Page 47 of Totally Off Limits

It had to be. She thought she saw reflected in him all the darkness inside herself.

When lunch was over, Austin kissed her like he’d never see her again, making her feel all the more like a duplicitous asshole…who had no fucking clue what she wanted.

But she did actually. She just hadn’t admitted any of it to herself yet.

CHAPTER17

When the cat’s away, the mice will play.

Why the hell couldn’t Sierra get that stupid saying the fuck out of her head?

Because it was true.

Not only had she invited Mickey over for dinner with the idea that she was going to enjoy the hell out of him while Austin was gone, she’d even picked up food from the deli at the store.

Because Austin had recommended it.

How asinine was that?

And she’d bought a lacy red bra-and-panty set, her first sexy purchase since she’d had Mia. It was skimpy and lacy, hiding under her t-shirt and jeans for Mickey to find later.

Maybe he was right. It was possible that she only liked playing with him, turned on by his bad boy aura, feeling like she was thumbing her nose at her parents every moment she spent with him. If that was the case, she was going to get him out of her blood now so she could be the good girl and settle down with Austin, a nice enough guy with probably way more money than Mickey, even though the latter wasn’t hurting for cash nowadays, either.

With Austin, she’d be toeing the family line. There was no doubt there.

Which meant she had to get Mickey out of her system once and for all.

After their last encounter, she hadn’t expected Mickey to accept her invitation—and if he hadn’t, it would have been so easy to just drift into something more permanent with Austin. But he’d said yes…which opened the door of possibility wide open.

Sierra shook her head as she checked her hair in the mirror.Perfect.This was just for fun. Two old friends reconnecting in the best way they knew how. Soon, Mickey would be on his way again, living the rock star life—agoodlife, something he definitely deserved. And then Sierra would have to, once and for all, be the good girl, the woman her family wanted and needed her to be. Her hope was that her little escapade with Mickey tonight would make it easy to let go of whatever she thought it was she wanted.

A life with Austin wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

Walking from the bathroom, she stopped at Mia’s room. “Ready, baby girl?”

“No.”

The unexpected answer made Sierra giggle. “We have to get dinner ready for Uncle Mickey.”

“Unca Layne?”

“No. UncleMickey. You remember Uncle Mickey.” Squatting next to her daughter, she pointed at the chunky doll playset she was interacting with. “Wanna bring this downstairs?”

“Yes!”

“Okay.” Sierra scooped up the various pieces into the “street” of “homes,” nothing more than a painted plastic chunk half the size of her daughter. When her parents had given the set to Mia for Christmas, Sierra had been sure the girl wouldn’t give it more than fleeting attention, but it had become her daughter’s favorite toy over the past few weeks.

It was probably the sound effects—the ones that droveSierracrazy.

But that didn’t matter. It kept Mia happy and distracted, and the sounds, though annoying, were educational—numbers and simple sentences.

With the toy in one arm, Sierra put out a hand for her daughter. Mia was getting pretty good at walking up and down the stairs, but Sierra wasn’t ready to watch her child tumble down a flight just for experience’s sake. When they got to the top of the stairs, she had to let go of Mia’s hand to undo the gate, but soon they were making their way down. Once they were in the kitchen, Sierra set the toy back up on the floor for her daughter and then checked the oven to make sure all the food was still warm.

Just because it was from the supermarket’s deli didn’t mean they had to eat it out of paper and plastic containers.

The rotisserie chicken was on a platter covered with foil, the mashed potatoes and gravy in ceramic serving bowls. The coleslaw and marinated veggie salads had been in the fridge in glass bowls, but now it was time to take them out and set the scene. First, though, the table. She owned one tablecloth, a simple but beautiful white linen that fit her table perfectly.

As she spread the cloth out over the table, she hated that her mind flew backwards in time to the day that she’d finished moving into the condo. To extend an olive branch as best as she could, she’d invited her family over for dinner and had gone to the trouble of making fettucine alfredo, a dish her mother adored, with a lovely green salad and crusty garlic bread. She’d purchased the best bottle of white wine she could afford and spent an entire Saturday preparing for her family’s first look at her grown-up life.

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