Page 29 of Totally Off Limits

In some regards, that prom date had felt exactly like that. But she wasn’t about to let Layne get the best of her. “You wouldn’t get it, dear brother, but I’m sure the girls do. It was my firstrealdance—and with an older boy. What girl wouldn’t love it?”

But Layne was a dog with a bone. “So I guess the question is why an older guy would ask a pipsqueak like Sierra out on a date?”

“Pips—”

“A brother wouldn’t see what I saw. She was a couple years younger than me, sure, but it was like she was hiding a light inside. I’d waited to take chemistry till my senior year and she got stuck with me as a lab partner.” His deep brown eyes shifted from Layne to her—and why did that take her breath away? “You were quiet, but it was like you had to force yourself to be…like you were holding yourself back. So I had to get to know you better.”

“I’m glad you said that, Austin,” Rebecca said as she wrapped her hand around her water goblet. “Because I’d really like to see you and Sierra give it another try.”

Austin nodded, making his dimples reappear. “I’d like that, too.”

Sierra forced a small smile, because she already knew this was one of those things she was going to have to do to appease her parents. Although she had no hard feelings toward Austin and even a few happy memories, she was perfectly content living alone with her daughter.

But that had never set well with her parents.

“Despite her irresponsibility of getting pregnant out of wedlock,” her mother said, not even looking at her, “she has managed to obtain her nursing license and has a decent job. And if it weren’t for Sierra’s mistake, we wouldn’t have sweet, beautiful Mia, now would we?” As Rebecca turned to the toddler, her voice changed slightly, and Mia looked at her grandma, beaming widely.

Sierra, however, wished she could just slide off her chair and hide under the table. Why couldn’t her mother shut the hell up sometimes?

“I imagine you’re an incredible nurse, Sierra,” Austin said. “You ran circles around me in chemistry. If it wasn’t for you as my lab partner, I might have blown the building up.”

“You might have won a medal for that,” Layne said. When he saw the crusty from his father, he returned his eyes to his plate, his smile withering.

Ignoring her brother, Sierra said, “You’re too kind.”

“Nope. Just honest.” And Austin was now on a mission, meaning everyone and everything else had faded to the background. When he looked at Sierra, his eyes seemed so sincere, so sweet, and his voice matched. “Would you do me the honor of going on a date with me? Just to catch up. No strings attached, no expectations.”

Sierra almost spat out her water when she caught her mother’s disappointed expression out of her peripheral vision. But Austin’s low-key no-pressure pitch made her genuinely consider it. After all, what would it hurt? Even though she’d been toying with the idea of enjoying hot Mickey Morton between her sheets to rekindle what-the-hell-ever they’d had one time, she knew Austin was the much better choice on paper.

Hands down.

And, of course, there was the added bonus of getting her mother off her back.

Although it felt like she was maybe selling her soul, Sierra smiled widely. “I’d love to.”

CHAPTER10

“That dress is lovely, but I think you should try something…a little more revealing.”

Jesus Christ. Why Sierra had agreed to let her mother come to her place to pick Mia up for the evening was beyond her. It was a stupid move, and she should have anticipated her mother’s reaction. For her date with Austin, she’d chosen a little black dress that was quite flattering—but, other than her knees and lower legs, it showed very little skin.

That wasn’t the way to a man’s heart, apparently—at least not according to Rebecca Hayden.

“I feel comfortable, mom. That’s what matters.”

“No, it’s not,” Rebecca said, setting the diaper bag and tote on the living room sofa, prepared to march up the stairs in Sierra’s condo. “When you get too comfortable, you don’t watch what you say, and you’re liable to start picking your nose or farting.”

Sierra laughed. “Really, mom? You think I’ll just start farting on a date because I’m not showing more skin?”

“You know I’m exaggerating. My point is that if you’re a little less comfortable, you’ll pay more attention to your behavior. You’ll be less likely to say something you shouldn’t.”

“And what shouldn’t I say?”

“You know as well as I do that the older you get, the less you mind your mouth.”

Was that true? Probably. As she’d become an adult, she’d found her parents and their home to be all the more stifling.

And her mother’s attention was making her nervous.

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