might get bored within a week."
I cocked my head to one side. "I doubt that but I'm not opposed to having some fun together."
His smile was wicked. "Just fun? In that case, wanna tell me more about your tattoo?" His eyes dropped to my arm.
I shook my head but smiled a little. The grin on his face fell away when I stated, "But I think it would be for the best if we don't go out in public together."
"I'm sorry, what?" he asked, his brow lowering.
"That didn't come out right," I corrected. "What I mean is Farley is a small town and I know people gossip. Especially about hot single men and who they're dating." His frown disappeared at that statement, but I continued on. "And I don't think it would be good if it got back to Cam or her mom. They can get...carried away."
"Afraid they'll start picking out wedding dresses?" he joked.
My stomach clenched in a knot at his words. Yeah, that definitely wasn't something I was interested in, no matter how hot he was or how good the sex was. My experience with Brian made it clear that I needed to be more careful about how I handled my relationships, no matter how casual I thought they were. I wasn't sure if I was capable of falling in love. So far, in twenty-eight years, it hadn't happened and I doubted it would occur any time soon. That instantaneous "click" that all the romance novels talked about, the moment that someone's heart recognized its other half, had never happened to me. Then again, reality very rarely resembled fiction.
"Sierra?" Ben asked.
I blinked and realized I'd been staring through him rather than at him. "Sorry. My mind wandered off."
His mouth didn't move, but the sparkle in his eyes suggested he was suppressing a smile.
"What did you say?" I asked.
"I have no desire to get a what are your intentions toward my best friend speech from Cam either, so I'm not opposed to keeping things quiet. What do you say?"
"Sounds good to me."
Doesn't every bad idea sound good at the beginning?
6
Did you know that raccoons hiss?
Yeah, I didn't either. I learned the hard way and I nearly peed my pants the first time I heard the sound. Which was when I got home in the wee hours of the morning after my first sex-a-thon with Ben Murphy. He'd offered to let me stay the night, but I insisted on going back to Cam's house.
I knew she'd have a million questions and possibly an accusing stare if she woke up in the morning and I wasn't there.
I tried to get another Uber, but apparently Farley was a sleepy town, which meant that at four in the morning, no one was available. I guess I was right that Marty was the only Uber driver in town. Ben had driven me home without so much as a grumble, which earned him some serious brownie points.
Before I climbed out of his truck, he'd given me his cell phone and asked me to call myself so he'd have my number. I'd done it and saved his digits under the name Fabio, which made him laugh.
"Why Fabio?" he asked.
I hopped out onto the sidewalk. "Because you could be on the cover of a romance novel."
He grinned at me, not the least bit insulted, as I shut the door. His truck stayed at the curb until I was safely inside Cam's house with the door locked behind me. I wandered into the kitchen after he pulled away and noticed that a bag of trash was sitting by the side door where I'd left it. Crap, I'd forgotten to take it out and I didn't want Cam to do it when she got out of bed in the morning.
She was nice enough to let me stay with her. She shouldn't have to clean up after me too.
With a tired sigh, I picked up the bag and carried it outside. As soon as I rounded the corner, I nearly screamed as I came face-to-face with a large shape squatting atop the trashcan. Especially when it stood on its hind legs and hissed at me.
I stumbled backward, tripping over my own feet, and landed on my ass in the grass. The creature jumped off the open trashcan and scurried toward the street. As it exited the shadows I realized it was the biggest fucking raccoon I'd ever seen. It was so fat that its belly practically dragged on the ground as