Page 82 of Totally Off Limits

But Sierra had no idea the surprise he would be sharing with her.

After climbing higher into the mountains, Austin slowed the car. His dash was telling him to turn right ahead, and Sierra was surprised that the GPS feature worked up here.

But more rich people lived up here…so, of course, it did.

Using the GPS meant they weren’t going to the mine.

Johnny and Katie’s place where Mickey had been staying was farther north—and just that niggling thought caused Sierra to wonder about him. She hit the power button on the side of her phone to peek at the screen.

Still no text messages.

By now, Mickey would have texted her if he’d planned to—and that told her all she needed to know.

He didn’t care enough to fight for her.

But that, too, was bullshit. She suspected something else instead, something she didn’t want to think about.

She’d probably broken his heart. And hadn’t that been her evil plan all along?

As Austin turned onto a dirt road, they climbed a bit, but as they turned a corner, a huge ostentatious home came into view.

Her mother would have drooled.

The home was designed to look rustic but it was anything but. The wall of the bottom floor was stone while the second and third floors were a handsome wood paneling—and, in the center, probably where the great room was, there was nothing but windows and a long balcony along the entire front.

To take in the view, of course.

As he pulled the car to the side of the house—next to what looked like a four-car garage—Sierra asked, “What is this place?”

Austin grinned. “I’m buying it.”

“Are you kidding me?” How many millions did this place cost? That was a question she wasn’t going to ask out loud…but, damn, she wondered.

As she got out of the car, Austin joined her at the back where she was unstrapping Mia from her car seat. “Sorry. You’ll have to show me how to do that sometime, I guess.”

“No worries.” Although the property appeared safe, Sierra planned to hold her child straddling a hip for the moment.

“Follow me,” Austin said, walking around toward the front. “Do you want me to carry Mia?”

“That’s okay. Maybe in a bit.”

“I chose this home for this reason, Sierra,” he said, spreading his arms wide, as if the forest were going to state his case for him. And Sierra nodded, understanding the desire to be around nature. That was one thing she actually loved about her parents’ home. “What do you see here?”

“Pine trees. Other plants.” Why the hell was he asking?

“Maybe I should have asked what youdidn’tsee—which is the main reason I fell in love with this home. You can’t see the road or town. And, at night, I bet you can see the Milky Way.”

“Oh.”

“But that’s not all,” he said, taking Sierra’s free hand in his and leading her around back. His hand was warm and strong…but it didn’t send lightning bolts through her core like Mickey’s touch had last night.

She had to stop thinking about that.

A huge deck surrounded the entire back of the cabin and just off it to the side of the house was a barbecue area that would make a kitchen jealous. Beside that? A hot tub. Off the deck, a small pool and plenty of manicured sitting areas with native plants and a manufactured waterfall. When it caught her eye, Austin said, “If you turn a switch at night, the waterfall lights up. Mia would love it.”

“She’d love that jungle gym thing, too—when she’s older.”

Austin’s chocolate eyes lit up. “Maybe we could get something else in the meantime.”

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