Page 45 of Totally Off Limits

“Just let him process it. Hewill.”

Again, Sierra felt like she shouldn’t have even been there, listening to her parents’ private talk. All the while, she could hear the girls on the deck just outside the kitchen, laughing and giggling, unaware of the tension indoors. “I’ll clean up,” she said, standing before picking up her plate.

“I’ll help in just a moment,” her mother said, grabbing Grandma’s plate and scraping the leftover food onto her own. Sierra took some dishes to the kitchen and, while she was rinsing off a plate before placing it in the dishwasher, she looked outside. The triplets, Mia, and Grandma were all eating an icy cone while Layne walked across the lawn with Jasper by his side. He looked dejected, forlorn, and miserable—and Sierra could tell that by looking at his back. She’d felt that same way hundreds of times when dealing with her parents’ disapproval.

But she shut off her heart. Layne didn’t deserve her sympathy. He might have had a rough spot today, but he was just as bad, if not worse, than her parents.

Another reminder that Sunday dinners at the Hayden house sucked. Why the hell did she keep torturing herself like this?

CHAPTER16

Pulling her car behind the medical building on Tuesday morning, Sierra pulled her phone out of her purse to slide it into the right pocket of her scrubs top—but she saw a text message.

From Austin.

Slinging her purse over her shoulder and locking the car door with the key fob, she opened the message as she walked toward the back door.How does lunch sound today?

As she approached the door, she slid the phone in her pocket and gave it some serious thought. Granted, lunch at anywhere other than a fast food place would be impossible, but would she like to spend time with Austin?

After Mickey’s words the night after her date with Austin—and, of course, the harsh reminder of how her parents could be when their children didn’t live up to their expectations—she decided a lunch date might not be a bad idea.

Once she walked in, the office manager, already there, set the tone for the day, letting her know one of the other nurses had called off sick, meaning Sierra would be doing double duty. So, after she put her things away, she texted Austin back, having already made up her mind.I’d love that, but I’m going to be too busy to get away today.Before sending the text, she typed another sentence.But if you’d want to bring lunch by, we could eat at the picnic table in back.

The ball was now in Austin’s court.

But she got so busy getting everything ready that she didn’t check her phone till later. When she did, she was happy to see his response.Dr. Peterson’s office, right? I’ll bring something. Just tell me when to be there.

His thoughtfulness made her smile. Knowing Austin, the meal he brought would be healthy and delicious. On a day like today where Sierra was doing double duty, she would have just ordered a pizza or asked one of the office staff to grab her something while they were out, but Austin had just made her day a thousand times better.

And, before she knew it, it was lunchtime.

When she started to head to the back, the office manager was asking her to take another call. “Take a message. I’m going to lunch.”

If she didn’t set boundaries, she’d lose her mind. This doctor’s office was becoming no better than working in the ER.

Fortunately, Austin was already sitting at the picnic table under the ash tree on the side of the building where she’d asked him to meet her. And the man looked far better than he had a right to. Austin really was a classically good-looking guy with his short blond hair and chocolate eyes that seemed oh, so sincere, not to mention his buff body. In the traditional sense, he was handsome, so much so that just the right look could make a girl weak in the knees. Most women—hell, most people—would have considered him to be one of the most gorgeous men in Winchester, her sisters included. And, it turned out, Sierra was not immune to his appearance, either. Of course, their past relationship, teenagers or not, didn’t hurt.

So why the hell did her mind race right to Mickey as she got closer to the picnic table?

“Thanks so much, Austin, but you shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.” She meant it, especially as her eyes took in all the food: fried chicken and potato salad, a couple of burritos or something like that wrapped in paper, and two leafy green salads in plastic containers—and a big cooler resting on the edge of the table.

“Nonsense. You look like you’ve been working your tail off, so the least I could do was fuel you up. But I didn’t know what you’d like, so I got a little of everything.”

“What are those? Burritos?”

“No. They’re wraps. Chicken ranch.”

“Sold.”

“With potato salad?”

“Sure.”

As Austin pulled a couple of paper plates and plasticware out of a separate compartment, she said, “I hope you know I can’t eat all this.”

With a soft chuckle, he said, “I didn’t think you could. And it’s all good. I’ll take whatever’s left back to work. Somebody’ll eat it—guaranteed.” After scooping out a healthy amount of the creamy potato salad, he said, “Unless you think your coworkersherewould want some.”

She thought of the office manager, a woman she was growing to despise more and more. “No, that’s okay. You take it.”

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