Late Nights (6 page)

For months, he had been ready to come clean about his feelings about her, but he wasn’t a hundred percent positive Sasha was ready to hear what he had to tell her. So, he had kept his thoughts to himself; now he noticed what a huge mistake he made.

The snapping of fingers drew Sterling away from his inner turmoil and back over to his friend. “What?” he demanded, glaring at Holden.

Smirking, Holden took a sip of his beer before answering him. “Are you listening to me or are you daydreaming about your employee again?” Holden questioned him. “Isn’t her name Sasha? How are things going between the two of you? Is she still driving you crazy wearing those short skirts to work, showing off her toned legs?”

“I’m not thinking about Ms. Williams,” Sterling lied. “I don’t know why you would think I would be.”

He didn’t want Holden teasing him about being in love with a woman so much younger than he was, so he thought it was best to keep his buddy in the dark for a little bit longer.

“Shit, man!” Holden laughed. “You’ve wanted to get Sasha into bed since you laid eyes on her. You practically threatened your assistant to hire her or else! Why are you lying to me about it now?

“Haven’t I been the only person at your side throughout all of your bad relationships? You never acted all torn up and distraught about any of those women the way you are about her right now.”

Pushing the half empty bottle of beer away from him on the table, Sterling leaned back in his seat and stretched his long legs out in front of him. He should have known better than to lie to Holden. They had been friends since forever. Holden was the closest thing he had to a brother.

“Okay, I was thinking about Sasha. She has been driving me up the wall. I want her so much, but every time she gets close to me for some reason I push her away. How can I ask her out on a date when I keep blowing it? If I tell her how I feel, she won’t believe me anyway since I keep giving her mixed signals.”

Holden nodded in agreement. “You do have a way of ruining anything good that comes into your life by reacting too quickly. Don’t do this with Sasha,” his friend warned.

“Why can’t you just enjoy each moment you are around her? Have you even decided when you’re going to ask her out on a real date? You can’t keep asking her to work late so you’ll get the extra time with her.”

“I don’t know,” he groaned, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m having a problem figuring out how to do it.”

His best friend’s eyes widened from disbelief as he leaned forward on the couch and rested his elbows on his knees. “You have to be kidding me,” he uttered. “You’ve never had a problem getting a date in all of the years I have known you. What is wrong with you now? It should be a breeze for you to ask someone like Sasha out to dinner.”

He wished it was that easy with Sasha.

“What if I’m wrong and she isn’t the woman for me?” Sterling worried that he might be attracted to Sasha for all of the wrong reasons. “I might be drawn to her because she’s different.”

“You haven’t thought about dating another woman since you learned her name. Sasha is the woman you want, so why don’t you go after her? I mean, she isn’t my type, but she’s perfect for you.”

What was his friend talking about? Holden didn’t know much about Sasha, but only what he had told him.

“What makes you think Sasha is the right woman for me? You barely know her.”

Sterling watched and waited as Holden began clearing the table of poker chips and cards and placed them back into their case.

God, he hated when Holden contemplated a question. For once, he only wanted an answer, not a well-thought out lecture about his life.

“Sterling, you haven’t been out with a woman since Sasha Williams started working for you. You constantly bring her up in our conversations. You want her, so why aren’t you going after her? If she isn’t the woman for you then who is?”

He was fed up with his buddy giving him all of this advice. Why did Holden think he had any right to be his relationship expert?

“Why are you being such a know-it-all tonight?” he snapped back.

“I’m just saying you used to love going out on double dates with me until Ms. Williams got hired by your company. What are you going to do about your non-existent love life? Hell, let’s be honest, your non-existent sex life, too?”

“What I do or don’t do isn’t really any of your business,” Sterling answered, glaring at Holden. “Have you ever thought I might be tired of playing the field? I might be ready to settle down with a good woman. You’re too busy trying to find the flavor of the month to know how it feels to really be interested in a woman for more than a good body and a killer face.”

Holden grabbed his poker case off the floor and stood up. “I can’t disagree with you. Everything you told me has a valid point, but this is how I want to live
my
life at the moment. If you’re tired of going to the clubs and on double dates with me, then man up and ask Sasha out.

“All she can tell you is no, but if she is the complete package you praise her to be you better hurry up before some other guy beats you to it.” Turning on his heel, his buddy went towards the front door.

Holden stopped in the doorway and glanced back at him. “Sterling, we have been friends
way
too long for me not to know when you truly want something. Sasha is the woman you can’t get off your mind, so make her yours,” he said, then closed the door behind him.

Chapter Eight

Hours after Holden left their uneventful poker game, Sterling sat alone in his dark study nursing a brandy and Coke. His mind kept replaying what his friend had told him about his fascination for Sasha, and he hated to admit Holden was absolutely right.

Since Sasha came into his life, it seemed like his whole world changed for the better. It quickly went from unexciting and lackluster to filled with a variety of colors. It was like his mind and body was awakening to new and greater possibilities.

Sasha helped him create excellence at Comforts Sleep Company with her brilliant thoughts and upbeat personality. Sasha constantly separated the chaos from his day without even trying.

He almost allowed his grandfather’s legacy to go bankrupt because of his foolish, wounded pride. Now that he was older and had lived life a little more, Sterling understood how much precious time he had wasted allowing his past to have so much power over him. He exhausted too much of his energy trying to get back at his father. He could have used all of his confined resentment for something totally different and truly more productive.

Sterling recognized a lot of his biggest mistakes because of Sasha. She probably could help him grasp so much more from his life if he stopped shoving her away anytime she got too close to him.

He wasn’t going to waste another moment. He was going to take Holden’s advice. He wanted Sasha so badly his body ached from the desire to have her in his life and hopefully his bed.

There wasn’t a doubt in his mind she cared about him because she showed it every time she came to work. Sterling had lost count how many times Sasha had worked late just to help him put the finishing touches on the showroom, despite the fact it wasn’t even her job. She could have left and had him doing it alone until the night crew showed up, but she hadn’t.

Why couldn’t he have seen sooner what a diamond he had in Sasha?

Now, all Sterling needed to do was hope Sasha accepted his apology for being an asshole, so they could move forward with the relationship he sensed they both wanted and craved.

Setting his drink down on the table next to his chair, Sterling picked up the black cordless phone off the stand and quickly dialed Sasha’s phone number before he changed his mind. He would have to make the first move since she wasn’t about to approach him again.

He was man enough to admit that he had done something wrong and he hoped that she would listen to him. He couldn’t keep shoving his attraction for Sasha away. He was going to jump in with both feet and see what would happen if they got involved.

The phone rang several times and Sterling was about to give up hope Sasha might answer it until her sweet and familiar voice finally spoke to him.

“Hello.”

His heart skipped at beat at the sound. “Hello, Sasha, I was hoping you would be at home. We need to talk,” he blurted, telling her the first thing that came into his head.

“Mr. Hamilton, why are you calling me?” Sasha asked, surprised. “Is there something wrong at work?”

Of course, Sasha would think he was calling her about work. He never called her about anything else.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with at work. I’m calling to see if you would like to have a drink with me tonight? I know it’s very short notice, but are you free?” Sterling held his breath while he waited for an answer.

Sasha’s pause was so long that Sterling thought she had hung up on him, and he couldn’t blame her if she did. He might have ruined something very special forming between them.

“Are you asking me out on a date?” Sasha asked, clearly taken back judging from the sound of her voice.

Had it really been so long since he asked a woman out on a date that Sasha didn’t know what he was doing? He needed to get his act together in a hurry if he planned on romancing Sasha the way he wanted to do it.

“Yes, I’m asking you out on a date. So, if you can give me about forty-five minutes I’ll be at your house.”

Sterling couldn’t believe how well this was going. Sasha wasn’t still mad at him about the incident at work. He would finally be able to tell her how he felt. They could start seeing each other outside the workplace.

“Mr. Hamilton, I’m sorry. I can’t have a drink with you,” Sasha said, shocking him. “I’m not the kind of woman you can call this late at night and think I’ll drop everything because you want me to do it. I need to go. I’ll see you at work next week.” The phone call ended with a click in his ear.

Sterling glanced at the phone in his hand and then slammed it back down into its base. FUCK! What in the hell was he going to do now? Sasha was still pissed at him and he wasn’t clear how he was going to fix this mess he had made for himself.

Without a doubt, Sasha was going to avoid him as much as she could now. But the one thing Sasha didn’t know about him was once he got his mind set on something or someone he wouldn’t give up until he got what he wanted.

She better be prepared for him to turn on the charm, because she was in his sights and nothing was going to stand in his way. She was interested in him once and he could make it happen again for him. All he needed was the right idea and plenty of time.

Chapter Nine

“Will you go in the back and bring some fresh flowers for the entranceway?” Sasha asked the bellboy, handing him the vase filled with dead roses. “I think Tracie should be finished working on some new arrangements.”

“Yes, Ms. Williams,” he replied and then turned toward the kitchen.

She had been working close to sixteen hours straight. She wanted to make sure everything looked flawless at
Luxury.
She felt like she had neglected her duties here because of her infatuation with Sterling, but that part of her life was over. Her focus was redirected on making sure everything was taken care of while Rachelle was away celebrating being a married woman.

Being a perfectionist came out in spades when it came to running their family business. She truly wanted this place to become the best it could be. She was going to do everything in her power to make it happen. Sasha didn’t doubt if she and her sisters worked hard enough they could get all their dreams for this inn accomplished.

Walking around the lobby area, Sasha checked all of the important details, making sure nothing was out of place. She had to keep herself busy to stop her mind from wandering back to Sterling’s shocking phone call last night.

Hearing his deep, sensual voice had thrown her off guard so badly, it had momentarily made her speechless, but she quickly regained her composure and focused on what he was asking her. She wasn’t interested in a thing he wanted to tell her over drinks.

Honestly, she was surprised to hear from Sterling after the way she blew past him after work. She hadn’t even bothered to see if he needed anything else from her before she gathered her belongings and left, not even turning around when he had called her name. Yeah, it might have been a bit childish and immature on her part, but every woman had a right to revert back to that once in her adult life.

Truthfully their relationship hadn’t grown past the getting to know you stage. It wasn’t like she and Sterling spent a lot of time building a special connection or anything that resembled a couple falling in love. It was better she knew now how he felt instead of finding out later after she invested more time in him.

Nope, Sasha understood where she stood with Sterling and she was going to quit working for him. She was getting older and she couldn’t waste any more time. She was ready to settle down and start having kids. Rachelle had found the man of her dreams and she was going to do the same thing.

It just wouldn’t be Mr. Sterling Hamilton.

Sasha had only become interested in him because she felt an unbelievably intense connection. Of course, when it seemed like Sterling was getting over the stress of rebuilding his father’s deteriorating business, he started acting differently towards her.

For several months the idea of getting more hands-on with
Luxury
had been running through her head. Why should she stand to the side and let Rachelle have all the fun watching the family business grow?

Rachelle was forever teasing her about her issues, with everything having its own certain place, but she couldn’t help it. If something was out of place, or was broken, then she would make it right. It didn’t matter if it was her house, office, or either one of her jobs.

On the other hand, Genise found fault with her neatness and didn’t have a problem telling her about it. Her baby sister thought her necessity to have everything in order without any mess was part of her being hard to please, and not wanting to see things another person’s way, but it wasn’t true.