F: You okay?
Was he watching her? The same way she’d stared at him moments before? Too embarrassed to check, she just popped off a response.I’m fine.
F: You look like you’re ready to run out the door. Or throw something. Your face is all red. Is Mollie bothering you? I’ll gether to back off.
He was watching. And that was . . . interesting.
Was it possible that Flynn had noticed their connection, too? That he was interested in her as a woman, and not just as anobligation that Carlos had foisted on him? Did this mean that her craving had a chance at being satisfied?
Her slightly shaking wrist bumped against the laptop. It reminded Sierra of the stark truth that only she knew—that she wason the run. That she lied to people every day, all day long, to keep herself safe.
Craving Flynn was one thing. Satisfying that craving should mean opening up to him, sharing with him. A relationship shouldn’t, couldn’t be based on lies.
Unless she only gave in to the physical part of her craving. Could she? Flynn seemed older than her own twenty-three years.Definitely more experienced. Having a meaningless fling didn’t feel like her MO, though.
On the other hand, neither did going on the run. Maybe this new version of herself that Sierra had made up could do a fling with Flynn.
Geez, her cheeks were undoubtedly turning even more red. Sure enough, she looked up from the phone to find Mollie staringat her quizzically. Swiftly, she typed out a response.
Mollie’s fine. After a second of consideration, Sierra decided to embrace her newly bold side. My face is red because I’m thinking about you.
There. Let him come to his own conclusions about what it meant. So what if it was far from the sexiest come-on ever? It was a step, a first step, a big step for Sierra.
“That was just a friend checking up on me. I guess that in a town this small, my sprained ankle is the biggest news sincethey announced the date for the Cranberry Queen tryouts.”
“Annoying, I know. But also comforting.” Mollie smiled and tapped her chest. “I think so, anyway. I hope you see it that way,too.”
“Um, yes.” Sierra liked that feeling of community. In theory. If only, in reality, she wasn’t still living a lie and hopingagainst hope not to slip up and reveal anything about her old life.
“Let’s get this over with, then.” Mollie pulled over a chair from the closest table. “You know I’m a doctor, right?”
Sierra nodded. That tiny coil of fear unfurled like one of the giant tree ferns in the forest. If Mollie found something wrong,she could be out of a job. There weren’t that many employment opportunities for a woman with no provable degree, no résumé,and only the special skill of being able to paint anything.
“May I?” Mollie had her hands down by Sierra’s foot, clearly asking permission to pull it onto her lap to be examined.
It would only draw attention if she refused. Who, in their right mind, would refuse free medical care? Carlos was only looking out for her. It was hard to turn off the panic once it started flowing,though. Sierra lifted her head to gulp for some air. That’s when she spotted Flynn again. At the opposite end of the bar.
Strength and surety radiated off of him, as easy to see as heat shimmering off asphalt on a July day. There was a man whodid what he wanted. Who was in control. Who was oh-so-strong as he lifted the giant speaker on the small band stage and repositionedit with barely a flex.
Staring at him made Sierra stop imagining all the horrible things that could happen if Mollie examined her. It helped allher muscles to unclench. Her breath came smoothly again, instead of in half gasps. Okay, her heart still raced, but now onlyfrom lust. When it came to panic, Flynn calmed her. With a bit of a jolt, Sierra realized how often in every shift she lookedover at the bar to center herself on Flynn.
Right now, she kept staring at his broad shoulders flexing. She siphoned off a little of his strength for herself. Could almostsee it coiling through the room toward her like a lifeline. And then she put her foot in Mollie’s hands. Literally.
“We haven’t gotten the chance to know each other yet. Which is a shame. Like you said, Bandon is small. A new woman underretirement age is a rarity.” Mollie’s chatter was slow but steady. Just like her hands pressing along both sides of Sierra’sankle, and then flexing it.
Sierra saw through the distraction, but appreciated it nonetheless. “I’m, um, shy. Meeting people isn’t easy for me.” Thenshe winced and hissed when Mollie poked on the sore spot.
“Tender, huh? Sorry.”
Mustering up a weak smile, Sierra said, “Only when you press on it.”
“Well, I’ll avoid the oldest doctor joke in history and stop doing that.” Mollie circled Sierra’s foot both ways, then pulledher sock back up. “You’ve got good motion. Only minor tenderness. You’ll be fine in a few days.”
The last tendril of panic knotting her stomach melted away. She could still work. She could stay here, in Bandon. At the Gorse.
Thank goodness.
Sierra just didn’t have it in her to move again. The past eight months had worn her out. She didn’t crave the new and excitinglike other twenty-three-year-olds might. No, Sierra craved stability. A real home, for the first time in her life. Routineand friends and the familiar.
And if it wasn’t too much to ask, maybe a certain tall, dark, and brooding man to keep her company.
“That’s what I thought.” Sierra leaned in and dropped her voice to a near-whisper. “Carlos and Flynn went way overboard worryingabout this little twist.”
Mollie looked over at Flynn—pointedly—wriggled her brown eyebrows over twinkling green eyes and then whispered back to Sierra.“Having a big strong man fuss over you isn’t the worst thing in the world, is it?”
“Flynn doesn’t fuss. He’s more . . . intense than that.” Even his texts were
