Chapter Seven
C onnor was having a bite to eat at Grey’s with Logan, who was free because Cici was working and he wasn’t on call.
“Isn’t that Sierra over there?” Logan asked him. “With Rogers?”
He’d already seen her and the man she was with so he didn’t need to look again. Winston Rogers. A lawyer from Bozeman with a rep for dating every pretty woman in the county. Shocker that he was with Sierra. Not.
“That’s her.”
“Did you know she keeps looking over here? And something tells me it’s not me she’s looking at.”
“It doesn’t mean anything. She’s probably bored. God knows that dude bores me.”
“Maybe you should rescue her.”
“She’s on a date, Logan. She can take care of herself.”
“Are you sure it’s a date?”
“I heard her talking to one of the other nurses earlier today. I’m sure.”
Logan glanced at his phone, finished his beer, and stood. “Cici said she’d be finished with her scene by now.”
“What if she’s not?”
Logan grinned. “I’ll just have to stand there until she notices me.”
Connor shook his head. “Good luck.” He picked up his glass, drained his beer, and stood. He glanced at Sierra one last time. To his surprise she gave him a sign to come over. It was subtle but since the lawyer’s back was to him he mouthed me? and pointed at himself.
She nodded briefly. He walked to the bar where she was now sitting beside the lawyer.
“Connor! Don’t tell me we have an emergency.”
He almost laughed but he went with it. “Afraid so. I just got the call.”
She turned to the lawyer with a regretful expression. “I’m so sorry, Winston. It’s work. I have to go. You understand.”
He glared at Connor before saying, “I thought you weren’t on call?”
“I’m not but sometimes emergencies happen, and we get called in. So sorry.”
“Yes, so am I.” He leaned in to kiss her but she turned her head so he got her cheek. “I’ll call you about when we can finish our date.”
She gave him a smile as he left that wouldn’t have fooled anyone who wasn’t an egomaniac. “Not a chance in hell,” she muttered so low Connor almost didn’t hear it.
“What was that?” he asked once the man was totally out of earshot.
“Get me out of here and I’ll tell you.”
Having a good idea what was going on, especially considering her response, he grinned and led her outside and to his SUV. He opened the door for her and let her in, then went around to his own door, opened it and got in. “Problem with your date?”
“If you call absolutely crushing boredom a problem, then yes.”
He turned on the truck. “I could have told you that about him.”
“I wish you had. A friend of mine set us up. Or at least, she used to be a friend.”
“Maybe she didn’t know. He does manage to date a lot of beautiful women. I can’t figure out why, but he does.”
“Thank you.”
“For what? Saying you’re beautiful?”
“That too, but no. For rescuing me. From the moment he picked me up, he literally didn’t stop talking about himself and hinting about how rich he is.”
“I’m pretty sure you could have rescued yourself,” he said, looking at her. “So why didn’t you?”
“I didn’t want to be mean. Although, I doubt I could have dented his ego with an axe.”
Connor choked on a laugh. Sooner than he’d wanted they reached the apartments. Sierra’s apartment was in the building next to his. He parked in the new covered garage the apartment tenants shared. A nice perk, especially during the winter.
“It’s still early,” Sierra said as he walked her to her apartment. She’d told him it wasn’t necessary but he did it anyway. “Would you like to come in?”
Where was she coming from? “Why?”
“Why not?”
He still had three days to go to win their bet. He’d managed the day when he was cleaning her up and fixing her scrapes, but it hadn’t been easy. Every day since had only made it harder to resist her. He didn’t trust himself to be alone with her, especially if she was…amenable. And he had a feeling she would be. But the longer he knew her, the more he got to know her, the more he wondered if there could be something real and lasting between them. And if that was so he didn’t want to blow it.
Which was crazy. He’d never even been tempted to settle down. Never been serious about anyone. Not since years ago, anyway. And given what had happened then, once had been enough for a long time. Then he met Sierra and all bets were off. Why now? Why with Sierra?
“Connor?”
“Oh, sorry. No, I can’t.” She looked surprised. “Three more days,” he added, and left her staring after him.
He was definitely crazy. But if he was going to do this, he would do it properly. Take her on dates. Have fun, doing something other than having sex. See if they were compatible beyond sex. Find out if they could have an actual relationship, a word he’d avoided since he left the army. Avoidance. Why?
He knew why. He just didn’t want to think about it. Part of a past he mostly tried to forget.
*
The next evening, at the Graff pub with some of her friends, Sierra watched Connor walk in. Damn it, the man had no right to look as good as he did in his shearling jacket, jeans, boots, and a cowboy hat. He wasn’t a cowboy. He drove an SUV, not a pickup, not that driving a pickup made him a cowboy. Okay, she guessed he was a cowboy, part time anyway. She knew he and Logan helped out on the ranch. Although Liam was the rancher, the horse breeder, she knew Connor and his brothers were close. Connor had told her as much.
He’d turned her down when she asked him to come in the night before. She admitted it bothered her. It wasn’t as if she’d never been turned down before. Hell, her husband had left her for another woman. The ultimate rejection. But she could read Connor, even after only one night together. He wanted her. She knew it. If he didn’t, why was he sticking to their deal? From everything she heard at the hospital, and everywhere else in town, he hadn’t touched another woman in months. Certainly not in the month since they made their deal. According to Connor, he hadn’t been with anyone but her since Las Vegas. Three more days, he’d said.
Damn, he was adhering strictly to their deal. Even with her.
She’d only agreed to give him a chance. To date him, not sleep with him. Unless she wanted to, which she very much did. It had been a long month for her, seeing him almost daily, and she still, after over two months since their one night together, dreamed about the damn man. It wasn’t fair. Sure, their night together had been fun. The sex had been, well, great. But that didn’t mean you could build a lasting relationship out of it.
But she didn’t want a lasting relationship, she reminded herself. She wanted fun. A light, pleasant, exclusive while it lasted relationship that they’d both enjoy but that wouldn’t leave either of them heartbroken when it ended. And if Connor McFarland wasn’t the perfect man to provide that then she didn’t know who was.
Sierra had been surprised by how easily she’d already made friends. Sam, of course, was one of the main reasons for that. But the women themselves were the other reason. They were friendly, sincere, fun, and they welcomed her into their group with an ease she wasn’t accustomed to. Once Sam had moved away from Dallas and Sierra had married, she seemed to have drifted away from her other women friends. It was nice to have a group of women friends again.
Honey Gallagher was married to Sean Gallagher, one of Dylan’s brothers and an ER doctor who Sierra knew from work. Sean was often working in the ER when Sierra and Connor brought patients in. She’d met Honey briefly but hadn’t had a chance to talk to her very much.
“How are you liking Marietta?” Honey asked.
“I like it a lot. Sam kept telling me I would. She’s been trying to get me to move here since she did.”
“What made you decide to do it?”
“I got divorced.”
“Oh, sorry. That must have sucked.”
Sierra laughed. “It did. After that I needed a change, so here I am.”
Sam was talking to someone Sierra hadn’t met. The other woman said something about meeting the love of her life in an unexpected way. “The story she told me sounded a little like how you and Sean met,” Sam said to Honey after the woman left.
Sierra looked at Honey. “How did you meet Sean?”
“Oh, we knew each other, but Sean didn’t remember me at first.” She dimpled and took a sip of her drink. “I used to date his brother Dylan. Yep, Sam’s husband. Anyway, I was up on a ladder stringing lights for the Fourth of July and a bird was dive-bombing me. I lost my grip and dropped into Sean’s arms. Literally.”
Sierra laughed. “A promising beginning. Was it love at first sight?”
“More like lust,” Honey said. “We were supposed to only have a two-week fling and then I was leaving town for another rodeo. I’m a barrel racer.”
“I take it you didn’t leave.”
“Nope. I broke my arm during my race and the rest is history.”
Lust at first sight. That sounded familiar. And now they were married. Happily, if what she’d heard was true. She could guarantee that if she did have a fling with Connor that’s not how it would end up. Hell, she didn’t want to get serious, much less get married again. Maybe she would someday but she hadn’t been divorced long enough to even consider wanting to marry again. Besides, she couldn’t imagine opening herself up enough to marry anyone.
But she couldn’t deny she wanted Connor. Couldn’t stop thinking about him or what being with him had been like. If they did get together would it be that good again? Or was she idealizing the only one-night stand she’d ever had?