Undeniable Love

Sierra smiled bigger. I liked her smile. It was real. Nothing fake about it at all. Her eyes sparkled as she searched my face, landing her baby blues back to my green eyes.



“You’re seriously going to judge me when you were caught peeping at your ex getting screwed by what I’m guessing was the new guy?”



Ouch. Straight shooter. Pinching my eyebrows together, I asked, “How did you know they were screwing?”



She gave me a polite chuckle. “Please. I was painting that side of the house when she began calling out his name. It didn’t take long to figure out why you had that look on your face when you were stepping off the ladder.”



Bile moved up into the base of my throat. The idea of Ryn falling apart with that fucker buried inside her pissed me off. Swallowing hard, I looked down at the menu.



“Recent breakup?” Sierra asked as she smiled at Lisa and took her coffee. Placing mine in front of me, Lisa winked at me.



Glancing back at Sierra, I barely said, “What?”



“You and Ryn? Have y’all recently broken up?”



Setting my menu down, I placed my arms on the table and looked at Sierra. Indignantly, I asked, “How in the hell do you know her name?”



Something moved over Sierra’s eyes. She placed her arms on the table and stared me down. “It’s my house. I rent it out; therefore, I know who is there at all times. Just because I’m covered in paint doesn’t mean a damn thing. My daddy paints houses for a living and I’m helping him paint my beach house that I rent out when I’m not here in South Padre.”



I dropped back in my chair and was about to apologize when Lisa walked up and was ready to take our order. “What will it be, Sierra?”



Sierra sat back, never taking her eyes off of me. “Two eggs, over easy, side of sourdough bread, bacon, and a small stack of pancakes with blueberries on top.”



A small smile played across my lips. Lisa turned to me. “What would you like, Tom?”



Flashing a smile that would knock any guy out of his shoes, Sierra let out a giggle when Lisa called me Tom.



“I think I’ll have exactly the same as Sierra.”



Handing her my menu, she took it and turned on her heels, stomping away. Clearly annoyed that Sierra and I were in a flirting stare.



“We broke up ten months ago.”



Choking on her coffee, she quickly set it down. “Ten months? Ten. Months? You’re still pining over her after ten months? Shit . . . is she that good in bed?”



Hmm . . . a girl who speaks my language. “You immediately think it’s because of the sex?”



Raising her eyebrow, Sierra lifted the side of her mouth and made a face. “Please, I’m thirty years old, Tom. I’ve been around the block a time or two.”



Now it was my turn to lift my eyebrows and give her a look. “No fucking way you’re thirty. You look about twenty-two. Twenty-five max.”



Wiggling her eyebrows up and down she took another sip of her coffee and then whispered, “Flattery will get you everywhere. Especially if you tell me you’re a kinky lover. I may have to take you right here on the table—after I eat my pancakes of course.”



I threw my head back and laughed. I liked this girl. She was feisty and not afraid to speak her mind. That seemed to be rare in women these days. “What are you doing tonight?”



She took in a deep breath and blew it out. “Let’s see. I think my date is picking me up at seven tonight, and we’re heading to grab a bite to eat. Then we’re heading over to Max’s Roadhouse for some serious dirty dancing that will bring us to the brink of wanting to take each other right there on the dance floor, but we won’t.”



“You won’t?” I asked.



Shaking her head, she smiled faintly. “Nope. We won’t because he is pining over his girlfriend he broke up with ten months ago and I’m trying to move past learning my husband of six years cheated on me. With my best friend. In my house. In my bed, while my damn dog watched.”



“Fuck.”



Nodding her head, she whispered, “Yeah—fuck.”



Lisa brought our breakfast and Sierra and I spent the next hour talking. Sierra was a labor and delivery nurse in Austin. That made me smile for some reason. She just bought her own house, a small two-bedroom house in Hyde Park that she swears she had to sell her soul to the devil to be able to buy. I found myself smiling more during our conversation over breakfast than I had in the last ten months. Sierra was easy to talk to, had a wonderful sense of humor, and I could easily see us being friends. I’d never been just friends with a girl before, so this was new territory I was willing to explore.