Chapter Eight
The month wasup. Finally. After two excruciating days at work, Sierra expected Connor to call all day, but so far he hadn’t. Since neither one of them was on call, she didn’t see him at work that day, either. Frankly, she felt ignored, which annoyed her. Waiting for his call annoyed her too. Maybe he wasn’t as anxious for her to ‘give him a chance’ as he’d implied. She almost called him but decided it was his move. But she couldn’t stop worrying about it.
What am I going to do if he doesn’t call? Call him?
No? Yes?
Don’t think about it.
He finally called later that evening. “Are you free tomorrow?” he asked when she answered. “I know you’re not working but do you have other plans?”
“No. What did you have in mind?” It irritated the hell out of her that her first reaction to his call was an overwhelming relief.
“I’ll pick you up around one. Dress warmly. Layers. No dresses.”
“You’re not going to tell me what we’re doing?”
“It’s a surprise. I’ll tell you tomorrow. Bye.” And he hung up.
She sat there staring at the phone. Dress warmly probably meant they were doing some outdoor activity. Which made sense since he’d said no dresses. She didn’t think it was skiing since they would have discussed whether she had ever skied and if she had, what equipment did she have. The answer to that was clothes and nothing else. She’d been skiing several times, but living in Texas she hadn’t gone often enough to have her own skis and boots. Besides, she wasn’t all that good. But maybe since she lived in snow country now, she’d be able to ski more often and get better.
So no skiing. Hiking? Possibly. Snowshoeing? Another possibility. She’d heard there was ice-skating at Miracle Lake—somewhere out in the woods in the middle of nowhere. Which might be fun except she’d never been before. Aggravating man! Why hadn’t he just told her what they were doing?
The following day, she took him at his word and put on a thin T-shirt, a heavier shirt, and a sweater. She texted him and asked if she should put on long underwear beneath her jeans. His answer was totally unsatisfactory.
“Maybe.”
She compromised and took them with her. She got out two pair of gloves, one lightweight and the other heavy-duty. She found her ski cap and put that in with the other extras.I should have just worn ski clothes. It would have been more comfortable.Then she decided to hell with it, stripped, and put on her ski clothes. By the time she’d done that she was sweaty and irritated as hell.This had better be fun.
When he showed up he took one look at her and grinned.
“What?”
“We’re not going skiing.”
“I didn’t think we were since you never asked me if I could ski. But you said dress warmly so here I am.”
“You look good.” His gaze traveled over her. “Really good.”
She wore tight black ski pants with a warm sweater. “Do I need my parka too?”
“Bring it.”
“Okay, where are we going?” she asked once in his truck.
“It’s a surprise.”
She wanted to pinch him. She didn’t, of course. “What are we doing, Connor?”
He turned to look at her after he pulled up to a clearing in the woods about ten minutes out of town. “Having our first date.”
He got out, and she did too, not waiting for him to open her door. She knew he did that, had done it for her before. Southern men weren’t the only ones to open doors for people. He got something out of the back seat, which she saw was a pair of ice skates. “We’re going ice-skating?”
He grabbed her hand to pull her along with him. “Yes, do you know how?”
“I’ve never been. Obviously you have.”
“I played hockey as a kid. Still do once in a while. Don’t worry, I’ll help you.”
