The Cowboy's Unexpected Love: Wade and Sierra (MacFarland Ranch Book 1)

by SJ McCoy

  Chapter Ten

  Wade opened the bedroom door and peeked out. He was hoping that he’d be able to sneak out without waking Sierra. Not because he didn’t want to see her – but because he wanted to see her a little too much. He adjusted his jeans before he opened the door to the not quite finished second bedroom where he’d spent the night.

  It would have been all too easy to have kept things on the track they were on last night and to have ended up spending the night in the master bedroom – with Sierra. He sucked in a deep breath and shoved his hands in his pockets. Instead of taking her to bed, he’d sent her off by herself, not because he didn’t want her. Not even because he thought she didn’t want him. She’d made it all too clear that she did. He wasn’t even kidding himself that he thought he should wait because this could be the beginning of something between them – he knew damned well that it wouldn’t be. Well, it’d be something, but only something short lived. He was going to be her rebound guy. He’d get her through and past the dark days that were supposed to have been her honeymoon. While he was at it, he planned to teach her how a man should treat her – and hopefully get her to a place where she wouldn’t settle for being treated with anything less than the respect she deserved in the future.

  But part of treating her with respect meant not rushing her into bed – no matter how much he wanted to, or even how much she tried to make clear that she did. He couldn’t help smiling as he tiptoed down the hallway. Her version of making it clear that she wanted him was nothing like any other woman he’d ever known. He’d thought that he was only attracted to assertive women, women who went after what they wanted. He used to find that attractive. Maybe it was the way Josie had proven to be so ruthless in getting what she wanted that had put him off. Or maybe it was just that Sierra was so cute.

  He knew that it had taken all her courage to ask him for a hug last night. After that, she’d backed off while they had dinner, and he’d refrained from acting like anything more than a friend. But when they’d sat down to watch a movie later, she’d snuggled right up to him on the sofa, and it’d taken all he had to hold back from stroking anything but her shoulder and her hair.

  At one point, she’d rested her hand on his thigh. As it had started to creep higher, he’d almost given in to his need for her, but he’d made do with just a kiss. It was a kiss that had left her in no doubt that he wanted her, but after that he’d sent her to bed.

  He made it to the kitchen and was pulling his boots on when the bedroom door opened, and she came out. He let out a groan at the sight of her. How was he supposed to resist? He’d spent most of the night tossing and turning and second guessing his plan to take things slowly. She was only going to be here for two weeks, after all. He’d woken up with a hard on that no baseball stats were going to be able to help him ignore. And now here she was, padding barefoot — bare legged — down the hallway toward him, wearing nothing but one of his T-shirts. Her hair was mussed-up, her eyes were still bleary – and she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

  She stopped a few feet away from him. “Good morning.” Her smile hit him right in the chest, catching all his breath.

  “Morning, darlin’. Did you sleep?”

  She gave him a rueful smile. “I did eventually, but it took me a while to get off.”

  He closed his eyes. She meant get off to sleep. She had to. But her words sent his mind spinning away to all the ways he wanted to get her off.

  She gave him a shy smile. “Not like that!”

  He chuckled. He had to.

  “You look like you’re ready to head out. Do you want me to make you some coffee before you go?”

  He blew out a sigh. There was no way he was going to be able to stick with his plan of leaving. She was up now. And even if it were only for a few minutes, he wanted to be around her.

  “I’ll get it.”

  “Thank you.” She turned around and started back down the hallway again.

  The only thing that Wade could think was that she was going to get dressed and that was the last thing he wanted. “Don’t I get a hug?” Jesus. He shouldn’t have asked her that. Once he got his arms around her, he didn’t know how he’d be able to let her go.

  She turned back with a smile and came straight to him. “Yes, please.” Her arms came up around his neck, and he bent to wrap his around her waist.

  She was warm and soft, and she smelled so good. He buried his face in her neck and breathed in deeply. She giggled and shuddered against him, her arms tightening around him.

  “Wow! That feels so good.”

  He didn’t need telling twice. He nuzzled closer and this time nibbled the soft skin just beneath her ear.

  “Wade.” Her voice was barely more than a breathy whisper. The sound of his name on her lips fried his brain. He knew all the reasons why he wasn’t going to be anything more than her rebound guy, but the way she said his name made him want to be way more than that.

  He tightened his arms around her waist and straightened up. She giggled and clung tighter to his neck as her feet left the floor. “Ooh! I like it. Where are we going?”

  He groaned when she wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing her heat against the one part of him that knew exactly where it wanted to go.

  He took two steps toward the bedroom before his senses kicked back in and he stopped. He spun around and forced himself back to the kitchen, where he deposited her on the counter.

  The disappointment in her eyes when she leaned back to look at him, almost changed his mind. He was crazy enough to deny himself – but disappoint her? No. He got a grip — on his lust, and on her hips. He curled his fingers around them and dropped a kiss on her lips.

  “I thought you were going to take me to bed,” she breathed.

  He nodded before he spoke. When the words came out, his voice sounded low and growly — desperate — even to his own ears. “I am.” Her eyes widened, but he shook his head. “There’s no question that I’m going to take you to bed, Sierra. But not right now.”

  “Why not?” She echoed the question that was playing on repeat in his head.

  He blew out a sigh. “Because it wouldn’t be right. I have to get to the lodge. I have to work today. I don’t want to … actually that’s not the truth.” He chuckled and pulled her to the edge of the counter, allowing himself to press his cock between her legs, so she could feel just how much he did want. He closed his eyes when she rubbed herself against him.

  “I want to.”

  He shook his head sadly. “You’re killing me, Sierra. It’d be so easy to pick you up and take you back to bed and … go there right now. But it’ll be way better if we wait.”

  “How long?”

  He had to laugh at the disappointment in her voice. “Not long. I don’t think I could survive for long.”

  “Tonight?”

  He hadn’t wanted to give her a timeframe, hoping instead that he might be able to hold out for a while – whatever a while might mean. But the look on her face, the desire in her eyes, the feel of her against him and her legs wrapped around his waist? They all added up to irresistible. He might be a gentleman, but he was no saint. He nodded slowly before giving in and agreeing. “Tonight.”

  The way she smiled made him feel as though fireworks were exploding in his chest. She was unlike any woman he’d known before. He’d sure as hell never had a woman beg him to tell her when he was going to take her to bed. And he couldn’t remember ever wanting a woman as much as he did Sierra.

  He closed his hand around the back of her neck and claimed her mouth in a kiss that felt like a promise – a promise that he planned to make good on tonight, no matter what he might have been thinking earlier about taking his time.

  ~ ~ ~

  Sierra had gone back and forth with herself for over half an hour about whether she should wear some of the things that Janey had let her borrow. In the end, she’d decided against it. Jane had called not long after Wade had left the cabin this morning and offer
ed to come pick her up. She’d said that she was going up to the shelter in town to collect a dog that had been brought in and she wanted the company.

  Sierra doubted that Jane was the kind of girl who needed company for anything. She seemed to be perfectly at peace with herself — in a way that Sierra envied.

  She was waiting by the window when Jane’s truck pulled up and she went out to meet her, hoping that she’d made the right decision to wear Cassidy’s designer jeans and a gorgeous, light blue sweater that made her eyes seem blue to match it.

  Jane grinned at her when she hauled herself up into the passenger seat. “Good morning. I see you went shopping. Maybe I need you to take me on a shopping trip, too. Even when I think I should make an effort, I can never find anything that looks that good around here.”

  “Oh.” Sierra gave her an apologetic smile. “I … I didn’t go shopping. I went to see Cassidy and she took charge — she’s like that.”

  She needn’t have worried about Jane’s reaction. She laughed out loud. “Don’t look so worried. I was the one who was worried about you schlepping around in my stuff. It makes much more sense for you to wear Cassidy’s stuff. It’s much more your style.”

  Sierra pulled on her seatbelt as Jane pulled the truck away from the cabin. “I’d love to take you on a shopping trip if you want to go?”

  “Nah. That’s fine. I don’t know what I was thinking. What I wear is practical for my work.” Jane let out a short laugh. “For my life. It’s not as though I go out much.”

  “Cassidy talked about getting people together this weekend. We should go shopping and get you something to wear for that.”

  Jane shrugged. “There’s no need.”

  “I’m sorry.” Sierra felt bad. “I’m not trying to be … I’m not saying that you need to.”

  “I know. It’s okay.” Janey gave her that warm smile that reminded Sierra just what a beautiful person she was. “I don’t see the point, I guess. I don’t need to look good to do what I do. The animals I work with don’t care what I’m wearing. And the people I mix with already know me for who I am. If I were to dress up, it would only be to impress people. And I don’t feel the need to do that. If people aren’t impressed with who I am and what I do, then I don’t really care if they’re impressed with how I look or not.”

  “I understand that. You’re so much stronger, much more real than I am. I’ve always felt that the way I look is important because it determines how people see me. And that really shouldn’t matter.” She blew out a sigh. “But in the world that I live in, it matters a lot.”

  Jane looked over at her. “I wouldn’t worry about it. You’re fine the way you are. And I’m fine the way I am. I’m just glad that the superficial differences don’t make a difference between us. It was hard growing up and maybe even harder when I was in vet school. Lots of them looked down on me because I didn’t want to play the game. You don’t look down on me.”

  “No! I look up to you! You know what’s really important and you don’t let yourself be swayed by what people might think.”

  Jane laughed. “You make me sound so noble. I’m really not. All I did was decide that I don’t want to play a game I know that I can’t win. Laney’s the pretty one, so I stopped trying to compete in a world where I couldn’t win. That’s all. And I do still care what people think. It’s just that I live in a small world where most folks already know me, and it doesn’t matter.”

  Sierra nodded. “What about dating?”

  Jane laughed again. “I don’t. For all the crap I spout about people taking me for who I am, I’m not stupid. Guys like women who look good – and I don’t.”

  “And you don’t want to make an effort – sorry, that sounds wrong, but you know what I mean. You wouldn’t want to change who you are for a guy to like you.”

  “That’s the theory. But it’s pretty much untested. I haven’t met anyone I’d be interested in in a very long time.”

  While they’d been talking, they’d driven past the lodge and back up the long driveway. Jane brought the truck to a stop when another one pulled in off the road. She let the window down and smiled when the driver of the other truck did the same.

  “Hey, Emmett. I have to run up to the shelter. They had a stray mama brought in last night. Sounds like she’s due any day, so I said that I’d bring her back down here.”

  The man driving the other truck nodded. “Okay. My day’s looking quiet for now. I should be around when you get back.” He glanced past Jane and smiled at Sierra.

  She smiled back. It seemed this valley was full of good-looking men, no matter what age they might be. This guy had to be around fifty. There were weathered lines on his face, but his brown eyes were warm and full of life as they looked out at her from under the brim of his cowboy hat.

  “Oh, sorry,” said Jane. “Sierra, meet my partner, Emmett. Emmett, this is Sierra Hartford. She’s staying with us for a little while.”

  Sierra was grateful that Jane’s explanation didn’t go into the reasons for her presence here – or the details of just who she was staying with.

  The man nodded. “Nice to meet you, Miss Sierra.” He chuckled. “Now, I’ll be able to tell my girls who the pretty lady at the big house is.”

  Sierra raised an eyebrow, not understanding.

  “Emmett’s daughters are into everything,” Jane explained. “Nothing gets by them. They’ll no doubt be over to investigate you when we get back.”

  “I’ll keep ‘em out of the way if that’s a problem.”

  Emmett must have noticed Sierra’s expression change. She forced herself to smile again. “No. I’ll look forward to meeting them. How old are they?”

  “Twelve and fourteen,” said Jane.

  Emmett laughed. “Going on twenty-five and thirty. Anyway, I’ll let you ladies get going. See you later.”

  “We won’t be too long,” Jane told him.

  Sierra watched the truck in the rearview mirror as Jane pulled out onto the highway.

  “Go ahead and ask,” Jane said. “I can tell you have questions.”

  Sierra had to laugh. “Is that a MacFarland thing?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you all seem able to read my mind.”

  “No. I could tell you had questions. If I could read your mind, I’d know what your questions were.”

  That was true. It was the same with Wade. He seemed to be able to tell when she had questions, or was hesitant, but he didn’t know exactly what she was thinking. She’d do well to remember that.

  “I was wondering about Emmett. You said he’s your partner?”

  Jane laughed. “In the practice. We work together. He’s a vet, too. He’s awesome. He’s one of my brother’s best friends. His place burned down a few years ago – the same year that I was finishing vet school. We decided to go in together. I put up the land, he brought in his contacts and between us, we’ve built a thriving business.”

  “Wow. That’s amazing.”

  Jane nodded happily. “It is. It’s worked out better than either of us could have imagined. The practice has grown. We have more than enough business. And Emmett built himself a house right there so that he could be on site.”

  “And his wife?”

  Jane sighed. “She died when the girls were small. He’s by himself.”

  “Wow. With teenaged girls?”

  Jane smiled. “They’re good kids. Although, they’re not really kids anymore. I do what I can with them. I love them and I know they love me right back. But Alana, that’s the older one, she’s turning into a girly girl and as we already touched on – I’m no use to her with that stuff. Tanya’s still more of a tomboy – but I have a feeling that she’ll follow in her sister’s footsteps. I hope you won’t mind if they glom onto you. They’re desperate for a woman in their lives. Like I said, I do what I can, but I’m not the kind of woman they need.”

  “I’d love to meet them, and I can chat with them about girly stuff – that’s right in
my wheelhouse. But it sounds as though Emmett needs to find a woman of his own who might be able to come into their lives.”

  “I’ll let you be the one to tell him that. He’s a good guy, and there are plenty of women in this valley who’d love to help him out in every sense, but he’s not interested. It took him years to get over Emily. But I don’t think that’s what stops him anymore. He’s just not interested.”

  Sierra jumped when her phone rang and pulled it out of her purse. She smiled when she saw Wade’s name on the display.

  “Take it,” said Jane. “Don’t mind me.”

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, darlin’. I heard you were headed up to town with Janey.”

  “You did? How?”

  He chuckled. It was a low deep sound that made her tummy flip over. She glanced sideways at Jane, hoping that she wasn’t mind reading. “I crossed paths with Emmett.”

  “I see.” She didn’t know what else to say. She was thrilled that he’d called, but she didn’t know what he wanted, and she was just the tiniest bit embarrassed to talk to him in front of his sister.

  “Anyway. What’s your favorite color?”

  She frowned, wondering if she’d heard him right. “Excuse me?”

  He chuckled again. “I want to know what your favorite color is. And before you ask, the answer is no. I’m not going to tell you why.”

  She laughed with him. “In that case, I’m not sure that I want to tell you.”

  “Aww, help a guy out, would ya?”

  She laughed again, loving his playful tone. Right from the first moment she’d seen him, he’d felt like sunshine, and the more time she spent around him the more it felt like he was brightening up her life. “Okay, then. Pink.”

  “Awesome. I should have trusted my gut.”

  “You guessed pink?”

  “I did. But what kind of pink? Pale or deeper?”

  She was surprised that he asked. “Deeper. My very favorite is fuchsia.”