Chapter Six
H e took her to his apartment, over her protests, which he ignored. “Why are you so bent out of shape?”
“Because I’m embarrassed. I feel like a fool.”
“Why? You tripped. It’s not a big deal.”
“You aren’t the one who fell flat on your face. I’m not usually so clumsy.”
“Would it make you feel better if I tell you about some of my accidents?”
She shot him a sideways glance. “Maybe.”
He actually had several things he could talk about. But he chose to tell her about the first time he met Wanda, the flight nurse he’d worked with before her. “The new flight nurse was supposed to be at the hospital late one afternoon. I’d heard she was a stickler. A no-nonsense hard-ass. I was playing catch with a friend out in the parking lot. I went back for a long pass and didn’t see the woman standing in my way. I creamed her. Both of us went down, but luckily I managed to grab her so she landed on top of me. Thank God she wasn’t badly hurt. Pissed, but not hurt. She bawled me out for not watching where I was going, playing ball in a parking lot, and being a general ass. I couldn’t do anything except hang my head and apologize. I wasn’t too worried. Figured I’d never see her again.”
“Let me guess. It was your flight nurse.”
“You got it. Wanda Palmer. I had to work my ass off to convince her I was a decent paramedic and not her worst nightmare. Eventually she forgave me. And she was great to work with, after we got used to each other.”
“Okay, that does make me feel a little better.”
“Let me see your hands.”
She grimaced but did it. She didn’t need the help, but he helped her wash her hands with soap anyway. They were scraped but nothing too bad. Then he washed the blood off her face. He saw that although she had a nasty scrape along her cheek and another on her temple, neither was too bad. He covered the injuries with Band-Aids. “There. All good. You didn’t even need Steri-Strips.”
“I could have done it myself, you know.”
“The proper response is thank you. Besides, if you did it yourself, I wouldn’t have gotten to be so close to you.”
She blinked at him. “What?”
He smiled and cupped her cheek. “I like it. Being with you like this makes me think of Las Vegas.”
“Well…stop.”
She looked flustered. It made him smile. “Stop what? Thinking about Vegas?” He shook his head. “Can’t do it.”
“Stop looking at me like you—”
“Like I want to kiss you? Can’t do that either. Because I really want to kiss you. But don’t worry.” God she was tempting. He’d nearly said to hell with it and kissed her. He dropped his hand and stepped away from her, though it was the last thing he wanted. “We made a deal.”
“A deal? What deal?”
“The one where you promised to give me a chance if I stay celibate for another month. Which has now been a little over a week ago. I know we didn’t cover kissing in our agreement, but I thought it was understood.”
“You’re not going to kiss a woman until that time is up.”
“Right. And unfortunately, that includes you. You’re the only woman I want to kiss anyway.”
She didn’t look like she believed him, but it was absolutely true. He had zero interest in anyone but Sierra.
*
Several days after Sierra’s fall, Connor was over at Logan and Cici’s having a beer and trying to work up the courage to ask Cici for a favor. A stupid favor.
Are you really going to ask Cici for help discouraging women?
Yep, he really was. But he wasn’t sure how to go about it. He wished Logan wasn’t there and he could just talk to Cici. He had a feeling his brother was going to be a pain in the ass.
“We’re glad you could come over, Connor, but I’ll admit I’m surprised,” Cici said.
“Why?”
“It seems like you always have a date when you’re not working.”
He drank some beer before answering. “About that…I’m kind of taking a break.”
“You’re taking a break from dating?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?” She looked completely baffled.
“I can answer that,” his brother said. “Connor’s in love.”
Cici’s mouth opened and didn’t close.
Yep, pain in the ass. “Shut up, Logan.”
“It’s true, isn’t it?”
“I’m not in love.” Not yet but he could be. “I’m just taking a break.”
“Who’s the woman?” Cici asked. “Oh, wait. Of course. It’s Sierra.”
Logan added his two cents. “His boss. Sierra Evans. The new flight nurse. But I think his rep is a problem. I haven’t noticed you managing to date her.”
“I haven’t tried. Yet.” Except for when she first arrived in Marietta. But Logan didn’t need to know that.
“Worried about your rep?”
“What about my rep? It’s no different than any other bachelor’s rep.”
Logan laughed. Cici turned away but he knew she was smiling.
“Oh, like you weren’t known for being a player before you met Cici.”
Logan shrugged. “Not as big of one as you. You have no equal. Not around here, anyway.”
“Bullshit.” But what if Sierra had heard that and thought it was true? Yes, she knew he hadn’t been serious about anyone but…hell, no wonder she wanted him to prove he could swear off women for a month.
“Don’t fight,” Cici said. “Logan, he’s serious.” Turning to Connor she asked, “What can we do, Connor?”
“I want to date Sierra but I’m having a hard time getting her to agree. Partly because she worked with her ex-husband so she doesn’t want to get involved with someone she works with.”
“So there’s more than one reason?”
“Yeah.” He shot Logan an annoyed glance. “She knows I’ve dated a lot of women around here.”
“Dated meaning slept with?” Cici asked. “What? Isn’t that what you mean?” she asked when Connor choked.
Logan laughed. “Like I said, his rep is a problem.”
Connor thought about punching his brother right in his smug mouth, but he knew Cici would get pissed. “We made a deal. She’ll give me a chance to date her if I’ll, uh, swear off women for another month. Well, a bit less than three weeks now.”
Cici looked puzzled. “If that’s a problem for you then—”
“It’s not a problem!” God, this was irritating. “But I’m having a hard time explaining why I’m not interested to other women when I can’t tell them about Sierra. And I can’t tell them about Sierra because there’s nothing to tell. Yet. Besides, she only said she’d give me a chance.”
“It’s really that hard?”
“Yeah,” he said glumly. “I think they’ve started a pool.”
Logan laughed so hard Connor wanted to kill him. “Shut the hell up, Logan.”
“Only you,” he managed to say, wiping his eyes. “Damn, Connor, most people would love to have that problem.”
“Not if they’ve sworn off dating.”
“Wow,” Logan said. “Connor McFarland swearing off dating. Am I in an alternate universe?”
“Ha-ha. The stupid pool is only about dating. I think. I don’t have a problem saying no. The problem is I’m afraid Sierra won’t believe me when I tell her I’m not taking them up on anything.”
“She’s bound to know this deal has to be at least partly on the honor system.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know they were going to have a freaking pool going.” Disgusted, he glanced at his brother who was doubled over laughing.
“Ignore him. I think you’re just going to have to hope she trusts you to tell her the truth.”
“It’s not like I sleep with every damn woman I date anyway.” He was a little more discerning than that. “Don’t even,” he said to Logan.
Logan spread his hands. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”
Bullshit, he wasn’t. “I don’t know how to get them to stop. It’s annoying as shit.”
“Just say no,” Cici said.
“I have. It’s not working. They’re getting worse. The other day one of the sales reps ambushed me at my truck.” He’d managed to get rid of her but not before she’d made it very clear that she was available for anything he had in mind. She’d had a hard time believing he was turning her down. With good reason. He supposed she’d rarely been told no since with her long blonde hair and her killer curves—she was beautiful and sexy.
“I don’t see why you can’t tell them you’re interested in someone.”
“I did. I left her name out of it, though. It didn’t help. In fact, I think that’s when the pool got going.”
“Damn, Connor. It sounds like you’re—”
“Screwed?” he finished for her.
“Well, yeah. The only thing you can do is to keep saying no. Eventually they’ll get tired of being turned down. Sorry I can’t think of a better answer.” Cici got up. “Anyone need another beer?”
They both said no and Cici left the room.
“You really like this woman, don’t you?” Logan asked, serious for once.
“I really do.” In fact, he was afraid he was falling in love with her. Which was ridiculous. They hardly knew each other. And he didn’t believe in love at first sight.
He thought about the day she’d fallen while they ran. How close he’d come to kissing her after he cleaned her up. Then he remembered when he’d first seen her in Vegas. How gorgeous she’d been. He’d been completely poleaxed before she’d ever sat down and started talking to him.
Maybe he did believe in it.
*
“I had an interesting conversation with one of the nurses at the hospital,” Sierra said to Connor one day while they waited for a call.
“About what?”
“You.”
His eyes narrowed. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”
“I don’t. But I’m pretty sure this is the truth.”
“Listen, Sierra, I haven’t been on a date since Vegas. In fact, I haven’t looked at another woman since then.”
“Oh, I believe you.”
He looked puzzled. “You do?”
She nodded. “She asked me if I wanted to bet in the pool they had going.”
“Shit.” He closed his eyes.
“Seems you’ve been turning down women right and left. The pool was who could get you to go out with them and when. Sleeping with them wasn’t stated but it was implied.”
“I can’t believe this crap.” He glared at her. “Did you place a bet?”
“No. I didn’t think it would be fair.”
“True. It wouldn’t, especially since you’re in total control of when or if it’s going to happen.”
“Not total. Part of it is up to you.”
“I don’t have a problem keeping it in my pants. And I don’t and never did have sex with every woman I date. A lot of what you hear is pure bullshit.”
She’d figured it was. And nothing was more fascinating to single women—and some married ones—than a man who simply wasn’t interested. Especially one as charming and good-looking as Connor McFarland. One whose reputation preceded him. Even if said reputation wasn’t entirely merited.
She had another date tonight. Another attempt to see if anyone appealed to her like Connor did. So far, no one had. She was tempted to cancel. One of her friends had set her up with a lawyer from Bozeman. At first she’d said no, but her friend was so disappointed that she’d relented. He’d called her and had sounded okay, so she’d agreed. But regardless of who it was, she didn’t want another meaningless date. She admitted, to herself anyway, that there was only one man she actually wanted to go out with. If she were honest, one man she wanted to have sex with. Again. Because things were bound to be different now that they were in the real world and not the fantasy world of Las Vegas. Being with him again couldn’t possibly be as good as her imagining had built it up to be.
In a few more days it would be a month since she’d challenged Connor. She didn’t need gossip to tell her Connor had kept to the bargain. She’d seen it in his eyes, the memory of their night together. He didn’t look at her that way often, and never at work. But when she saw that hot gaze of his, when she allowed herself to think about that night, she wanted to say to hell with the bargain. To hell with celibacy. His and hers. She hadn’t been with anyone since Vegas and she knew now that he hadn’t either. When they came together again what would happen? Would there be an explosion to blow off the top of her head or would it simply be…nice?
Something told her it would come a lot closer to being an explosion than simply nice.