Page 34 of Totally Off Limits

During the meal, they’d talked about the food before moving into other conversation—but it had remained light. Austin had asked what had changed around Winchester during the time he’d been gone, and Sierra had taken him down a rabbit hole, because there was so much, and she found it easier to talk about any subject other than herself.

Austin had missed lots, so she started by asking if he’d heard about the scandal involving several town leaders and a police detective running some sort of crime ring. Unfortunately, Sierra didn’t remember a lot of the details because most of it had happened her senior year in high school. Still, talking about their hometown kept the focus off her while the words flowed like a river.

When they reached the bar, Sierra started to sit on a stool. Austin said, “Why don’t we sit at one of the booths instead of up here?”

Glancing around the space, Sierra decided that was a good suggestion. While there weren’t many people sitting there and the space wasn’t quiet so that people would hear their every word, she liked the idea of a little more privacy. “Sounds good.”

The bartender asked what they wanted. Turning to Sierra, Austin asked, “You like Blue Moon?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Hmm. He remembered what she’d said earlier.

Soon, they both had a bottle of beer and were seated out of the way in a darkened booth. Sierra liked mood lighting, but this was something else entirely. Like they needed to replace some light bulbs or something. Still, she wasn’t about to let it ruin their good time. She’d managed to relax during the meal, worrying less about the revealing dress and more about catching up. Although marriage would never be in the stars for these two, much to her mother’s chagrin, they’d always gotten along and had an easy friendship.

After a pleasant meal, Sierra realized even time couldn’t change that.

Of course, she hadn’t expected him to suddenly go straight for the jugular.

“Is Mia’s dad in the picture?”

Sierra had just taken her first swig of beer and it took everything she had not to spit it back out. But she fought against the impulse and managed to get it down her throat. Giving Austin a sweet smile, she answered as truthfully as she could without giving away that she still very much cared for Mia’s father.

Even acknowledging that she knew Mia’s dad could be dangerous.

But they would never, ever work, not under any circumstances.

“No. And I never told him about her.”

Lifting the bottle to his lips, Austin paused, tilting his head. “How old is she again?”

He was trying to figure out ifhewas Mia’s dad—but he’d been out of her life for years when she had her daughter, and he would know it when he heard the number.

“Three.”

Sierra could see him doing the mental math behind his eyes before he continued. “You haven’t told her father?”

“No.” She immediately took another sip of beer to avoid direct eye contact.

“Why not? Don’t you think he should be a part of Mia’s life?” After another second, he added, “I guess that’s really none of my business. I was just thinking…”

“Yeah, I know.” He had already put himself firmly in Mickey’s place. It would have been simple enough to tell him to mind his own damn business but, for some reason, she wanted to tell him the truth—and now would be the time where she would find out just how good a friend Austin was…because she was going to tell him thewholeawful truth. “There were lots of reasons why I didn’t tell the guy. He left town, so I didn’t even know where he was.” And that made it easier for her to follow through with the rest. “It wasn’t like we were in a committed relationship and the bottom line is my parents would never approve of him.”

“Maybe that’s just because they haven’t gotten to know him.”

“Oh, that’s definitely a big part of it. But maybe you haven’t been around my mother enough to know just how judgy she really is.”

“That’s only because she wants what’s best for you. I’m sure that extends to Mia as well.”

Sierra gave a quick nod. “Mia is the light of her world, even though my mom and I don’t always agree on what’s best for her.”

They were silent for a bit while Sierra stared at her bottle. Austin finally said, “Look, I can’t tell you how to live your life. I can’t even tell you how to be a good mother to Mia. From here, it looks like you’re doing a great job already.” Sierra gave him a weak smile as he continued, his voice so low it was almost hard to hear over the twangy guitar in the background. “But I can tell you that if I were her dad, I would want to know. I would want to be part of her life—and I would want to help contribute financially to her well-being. I know I can’t speak for all men out there, but any man worth his salt would want to know. And I would hope that your mother would find a way to just deal with it. It’s your life, Mia’s life, and not hers.”

“Yeah, well, that’s easy for you to say Austin. You don’t come from a dysfunctional family.”

Austin laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure we look fully functional from the outside—but every family has its issues.”

Sierra was not about to get into a pissing contest over something so stupid. Maybe Austin didn’t always see eye to eye with his family members, but she was certain he hadn’t had the problems she’d had with her parents and siblings. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

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