Page 18 of Falling for Sierra

“I love them. Thank you. I’ll see you in a couple days?”

“I should be in town tomorrow evening, but I’m not sure what time I’ll get to town.”

“Let me know when you get here. I’ll probably be at the Round Up unless something comes up to prevent it.”

“I’ll just meet you there.”

“Sounds good. Don’t bother with the hotel, there’s no reason to spend the money when I want you to just stay with me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. I’ve been thinking about you all week long and I don’t want to miss a second with you if I can help it.”

The car eased to a stop. “We’re here. I’m going to have to go, as much as I’d rather sit and talk to you instead.”

“Go. I’ve got a few things to get done before you get here.”

“Take care. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“You too.”

Blake disconnected the call, turned off his headset and dropped it in his pocket just as Jay opened his door.

“As usual, your timing is impeccable.” Blake slid from the car and stood, straightening his jacket as he rolled his shoulders. “I’ll let you know when I need you back. It will be at least an hour, maybe two.”

“Yes, sir.” Jay closed the car door and went back to the driver’s side, pulling out as Blake went inside.

CHAPTER 12

Sierra found herself toying with her earrings as she sat at the table in the Round Up with her notebook. She glanced around the room; glad she’d called Blake before she’d come in. Both because he would have been busy with his meeting, and because it was way too loud in here. Which wasn’t normal for a Thursday night.

Usually there were a few locals, a couple older men at the bar and maybe a couple ranch hands playing pool at one of the two tables in a nook to one side of the bar, but tonight it was almost as busy as a Friday or Saturday night.

As far as she could tell, there wasn’t any particular reason, but that didn’t mean much. She hadn’t been paying much attention to what was going on around her as she buried herself in the story she was creating.

Flexing her hands, she wished for what felt like the millionth time, she wasn’t so easily distracted and could type her stories on her laptop, but she’d found she spent too much time doing something else and not enough writing that way. Her solution had been to start hand-writing them in notebooks, then transcribing them later.

The plus side of this method was that by the time she got it into the computer and saved, it had been revised once. It made things easier later, even if it was a more round-about way to get there.

She bent back over the notebook, trying to get as much done tonight as she could. Her deadline was coming up fast, but she didn’t want to have to work while Blake was here. She didn’t want to miss any time with him if she could avoid it.

Sierra wasn’t looking for the same things he was. She wasn’t ready to settle down and have a family yet, but she could enjoy the time they had together. He was a good guy, at least as far as she could tell, and she didn’t think that they were at different stages in their lives would matter all that much for the short fling she had in mind.

The fingers on her left hand toyed with her earring again. The card he’d sent with them had simply said ‘Thinking of you’, which she found beyond sweet.

She’d found herself thinking about him several times during the week as well. As she showered, as she slid exhausted between the sheets at night, as she woke lonely and wishing he were there.

With a sigh, she forced herself back to work. Deadline, she reminded herself. She had to meet her deadline. Blake would be here to distract her in person soon enough, she needed to work while she could.

CHAPTER 13

The next evening, Sierra sat at her usual table in the Round Up, her notebook in front of her and a glass of Coke nearby. She was trying to make good use of the time until Blake arrived, but found it difficult to concentrate. Every noise, every footstep had her looking up, hoping it was him.

Realizing what she was doing, she sighed and dug her phone and headphones out of her bag. As she turned on some music to help block out the room around her, she found a message from Blake, telling her he would hit town about nine. She checked the time and found she had almost two hours to get some serious story in, so she got to work.

After a while, she sat up and stretched. She arched her back and glanced around the room. She didn’t know how long she’d been working, but her back hurt. Laying her pen down she tugged the earbuds from her ears and reached over her head to stretch. She couldn’t stop the startled squeak that escaped when she saw Blake sitting in the seat across the table.

“How long have you been here?”

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