”
Cole grinned. “I never realized it until recently, but female conversations can last a really long time. Lauren and Reese can have marathon conversations when they’re on a roll.”
“What do they find to talk about for that long?” I asked, more curious than irritated now.
If Sierra was with Lauren, she was safe and in good hands.
I didn’t know my new sister-in-law well. Hell, I didn’t know anyone well except for Cole, but I knew that Lauren was a good person.
She was definitely good for Cole, and that was all I really needed to know.
“I think women have a special talent of just flowing from one subject to another without an issue,” Cole replied. “Having good friends makes Lauren happy, and that makes me happy. I don’t care if she talks to her friends for hours as long as she eventually finds her way back to me later.”
I shook my head, acknowledging how much my brother had changed.
All of those changes had been good for him.
The bitterness and ugliness of our past were gone, and my little brother had become the man he always should have been. The hard edges and defensiveness that had always been a part of Cole had disappeared over the months he’d had Lauren in his life.
He’d probably smiled more in the last few months than he had in his entire life.
He was settled and exuberant to be with the woman he loved.
It was everything I’d ever wanted for my brother.
I was content, but I was also happy that I was attending my last public event for the wedding.
I probably just needed a little peace to get over my irritability.
I wasn’t good with people, and I’d seen far too many of them over the last few months.
Being in close quarters with most of the townspeople in Crystal Fork wasn’t exactly pleasant for me.
Who really wanted to spend time with people who may or may not think that Cole and I killed our father?
The gossip had been rampant for over two decades now.
Luckily, Cole and I hadn’t been here to listen to most of it because we’d left when we were barely adults and had just returned recently.
My three male cousins and their wives were a little different. I could spend time with Kaleb, Tanner, and Devon, but it was hard to really be family with relatives I didn’t know.
To me, my family was Cole.
The two of us had only had each other since we were small children.
Aunt Millie was kind, but we’d never had much interaction when we were young because my asshole, alcoholic, abusive father had hated his brother, so we were never allowed contact with any of the other Remingtons in Crystal Fork.
And then…there was Sierra.
Strangely, I didn’t hate having her around.
Maybe I was just getting used to her ridiculously upbeat attitude and her endless chatter about nothing of importance.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” I asked Cole gruffly.
He shrugged. “It’s hard to tell. It’s not like the two of them are sharing closely guarded secrets. They don’t know each other well enough for that yet.”
Yet?
I wondered if Sierra would eventually share some of her life with someone.
She certainly didn’t share anything personal with me.
Not that I wanted her to.
Not really…
Fuck!
She could have at least told me that her mom was in Texas.
I didn’t need to know her secrets, but a little personal information wouldn’t be a bad thing.
I was, after all, her employer.
Okay, so her mother was in Texas.
Did that mean she was from Texas?
I couldn’t say that she had a Texas drawl, but she had a slight lilt to her voice that reminded me of Texas.
We’d have something in common if she was from Texas since I’d spent most of my adult life in Austin before I moved back to here to Crystal Fork.
And what in the hell was up with the woman’s appetite?
Was I not paying her enough to eat well?
I couldn’t say that Sierra looked emaciated, but a few more pounds on her slender body wouldn’t be a bad thing.
She had absolutely no reserves.
For some reason, it annoyed me to think about Sierra not having everything she wanted or needed.
I had no idea why that pissed me off.
It wasn’t like I knew much about her in the first place.
She was my housekeeper.
When we were in the same space, we didn’t exactly communicate.
The woman could chatter endlessly about various subjects.
I’d ignored it at first.
But slowly…I’d started to listen.
Unfortunately, that hadn’t gained me any real personal knowledge about her. She didn’t talk about her life, her home, or her family.
Yeah, I knew her last name, her address, her phone number, and everything else necessary for her to get paid.
Other than that, she’d shared nothing personal until she’d mentioned her mother today.
“You look like you’re in another world,” Cole mentioned. “Are you doing okay? This last month has been crazy.”
“I’m glad that the wedding is over,” I said bluntly.
I knew my brother wouldn’t take offense. He knew how I felt about social events.
He grinned. “I’m sure you are. And you didn’t answer my question about whether or not you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” I answered.
Cole let out a long breath. “You always say that, but you seem more uptight than usual. It means a lot to me that you stood up for me, but I hate seeing you uncomfortable.”
“I’ll live,” I said drily. “I’ll have plenty of alone time while you’re gone on your honeymoon.”
“You’ll have Sierra around,” he pointed out.
“I’m used to her being around,” I confessed. “I was just thinking about the fact that I barely know her, and she’s worked for me for months now.”
He shot me a questioning glance. “Did it ever occur to you that she’s probably not going to share anything about herself because you don’t cough up any personal information?
You’re her employer, Asher. She probably doesn’t feel comfortable spilling anything about herself because you don’t.
If you want to know more, you’ll probably have to ask questions.
That’s the normal way people learn things about each other. ”
I probably shouldn’t have said a word to Cole about Sierra not sharing anything personal.
He may not be able to read me as well as I’d learned to read him, but there wasn’t another soul on Earth who knew me as well as my little brother.
We had shared our shitty childhood together, so we’d shared a few of the same issues until Lauren had come into Cole’s life.
“I don’t really need to get to know her,” I said, hoping he’d just drop the subject I hadn’t meant to bring up in the first place. “She works for me, and she does a decent job. That’s all I really need to know.”
Cole scrutinized me carefully before he answered. “Something tells me that you don’t really feel that way. I think you want to know more about Sierra. Hell, why don’t you just talk to her, Asher?”
“I don’t talk to anyone,” I grumbled.
Cole grinned. “That doesn’t mean you can’t start. I see Sierra and Lauren headed our way. I told you that they were together chatting somewhere.”
I couldn’t seem to stop myself from turning my head and looking for Sierra.
She was walking at Lauren’s side, laughing at something that my sister-in-law had just said.
Christ! I hated myself for noticing how attractive she was when she laughed.
Okay, the woman was attractive regardless of her facial expression, but when she laughed, she was even prettier.
She looked beautiful in the colorful dress she was wearing and with her hair falling around her shoulders.
I was used to seeing her hair pulled back in a ponytail when she was working.
“She’s a good woman, Asher. A woman worth talking to,” Cole said in a low voice right before the women got to our table.
I shot him an annoyed glance, but he simply sent me a shit-eating grin.
Hell, there was probably nothing that was going to piss my little brother off on his wedding day.
And nothing should get him down today.
My increasing curiosity about Sierra was my problem, and it was something I was determined to forget about.
She’d been my housekeeper for months now, and we’d gotten along just fine without getting personal in any way.
Why would I need to know about her family and if she was from Montana or Texas?
Why would I need to know anything about her personal life?
And I sure as hell did not need to know if there was a man who was waiting at home for her.
However, if there was a man in her life, he needed to take better care of his woman.
She obviously wasn’t eating enough.
Fuck!
Questions about my housekeeper had been crossing my mind more often lately, and that needed to stop.
It shouldn’t matter to me what Sierra did once her workday was over and she drove back to Billings.
Hell, maybe I should have done an extensive interview with her when she’d first shown up at the ranch, but I hadn’t expected her to stay.
It had never crossed my mind that she’d report to work every day before nine and take every bit of crap I tossed at her with a sunny smile.
I watched as Cole rose from his chair and held out another seat at the table for his wife before returning to his own chair.
My brother reached for his bride’s hand, and the two of them became immediately absorbed in each other, like no one else existed.
Sierra smiled at me as she took the only available seat next to me. “Everything okay?” she asked.
“Fine,” I said tersely, irritated as the light, floral scent that was uniquely Sierra made my cock instantly hard.
Yeah, that was another thing…
Lately, I hadn’t been able to control my body’s instinctive reaction whenever Sierra was around.
Shit! To be honest, I’d been attracted to her since the very first day she’d walked through my door.
Okay, it had been a while—a long while—since I’d gotten laid, but I thought I’d gotten used to not being with a woman a long time ago.
I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d felt sexual attraction.
Sex wasn’t even possible for me anymore since I hated getting too physically close to anyone.
I took care of my own needs when necessary, and it was getting a little disconcerting that those needs were popping up way more often than usual. It was also more than a little uncomfortable that every fantasy I had when getting off revolved around my housekeeper.
“Do you need to get out of here?” Sierra whispered in a concerned voice as she leaned closer to me so I could hear her.
The selfish part of me wanted to get up and go.
I’d never had to please anyone but myself after I’d become an adult.
“No. Eat your cake,” I demanded gruffly.
Sierra was excited about tasting the decadent wedding cake, and I wasn’t going to drag her away before she’d had that opportunity.
Besides, I was the best man. I needed to stick around as long as possible, and I wanted to have a few private words with my brother before he left for his long honeymoon.
I didn’t stop to think about my actions or the fact that, for the first time in a long time, I was more interested in making someone happy than my need to escape.