Page 23 of Forgotten Dreams

“I’ll take a case of the house blend,” Frankie jokes with him. I laugh at him, picking up my bottle of beer and looking over to see a couple of the ranchers are also up and dancing, especially the new one. He and Sierra are side by side as they laugh at themselves, trying to follow the moves.

“The worst thing you can do,” Brock cautions from beside me as Frankie, Dominic, and Nino go to the other side of Theo, “is sit here watching her every move. That’s like some sort of torture.”

“I’m not watching her,” I deny. “I’m scoping out the bar.”

He throws his head back, and his bark of laughter fills the room. Everleigh smiles at him and stops dancing to watch. “I had that same look on my face when I saw Everleigh with Emmett dance once.” My head nearly gets whiplash from how fast I turn my head toward him. “Wanted to rip his throat out.”

“I got the message from her loud and clear,” I admit. “She’s not interested.”

“Doesn’t make it easier.” He takes a pull of his own beer.

“It’s fine.” I shrug, pretending it’s not bothering me. “How are you doing getting me more equipment?” I ask, and he side-eyes me.

“Deflection,” he notes, chuckling in his glass as he takes a sip. “I’m president of that club.” I roll my eyes, but he gives in and changes the subject. The two of us talk about the different cranes I’m going to need for the barn roof that has to come off. Everleigh comes over, hugging him from the back as she pants from dancing. “Having fun?” he asks her when she takes his beer and drinks whatever is left of it.

“Yeah,” she replies, trying to catch her breath. I look over my shoulder and spot Sierra walking out of the bar. My eyes go to the table, seeing the guy sitting and talking to a couple of people.

“I’ll be back,” I state, pushing away from the bar and zigzagging my way out of the building. I turn to look to the right and then to the left, not spotting her anywhere. I turn to walk around the building when I see her leaning against the side of the bar, facing the parking lot. Her head tilts back against the building with her eyes closed.

“What the hell are you doing out here alone?” I bark at her, and she jumps, her eyes flying open as she looks over at me.

I walk toward her as she puts her hand on her chest right in the middle. “Fuck, Caleb,” she hisses as I come to stand in front of her, “you scared the shit out of me.” The dim light from the corner of the building lets me see her eyes just enough.

“What are you doing out here all alone?” I practically hiss at her. “It’s not fucking safe. Lilah just got kidnapped.”

“Well, that guy is behind bars.” She straightens from the wall. “What are you doing out here?”

“I saw you come out here,” I admit to her.

“So you followed me?” she asks me.

“Yes.” I don’t even skip a beat as I answer her. “Damn straight.”

“Why?” she asks, standing straight.

“To make sure you were okay.” My voice is low as I try to control my hands and keep them from doing something we both might regret.

“I’m fine.” Her voice is as low as mine, her chest rising and falling faster than a second ago. “As you can see.”

“Yeah, I can.” I take a step closer to her, the front of our shoes touching. “More than fine if you ask me.”

“Caleb,” she says, and I don’t know if it’s a question or a plea, but the way she says it makes everything in me snap. My hands fly to her face and slide into her hair, gripping it in my hands.

The feeling is like silk in my hands. Pulling it back, I make her head go back to look at me. “You drive me fucking crazy,” I admit to her, lifting my one hand from her hair and softly holding her chin in it. “Fucking crazy all the fucking time.” I’ve never, ever felt this before. This woman has the ability to make me do things I would never do. Like pin her against a fucking building after seeking her out, even after she has shut me down more times than not. “Why is that, Sierra?” My hand moves from her jaw to the side of her neck, as my finger finds her pulse and I feel it going as fast as mine.

“I don’t know, Caleb.” Her eyes look into mine. The minute she says my name, no, the second she says my name in almost a moan, it’s gone. Every string that I had to hold on t, to keep myself in tack, snaps. And I’m falling, free-falling off the edge of the mountain, and she’s the only one who can stop me from falling.

My head advances, and she pants right before her eyes close, and I smirk, knowing she wants this as much as I do. Her parted lips give me the in I need to slide my tongue into her mouth. Her tongue slides with me, and it’s even better than I thought it would be. It’s fucking heaven. It’s probably even higher than what heaven is. She arches her back and pushes her chest into me as her hands fly to my head, running her fingers into my hair and staying there. I push her back into the wall. Our mouths don’t break apart, but instead, my head moves to the other side to get the kiss even deeper. My hand moves from her neck down her shoulder, to her arm, and farther to her hip, where I grip her. The kiss is full of heat, full of wanting, full of fucking everything. Our tongues fight with each other, wanting the other one to give in. Our heads move side to side after a couple of minutes as we try to get the kiss even deeper than it is. I let go of her mouth only to trail my kisses to her jaw. “Fuck,” I murmur as I suck in the side of her neck as my tongue slides over the vein while I suck it, then going back to her lips. “Sierra,” I say her name, and this time, it’s her who comes in for a kiss, making me stop talking.

Chapter 12

Sierra

“Fuck,” I hear him say as he lets go of my lips, and my eyes try to flutter open, but stop when I feel his lips at the side of my neck. I should push him away to stop this madness, but instead, I move my head to the other side so he can have better access to me. His tongue comes out and my knees literally go weak. My hand lets go of his hair as it falls to his shoulder. I need to open my eyes, but his proximity makes me feel like I’m in a trance. He sucks in the side of my neck and my hand squeezes his shoulder. “Sierra.” The way he says my name is like I’ve always wanted to hear it from a man. Like he needs me to breathe his next breath.

I finally open my eyes to look at him, and it’s the wrong thing to do. My stomach flutters, my heart thumps so hard and so fast, and my breathing is coming in pants. It’s as if I’ve run a marathon or swam a million laps in the swimming pool without stopping. My hand falls from the back of his neck to his cheek; this time, it’s my turn to kiss him. He bends his knees so we stare into each other’s eyes before I lean forward, lick his bottom lip, and nip at it. The groan that comes out of him surges through me. He wraps one hand around my waist, the other goes beside my head as he pushes me into the wall, and I finally take the kiss I want. My tongue slides into his mouth, and he lets me lead the kiss. Our tongues slide against each other softly at first, until he presses more into me, and I feel all of his hardness on me. We swallow each other’s moans as the kiss goes from a twenty to a hundred and fifty. He now overtakes the kiss that he let me lead. He kisses the ever-loving shit out of me. Our heads move side to side in order to get the kiss even deeper.

I’m so lost in the kiss, if someone were to ask me what my name is, I wouldn’t be able to tell them. The only thing I would be able to say was his name. The hand on his face moves to the back of his hair, and I’m about to lift my leg and hook it over his hip when the sound of a car alarm goes off, and it’s as if you threw cold water on us. We fly apart from each other and he looks over to see the car in question. The front and back lights go on and off as the horn keeps blasting. The owner comes running out of the bar and presses his key fob to get it to stop.

---