Page 78 of Totally Off Limits

Nothingthat came out of that kitchen could be appealing, so she shook her head. “Coffee will be fine.”

“Suit yourself.” As he glanced toward the kitchen, obviously ready for it to be brewed already, he said, “So tell me what happened tonight.”

Pursing her lips, Sierra almost shook her head. “I just needed a ride.”

“Yeah, and I was miraculously at the top of your list for picking you up.”

Letting the air out of her lungs, Sierra looked down at the table for a minute. What did she have to lose? Ever since having Mia and losing touch with most of her college friends, she’d held so much shit in for so long. Even if Layne wound up spilling the beans down the line…it might feel good to just let it all out now.

“That’s fair.” After sighing one last time, Sierra shifted her eyes to her thumb and pushed back the cuticle with a fingernail—and then forced herself to look at her brother. “You remember Mickey Morton?”

“Should I?”

“He was a guy in my class. We were in school together most of our lives…and he was a kid from a troubled home. Sometimes he came to school without lunch, in dirty clothes, unbathed, uncombed hair. But he was nice enough, and even though we weren’t friends, we ran into each other a lot. And, uh, in high school, he used to be the kid who’d always get in scuffles.”

“Wait a second. Is this one of the guys that’s in Johnny Church’s band?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Gotcha.”

Here was where the story would get a little harder to tell.

“Anyway…I guess I’m like a lot of women.”

“Meaning?”

“I’m attracted to bad boys for no good reason.”

In her peripheral vision, Sierra saw the waitress approaching the table, but Layne couldn’t because his back was to her. “Oh, there’s a good reason for it.”

When the waitress got to the table, Layne flipped the plastic brown mug over and she filled it without even asking. Then she turned to Sierra. “Did you want coffee?”

“Oh, yes.” Mirroring her brother, she turned the mug over. “Thank you.”

“Did you want anything from the kitchen?”

“Chili fries.”

“What about you, miss?”

“No, thanks.”

“I’ll get that goin’.” As she started to walk away, she yelled at the cook from across the dining area, “Chili fries!” Sierra saw the man nod and turn away from the hole in the wall.

Their mother would hate everything about this place…which made Sierra smile a little. “So you’re telling me,” she said, shifting her focus back to Layne, “there’s a scientific reason why women are attracted to bad boys?”

“I don’t know about science, but I’ve been around enough females flirting with that type to notice a pattern. There’s an illicit thrill, something exciting about being with a guy you’d never want to marry. It’s like sowing wild oats—only for women.”

Was that true?

It was in Sierra’s case. He’d nailed it right on the head. She was fucking around with the hotter-than-hell bad boy to get him out of her system…before doing the right thing.

Before doing what her family expected of her.

So she wasn’t going to say shit about it.

“Go on. You found this guy attractive, thisbad boy, the guy in the band,” Layne prompted. “Then what?”

---