Page 25 of Falling for Sierra
“Hey, I was hoping to hear from you tonight. How was your day?” Sierra’s bright tone made Blake feel even worse for what he had to tell her.
“Honestly? Today sucked and as much as I hate to tell you, tomorrow’s going to suck too. I’ve had a couple things fall apart here and I’m not going to be able to make it this weekend.” Blake rubbed the ache in his chest and looked up from his phone to stare out the window of the town car at the passing lights of the city.
He'd been looking forward to getting back to Sierra, and Hawthorne, and now that wasn’t a possibility, at least not when he’d planned. It hurt, more than it should.
Barely forty-eight hours since he’d left Sierra, and his hands itched to touch her. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the last two nights because he had missed the warm weight of her in his arms. He hoped tonight would be better, but with the number of things he still had to read, investigate, and figure out before the emergency meeting he’d called tomorrow morning, he might not even make it to bed tonight.
“I’m sorry you had such a miserable day. I’m even more sorry you can’t make it this weekend. I have a showing scheduled for Saturday afternoon or I’d offer to come down there.”
“It’s just as well that you’re busy. I don’t know how much time I’ll get free.” He gave in and let the sigh he’d been holding back escape. “I’m on my way to my apartment now, but I don’t know how much sleep I’ll get tonight. It’s a mess.”
“I’m sorry.” She sounded as disappointed as he felt.
“It’s nothing you did, there’s no reason for you to be sorry.”
“I can be sorry you’re having to deal with this, even if I’m not the cause of it. I am sorry that you can’t come this weekend. I’ll miss you.”
Her voice shook in a way that told him she was fighting tears again. He didn’t like that he’d made her cry, but knew there was no point in telling her not to.
“I’ll miss you too.” He shook his head as Jay pulled up in front of his building. “Are you taking Monday and Tuesday off again this week?”
“No, Sunday and Monday this week. I could come down then. I’ll get a hotel room and spend whatever time you have with you.”
“I appreciate the offer but let’s not plan on that right now.” He slid out of the car and nodded to Jay. “Just a moment,” he said to Sierra, then met Jay’s gaze. “I’ll need you at seven fifteen tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.” Jay closed the car door as Blake walked into the building, then went back around, got in and drove away.
“All right, I’m back. I just had to let my driver know when to pick me up tomorrow. What was I saying?”
“You don’t want me to come to see you on my days off.”
“That’s right. And that’s not exactly what I mean. I would love to see you. I’d love to have you here with me every day. I don’t want you to come all this way for only a few minutes and right now, I don’t know when I’m going to have more than enough time for a quick shower and cat nap before I need to answer the next call or put out another fire. I’m hoping I can get things under control enough so I can make it up there on Sunday.”
“You don’t mind making the trip up here, but you don’t want me to come down there?” Sierra’s voice told him something about that hurt her feelings.
Blake sighed as he stepped into the elevator and hit the button for his penthouse.
“It’s not that I don’t want you down here. I was just thinking it will take you between five and six hours each way to come down here, I make the trip up there in under two. It’s easier for me to come to you, at least until I can get things set up so I can work from there. Once I can get a good base set up there, I’ll have to come down here far less often. I’m looking forward to that.”
“I was going to tell you. The owner’s accepted your offer as is. No counter. I’ve started the process, and will have everything ready to sign all the paperwork sometime next week.”
“That’s good. I’ll have Spencer find a mover to get the stuff I’m going to take from here and get it moved. I’ll worry about the rest when I have a little more time.” The elevator doors opened into the small vestibule that kept people from having instant access to his penthouse. He unlocked the door and let himself in.
“You spoke to your driver a few minutes ago. You’ve got to be in your apartment by now.”
“I am. I just stepped inside.”
“Then I’ll let you go. You said you’ve got work to do and I don’t want to hold you up. You need to sleep sometime, and my keeping you on the phone is keeping you from getting things done so you can get even a little sleep tonight. I want to say sleep well, but since you might not get time, I’ll tell you good luck with whatever the issue is, and I hope you can get it resolved soon.”
“I hope so too. I’d love to get it wrapped up quickly so I can come up Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning.”
“I’d like that too. I’ll talk to you soon.” Sierra seemed to hesitate, as if there was something more she wanted to say but wasn’t sure if she should, then the line disconnected.
Blake wandered over to the glass wall filling one wall of his living room and looked out over the lights of Denver for a moment before turning away, setting his bag on one barstool, and pulling out his computer. He had a lot to get done and he might as well get started.
CHAPTER 19
Sierra disconnected the call from Blake and stared out her office window, seeing but not registering the lights of the town scattered around. If it had been an hour earlier, she would have been able to see snowcapped mountains in the distance. It was something that usually brought her at least a small measure of comfort, but tonight she couldn’t get past her disappointment.