Page 5 of Falling for Sierra

“Nothing.” She looked down at the table then back up again. “I’ve never had anyone tell me something as simple as that’s good. I like it.”

“How do people usually respond?” Why wouldn’t people tell her it was nice she writes? He thought it was amazing and felt like she should be respected for the accomplishment.

Sierra lifted one shoulder and looked away. “Usually by telling me romance is stupid or asking if I write ‘those trashy sex filled ones’ some even tell me it’s easy or not really writing. A few others are nicer about it, they tell me they’ve always wanted to write, but don’t have the time.”

Blake made a face. Why were people so negative about so much? Sierra did something that made her happy, why couldn’t they be happy for her?

“Have you published anything?” He wasn’t going to be like the others. He wasn’t going to steal her sunshine.

“I’ve got three out.” She looked away again. “I’m working on another book, but sometimes the day job gets in the way.”

“But you’ve got to do something to keep the lights on and food in the cabinets, right? At least until your books earn enough to do that?”

“Thank you for that.” Her smile changed subtly. “I’m not sure I’ll ever completely quit my day job. I like being a realtor, though I’d like to cut my hours and not spend so much time at it. Hopefully, at some point I’ll make enough to do that.”

“I have no doubt you will.” He watched as she looked away again and a blush crept up her face.

“How could you know that? You’ve never read anything of mine. I could be worse than a four-year-old.”

“You could be. But something tells me you’re not.”

Sierra shook her head. “Enough about me. Tell me more about you. What makes you want to move so far from the city?”

“I already told you. I want a place to raise my family.”

She narrowed her eyes and watched him for a moment. “The family you haven’t started yet.”

“Exactly.”

Her gaze dropped. He could tell from the direction it was aimed she was checking his finger for a ring, or the pale circle where one had been removed. He took another sip of his scotch, making sure to use his left hand so she’d get a good look.

“Why’d you come here tonight?” Her gaze flicked to his face.

“Looking for a way to relax a little.” He lifted one shoulder in a lazy shrug. “I was half-way hoping to pick someone up, but not badly enough to move on once I realized we’ll be working together.”

“Don’t mix business and pleasure?”

“As a rule? No.” He might give that rule a second thought though; if she were interested.

“That’s too bad.” She looked down at the table and her blush deepened. “I don’t normally either, but I was willing to make an exception.” She glanced up and met his gaze with a bold stare.

Blake remained quiet a moment. For the first time in longer than he could remember, he wasn’t sure what to say. Damn. The soft looking curl of her blonde hair against her cheek made his fingers ache to brush it away from her face.

“Maybe we should go somewhere a little quieter and talk?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.” She tucked her notebook into the briefcase, took a final sip from the nearly empty margarita and slid to the edge of the booth seat. “Coming?” She looked back at him with half-hooded eyes that made his body clench and harden as he got a glimpse of what she’d look like with a haze of pleasure over her features.

“Right behind you.” He tossed back the last of his Glenmorangie, grabbed his cap off the table and slid from the seat. Following her out, Blake let his hand rest lightly on the small of her back as they made their way through the crowd to the door.

CHAPTER 2

Sierra’s hand shook as she unlocked her front door. She wasn’t scared, but she didn’t often bring men home. Her nerves were getting the best of her at the moment. Especially with someone like Blake Winters standing right behind her.

What if her little cottage wasn’t up to his standards? When he’d contacted her office, she’d done a cursory check on his name. She’d only been looking for something that might help her find what kind of property he would like, what his tastes were and that kind of thing. She’d been surprised to discover the man who was now standing behind her was the president of a national bank chain. She didn’t know his exact income or net worth or whatever, only that he had enough money to get anything in the area he wanted. She didn’t want to know more.

Even that much had made her feel guilty and she’d quit looking before she’d found anything like whether or not he was married or had kids. She was trusting him to be telling her the truth.

So far as she could tell, he hadn’t lied to her about anything. He might not be completely up front about everything, but she tried to imagine what it might be like to have that kind of money and how it might change people who knew about it and how they treated you.

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