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Chapter One
Pete
“She said yes, then?” Gus, one of the bartenders at the bar I owned, asked as he mixed an old fashioned down the bar from where I sat.
“She did, of course,” I replied, shaking my head a bit as I slid the rim of my glass of bourbon over my lower lip.
The bar was hopping tonight. It was Saturday after all, and my bar was the busiest in town every day of the week.
I was constantly around people—talking, gossiping, breaking up fights, and sometimes starting fights. I wasn’t ever totally alone. There had never been a time when my bed wasn’t warmed by someone, either.
I’d been the life of the party my entire life.
But I’d never felt as alone as I did right now.
Look, I was happy for Keely and George. They were good people—a good, healthy couple. I looked forward to getting a few nieces and nephews out of them, and probably soon.
Me? Well. I’ll be alone, like usual.
“When’s the wedding?” one of our regulars asked somewhere down the bar. I gave the old man a look and tipped back my bourbon, draining it.
“I’m out of here. You guys got this?” I asked Gus and Kiefer, the younger two bartenders. They nodded and I slapped the bar, saluting my farewells.
But as I turned to the door leading out onto the street, I came to an abrupt halt.
The woman entered the bar with at least six other women but none of them held a candle to her, not even close. Thick, dark brown hair fell in loose waves over her back and shoulders, her tan skin glowing in the dimly light bar light as she laughed, her big, dark gray eyes creasing with… God. That smile.
I was sure my heart stopped, just like it had the first time I ever saw her last summer.
She saw me and her smile faded, her eyes scanning my face.
“Sierra…” I stammered, nodding my head in greeting. I tore my gaze from hers and started to walk past her, but she whipped around, her hand gently brushing over my arm.
“Pete.” She laughed, her smile lighting up the entire room. “Funny seeing you here.”
I smirked at her, my eyes drifting to her full, wide lips and the dimple in her left cheek. God, I wanted her. I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life.
Last summer I’d run into her just like this. She came to the bar with her friends while she visited town. She had a few drinks. I’d been working that night, and we’d started talking. We hadn’t even been talking about anything of substance but the sound of her voice and her laugh… It had haunted me. If love at first sight was real? Well, I was a goddamn believer.
“What’re you doing back in my town, Sierra?”
“Just visiting.” She shrugged, batting her eyelashes at me. “Not for long. I hoped I’d find you here.”
“Did you?” I rasped, leaning away from her as a couple of guys walked through the door to the bar and between us.
“Of course.” She smiled seductively. “Why else would I come back to the run-down, hillbilly cowboy bar?”
My brows shot up as I gave her a devilish grin.
“You trying to rile me up?”
“Is it working?”
What the fuck was happening?
I was sure, at least for a moment, that I was dreaming. When I met Sierra a year ago, I was sure I’d never see her again. Now she was here in front of me and fucking flirting with me,hard, her friends totally forgotten.
“Come upstairs with me.”
