Late Nights (11 page)

Once they had finished their dessert, on a whim, he suggested they go for a walk instead of him taking her straight back home and Sasha had instantly agreed.

During their walk together, it suddenly hit him Sasha provided him with sustenance he wasn’t aware he lacked….love. In all of his forty-three years, he couldn’t ever recall a moment being so perfect in his life.

Without even thinking about it, he reached for Sasha’s hand and she had taken it. Her soft fingers felt so good against his during their walk. She even opened up to him more, telling him her favorite memories for her childhood with her sisters.

Hearing about how close knit Sasha’s family was made a tiny part of him long for something in his own past. Sasha, along with her bubbly personality, could give him everything now that unfortunately he missed out on growing up as a kid. After tonight he no longer doubted he might be lucky enough to have Sasha in his life permanently.

The emotional support, the tender affection he secretly craved most of his adult life could be found with Sasha if he just got past the apprehension she still was feeling towards him.

If that stupid misunderstanding hadn’t happened several days ago because of his knee jerk reaction, he could have his woman wrapped up in his arms right now, but he was all alone in his huge bed thinking about her instead.

Why didn’t he think things out better before he acted on instinct?

For a split second, the idea of calling Sasha crossed his mind, but Sterling decided not to do it. She was probably asleep since she was scheduled to be at work early tomorrow morning.

How was he going to keep his hands off Sasha when they were in the same room? Before, he only dreamt about what it would be like to kiss, touch, and hold her, but now he knew how good her body felt against his. How could he keep his hands to himself all day at work?

Hell! He could still taste her on his lips.

For months and months, Sasha’s killer body, sweet smile, and alluring scent had given him countless hard-ons, leading to one cold shower after another, along with sleepless nights guessing how it would be to have her in his bed. After their explosive kiss at her front door, he made a vow to himself right then. He was going to do everything he could to put a ring on Sasha’s finger and make her his wife.

Chapter Eighteen

Early the next morning, Sasha stood beside Sterling’s desk, trying to find the file on the new employee she had given him last week. She needed to check his references again because something wasn’t adding up with him. He wasn’t acting like the person who presented himself in the interview.

He went through the orientation two weeks ago with flying colors, but now he wasn’t doing anything right. She had to make sure he hadn’t lied about anything in his past and wasn’t completely honest with them. She would inform Sterling and let him handle the next cause of action involving Jeremy.

It was part of her job to make sure all the newly hired employees followed the rules until their ninety-day probation ended. But today she was having a hard time getting any crucial work accomplished because her mind was still on her date with Sterling.

Usually she had a list of things to go over with Sterling at least one a week, but she wasn’t at the top of her game this morning. None of that was going to happen if she didn’t get her head on straight.

God, she couldn’t be this lovesick after only one date with him.

She had gotten into a lonely and empty bed last night, thinking about Sterling’s hot kisses. She might have thought she made the wrong decision about sending him home, but she quickly got over it and forced her mind to think about something else.

Yes, she had actually sent a gorgeous guy home instead of taking him to her bedroom. But her career came first and if she wasn’t able to do what he hired her to do, what would keep Sterling from getting rid of her and hiring someone else in her place?

“I need to get busy and get my mind off of him,” Sasha whispered, searching Sterling’s desk again for the missing file.

“I hope you are talking about me and not another man,” a deep male voice teased by her ear just before a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist.

Sasha jumped and then glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes connected with Sterling’s blue ones and he winked at her. “Good morning, beautiful.”

“God, you scared the hell out of me. I didn’t even know you were here yet,” she said, spinning about in his arms.

“I decided to come in early because I was hoping you would already be here. I wanted to get some extra alone time with you,” Sterling told her. “I had gone by your office first, but it was empty so I came here.

“Imagine the surprise I got when I opened the door and found you bent over my desk. I got all kinds of wicked ideas in my head. Do you want to act any of them out?” he asked, then planted a kiss on her neck.

Sasha felt a tad bit uncomfortable with Sterling touching her so freely at work, even with his office door closed. What if another employee opened the door without knocking first? What would she have to say for herself? All of the employees knew that Sterling had strict rules about employees
not
dating each other and they were definitely breaking them.

“Maybe you shouldn’t touch me like that when we are at work,” Sasha suggested, moving a couple of steps back from him. “I don’t want the other employees gossiping about me getting special treatment if they see us like this.”

Smiling at her, Sterling brushed the back of his hand down her cheek. “Baby, you are special to me. I don’t care if the other employees see me showing you attention.”

“Sterling─”

“However, I understand your concerns,” he said, cutting her off, “and I’ll try my best to keep my hands to myself while we are at work. But once you’re off the clock, I’m not going to pretend that I don’t find you very attractive.” Sterling took a step back from her, but he was still close enough that she could feel his body heat.

“Since we’re the only two people working today, how about we get some breakfast at the diner a few blocks from here?” he suggested.

Frowning, Sasha stared at Sterling
.
“Why are we the only two working today? It isn’t a holiday. Saturdays are usually your busiest day of the week. There is no way you would close the store today.”

“I left a note on the time clock yesterday after you left work, telling everyone to take today off because Monday was a holiday. I wanted them to spend some extra time with their families. I thought this would give us some time alone. That’s why I was coming on to you a few minutes ago. I knew no one was going to interrupt us.”

Sasha didn’t know what to think about Sterling giving everyone the day off. She should have been told about this. She could have worked the extra hours at
Luxury
, getting everything ready for Rachelle’s return in a few days.

“You should have told me about this,” she said. “I mean, it would have been nice to at least know about it.”

Wrapping his hand around her arm, Sterling gently pulled her back against him. “Why don’t we stop talking about work? We have something else more important to discuss, don’t you think?”

“What is it you think we need to talk about?”

“I loved the time we spent together last night. Didn’t you? I was up most of the night because I couldn’t sleep. All I could think about was our kiss outside on your porch. I have to be honest, I was very disappointed you didn’t invite in me for a nightcap.”

“Yes, I had a wonderful time last night, but I didn’t make it a secret. I told you more than once how much I loved our date.”

“Since we are on the same page, how about we do something special this weekend? I know we are in getting to know you stage of our relationship, but we haven’t had any time alone. I really want to do that with you.”

“We have only been on one date. Are you sure we’re at the stage of going away together?” Sasha questioned, surprised by Sterling’s suggestion.

“I can’t help it. I feel like we need to make up for all of the time we missed out with each other because of so many misunderstandings. Honey, can you really blame me? When I see what I want I grab it with both hands.”

Sterling’s endearment threw Sasha for a minute. It was the first time he had called her anything but her name. She couldn’t get over how his idea seemed totally crazy and wild. If she agreed to go away with him, it would be so out of her character.

Did she want to take such a huge jump this soon?

“Hmmm…I’m not quite sure about going away with you. How about we do something else? I would love to spend more time with you.”

A mischievous look came into Sterling’s eyes and Sasha wasn’t too sure if she liked or not. “Alright, I’ll drop the idea about the trip, but I’ll think of something else we both can agree on. I’m not giving up on us getting more alone time. So, have you decided if you’re still going to give that seminar to the employees? I heard some of them talking about it in the break room last week.”

New and unexpected warmth surged through her at how Sterling hadn’t pressured her into going away with him. He proved how much he wanted more than just sex from her.

“I’m still not sure what I want to cover yet, but I’ll have some suggestions for you by the middle of next week.”

“Great. I know whatever you have in mind will be fine. But, I guess we can’t have any fun at work today. I was really hoping we might make out in my office since the closed sign is hanging on the door. We could find a place to ourselves and have some fun,” Sterling said, stepping back from her. “However, I can tell your mind is strictly on business instead of play.”

“Oh, I want to play with you a lot,” she flirted back. “Just not at work. I would like a little more privacy.”

“Baby, we can leave here and go back to my place for all the privacy in the world.” His voice, deep and sensual, sent a ripple of awareness through her.

“Will you stop?” Sasha laughed as she walked past Sterling, than gasped when he wrapped his hand around her upper arm.

“How can I stop when I’m in the presence of the most stunning woman in the world? But I’ll wait until I get you out of the office,” he said, letting go of her arm. “Since you aren’t ready to tell me your ideas how about I tell you what I’ve been thinking.”

As much as Sasha wanted to laugh at Sterling’s line, the silliness of it made her smile instead. He was the only guy she knew who would say those words to her with a straight face.

“Okay, I’m ready to hear what you have,” she answered.

“Let’s take a seat over there at the table in the corner and I can tell you what I have been mulling over in my head.” Spinning around, Sasha headed in the direction of the table and took a seat. “I took over my family business recently and since then I’ve come to realize how much care and commitment Comforts Sleep Company puts into their products. Every single customer gets the finest in design, durability, and value. Everything is made with the highest quality materials, we offer comparable prices of standard size bedding along with customer bedding for special needs mattresses, and most of all it’s made in the USA.”

“You’re right. I’ve noticed the excellent feedback on the website I go there. I seldom see consumer complaints anymore,” Sasha agreed. “For a while there, I think we were getting about at least eight a month.”

“Honestly, I think I might have seen ten grievances some days on our feedback link,” he admitted. “I was about at the end of my rope until I started working on pleasing our clientele more.”

“Sterling, I know all of this already,” Sasha cut in, wondering where he was going with this. It really didn’t have anything to do with her job description, so she was getting a little confused.

“I know, but what I was thinking is we could have a buy one and get another at fifty percent off sale for the remainder of the month for all of our customers. I thought it might be nice way to thank them for staying with my company through the revolving doors of managers that have passed through here. What do you think? Is it a good idea or not?”

Leaning forward, Sasha gave Sterling a quick kiss on the mouth and then moved back. “I think this is a great idea. I don’t know how you thought of it, but I love everything about it.”

Sterling winked at her. “Wonderful, I’ll ask my friend Holden to design some flyers. After they are finished, I’ll check and see if the newspaper will place some inside the Sunday paper to draw more customers to the sale. In addition, tonight I’ll work on getting a link added to the website so our regular online customers will find out about it as well.”

“Fantastic ideas,” she said. “If you give me some, I will take them to
Luxury
and see about putting some at the front desk for you. I want to help you out anyway I can.”

“God, you are just too good. I will make sure that I never do anything to lose you. I want you in my life for a very long time.”

She ran her finger over the back of his hand. “If you treat me with respect you will
never
have to worry about me going anywhere, ever.”

Sterling was so unaware how much his words were turning her on. Absolutely, the sexiest thing he could do was take care of her every emotional need by making her feel special. Way before trying to seduce her into his bedroom.

“Thanks for that tiny bit of insight. I will make a note to never disrespect you,” he said right before he captured her mouth with his.

Chapter Nineteen

Hawaii…

“Baby, tell me again why you want to cut our honeymoon short and go back home,” Cash complained, kissing the back of his new wife’s neck. “I’m not ready to share you with your family yet.”

Spinning around in her husband’s arms, Rachelle smiled at him. She loved the way he still wanted to keep her to himself, but it was time for her to go back home. She needed to know what was going on with her sisters. She hoped they had been staying out of trouble, but there was no telling what they might have been up to while she was on her fantastic honeymoon with her gorgeous husband.