Chapter Three
S hit. Maybe this was just her knee-jerk reaction. He hoped so because he wasn’t ready to give up on her yet. He’d thought he was hallucinating when he first saw her. But no, she was just as real and even more beautiful than she’d been the last time he saw her. Lying in her bed, naked and smiling at him.
“We’re not working together yet.”
“We will be soon enough.”
“So this is a ‘no’ for going out with me tonight?”
She nodded. “It’s a no. Not happening.”
Rather than pushing her and having her tell him ‘never’ or ‘go to hell’ he decided to leave it for another time. Obviously, convincing her to forget her reservations about them working together wasn’t going to be easy. He’d have to figure out the best way to approach her. He had a hard time believing she’d forgotten their night together. Maybe it hadn’t bowled her over quite like it had him, but he knew damn well she’d enjoyed herself.
“A group of my friends are getting together tonight at Grey’s.” They weren’t but by tonight they would be. “Why don’t you stop by and I’ll introduce you to them.”
“I’ll think about it. But it’s not a date.”
“No dates. Got it.”
“Do you mind if I ask Sam and her husband?”
“Sure. Ask whoever you want.”
“Since they’re the only people I know they’re it.”
Sam returned just then. “Connor was telling me a group of people are getting together tonight at Grey’s,” Sierra said. “Do you and Dylan want to come?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to see what Dylan has going on. It’s hard for him to get away from the ranch at times.”
“I’ve got to get back to work. I hope to see you and Dylan tonight, Sam.” He turned to Sierra. “Hope you come. It’ll be fun.”
He needed to call some people and arrange something for tonight. Having lived in Marietta off and on his entire life, he knew a lot of people. It shouldn’t be too hard to get some together. And there were always his brothers and their wives.
Sierra didn’t want to date but there were lots of ways to get around that. He knew one thing. Sierra showing up in Marietta and the fact that she was a flight nurse was way too coincidental to be anything other than fate. Not that he’d ever been a big believer in fate, but then, he’d never had something happen that was so clearly meant to be.
Good God. Meant to be? What the hell am I thinking?
You’re thinking you really like her and for the first time in a long, long time, you’re thinking of more than a night or two. You’re wondering if the two of you could build something lasting.
Him, the original ‘I just wanna have fun’ guy, wanted more.
And she clearly wasn’t on the same page.
*
“Where did you and Connor meet?” Sam asked Sierra after Connor left and they were walking out of the hospital. “Because clearly, you already knew each other.”
“Las Vegas. A few weeks ago.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“There’s a story there unless I’m totally misreading the tension between you two.”
Sierra heard the laugh in her voice. She stopped walking and looked at her friend. “I’ve got a bottle of wine at home. Want to come have a drink before you go home?”
“Ha! I was right.”
She didn’t deny it. What was the point? A short time later they settled down on her couch and Sierra poured two glasses of wine. “Sorry for the mess but I haven’t unpacked much yet.”
“How could you have? You’ve only been in town a couple of days. Are you going to Grey’s tonight?”
“Maybe. What about you?”
“I called Dylan on the way here. He’s busy with the horses and doesn’t think he can get away. So, not tonight. Now, you can tell me all about you and the very hot Connor McFarland.”
Sierra motioned for Sam to sit on the couch beside her. Glass of wine in hand, she took a sip and said, “There’s definitely a story. But it’s in the past.”
“You said it was a few weeks ago.”
“Which is the past. And it’s going to stay that way.”
“Why? He’s so hot.”
“That’s the second time you said he was hot. I thought you were happily married?”
“I am. But I’m not blind.”
“Neither am I.” Sierra told her how she’d noticed him watching her and that he’d intrigued her, partly because though he was clearly interested he wasn’t hitting on her. Which was a novelty, especially that night. “So basically, I hit on him.”
Sam fanned herself. “I love when a strong woman goes after what she wants. How was it?”
“Amazing.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “It was my first and only one-night stand. It was perfect. Expecting it to become something more is just asking for disappointment.”
Sam drank some of her own wine. “And he was alone because his date had dumped him?”
“Yes. Which I thought was shitty, but he didn’t seem too bothered by it.”
“Connor has rep. He’s a player but he’s a nice guy and I haven’t heard of anyone he burned. Everyone he dates knows what to expect. Fun and nothing serious.” She paused and drank more wine. “Come to think of it, Dylan had that kind of rep too.”
“Until he fell madly in love with you.”
“Right.” They both laughed.
“Since you can’t come tonight, I guess I don’t get to meet this husband of yours until dinner Sunday.” She’d heard all about him and had seen pictures but she hadn’t been able to come to the wedding. So this was the first time she could meet Sam’s husband in person.
“Tell you what. I’m off tomorrow,” Sam said. “I was going to cover for someone but they’re working after all. There’s no need to wait until Sunday. Come out to the ranch tomorrow and I’ll introduce you. Do you ride?”
“No, I never had the opportunity.”
“If you’d like to learn, wear jeans and boots or tennis shoes, and a warm jacket, and we’ll see if you like it.”
“That sounds like fun. Thanks.”
“What are you going to do about Connor?”
“Nothing.”
Sam raised an eyebrow. “Really? You think you can resist all that hunky manliness working with him daily?”
“Hunky manliness?” she asked with a laugh.
“What would you call it?”
She had a point. That was a pretty apt description. “Who says I’m working with him daily?”
“The others work the same shifts unless someone is sick or there’s an emergency. And Connor’s been without a partner since his other one left. He’s taken some shifts with other flight nurses when needed, but he’s also been working in the ground ambulances.”
“Oh. We didn’t always have the same shifts at the hospital in Dallas.”
“Yes, but that’s a huge hospital with multiple helicopters. Although Redbird services us, we never have more than one helicopter at a time. Several crews rotate. I bet you and Connor will be one of them.”
“Damn. You’re probably right.”
“I’m betting he won’t give up easily.”
“I won’t give in easily.” But she had to quit dreaming about the man. Her vow to treat him like a colleague only was going to suffer if she couldn’t.
Because, damn it, Connor was hot—smoking hot—and she couldn’t forget a moment of their night together. After no sex at all for more than a year, plus her husband falling in love with another woman, she’d been understandably depressed. Connor had been the perfect man to break that drought.
That was in the past. He might be interested temporarily but why ruin what had been a perfect idyll by trying to make it into something it was not?
*
Connor had managed to corral several people to come to Grey’s. He knew Sierra had arrived before he ever saw her. It was weird but he felt her presence and when he looked up, there she was. Wearing tight jeans, a pretty blue blouse that emphasized the color of her eyes, and with her hair flowing down her back, she was a dream come true.
“Hey, glad you came.”
“Thanks for asking me. Sam said she and Dylan couldn’t come.”
“There’s always next time. Let me introduce you to one of my brothers and his wife.”
He led her to the table where Logan and Cici sat. “Sierra Evans, this is my brother Logan and his wife Cici. Logan’s a surgeon at the hospital so you’ll see him at work. Cici is a writer. Sierra is the new flight nurse based here for Redbird.”
They exchanged greetings and Sierra asked Cici if she wrote under her own name.
“I write as Cici Bradley.”
Sierra looked surprised. “Cici Bradley, the thriller writer?”
“Yes. Why, have you heard of me?”
“Heard of you? You’re one of my favorite authors. I love your books.”
“Thank you. You just made my day,” Cici said. “Have you been in town long?”
“No, just a few days.”
The two women began talking about one of Cici’s books. He and Logan left to get Sierra and Cici a drink and refill their own. “You were right,” Logan said. “She’s a looker. When are you going out?”
“We’re not. Yet. I’ll have to convince her it’s not a bad idea to date a co-worker. She worked with her ex-husband.”
Logan winced. “Good luck with that.” He glanced at the table. “Don’t look now but every single guy in the place is stopping by the table.”
“Color me surprised. Not.”
When they returned to the table Letty North, one of Marietta’s librarians, was there. The women were having an involved discussion about, no surprise, books. He left them to it and was about to see if Liam and Val had come when he turned around and ran straight into Candy Armstrong.
On the one hand he was still a little pissed that she’d dumped him in Vegas, but on the other hand, if she hadn’t, he’d have never met Sierra. “Oh, Connor,” she said, putting her hand on his arm and stroking. “I’m so glad I ran into you. I wanted to apologize for what happened in Las Vegas. I guess I had a little too much to drink and, well, you know things happen.”
“I do.” And one of those things that happened was with Sierra. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Oh, thank you. Maybe you’ll let me make it up to you.”
She actually batted her eyelashes at him. “Not necessary.” Did she really think he’d want to be with her after what she did? Apparently so. She whispered a sexy suggestion in his ear.
He stepped back, removed her hand from his arm, and smiled at her. “No way in hell,” he said, and left her.
He didn’t think he’d made a scene but after he got back to the table where Sierra sat, she asked him what was wrong. “Nothing. Why?”
She nodded to where Candy was glaring at him. “That’s her, isn’t it? The woman from Vegas.”
“Yeah. How did you know?”
“Aside from the fact that you looked like you were scraping dog poop off your shoe when you removed her hand? Oh, just a guess.”
He laughed. “I’m not really mad at her. If she hadn’t dumped me I’d never have met you.”
Their gazes locked. “I’ll have to thank her sometime.”
“Does that mean you’ll go out with me?”
“Sorry.” She patted his arm. “Why ruin a perfect night?”
Before he could think of an answer she turned away and began talking to Letty.
Well, shit.