Page 8 of Totally Off Limits

“Tell that to my parents. They’re worried they’re going to have to move farther away.” Maybe that was saying too much, considering young Mickey had grown up in the poorest section of Winchester—and, because itwasa town, everybody knew it. When they got to her door, she fetched her keys out of her purse. “I’d invite you in but—”

“No problem. Next time. It was good seeing you, Sierra.”

“You, too, Mickey.” As he started to walk away, she stared at his hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, and she could tell from behind that it was even longer than it had been during the night they’d shared a steamy encounter. Was he still as spectacular between the sheets as she remembered? And why the hell was her brain going there? “Umm…want to exchange numbers?”

“Good idea,” he said, turning around. “Except I left my cell in my car.”

“Then just give me your number and I’ll text you so you have mine.”

“That works.” After she took out her phone, she typed his number into her contacts. Even as she did it, she knew this was a bad idea—but the tiny part of her that still wanted to rebel against her parents loved it. And there was something else inside that she was ignoring. He was an old friend. What could it hurt?

Well…what could hurt was that she’d always thought of him as more than a friend…

CHAPTER4

Sierra was trying like hell to concentrate, but her mind kept wandering. Sunday mornings were the best time for her to get her online coursework done as she pursued a Master of Science degree in nursing.

It was her best—and perhapsonly—shot at getting out from under her parents’ thumbs. While she already made good money as a nurse, her earning potential would go through the roof with the MS, and she planned to nail a job far from Winchester after earning that degree. Her back-up plan had been to simply bide her time till Mia was in school, because then needing to afford all-day quality daycare would no longer be a concern, and then she could move wherever the hell she wanted.

But she couldn’t wait that fucking long.

So on Sunday mornings—and weeknights after Mia was tucked in bed—Sierra studied and read and completed coursework in an effort to earn her masters’ degree. When she’d first contacted the school about possibly earning her BSN, they’d shown her that earning both a bachelor’s and a master’s in their accelerated program could be done more quickly. If she hadn’t had a job and a child, she could have easily finished it in three semesters. With Mia, though, Sierra already missed way too much of her childhood having to work, so she wasn’t going to sacrifice even more time. As it was, she was on track to finish in December—so graduating would be like a Christmas gift to herselfandMia and, if all worked out according to plan, she’d be moving out of Winchester by next spring to a more rewarding job.

And freedom.

Focus, however, was fleeting this morning.

It didn’t help that she’d dreamed of Mickey all night—and she needed to remind herself he was nothing more than a distraction. Was he hot as hell? Yes. Was he still sweet underneath that bad boy exterior? More than. Did he seem to get Sierra far better than her family ever could?

Hands down.

But that was no excuse to wreck a good night’s sleep and subsequently do poorly on all her homework. Sure, she could catch up during the week, but she’d had to do that once or twice, and it made for little sleep.

Concentrate, Sierra.

Mickey’s smile kept popping in her head, not to mention her body’s sense memory of his fiery touch—the way he’d walked her to her door, arm in arm. And the way he looked in that suit. It made her feel like she was going to break out in a light sweat just envisioning him in her mind. What made it all the more appealing was that she knew how he used to dress—jeans and a t-shirt, also sexy—but it simply fueled the fire.

And hadn’t he said he was in afamousrock band nowadays? What had he said their name was again?

A little search wouldn’t hurt. After all, she was already distracted. Find a little info online and then get back to work. She could totally do that.

Opening a tab, she typed in the wordsMickey Morton. If that didn’t pull up anything, she’d type in Katie’s husband’s name—

But holy shit. There it was. Three sexy as hell pictures at the top of him playing on a stage somewhere, followed by the link to a Wikipedia article.About Mickey!How the hell had she ever missed this?

“We go to grandmama’s?” Mia’s voice cut through Sierra’s body like a freight train, because she’d been caught red-handed.

“Yes, baby. We’re going to grandma’s in a while.”

“After your homework?”

Sierra pursed her lips together, because drooling at her old classmate wasnothomework by any stretch of the imagination. But she clicked the tab closed and said, “Yes, I’m finishing up my homework. Did you finish your breakfast?”

“I not hungry.”

“Did you eatanything?”

“Mmm-hmm,” the toddler said, nodding her head up and down in the cutest way. Sierra already knew that probably meant she’d eaten one spoonful of oatmeal and nothing more. But the pediatrician had always told her to offer food and her child would eat what she needed—there was no reason to force her to eat. Fortunately, that was theonething she and her mother could agree on.

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