Unbreak My Heart (Rough Riders Legacy #1)(17)

And she did. She took such a complete look that she nearly missed the bottom step.

I caught her with one hand on her hip and the other on her shoulder. “Careful.”

Sierra peered at me over the tops of her sunglasses. “Next time you want to remind me you’re still rockin’ a killer body, wait until I’m on level ground, ’kay?”

She brushed past me so fast she didn’t see my big-assed grin.

We’d been seated maybe a minute when Sierra said, “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

I started flipping through the hundred-page menu. The text was swimming by the time I reached page five. I closed my eyes and blanked my mind. But when I looked again, I had the same problem. I shut the menu and set it on the edge of the table.

Sierra slid back into the booth.

When the waitress returned, I ordered a hamburger. She looked at Sierra. “And for you?”

“The Almond Joy cheesecake and a can of Red Bull.”

After the waitress left, I said, “Just cheesecake?”

“Since it’s my entire daily caloric intake…yes, just cheesecake. I’ll suffer through salad for dinner.” Sierra set a file folder on the table. “My assistant scrounged up a few options for rentals from one of our clients that owns both commercial and residential properties. You want to go through these?”

“Not really.”

“Then what is the purpose of this lunch?”

“Besides to share a meal together you didn’t have to cook for me?” I shrugged. “I wanted to sit across from you to give my neck a break from twisting around so I can see your face. Only getting a side glimpse of your glare doesn’t have the same power as full-frontal.”

“You want me to glare at you?”

“You will glare at me when I suggest we clear the air and say the shit that’s been on both of our minds the last seven years. Then we could hug it out.”

She smacked my forearm. “No and no. Keep it focused on business between us, Boone.”

Dirty business popped into my head.

Sierra must’ve read that on my face because she smacked my other forearm. “I can leave you here if you don’t behave.”

Was I making any progress with her? I hated to fall back, but I didn’t want to put her in full retreat. “So…business. You never mentioned you wanted to go into the family business.”

“That’s because it wasn’t on my radar as a self-absorbed sixteen-year-old. But by age seventeen I realized I needed a life plan so I made one.” She talked about investing her inheritance in flipping houses and her luck in getting out before the real estate market crashed. She mentioned funding her buddy Marin’s home-based business. None of her triumphs were detailed in a bragging manner and she groaned about her failures.

I tried to listen without my goddamned mouth hanging open. So much for my assumption Sierra had skated through college with minimum effort. She’d even founded a college organization for women entrepreneurs. After graduating a year early, she’d started at the bottom at Daniels Property Management. Within two years she’d earned the title and responsibilities of a company vice president.

The woman was twenty-three years old.

“Say something,” she demanded.

“You make everyone look like a slacker, don’t you?”

She blushed. “I don’t know about that. For better or for worse, I wanted to be in charge of my own destiny.”

“Your dad had to be impressed with you taking the initiative.”

“Maybe that was a teeny part of why I did it.”

The food arrived.

After forking in a bite of cheesecake, she released a husky sigh.

I froze. Now there was a sexy sound.

“I’ve tried to recreate this twenty times at home and I cannot get the flavors right.”

“That good, huh?”

She sliced off another chunk, closed her eyes, parted her lips and paused with the fork halfway in, balanced on her tongue.

My groan rivaled hers when she closed her mouth and slowly slid the fork out.

Fuck. Me. I didn’t need a hard-on in the f*cking Cheesecake Factory.

Too late.

Maybe she didn’t notice my jagged breathing and discreetly adjusting my cock beneath the napkin on my lap.

Sierra’s cell phone began to vibrate halfway through the meal. She answered, “Sierra McKay.” Her frown deepened as she listened. “May I ask how your department ended up with that information? Not from my office. I’m positive. Because I’m the only one with access and I didn’t discuss it with anyone.” She rubbed the spot between her eyebrows with her thumb.

I tuned out her words and focused on the cadence of her voice. With her distracted, I seized the chance to study the face I’d only seen in memories the past seven years. The sharp angle of her cheekbones. The smattering of freckles across her nose. The line of her stubborn jaw. The tiny divot in her chin. She bit her bottom lip. A pink tinge crept up her neck.

Would she jerk away if I covered her restless hand with mine? I had this…urge to smooth the frown lines between her eyebrows with a soft kiss. I thought about all the affectionate things I’d seen couples doing without thinking, without knowing that guys like me watched with envy.

I’d never had that with any woman. Never wanted it before.