Chapter Ten
“H ow are things going with you and Connor?” Sam asked her after Sierra and Connor had started going out. They’d gone snowshoeing on their last date, which had been fun and different. But Connor had been just as exasperating, barely kissing her good night. At least it was a peck on the lips rather than another on the cheek. But really, was she going to have to throw herself at him?
“Honestly, I don’t know. I can’t figure him out.” She took a sip of her drink and frowned.
They’d met at the pub at the Graff after work to have a drink and chat. Sierra liked the pub’s Irish theme. She found it relaxing and fun. They’d chosen one of the green leather booths in the back, away from the busyness of the bar.
“How so?”
While Sierra had met a number of women in Marietta, Sam was her closest friend, and the only one she felt comfortable talking about Connor with. “I don’t think he’s attracted to me anymore.”
Sam choked on her beer. “You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not kidding. We’ve been out four times and he’s barely kissed me. I don’t know why he’s going out with me if he doesn’t want to…well, at least to do something less platonic.”
“So he hasn’t put a move on you.”
“Ha! Hardly. Every time we even get close he backs off.”
“Did you tell him you wanted to take it slow?”
“Yes, but I didn’t expect it to be slow as molasses. When we made the deal, I only agreed to give him a chance. But come on, we’ve been out several times. You’d think he’d have made a move by now.”
Sam took another swallow. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He’s definitely attracted.”
“Then why hasn’t he done anything? Hell, we didn’t have this problem the night we met.” No, they’d been pretty quick to rip off each other’s clothes. “Why now?”
“You told him you wanted to go slow. How is he to know you changed your mind? Have you given him any encouragement?”
She thought about that. “Obviously not enough.”
“You said he’d barely kissed you. Have you kissed him?”
“No. Maybe I should have.” She’d kissed him back…or tried.
“Sounds like if you want something to happen, you’ll have to make the moves.”
“What if he’s just going out to humor me? Maybe he doesn’t really want to date me but he doesn’t know how to stop. We do work together.”
Sam tilted her head. “Let me get this straight. You think he doesn’t want to date you, but he’s only doing it because you made a silly deal, and he’s regretting it but is afraid to say anything because you work together? Really?”
“It’s a possibility,” she said stubbornly.
“Far be it from me to call one of my best friends ridiculous, but if I were to say anything I’d have to say you’re being ridiculous.” Sierra frowned at her. “Give me a break, girlfriend. The man likes you. You like him. Just go for it.”
“What if I do and it doesn’t work out?”
“What if it does? What if he’s the one?”
“I don’t know,” Sierra said. “That might be worse.”
“Why?”
“I don’t think either of us is ready for anything serious. You know Connor’s reputation. And I—I’m not ready to trust anyone that much after what Phil did.”
“Not all men are like your piece-of-shit ex.”
Sierra laughed. “Tell me how you really feel, Sam.” Sam had no use for Phil. In fact, Sierra thought Sam was madder about him cheating than she was.
“Believe me, I could say worse. But you must trust Connor to some extent, or you wouldn’t be dating him.”
“True.” Maybe they’d discover that Las Vegas had been a fluke and the sex wasn’t nearly as good as she remembered. Of course, to figure that out they had to actually have sex again.
Which didn’t look like it was going to happen anytime soon.
*
Let’s go skiing, he’d said. It’ll be fun, he’d said. And it had been. Until the blizzard stranded them.
Sierra didn’t say it outright, but he could tell she wondered if he’d planned it. He wished he had. How the hell was he to know the blizzard would blow in twelve hours early? Good thing neither of them had work tomorrow. But here they were, trapped at a tiny hotel just outside of the ski area, lucky to get the one room they had left. They’d be sharing one bed. A queen bed, but still, one bed. At least it wasn’t a double.
He was ready to move forward. Hell, he’d been primed ever since the day he saw Sierra again. He couldn’t stop thinking about making love to her. Their night together had played in his head over and over for months. But he still wasn’t sure she was prepared to go all in. She’d said she wanted to take it slow, and damn it, he’d done that. But now he was beyond geared up for more.
Connor couldn’t decide whether something was going to happen tonight, or he should just go sleep in the bathtub. He hadn’t even kissed her yet, not really. Not since Vegas. A kiss on the cheek and a couple of quick good-night kisses didn’t count for much.
Vegas. Neither of them had been drunk that night. But then, neither of them had been stone-cold sober either. Like they were now. He’d almost certainly built up that night in his mind. It couldn’t have been as good as he remembered. So all of his thoughts about Sierra being the one for him were probably exaggerated too.
No matter how often he told himself that, he wasn’t sure he believed it.
But really, what was up with him? Why had he decided that Sierra was the one when he’d avoided committing to anyone since Casey died? Casey, who’d broken his heart right before she died.
Luckily, they’d managed to eat dinner at the lodge by the ski slopes. Not a particularly exciting dinner but decent food, nonetheless. They had no rooms available, though, which was why they were staying at the tiny hotel farther out. Connor had a go bag in his car, which he’d brought inside with him.
Sierra was standing at the window, staring out at the snow. He had no idea what she was thinking. Still trying to take it slow, he hadn’t planned to have sex with her yet. He wanted to but he’d thought it might happen naturally. But both of them were hesitating and that wasn’t a good sign. And now…he didn’t want to have sex because it was convenient. He wanted Sierra to want it as much as he did.
“I’m going to shower,” she said. “Unless you want it first.”
“You go ahead. I have an extra shirt if you want it to sleep in.”
“Thanks.” She held out her hand and he gave it to her. “The guy at the front desk gave me a toothbrush. Actually, he made me pay for it.”
“You’re kidding. Usually they’re complimentary.”
She shrugged. “Not this time. Maybe because I shut him down when he flirted with me. I mean, come on, he knows you and I are sharing a room.”
She went into the bathroom and closed the door. He heard the water come on and tried very hard not to think about her in there naked, with water sluicing over her. Running over her breasts, her stomach—Damn it! This wasn’t helping. He fished out the book he’d stuffed in his go bag. This one a thriller by a writer Cici had recommended. When he’d read the first page three times without comprehending a word, he tossed it aside.
Sierra came out of the bathroom wearing his white T-shirt and nothing else. He couldn’t have stopped looking at her on a bet. And judging by her satisfied smile, she knew it.
When he walked into the bathroom the first thing that hit him was the smell. Flowers. She’d used the sample the hotel left, which was fragrant and evocative. The jerk at the front desk must not have been in charge of that. Then he saw her bra and panties hanging up on the towel bar and choked. He yanked his gaze off them. Shit. Cold shower it was.
He hoped she’d be asleep when he opened the door, but she wasn’t. She sat in bed, with the covers pulled over her legs, flipping the TV remote between channels of static. “Bad news,” she said. “I think the blizzard took out the towers or whatever it is that gets the TV channels.”
“I’ve got a book.” He wore the jeans he’d had in the bag but no shirt.
“Of course you do. I don’t and I don’t have enough of a charge to read on my phone. So unless you have a charger in your handy-dandy go bag, I’m SOL. I guess we’ll have to talk.”
“Sorry. No charger. And I don’t want to talk.”
“What do you want to do?”
Instead of answering, he gazed at her a long moment. “I didn’t plan this, you know.”
“I know. But I wouldn’t have minded if you had.” She got out of bed and walked over to him. She put her hand on his chest and stroked it. “You have a great chest, you know.”
Her nipples showed through the thin cotton. He wanted to hold those full breasts in his hands, suck on her nipples until she writhed, run his hands everywhere, all over every inch of her silken skin. “Sierra, what are you doing?”
She smiled, sultry and inviting. “Well, Connor, I’m seducing you.”