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Hours ticked by.
Sierra, however, stayed on my mind like she had since the day I saw her.
I’d looked for her, of course. I didn’t have any social media or whatever the hell kids were calling it these days, but I snatched Keely’s phone one day searched her name. Her first name, because I didn’t even know her last name. But I couldn’t find her. She hadn’t left her number or a way to contact her again, not the first time I’d met her, or the second time when I’d fucked her senseless and woken up to an empty bed and a broken condom on the floor.
I ran my hand over my face, then through my light brown, practically golden curls. My looks were the complete opposite of Sierra’s. I was tall, firm, and muscular. She was short enough that she had to look up when she spoke to me. My hair wasshort and curly and the color of the sunset while her hair was long, thick, and dark, dusting her hips when she walked. And those eyes… They were gray, almost silver in some light. I hadn’t stopped thinking about them and how they were fanned by thick, dark lashes. Beautiful. Perfect in every fucking way and I’d allowed her to slip through my fingers.
I’d regret it for the rest of my life and I didn’t even know her.
But I could still smell the sweet perfume on her skin. I could still taste her. I could feel her touch on my skin.
I ground my teeth and leaned back in my chair, glancing at the old watch on my wrist that belonged to my long dead father. It was nearly six now, and I could hear the bar beginning to pick up with the dinner rush. Louis would be on bar duty right now I gathered. Gus would come in about an hour from now. And normally I’d spend the rest of my night slinging beer and pouring shots while shootin’ the shit with old cowboys I’d known since the day I was born.
But not tonight, I guessed.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. George answered on the first ring.
“What are you guys up to?” I asked on a breath.
“About to head over to Grant and Moira’s for dinner. Why?”
“I got strong-armed by Frank into taking the night off from the bar.”
George chuckled, “She hates when you call her Frank.”
“It’s not my fault her parents gave her a man’s name.”
“Her name is Francine,” George corrected, snorting with mirth.
“Yeah, well…”
“You should come up for dinner. I’m sure Grant and Moira would be happy to have you. They have that new cook, you know. She’s not as skilled as Keely but she’s making chicken pot pie tonight. Homemade ice cream for dinner.”
I exhaled. “Yeah, I could come up. Haven’t seen their kids in a while.”
“Holly’s starting to try to walk already and giving Moira a lot of grief. I’m sure she’d love for you to come take some of the burden off her shoulders by keeping that baby entertained like you do.”
I tapped my fingers on my desk, smiling softly to myself. I was good with kids, babies especially. They seemed to like my grouchy disposition.
“I’ll see you in a bit. I’ll bring some wine.”
“The good stuff.”
“The good stuff,” I parroted, hanging up. I twisted back and forth in the chair and sighed heavily as I threw my head back to gaze blankly at the water-stained ceiling.
One day, maybe, I’d be bringing a wife up to dinner.
But I knew, deep down, there wasn’t a person for me. And that life I saw my friends leaning into—marriages, kids, homes on property where they could run wild…
That wasn’t in the cards for me.
And maybe that was a good thing. I wasn’t the nicest guy. I wasn’t the most passionate or sensitive.
Sierra might have noticed that and dodged a bullet when she fled in the middle of the night in my fucking shirt.
Chapter Four
Sierra
