Chapter Three
Shit. Maybe thiswas 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 youand 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.”
