Chapter Three
Sienna
I pace across the white and gold parlor floor as the scent of eucalyptus attempts to soothe me. It’s not working.
I spent all night making lists for lists that needed lists. In fact, I passed out on a pile of lists and forgot to set an alarm. Thankfully, my body woke me up on time.Almost on time. I was a few minutes behind, but I still had time to curl my hair and find the perfect dress for today’s date.
No, not a date.Today’s a business meeting. A professional meeting between two people who are conducting business.
God, help me with this.
I hear the deep rumbling of his motorcycle before I see him. He’s so handsome. I’m not usually attracted to older men, but Tennessee is different. He’s tall and hulking, with huge muscles, and he’s way more mature than guys my age.
Plus, how does he make basic blue jeans and a fitted black T-shirt look so impossibly good? He’s hot without trying. I swear a grizzly would run in the opposite direction after one quick blink.
The door pushes open, and he smiles and nods. “Sorry I’m a minute late. I got held up by a few deer on the mountain.”
I glance down at the clock. It’s just one minute past eight, though I lean into the mistake to confess my own discretions.“No worries. I got overwhelmed last night, slept terribly, and forgot to grab the coffee this morning.”
“Oh!” He straightens and grins. “Let’s take a walk then. I don’t know about you, but I need a jolt in the morning to get me going. My treat.”
I would let this man treat me to all kinds of things. At least that’s what every dream I had last night was telling me.
I almost can’t look him in the eye this morning after all the filthy things I was doing to him with my eyes closed, but I make do…barely.“Yeah, coffee sounds good, but I’ll get it. You’re helping me, after all, for extremely low pay, given the hazardous working conditions.”
“Hazardous working conditions?” He laughs. “Shit. What the hell did I sign up for?”
“Misery.” I grin, stepping out into the sun-drenched street with him. “Absolute misery.”
We walk side by side, our bare arms brushing against one another as we pace toward the coffee shop. I try to focus on anything else in the street, like the early morning shop owners setting up for the day, the way the sun lifts up above the mountains in the distance, the smell of pastries that drifts into the street from the bakery, but my mind keeps getting stuck on the massive man standing beside me.
I feel so small. At five foot eight, I never feel this small.
“So, why do you call yourself Tennessee? Is that your real name?”
He grins. “No, real name is Tenson. No one’s intimidated by a Tenson. It’s kind of dorky, but it’s a family name.”
“And people are intimidated by a Tennessee?”
“Nah,” he chuckles, “probably not, but my buddies started calling me that as a play on words back in the day and it stuck. You always go by Sienna?”
“Yeah,” I grin, “no one’s ever called me anything else, though I guess I could start calling myself Sedona or something.”
“There’s that smart ass I like so much.” He bumps my elbow playfully. “You like having a shop here on Main? It’s pretty quaint.”
“Yeah, it’s amazing. Rugged Mountain has the best people!” I point up to the street sign that intersects before us. “Like these petunias, the town puts so much effort into making everything gorgeous. What about you? You like it out here?”
He clears his throat as we walk, and I can’t help but feel like I’m with the biggest, baddest guy around. Everyone looks at him. Some like they want him, others like they want to be him. “Ya know, I never thought the mountains would be my thing, but it’s been surprisingly great. Still getting used to the wildlife, but taking the bike out for a ride has a whole new meaning now.”
“Yeah? What’s your favorite place?”
A woman passes us by, dragging her gaze up and over Tennessee as though she’s eye fucking him.Damn lady, calm down.
“The lake is pretty great. Can’t remember the name, but it’s the turquoise one with all the wildflowers.”
“That describes about every lake up here, but yeah… it’s one of my favorites too. West Lake has great fishing, if you’re into that.”
“You into fishing?”