Page 29 of Falling for Sierra

“Blake, babe.” Sierra kept her voice low when she spoke, not wanting to startle him.

He didn’t move, so she tried again, a little louder.

“Blake, come on, wake up. That can’t be comfortable.”

This time he began to stir. He shifted and stretched, making Sierra worry he would tip the chair over, then opened his eyes.

“Good morning.” He grinned at her.

How had she managed to fall for a morning person? Someone this cheerful in the morning was irritating, but somehow, she found herself smiling back.

“What time is it?”

“A little after nine-thirty How long have you been here?”

“Not quite half an hour.” He pushed the footrest part of the chair down as he sat up. He’d planned to leave at seven but had woken early and had gotten lucky that the pilot had some of the same ready early issues that he did. They’d been able to leave much earlier than he’d planned. “How did you sleep?”

Sierra’s face heated as she remembered the call from last night again. Was that why he was here? Could there be any other reason?

“Hard. But you couldn’t have slept much, or well in that chair. Come on in and have some coffee. I’ll see if I have anything we can have for breakfast.” She turned and went inside, sounds of him following letting her know she didn’t need to say it again.

CHAPTER 22

Blake followed Sierra into the house and into the kitchen. He’d spent enough time here to know where the coffee stuff was kept and that she wouldn’t mind him fixing himself a cup.

Once his coffee was ready, he went to one of the stools on the far side of the bar to watch her work. She didn’t want people in her way, and he enjoyed watching her move around the room, reaching without looking and being completely at ease.

“What made you come up so early?” she asked, not looking up from where she mixed pancakes in one bowl and tended the bacon she’d started frying in a skillet.

He shook his head and watched, not daring to say anything about her make-up smeared face or her wild hair. She would freak out if he reminded her of them, but he found them endearing, especially after their late-night call.

“I worked late last night trying to get everything done so I could come spend time with you. Then you called.” He paused, watching the color creep up her neck and fill her face. That told him as much as anything she remembered their call last night and what she’d said. “I thought it sounded like such a good idea I’d come up and we can do it… Then tomorrow I’ll take you to Missouri to meet my folks.” He left his mug on the counter as he stood and went around until he stood behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist as he spoke softly against her ear. “I want to introduce them to the woman I’ve fallen in love with.” He paused for just a moment, listening to the way her breath caught in her throat and watching as her hands froze.

Sierra spun in his arms, staring up at him with wide eyes.

“I’m sure they’ll love her as much as I do.”

“Really?” Happiness shown in her eyes.

“Really.”

“But what about the house? That’s set to close in a few days, if you still want it.”

“I want it. We’re going to need to live somewhere. Didn’t you notice I chose your favorite?”

“How did you know?” She stared up at him with wide eyes.

“You light up whenever you talk about it. You like showing people the possibilities, what they can do with space, how they can make it theirs. I could see that as we looked, but with that one, you were different. The way you talked about it told me you’d been dreaming about what you could do with that space. How you would do things if it were yours.”

Sierra threw her arms around his neck, stretched up on tip toe and kissed him. Blake reveled in her kiss.

There, in Sierra’s arms, he found something he hadn’t even realized was missing. But now that he knew what it was, there was no way he’d let it slip away now.

After a moment, Blake broke the kiss and stared down at her for a moment.

“What are you thinking?”

“I love you.” Her grin spread warmth through him, and he knew no elaborate planning would make for a better moment. He reached into his pocket, dropped to one knee and showed her the box he’d stowed there before getting on the helicopter that morning.