Accept My Love Sasha

The Williams Sisters Book Two Accept My Love Sasha By Marie Rochelle

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Dedication

This book is for my biggest cheerleader in the world….my mama.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Accept My Love by Marie Rochelle Red Rose™ Publishing Publishing with a touch of Class! ™ The symbol of the Red Rose and Red Rose is a trademark of Red Rose™ Publishing Red Rose™ Publishing Copyright© 2011 Marie Rochelle ISBN: 978-1-4543-0064-9 Cover Artist: Shirley Burnett Editor: Pam Line Editor: Red Rose Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews. Due to copyright laws you cannot trade, sell or give any ebooks away. This is a work of fiction. All references to real places, people, or events are coincidental, and if not coincidental, are used fictitiously. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only. Red Rose™ Publishing www.redrosepublishing.com Forestport, NY 13338 Thank you for purchasing a book from Red Rose™ Publishing where publishing comes with a touch of Class!

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Accept My Love Sasha By Marie Rochelle

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Chapter One

What in the hell was wrong with everyone this morning? Sasha Williams glared at the cell phone in her hand before tossing it into her purse on the bed. She couldn‟t believe her sisters were ignoring her phone calls, so what...if it was a little after six o‟clock in the morning. She knew at least one of them should be out of bed by now. Did they forget how they switched days calling each other and unfortunately today was her day? Out of all of her sisters, Sasha depended on Keyshia to be the one who would always answer her phone calls. Even now, it was hard for her to comprehend that her big sister wasn‟t a single woman anymore, but a married one. Her level-headed sister Keyshia met her new husband Steven Weber as it was like love at first sight for the both of them. Well, that was the only way she could explain their quickie marriage. Truthfully, Keyshia couldn‟t have known her new husband longer than forty-eight hours before she had fallen in love with him. If she believed in magic, she would have thought Steven might have placed a spell on her sister. Once her formerly workaholic sister got the huge diamond wedding ring on her finger, Keyshia instantly stopped checking in and worrying about them. It was

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like her past life and responsibilities never existed when she became „Mrs. Steven Weber‟. So what…Keyshia was on her two week long honeymoon? It didn‟t mean she had to blow off her little sisters. Could her big sister really not spare a few minutes to answer her cell phone for her? Sasha thought. No, was the answer. Now, since Keyshia decided to go on her honeymoon so quickly. She was the one being tossed to the front of the line and being forced to handle more job duties because she was older than Allura and Fawn. At this moment, Sasha felt like she was unfairly being shoved into Keyshia‟s mothering shoes since her older sister was away. Which she hated by the way! All of them should have stepped up and shared the responsibility equally, but there is no way her sisters would do that for her. They were more worried about themselves. Sasha wondered now if this is how Keyshia felt every time she tried to get in contact with them and they wouldn‟t answer the phone because they thought they were too busy. God, Sasha didn‟t even have a clue what Allura and Fawn were doing this morning. She wouldn‟t be able to do her job correctly until she got a hold of them. Because her younger sisters never seemed to be able to handle anything important

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unless they were forced to do it. Sometimes she really hated how selfish they were when it came to the family business. Yes. Allura and Fawn were amazing sisters, but they both had problems with staying focused on their jobs while keeping their competitive streaks to themselves which made them constantly ending up in an argument. Sure, sibling rivalry was okay, but when it came to Allura and Fawn it could go a little over board. Sasha really wished that Keyshia was here instead of away on her honeymoon. She desperately needed someone to confide in and her big sister always gave her the best advice even when she wasn‟t in the mood to listen. Without a doubt, the first words out of Keyshia‟s mouth to her would be stop worrying so much about the small stuff and live her life. But she couldn‟t help it, she was the kind of person who wanted things in order and couldn‟t stop focusing on them until they were „perfect‟. She liked everything to be seamless and in its place because when nothing was cluttered and crazy it seemed to make her day and life run more smoothly. Maybe she was suffering from OCD and didn‟t even know it. Picking up her cell phone out of her purse, Sasha dialed Fawn‟s number again but she still didn‟t get an answer. Forget Fawn. She would try Allura. She quickly dialed her other sister‟s number and got the same result as the last

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time…no answer. Great! They were both ignoring her on purpose! Fine…when either one of them needed something for her. She would give them the same silent treatment too and see how they will like it. Fawn and Allura didn‟t seem to understand that she knew them like the back of her hand. The bond they shared was very tight and she knew when they were up to something. Neither one of them were the type of women to stay in bed late. Both of them were usually up and getting their days started no later than six thirty and now neither one of them wanted to be bothered with her? No, they were trying to push her buttons since Keyshia wasn‟t in town to give them a lecture. Damn it! Sometimes no one knew how hard it was for her to be the oldest out of the triplets. She was the one constantly trying to keep Allura and Fawn out of trouble or fights with each other. Keyshia was blind to how truly blessed she was not to be a part of the unique and sometimes unwanted bond triplets sometime shared. Fine…if her sisters were doing something and didn‟t want to hear her voice. She would stop bothering them. They would call her sooner or later with some kind of problem. They would without a doubt want her help with it and then it

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would be her turn to determine if she thought their call was important enough to take. Leaving her bedroom, Sasha made her way down the long hallway toward the living room. She stopped by the side of the couch and grabbed the garment bag off the arm. The time she wasted trying to contact her siblings had put her in a bad mood, but she didn‟t want to make it worst by being late for work. Sasha knew she had to get her ass in gear, so she wouldn‟t be late because she was scheduled to be on the showroom floor before her gorgeous boss Sterling Hamilton arrived. Sasha prayed nothing went wrong with the new promotion campaign Sterling was marketing for his business. Sterling had been working night and day to get everything ready to make this a huge success. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint him by being not on time the first day it was launched. Tossing the garment bag over her arm, Sasha left the house slamming the front door behind her to make sure it locked automatically after her. On the way to her car, Sasha tried not to fantasize about her handsome boss but it was hard because Sterling was a very hard man to keep off her mind. Honestly, since her first meeting with him. Sterling Hamilton‟s gorgeous face and killer body had made him a permanent resident in her head. She never thought of herself as one of those „types of girls’ who got a crush on their boss until

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Sterling suddenly appeared in her life and as much as she wanted to Sasha couldn‟t stop herself from being fascinated by him. Her attraction to Sterling totally hit her out of the blue because she wasn‟t normally drawn to white men because every single one of her past boyfriends was tall, black and beautiful. Of course, she had jobs in the past and her former male bosses were extremely attractive white men but it never crossed her mind to date any of them. Yet, for some odd reason, Sterling was so completely different from them. She loved being around him any chance she got and when she wasn‟t. It was like a piece of her was gone. She missed hearing his voice, looking into his beautiful eyes and smelling his expensive cologne. Okay! Stop it! Sasha scolded herself. Sterling Hamilton was her employer and nothing else. She wasn‟t going to allow herself to turn into Keyshia and end up falling in love without thinking it through. It didn‟t matter in the least that Sterling made her heart skip a beat every time he strolled into a room wearing suits that molded against his muscular arms and thighs. Unlike Keyshia, she needed more than a hot attraction sizzling between them to make her forget about everything else going on around her. Ultimately, the guy Sasha wanted to spend the rest of her life with had to be

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well-rounded, honest, caring, understanding and have a good job. Yes, the job part might be hard at the moment with the way the economy was, but a woman couldn‟t mark it off her list yet. She didn‟t mind helping her man out, but she wasn‟t about to take care of him. Getting inside the Lexus, Sasha dug out her favorite Janet Jackson CD out of the console, slipped it into the CD player before starting her car and pulling out of her driveway. She allowed her mind to think back to how she started working for Sleep Softly and eventually Sterling Hamilton. Over a year ago was the first time she had been employed by Sterling‟s family owned business Sleep Softly but it was only on a part-time basis. For a short period of time with them she had big dreams of becoming an actress and landing a role in a Will Smith movie. She worked there for only two weeks before she quit and decided to work harder at landing at least one part in a movie or television show. For a while, she had booked a couple of small parts in plays and on television shows and seemed like everything was going fantastic. Until she woke up one day and it hit her like a ton of bricks the acting thing was fun and a little exciting but it truly wasn‟t for her. Sasha finally admitted to herself the not knowing if she got the job or not for days weren‟t for her. She would rather be told no then at the casting call instead of

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coming back for a call back and then not even landing the part just didn‟t sit well with her. It was too much and she wasn‟t fond of it at all. So, the same day she got out of bed and looked through the want-ads for another part-time job and that is when she noticed her old job at Sleep Softly was still there. This time though her employers were looking for a model to promote their beds, bedding and other items on the showroom floor. At first, Sasha had been extremely apprehensive about trying to get rehired at a job she had quit until she noticed the company was now under new management which meant she might actually have a chance. Not once in her entire life had Sasha ever thought of herself as the model material because of her shorter height, but knew she wasn‟t bad looking. So, in the end, she decided to apply for the job. What could it hurt to see how far she might get in the competition? It wasn‟t like she hadn‟t heard the word „no‟ before and surprisingly it hadn‟t killed her. Anyways, Sasha knew that she possessed something special none of the other girls trying out did…the Williams‟ women blood running through her veins. She didn‟t know how to give up without a good fight. The sound of a horn blowing jarred Sasha back from her memories to the present as she started to drive a little faster before she allowed her mind to wander back there. She would never forget how she felt sitting on the hard plastic off-

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white chairs inside a long hallway with seven other attractive females. All of them hoped they would be the one chosen as the spokes model for the reopening on Sleep Softly. All that day her nerves had been on edge as she watched woman after woman get called into the room for the same job she was dying to land. She would have bet her last seven dollars in the bank that none of them needed the money as badly as her. Sasha had felt in her heart the position would fit her personality. In addition, the pay quoted inside the newspaper ad would be just the funds she needed to help Keyshia with pushing Family Affair to the next level. She also remembered specifically how she had made up her mind back then not to mention the job interview to anyone especially Keyshia. Because her older sister was a big believer in a woman reaching her goals through sweat and hard work without using her looks to get anything handed to her. So, if she hadn‟t gotten picked as „the face‟ of Sleep Softly. Keyshia wouldn‟t have anything to lecture her about, but in the end everything turned out in her favor and she got hired for the job. As Sasha made a left hand turn and continued to drive to work a thought crossed her mind that hadn‟t in a very long time. She still wasn‟t quite sure what made the interviewer hire her and not the tall leggy blonde who had been her

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biggest competition during the last round of interviews. She knew the past was the past, but every once in the while the thought did cross her mind that she was the one working at Sleep Softly. Working with Sterling Hamilton was the best job she could ever ask her, she truly didn‟t want to go anywhere else. The long hours didn‟t bother Sasha at all and interacting with the customers was a lot more fulfilling than she thought it would be. She wouldn‟t be making the same amount on commission at another job that she made working with Sterling. The more she got dressed up in her French maid costume and walked around the showroom interacting with the customers, the more she got paid. Honestly, the thought of doing this job for a couple more years didn‟t seem all that bad to her. Sure, there were those rare occasions she ran into some creepy men that stared at her breasts and body like they were undressing her. Even, a hand full of those same jerks whispered subjective things as she walked by them. However, she learned very fast how to ignore the guys who had no class. She shoved them and their unwanted comments to the back of her mind and just went on with her day. Working at Sleep Softly was finally her chance to prove to Keyshia that she could be responsible and hold a job for more than six months. Yes, Keyshia might

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be the head of running their business, but Fawn, Allura and herself had all invested their money into the spa and wanted it to be profitable just as much as Keyshia did. Anytime, she got an extra commission check at work, she would put it towards the business. Just last night she had a new idea about adding a small gift shop to Family Affair. So when out of town visitors stayed there, they could buy t-shirts, hats or other small gifts to take back home with them. Sasha wanted to keep her plans for the family business in her head, but somehow Sterling found a way to sneak back into her mind like usual. When was she going to admit to herself that she saw Sterling as more than her boss and she was dying for him to notice her as a woman and not just his brilliant employee?

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Chapter Two

As much as Sasha tried to there was no denying it and the quicker she realized it the better off she would be in the end. Sterling Hamilton was a very good-looking man with his dark brown hair brushed with a touch of gray at the temples, his light blue eyes, perfect white teeth that would make any dentist want to put him in their toothpaste commercial. With the way her boss looked it was surprising she hadn‟t seen him with a lot of women. Despite the fact, Sasha knew nothing wasn‟t ever going to happen between her and Sterling, secretly; a small part of her was pleased he was single. She wasn‟t too naïve to understand that successful and powerful men like Sterling Hamilton didn‟t date a woman like her who was still trying to make her mark in the world. Sure, Sterling might flirt with her every once in a while but it was never to the point that she would actually take him too seriously. No, he wouldn‟t ever think about dating a curvy girl like her. Besides, he was too smart of a businessman to ever get involved with any of his employees on a personal level. He would definitely stick with the high society

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women who ran around in the same circles as him. However, if Sterling ever considered changing his no dating employees rules at work. She would be the first person standing in line to get a shot at his sexy ass. Some days she would get so caught up staring at his tight butt walking around in his tailored dress slacks that she was sure Sterling could feel her eyes burning a hole through him. Almost an hour and a half later, Sasha finally pulled into the semi-empty parking lot of her job. It was almost time for the night crew to get off from restocking the shelves and fixing the display bed in the huge bay window. Turning off her car, Sasha grabbed the garment bag off the passenger seat along with her purse and as she was about to get out of the car her cell phone rung. She quickly dug through her purse and found it towards the bottom. Checking the caller ID, Sasha frowned at the phone number displayed on the blue screen. Of course, now one of her sisters would want to talk to her when it was time for her clock in for work. Flipping the phone open, Sasha put it up to her ear. “I tried calling you earlier,” she complained, tossing the garment bag back into the passenger seat. “Why didn‟t you pick up then instead of calling me now when I‟m in the parking lot at work? You know how much I hate being late.” “What do you think I was doing at six o‟clock in the morning? Since I‟m not

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scheduled to work at Family Affair until eleven o‟clock?” Fawn asked. “I was asleep. You seem to conveniently forget how much I love getting my eight hours of sleep. Just be glad I woke up to use the bathroom and checked my phone. You might not have gotten a phone call from me until much later in the day.” Rolling her eyes, Sasha swallowed down her initial comment knowing it would only make Fawn hang up on her. God, her baby sister took getting her beauty sleep to a new high sometimes and it was starting to get on her nervous just a tiny bit. Fawn acted way too old sometimes to be so young. “Sorry, I forget about your beloved beauty sleep. I‟ve been trying to get a hold of Keyshia and Allura. Have you talked to either one of them?” Sasha knew it was a slim chance that Fawn had spoken to Keyshia, but maybe Allura would be a different story. “No, I haven‟t heard from Big Sis. You know how Keyshia is now since she married Steven. They‟re probably spending most of their time working on giving us a niece or nephew to love. So, we aren‟t her main focus anymore. “ “I think it was way past time she finally got laid and got a life,” Fawn laughed. “I swear Allura and I thought Keyshia was going to be single forever until Steven came into her life.” “Okay, what about Allura?” Sasha cut in. Maybe she was the only one of her

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sisters who missed having Keyshia around to get advice from when she needed it. “Nope, I think the last time I talked to Allura something was going on at work. You know how Allura can be. Sometimes she wants to do the sisterly thing with us and then sometimes she doesn‟t. What‟s wrong? Is there a reason you wanted to talk this morning?” Sasha didn‟t want to get into all of her personal problems in the parking lot. No, she would invite the girls over for dinner tonight and get her issues out into the open. “Can you come over for dinner tonight? I want to discuss some things about Family Affair with you and Allura. Tonight is the only night that I have free for the rest of the week.” The long pause on the other end of the phone didn‟t go over Sasha‟s head. Fawn hated planned family meetings and the entire family knew it. But this time she wasn‟t going to allow her little sister to make up a silly excuse or flat out lie to get out of this dinner like she usually did. “I‟m not sure I can make it,‟ Fawn finally answered. Enough was enough. Fawn was going to show up tonight at her house and if she didn‟t then maybe her little sister shouldn‟t work at Family Affair anymore. “If you don‟t show up tonight to give your opinion about the new designs

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and additions I want to discuss. Don‟t bother coming to Family Affair for a while” Sasha warned. “The business is supposed to be a family owned business and if you don‟t want to participate why should I consider you a part of the family?” It was past time that she or one of the other sisters put their foot down when it came to Fawn‟s inability to act her age or how she always found ways to avoid giving her opinions about the new ideas, but continuously complained about them after they were completed. “I bet Allura and Keyshia would agree with me on this. So, the choice is yours. I would show up if I was you Fawn,” Sasha warned. She waited for what she knew what was coming. The typical Fawn pouted until she got her way. The pout was it looked like her lower lip was hanging past her chin. She didn‟t even have to see it to know what it looked like. The facial expression was burned into her memory because Fawn made the lip hang famous when they were little kids. Fawn constantly got out of doing things or having any kind of adult responsibility because of that damn sulky look. “Sasha, are you sure it has to be tonight?” Fawn whined. “I already had plans to do something else. Come on, I know you really don‟t need me to be there. I‟ve been working at my second job a lot this week.” “Noah needed help getting everything together for his grand opening of So Delicious in a couple of weeks. Since, Noah finally decided to give me a night off. I

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was going to take it so I could hang out with some friends I haven‟t seen in a while.” Why did I ever think I could count on Fawn for anything important in the first place? Fawn didn‟t possess a responsible bone in her body and never would. Blowing off important things was all her baby sister knew how to do since they were little kids. When it came to her sister‟s main priorities attending parties and going shopping were always at the top of the list and that wasn‟t ever going to change…at least not in this lifetime. “Go ahead and hang out with your friends. Forget about calling Allura too, I‟ll do it during my break at work. At least, I hope that I‟ll able to count on one of my sisters to do the mature thing and show up tonight for dinner.” “Sasha, I‟m─” Sasha disconnected the phone in disgust before Fawn tried to redeem herself with another sorry excuse. At the moment, she had too much going on to get swept up into the world of Fawn. How much more did she have to go through before she got it through her head about her sister? Fawn didn‟t know how to step up when it came to running the business. Each and every day Family Affair grew; it proved how much of a real partnership it was becoming. Instead of a silly hobby or pastime investment, Fawn believed she could do anytime she thought about coming in and getting a

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paycheck. Fawn loved bragging about everything she had going on in her life, but she seldom wanted to do any extra work to make it to the next level. Sasha wanted to be more disappointed with Fawn, but she couldn‟t. Her sister‟s personality hadn‟t changed all that much since they were sixteen years old. So, why should she think Fawn would be any different now at twenty-eight years old? Tossing the phone back into her purse, Sasha grabbed the black garment bag off the passenger seat before getting out of the car. As much as she was dying to call Fawn back and talk things out, she wouldn’t be the one who apologized this time like she always did when her and Fawn got into a disagreement. As far back as she could remember this was the first time in a very long time. She wasn‟t the sister who made the mistake. Fawn was the one and she was going to stay firm until her little sister made the first move to fix the problem.

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Chapter Three

Walking through the parking lot towards the front doors of Sleep Softly, Sasha reluctantly shoved the thoughts of her horrible conversation with Fawn in the back of her mind as her excitement grew about the new promotional campaign starting today. This new launch is what she had been waiting for the past two weeks. She might actually be more keyed up about this grand re-opening than Sterling. After the last two managers remaking the idea failed within six month of each other. This was Sterling‟s last chance at making this new bedding and furniture sale work for his family‟s business. She was crossing her fingers and secretly praying everything went tremendously well today. Because if it didn‟t Sterling needed to make a hard decision about having a liquidation sale on everything in the store. The Hamilton Corporation didn‟t have the best track record with the managers they have hired. The previous two spent more time in the back room talking on the telephone or getting too cozy with certain female employees that they hadn‟t put enough time or energy into making the business into something

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successful or marketable to the public. But since Sterling arrival, he had shown all the employees what a regional manager should be like which meant he fired the old managers and the females they were sleeping with. He was so more professional, organized, creative and sexy, but that was just her humble opinion which could be a little bias since she was constantly dreaming about what Sterling looked like naked. Sterling was definitely more of a hands-on type of guy when it came to the every day running of the business. He was always walking around interacting with people; Sasha doubted that Sterling realized every time he looked into a woman‟s eyes he was making her fall in love or at least in lust with him. When he wasn‟t being a brilliant salesman, Sterling spent the rest of his day and time overseeing how the store was being taken care of by his employees. He was self-directed and always setting new goals for himself, the employees and of course the success of everything else around him. The sound of feet walking behind Sasha drew her attention the closer she got to the front door of the building. In the morning, the parking lot was pretty safe and she never worried about something happening to her. Nevertheless, she knew better than to park her car so far from the entrance, but she had gotten so caught up with talking with Fawn. She didn‟t comprehend how long the walk was until at this moment. Sasha

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tried not to panic as her heart sped up inside her chest making it almost too tight and too hard to breathe. Her fingers tightened around the car keys in her right hand as the sound of the heavy footsteps grew nearer until they felt like they were practically on top of her. “Sasha,” a male voice yelled out to her. “Wait a minute.” Scared out of her wits, Sasha quickened her steps determined not to glance over her shoulder. Why should she? She was almost at the door. It wouldn‟t make any sense for her to stop moving just to see who knew her name. What if it was one of those eerie guys from the store that never could stop eyeing her? Finally reaching her destination, Sasha shoved the key inside the lock and was about to turn it when a hand touched her on the shoulder. “Don‟t touch me!” Sasha screamed as she spun around with her purse raised to defend herself when her eyes locked with Sterling‟s shocked eyes and the surprised expression on his face. “My God, Mr. Hamilton,” Sasha gasped, trying to catch her breath as her heart continued to pound against her ribs out of lingering fear. She never saw Sterling this early in the morning. This was one of the reasons she didn‟t recognize his voice and the other was partly out of fear. “You scared the hell out of me. I know you took ten years off my life. What are you doing out here?”

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“I‟m sorry, Ms. Williams,” Sterling apologized, removing his hand from her shoulder. „I didn‟t mean to frighten you. I thought you heard me calling you. I‟ve been yelling at you for a few minutes, but you never turned around. So, that‟s why I was trying to hurry up to catch you.” Sasha took a step back from Sterling trying not to show her excitement at seeing him. Sterling was so gorgeous that he could be in the pages of GQ, but he was so oblivious at how he drew in the opposite sex. Sterling was so unwavering on making Sleep Softly a success that he sincerely overlooked the female customers flirting when him any chance they got the opportunity. Two weeks ago, she was standing next to a group of females at work and when she overheard them talking about how Sterling was the only reason they made a visit here. They weren‟t interested in buying anything at all, but only wanted to catch a glimpse of him. One time right after she started working for Sterling, she had been unfortunate enough to be around when one of their regular female customers asked Sterling out on a date. However, she quickly found a way to leave before she heard his answer. How could she get on Keyshia for falling in love with Steven? It was like the pot calling the kettle black. She wasn‟t even in Sterling‟s company five minutes

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after their first meeting and she wanted him with a passion she had never felt before in her entire life. Sasha hated to admit it to herself, but she‟s probably worse when it comes to Sterling than Keyshia had been when she was falling in love with Steven. “Mr. Hamilton, I‟m sorry. I didn‟t turn around when you were calling me. I was upset over a fight I just had a few minutes earlier with my sister Fawn,” Sasha answered, staring at Sterling‟s firm lips wondering what it would feel like to kiss him. Sterling looked at her a few minutes before nodding his head. “Fawn, I remember meeting her once when she came by to pick you up for lunch last week,” he said, surprising her. “It‟s amazing how much you look alike, but still so different.” Sasha was astounded and secretly pleased that Sterling acted like he could tell the different between her and Fawn. His people skills must be better than she gave him credit for because it usually took people a very long time to learn them apart. “How can you tell us apart?” Sasha asked, wanting to know if he could really tell the difference. Could this mean Sterling had been playing attention to her without her knowing it? Or could it mean her boss saw something he liked better in Fawn

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instead? God, she hoped that wasn‟t the real explanation Sterling could tell them apart so easily. “Most people are constantly getting me, Fawn and Allura mixed up,” she continued when Sterling didn‟t answer her. She was very aware of how Sterling‟s answer was going to affect her opinion of him. “It‟s really quite easy,” Sterling answered. “You have this gorgeous beauty mark right here on your cheek. Honestly, what man in his right mind wouldn‟t see how this adds to your beauty?” Reaching out, Sterling brushed his calloused thumb over the beauty mark she hated ever since she was a little girl. Several times, she thought about having it removed, but not now after Sterling‟s compliment. “I didn‟t know you had even noticed it,” Sasha whispered, touching the back of Sterling‟s warm hand with her fingers. Sterling glanced at her hand underneath his and then quickly pulled it away like her touch bothered him and his withdrawn was like a bucket of cold water being poured over her feeling. The hurt was instant and quick. “Sorry, I shouldn‟t have touched you like I just did. It was very inappropriate since you‟re my employee,” Sterling apologized, sliding his hands into the front pockets of his tailored slacks. “I hope you know that I didn‟t stop you, so I could

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touch you. It wasn‟t the reason I called out to you earlier.” Sasha tried her best to school her features after hearing Sterling‟s confession to her. Well, if she thought Sterling was harboring any romantic notions about her. She just found out that he wasn‟t. “So, what did you stop me for?” Sasha questioned, trying to keep her sudden hurt out of her voice. She would have time to replay this conversation in her head later when Sterling wasn‟t standing right in front of her. “Was it something important or is it something that can wait until later? I need to get dressed before the customers start showing up early for the sale.” A momentary look of concerned passed over Sterling‟s face before he was able to conceal it. “I was hoping I could talk you into working an extra hour or two tonight. I know its short notice, but I‟m crossing my fingers that you will agree to it.” Was he serious! Did he really think she would tell him yes after what he just confessed to her? Sterling practically snatched his hand away from hers and then apologized for touching her like he had committed one of the seven deadly sins. In spite of his insult and the hard blow to her feelings; in his next breath, her boss actually just asked her to work an extra shift tonight for him. Well, Sterling Hamilton was out of his freaking mind. She wasn‟t even going

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to give his question a second thought. No way in hell! Sasha wasn‟t about to change her plans for Sterling. Sleep Softly was his business not hers. He should be the one working the extra hours not her. If he wanted someone to work an extra shift so badly then he could call in another employee. However, the saddest part is that before Sterling‟s earlier comments. Sasha knew she would have literally jumped at the chance to spend any extra time with him…but now. “Sorry, I can‟t. I already have dinner plans. I need to leave on time or I‟ll end up being late.” Spinning away from Sterling, Sasha unlocked the front door and then went inside leaving him on the other side of the glass door staring after her.

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Chapter Four

Standing in the back of the showroom by his office door, Sterling Hamilton watched Sasha Williams wear the hell out of the French maid costume that was part of the campaign for his bedding business. Sasha looked even sexier wearing it in person than in his wet dreams last night. He lost count of how many times he had woken up with his hand wrapped around his aching cock. How did things go so wrong this morning between them? After two cold showers last night, Sterling spent hours wandering around his empty and lonely house. All he could think about how he could get closer to Sasha Williams and then the perfect idea hit. He would ask her to work longer and after her shift was over he would invite her out to a late dinner. He was positive Sasha would jump at the chance to spend the extra time with him, but he had been so wrong. She hadn‟t even given his suggestion time to sink in before she turned him down flat! Sasha had no idea how much she captivated him. From the first moment, he

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laid eyes on her doing the interview process; Sterling knew he only wanted Sasha working for him at Sleep Softly. He hadn‟t planned on being there for the final call backs because his schedule was already full that day, but for some reason he decided to check in with his assistant. It was like something was driving him to be there that day. Since no one knew what he looked like or who he was, it had given him the ability to come out of the office and get a good and long look at the final applicants. At first, he hadn‟t been pleased with any of the women because every last one of them was the typical image of a promotional model. Honestly, he was a step away from telling all of them to get up and leave until Sasha waltzed through the front door wearing her French maid outfit making his breath lodged inside his throat. She lit his fire in a way the other women weren‟t and probably never would be able to no matter how hard they tried. She had looked so fucking unbelievable that he almost told the rest of the girls to go home anyway. Because he would make sure his mystery lady landed the job so it wouldn‟t have made any sense for the rest of them to stay. However, Sterling didn‟t go with his first instincts instead he eased back into his assistant Charlie‟s office and made it very clear to him that he was only to hire the sexy African American woman sitting on the other side of the door. Thank God none of the other women found out about his last minute

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demands, but why shouldn‟t he have the final decision. Sleep Softly was his company and he only wanted the best working for him. Sterling was also hiding another secret from Sasha and his other employees. After the model interviews and the final woman had gotten hired for the position, he was supposed to hire another manager to take over the re-opening, but not after he laid eyes on Sasha. There was no way he could hire another man to be around her. No, he wasn‟t going back to Vermont without getting to know Sasha better. The first day he laid eyes on Sasha Williams something about her personality drew him making him wanted to explore the possibility of a relationship between them but instead finding ways to tell her what he was thinking. He always found a way to stick his foot in his mouth anytime Sasha was around and ultimately pushing her away from him. Ever since, Sasha started working for him, he tried really hard to fight his growing feelings for her but it was getting more and more difficult with each passing day. She was just so breathtaking which made it hard for him not to find ways to touch her. What surprised him the most was Sasha wasn‟t aware of how he found different ways to be around her at work. Sasha was the most striking and interesting woman he had been around in a very long time.

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Sure, Sasha was a triplet, but the way she moved and carried herself was so distinctive from her sisters. He loved the way she tilted her head to the side when she was thinking about something. Shit. Even the way she moved her hips turned him on more than any other woman ever had or possibly would in his lifetime. One thing Sterling was sure of...he was dying to go out of a date with her. He might actually had a chance getting what he wanted if only he hadn‟t messed up earlier this morning with Sasha when she touched him.. What in the hell had made him jerk away from her like an idiot? There was no telling now what Sasha thought of him. For all he knew, she could be thinking that he didn‟t want her hands on him. He could be planning their date right at the moment instead of wondering if another man was going to get that pleasure. He heard how the men who came here were constantly asking Sasha out on dates. He didn‟t think she ever accepted any of the invitations, but what if he was wrong. Today might be the day Sasha agreed to one of the dates and it would be all his fault if that happened. Damn it! Sterling knew he wouldn‟t be able to pursue Sasha if another man came into the picture. How could Sasha not feel the attraction burning between the two of them? The part of Sasha that turned him on the most was how she was the most

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independent and self-reliant woman he ever had the pleasure to meet. No… He wasn‟t about to allow his earlier mistake to push a wedge between him and Sasha. His cock constantly got hard anytime she was in the room with him and he had to act on it soon or he was going to lose his mind from lust…desire…need. Hell, Sterling wasn‟t sure which one would come first. All he knew for sure was he had to get his hands on Sasha and find a way to have her in his bed and hopefully life after he had apologized for being such an asshole to her. What man wouldn‟t find the package Sasha represented alluring? He loved how she never seemed to have to rely on him about anything. If any problems came up at work, Sasha was excellent at handling the most bossy and extremely picky customers who demanded the best mattress and bedding his business had to offer. Ever since Sterling could remember, he had always been captivated by a woman who had interests and the ability to do things on her own without having him around pointing her in the right direction. Despite the fact Sasha was strong and independent; she still came across like a woman would who be excellent to have as his girlfriend. She had a wonderful sense of humor. His last girlfriend wanted to spend every waking moment with him….like she was his shadow. Peggy could never do anything without him not even get a gallon of milk

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from the grocery and her co-dependent behavior wore very thin within two months of their relationship. Honestly, he couldn‟t get away from her quick enough. Yeah, the sex was fantastic, but it wasn‟t acceptable enough for him to overlook Peggy‟s other short coming and keep her around. He loved being in a relationship and dating, but sometimes he needed time alone and he sensed he could get that with Sasha while still giving her the love and attention she craved. Some days at work, Sterling noticed how Sasha would find ways to take a little time out for herself by going outside for her break. However, today wasn‟t one of those days he craved his own solitude. Sterling wanted to spend his time with her. He hated that Sasha turned down his suggestion of working longer hours tonight, but it also challenged the part of his personality that made him push through the toughest time. Not being a person who easily gave up pushed him to keep pursuing her. Sterling was positive if he got another chance to ask Sasha out of a date that she would agree. He enjoyed when the two of them got a chance to talk about his business or life in general. Sasha had come up with a couple of ideas for Sleep Softly campaign which turned out to be pretty damn good and tremendously helpful to him. While Sasha was out working on the display room floor, she was his eyes and ears when it came to all of the customers‟ likes and dislikes.

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Enticing was the word he would use to describe Sasha. She made him smile at the oddest times of the day and the craziest thing about it was she wasn‟t even aware of it. He got such a relaxing pleasure from the stimulating conversations he shared with his sexy employee. Without even trying, Sasha found different ways to captivate his mind and interests with no sex being involved made him even hotter for her. Sterling wasn‟t against having a long passionate affair with Sasha, yet something told him that she wouldn‟t be into just having HOT mind-blowing sex with him. She would be more interested in a more in-depth and meaningful connection he was currently thinking about. Now, all he had to do was rethink his plan of action and get Sasha to spend some time with him outside of work. But the only problem he was faced with now was finding the easiest way to get his foot out of his mouth. He knew he was in for an uphill battle, but he willingly would do anything he could to get Sasha in his life.

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Chapter Five

Sasha was trying her best to concentrate on answering the customer‟s questions about the half off sale, but it was hard with Sterling standing at the side watching her so intensely. Why did he even care about what she was doing after their disagreement? Since his off handed insult, she had been avoiding Sterling as much as she could today. He couldn‟t sidetrack her or get under her skin at work today because she needed to be on the top of her game to deal with her sisters at dinner tonight. During her lunch break, she finally got Allura on the phone and her sister reluctantly agreed to come over for dinner. However, everyone in the family knew that Allura could and would change her mind at the drop of a hat. Sasha crossed her fingers that Allura would keep her word because she wasn‟t positive about seeing Fawn tonight. She couldn‟t believe how much easier things were for her when she allowed Keyshia to handle all of the problems in the family. She still wasn‟t sure how she got shoved to the front of the line of taking care of Family Affair when Keyshia left for her honeymoon.

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With the added pressure on her shoulders, it meant she couldn‟t focus her time on why Sterling was so opposed to her hands touching his body.

She

thought it was something he wanted from her because in the past, Sterling had acted like he wanted her touch. Hell, she was even starting to sense or at least she thought she was about Sterling wanting her to get to know him better. She was sure his curiosity was there about her. Yet, today he stunned her by coming across like he was a totally different man by his actions. Sterling stimulated her intellectually more than any other guy she had made the unfortunate mistake to date in her past. So many of her loser ex-boyfriends never valued her opinion; most of them didn‟t want her to speak her mind about anything. Then out of nowhere, Sterling Hamilton came into her life and instantly her opinion mattered to him. Sterling actually gave her his undivided attention anytime she had an idea about work. Instead of staring at her body like she was a piece of meat on display, she finally thought she had found a man who might be was fascinated by her mind more than her body. Several of her suggestions about Sleep Softly marketing, Sterling pushed forward past management and they worked out better than she could have imagine in her head.

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His constant interest in her thoughts and opinions made her foolishly think the two of them could work towards something more than a boss and employee relationship, but she had been so wrong. Having Sterling show her attention made her feel important and appreciated because sometimes her sisters blew her off and acted like she didn‟t have any good ideas in her head. Well, not Keyshia, but Fawn and Allura constantly teased about how the things she wanted for Family Affair would never amount to anything. Sometimes, they would even call her a mini-Keyshia. Sure, there were some times that she agreed with Keyshia on certain ideas or plans about the business because Keyshia was blessed with a head for business. Most of the time Allura and Fawn were wrong, but just too stubborn to admit it; nevertheless, that didn‟t give either one of them the right to pick on her anytime they felt the need. Besides Keyshia, Sterling was the only other person she could go to and get a truthful answer whether she wanted to hear it or not. She loved how insightful he was about certain issues. Sterling never held his tongue around her which made him even more endearing in her eyes. But now she wasn‟t looking at him through rose colored glasses anymore and a huge part of her was beginning to think it had been a mistake to think about crossing that boss and employee line with him. He

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shouldn‟t be involved in the personal aspects of her life. How did she ever allow herself to envision there might more going on between her and Sterling? Sure, he was nice enough to answer a few questions for her but that didn‟t constitute a relationship. Sterling Hamilton was only her superior and he would never be anything else. “How‟s everything going?” a deep familiar voice asked. Sasha jumped at the unexpected sound of Sterling‟s voice behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she found Sterling standing in her personal space watching her. Great! What in the hell did he want with her now? She was hoping this would be one of the days Sterling spent more time in his office than out here with her on the showroom room. She was hoping to avoid Sterling for the rest of the day. Or at least have minimum contact with him until it was time for her to leave work, but now she would have to deal with him since he was right here. “I don‟t think you could have asked for a better day. The customers are in love with the sale prices. I swear with the way the bedding and mattress are selling today. I would think you‟re having a Black Friday sale.

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Everything is

turning out better than you could have magined, at least in my opinion it is. You might have a different view about how well things are selling.” Sasha answered, looking away from Sterling back at the customers walking through the showroom. “I have you to thank for that. You were the one who came up with the 15% off and free delivery for the mattress. You‟re an excellent business woman and sales person,” Sterling praised as he walked around her body and stood directly in front of her. Sasha fought down the need to step back from Sterling. He wasn‟t going to sneak his way back into her good graces today with a few empty compliments. No! She wasn‟t going to forget how Sterling acted towards her this morning before the store opened. She couldn‟t let him think he would get off the hook that easily. “I need to get back to work,” Sasha said, easing around Sterling making sure her body didn‟t touch his. “I can‟t let this cute outfit go to waste. We want to have a huge sale today. It won‟t happen if I‟m standing around wasting time and besides you aren‟t paying me to stand here and look cute.” Moving completely away from Sterling, Sasha walked over towards a group of customers who were debating over if they wanted to buy a sleigh bed. She knew if she didn‟t get away from Sterling than she might actually tell him what she thought about him.

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Chapter Six

“Sasha weren‟t you the one who suggested we should have this family dinner tonight to discuss a new project at Family Affair. So, why are you giving us the silent treatment?” Allura asked before taking a bite of her food. “Instead of being here and staring at you across the table, I could have kept my initial plans with my friends and done something a lot more fun than this,” Fawn complained, snatching a breadstick out of the basket in the middle of the table. “What‟s wrong with you anyway? You‟re usually in such a good mood after working with Sterling.” “I don‟t want to talk about Sterling Hamilton,” Sasha snapped. If she never laid eyes on him again it would be just fine with her. She spent too much of her time into a man that didn‟t want her hands anywhere on his body. Why couldn‟t she have seen the truth before Sterling so rudely rejected her this morning? She never thought of herself as a woman who needed a man at her side to feel better about her self-worth. She had always thought of herself as a pretty self-confident woman. Well, it was a good thing for the next two days she would be working at

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Family Affair instead of Sleep Softly or Sterling might end up firing her for insubordination. “Okay. What did your boss do now?” Allura asked, reaching for her iced tea. “I swear it seems like you and Sterling get into some kind of fight every other week. The sexual tension between you and Sterling is about to eat everyone else up around you. When are the two of you going to take a leap and start to date each other?” “I agree. I think they are worse than Dorian and David‟s relationship on OLTL,” Fawn laughed and then winked at her. “I‟m not on a soap opera. Furthermore, I wouldn‟t sleep with Mr. Sterling Hamilton if he was the last man on earth. I‟m done wasting my time with him,” Sasha blurted out, scarcely unaware of how hurt her voice sounded. “Sasha, what happened today?” Fawn asked all of the teasing gone out of her voice. “Tell me what Sterling did and if I don‟t like it. I‟ll play his old ass a visit.” “Me too,” Allura chimed in. “No one mistreats our sister and gets away with it.” “Sterling isn‟t old,” Sasha said defending the man she was still in love with despite the way he treated her today. God, taking up for Sterling was going to be a hard habit to break, but she would learn how to do it. “Have you seen the gray sprinkled through his hair?” Fawn asked. “I don‟t

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think he would be considered young by anyone but you. How old is he? Fortythree or forty-four… I believe I can call him old all I want.” Sasha glanced down at her half-eaten cold plate of homemade pasta and pushed it away from her. She hadn‟t really had much of an appetite since leaving work. Sterling had tried getting her into a conversation outside his office after her shift was over, but she just walked past him like she hadn‟t even noticed him standing in the doorway of his office. “Do you really care about this?” Sasha questioned. “I‟m probably making something out of nothing. You know how I can be sometimes.” She knew that her sisters would probably see today‟s incident in a totally different way than her. “Sasha if it‟s important enough to you that you aren‟t eating than it makes whatever happened today very important to us,” Fawn jumped in, surprising her. “Yes. I agree,” Allura chimed in. Her sisters‟ concern for her really surprised Sasha because Fawn and Allura spent so much time competing with each other, she didn‟t think either one of them had the ability to come together and share the same opinion. Let alone would want to stick up for her. Well, she guessed there was a first time for everything and today was certainly that day. Sighing, Sasha tried to find the best way to ever tell them what happened.

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God, this was one time she really needed Keyshia to be here with her. She loved Allura and Fawn, but Keyshia was the sister she related to the most. However, maybe this was the time she formed a closer bond besides the triplet bond she shared with her sisters. ”This morning Sterling stopped me just outside of work because he wanted to talk to me. I thought this might be the moment I‟ve been waiting for since I started working there.” “He was standing right in front of me looking too handsome for words. I was trying my best not to show how excited I was by him being within touching distance of me. Well, somehow Sterling moved closer to me and he touched me then I needed to touch him back just took me over.” “It was like I wasn‟t the same level-headed woman anymore. All I could think about was getting my hands on his amazing body, so when I touched. He…” “Go on,” Allura encouraged. “Sterling removed my hand and stepped away from me like the feel of my hands on his body disgusted him. He acted like it was an experience he never wanted to relive ever again in his life. Now, do you see why I‟m upset with him? Wouldn‟t you be upset, too?” Allura and Fawn glanced at each other before looking back at her with huge smiles on their faces. “Girl, don‟t you understand men at all?” Fawn questioned.

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“Sterling, didn‟t move back because he didn‟t want your touch. He moved away because he liked it too much and probably a lot more then you truly knew.” Sasha‟s brow pulled down into an affronted frown. “I seriously doubt what you‟re telling me is true,” she denied. “Fawn is right,” Allura agreed. “Sterling wanted you and probably still does. Sometimes, it‟s hard for some men to let the woman make the first move, but don‟t have any reservations Sterling‟s attraction for you. “Every time, I come to your job for a visit I‟ve seen the way he looks at you when he didn‟t think anyone is watching. He wants you and will let you know soon enough. You can bet on it.” Why was Allura telling her all of this when she knew it wasn‟t the truth? Sasha was dumbfounded by Allura‟s comments. Here, she thought both of her sisters would be on her side, but they were proving to her that blood wasn‟t thicker than water. Allura and Fawn were doing the exact opposite…by siding with the man who practically jumped out of his own skin when her skin touched his. No. Allura and Fawn were both wrong. They weren‟t there today to witness Sterling‟s sudden reaction towards her unwanted advances. “How about we just drop it?” Sasha suggested, knowing that she wasn‟t going to get anywhere with them.

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“I want to know what the two of you have been up to today,” Sasha said, changing the subject. “Did anything exciting happen? It seems like trouble follows my two little sisters no matter where they go.” Sasha wanted to move the topic on to something else because she was done talking about her horrible day. Sometimes her sisters didn‟t know how to take a hint, but she hoped right now would be different. After the ways things went atrociously wrong today, Sasha knew she wasn‟t going to be renewing her contract with Sleep Softly after the promotional campaign was over. She thought her time could be better spent working at the family business with Keyshia. She hoped that Keyshia wasn‟t going to fight her on her new plan; however, she wouldn‟t know until she got to talk to her sister when she got back from her honeymoon. “Sasha, Fawn and I know how once you get your mind set on something, how hard it is for anyone to change it, but I really think you should listen to us and not blow off Sterling so quickly. Yes, I‟ve only met him once or twice, but I consider myself a very good judge of character.” “Sterling came across like a really good guy. I think he would make an excellent boyfriend for you. He couldn‟t be any more terrible than the guys you have dated in the past,” Allura said, trying to push the issue home one last time. “Allura, will you please just leave it alone?” Sasha asked. “I‟m done with him.

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I‟m going to move on.” “Fine, I‟ll leave it alone for now, but I think you‟re wrong about Sterling.” Allura snatched up her plate off the table and stormed off. Taking back by Allura‟s reaction Sasha sat in silence as her sister disappeared into the kitchen. Allura wasn‟t the type to get so upset when she voiced her opinion. Something else was up with her. So, what was going on? “What‟s wrong with Allura?” Sasha question and then looked back at Fawn who was finishing off the last of her breadstick. Fawn shrugged her shoulder. “I don‟t know what Allura‟s problem is. All I know is when she picked me up from work. She was very quiet. You know how much she loves to talk and drive. I did ask her what‟s wrong, but she wouldn‟t tell me anything.” Okay…something was definitely wrong and before the night was over, Sasha promised herself she would find a way to pull Allura to the side and find out what was going on with her. “How are things going at So Delicious?” Sasha asked putting Allura to the back of her mind for now. She hadn‟t talked to Fawn about her new business venture with her partner Noah Ashby. “Noah is getting ready for the big reveal. He has been working non-stop for

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the past two months to get everything perfect. Did you forget what a perfectionist I told you he was? I think it the concept of So Delicious is a wonderful idea. I‟m crossing my fingers we‟ll get a lot of business.” “Have you decided when you‟re going to ask him out on a real date? I know you told me he was still bitter after breaking things off with his girlfriend of five years.” “Sinclair was a bitch with a capital „B‟ for cheating on Noah with his own cousin,” Fawn complained. “Noah is such an amazing guy and I do want to ask him out on a real date, but I‟m a little nervous since his last relationship with a black woman ended so badly.” “Noah is already apprehensive enough about dating another woman period; consequently, I know I already have a hurdle to jump since his last woman who broke his heart was black.” “I‟m not sure what to do,” Fawn confessed. “I want him, but I don‟t want to push in too soon.” Sasha was surprised at how her assertive sister was nervous about asking Noah out on a date. Ever since Fawn had turned sixteen she couldn‟t remember her youngest sister not having a boyfriend. What was so different about Noah? Why was he making her so insecure? “Fawn, why don‟t you just ask him out and see what happens? You aren‟t

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acting like yourself at all. You‟re the most spontaneous person in the family.” “I know,” Fawn admitted sadly, “but I really like Noah and I don‟t want to do anything to mess this up for me. I‟m beginning to think he could be „the one.‟ Didn‟t you think Sterling was the man of your dreams until your misunderstanding with him?” A denial was at the tip of Sasha‟s tongue to brush off Fawn‟s comment, but she couldn‟t deny the truth. Sterling used to be the main reason she loved getting up for work every morning, but it wasn‟t like she still felt the same way about him. Right…now if she could only get her heart to go in the same direction as her head.

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Chapter Seven

“What is your deal tonight? You‟ve been in a bad mood since I came over with the pizza, hot wings and beer for our weekly poker game.” Sterling took a long sip of his beer before placing it back on the table. He had thought about canceling his plans tonight with his best friend, but he knew Payton would have shown up anyway, so he just kept it. However, he was having a terrible time after the way his workday ended with Sasha. After he jerked his hand away from Sasha‟s during their conversation outside before work, he never got a chance to apologize and tell her why he had done it. He hated how today Sasha‟s big and inviting sienna eyes hadn‟t looked at him with any sort of interest in them. Hell! She totally misunderstood his reaction. She didn‟t understand how he couldn‟t let her hands stay on his body too long. He was already fighting down his fervent need not to toss her tempting and curvy body down on one of the beds at work and have his way with her from sunup to sundown. If he had allowed Sasha‟s soft touch to stay on his body any longer than

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those few short minutes. He wouldn‟t have been responsible for what he might have done next. For months, he had been ready to come clean about his true feelings for Sasha, but he wasn‟t 100% positive she was ready to hear it. So, he had kept them to himself and now he was beginning to see what a huge mistake his decision might have been on his part. “Are you listening to me or are you daydreaming about your employee again?” Payton asked him. “I‟m not thinking about Ms. Williams,” Sterling lied. “I don‟t know why you would think I would be.” He didn‟t want Payton teasing him about being in love with a woman so much younger than he was, so he thought it was for the best to keep his buddy in the dark for a little bit longer. “Shit man!” Payton laughed. “You have wanted to get Sasha into bed ever since you laid eyes on her. Weren‟t you the one who practically threatened your assistant to hire her or else? Why are you trying to lie 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 and upset about any of those women the way you do about Sasha Williams.” Pushing the half empty bottle of beer away from him on the table, Sterling

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leaned back in his seat stretching his long legs out in front of him. He should have known better than to try to lie to Payton because they have been friends since elementary school. Payton was the closet thing he had to a brother. “Okay, I was thinking about Sasha. She has been driving me up the wall with that damn sexy French maid outfit. I want her so much, but every time she gets close to me I back away from her. How can I ask her out on a date? Or even tell her how I feel when I keep blowing it?” Payton nodded his head 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. “Just enjoy and love each moment you‟re around her. Have you decided when you‟re going to get enough nerve to ask her out on a real date? You can‟t keep asking her to work late, so you will get the extra time with her.” “I don‟t know,” Sterling groaned, running his fingers through his hair. “I‟m having a problem figuring out how to do it.” Payton‟s eyes widened in shock as he leaned forward on the couch and rested his elbows on his knees. “You have to be kidding me. You never had a problem getting involved with those cheaters, liars and semi-sluts in your less than stellar past. Asking out a good girl like Sasha should be a breeze for you.” “What if I‟m wrong and Sasha isn‟t the woman for me?” Sterling asked

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worried that he might be attracted to Sasha for all of the wrong reasons. “You haven‟t thought about dating another woman since you laid eyes on her. 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? Payton didn‟t know much about Sasha, but only what he had told him. How did his buddy think he knew Sasha was „perfect‟ for him? “What makes you think Sasha is the right woman for me? You barely know her.” Sterling watched and waited as Payton began clearing off the table of poker chips and cards placing them back into their case. God, he hated when Payton thought over a question after he asked it to him. 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 walked through the doors of Sleep Softly. You constantly find ways to 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 than who is?” Sterling was starting to get fed up with Payton telling him what to do. Why did his buddy think he had any right to do that to him? “Why are you being such a know-it-all tonight?” he snapped back.

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

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Chapter Eight

Hours after Payton had left their uneventful poker game, Sterling sat alone inside his dark study nursing a brandy. His mind kept replaying what his friend had told him about his feeling for Sasha and he hated to admit that Payton was absolutely right. Ever since Sasha had unexpectedly come into his life over six months ago his whole world changed. Going from being dull and black to something more filled with a variety of colors, it was like his mind and body was awakening to new and greater possibilities. Sasha helped him create a better company at work with her brilliant thoughts and upbeat personality. Sasha constantly found incredible ways to sift the chaos out of his day without even trying. He almost allowed his father‟s and grandfather‟s legacy to go bankrupt because of his stupid and wounded pride. Now since he was older and had lived life a little more. After coming back home and taking over his family business, Sterling suddenly understood how much precious time he had wasted allowing his past to have so much power of him. He wasted too much of his energy trying to get

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back at his father. He could have used all of that pent up anger for something totally different and truly more productive. Sterling finally recognized what his biggest mistake was from being around Sasha. Truthfully, 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 was going to take Payton‟s advice. He did want Sasha so badly his body ached from the desire to have her in his life and bed. Hell…he had dreamt about her working side by side with him at Sleep Softly just a couple of nights ago. There wasn‟t a doubt in his mind Sasha cared about him because she showed it every time she was around him. Sterling had lost count how many times she worked late helping him work on the showroom after the other employees had gone home and before the night crew clocked in. Why hadn‟t he been smart enough to know before now the real diamond he had found in Sasha? Now, all he needed to do was find a way to make her accept his apology for being an asshole. So, they could move forward with the relationship he knew they both wanted and craved from each other. Sitting 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

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he changed his mind. He knew he would have to make the first move because Sasha wasn‟t about to approach him again. He was man enough to admit that he had done something wrong and he hoped that Sasha would listen to him. The phone rang several times and Sterling was about to give up all hope Sasha might answer until her sweet and familiar voice finally picked up on the other end making his heart skip a beat. “Hello,” Sasha said. “Sasha, I was hoping you were free. We need to talk,” Sterling blurted out the first thought that came into his head. He was going to take Payton‟s advice. He couldn‟t keep shoving his attraction for Sasha away. He was going to jump in with both feet first and see what would happen if they got involved. “Mr. Hamilton, what are you doing calling me?” Sasha asked, surprised in her voice. “Is there something wrong at work?” Of course, Sasha would think he was calling her about work. He never called her house about anything else until now “No, there‟s nothing wrong 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

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that was forming between them. “Are you asking me out on a date?” Sasha asked, clearly taken back by the sound of her voice. Has 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 and in a hurry if he wanted to get Sasha in his life. “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.” This was going better than he thought it would. Sasha wasn’t going to blow him off after all. He would finally be able to tell her he was interested in seeing her outside of the work place. “Mr. Hamilton, I‟m sorry. I can‟t have a drink with you. I need to go. I‟ll see you at work next week.” Sasha hung up the phone before he could say another word instantly crushing his excitement at the thought of being able to see her tonight. Sterling glanced at the phone in his hand and then slammed it back down into the base on the table. 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 try everything in her power to avoid him as much as she could now. But the one thing Sasha didn‟t know about him

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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 the fight of her life because he had her in his sights and nothing was going to stand in his way now of winning her back. She was interested in him once and he could make her like him again.

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Chapter Nine

“Do you mind going to the back and bringing some fresh flowers up front for the entrance?” Sasha instructed the bellboy handing him the empty vase. “I think Cindy should be finished working on some by now.” “Yes, Ms. Williams,” the bellboy said taking the glass vase from her before he turned away and headed for the kitchen. Sasha had been working close to ten hours straight to make sure everything looked perfect today. She felt like she had neglected her duties here because of her infatuation with Sterling, but that part of her life was over now. Her total focus was now redirected on the most important thing in her life and it was making sure everything was taken care of while Keyshia was away. Being a perfectionist was a huge part of her makeup when it came to running the family business. She truly wanted Family Affair to become the best it could and she was going to do everything in her power to make it happen. Sasha didn‟t doubt it if her and her sisters worked hard enough they could get all their dreams for this business accomplished. Walking around Family Affair, Sasha checked to make sure nothing was out

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of place so she wouldn‟t think about Sterling‟s surprise phone call last night. Hearing his deep sensual voice in her ear had totally thrown her so badly that she was momentarily speechless, but she quickly regained her senses so she could pay attention to what he was asking her. Honestly, she was absolutely surprised to even hear from Sterling after the way their work day had ended yesterday. She hadn‟t even bothered to catch a last glimpse of him instead she gathered her belonging and left not even bothering to turn around when he 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 life. There was no telling what he wanted to tell her over drinks last night, but she wasn‟t interested in hearing a thing he had to tell her. It was better she knew now how he felt instead of finding out later after she invested more time into him. Truthfully their relationship hadn‟t grown past the getting to know you stage anyways, it wasn‟t like Sterling or she had spent a lot of time building a special connection or anything that resembled a couple falling in love. Nope, she understood where she stood with her boss and that is why she was going to quit working there. She was ready to settle down and start having kids. Keyshia had found the man of her dreams and she was going to do the same thing. It just wouldn‟t be with Sterling Hamilton.

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Sasha had only become interested in Sterling because she had felt an unbelievably intense connection to him. She was good at detecting emotional troubles in other people and trying to figure out ways to help them through it. Of course, when it seemed like Sterling was getting over the stress of rebuilding his father‟s business he started acting differently towards her. Why was she going to waste anymore of her precious time helping him when she could put that effort towards making her own life more successful? For the past two months, Sasha had desired to get more involved with Family Affair instead of standing back allowing Keyshia to have all of the fun. She got so excited when she could roll up her sleeves and get to work here. Keyshia was forever teasing her about her tidying up issues, but she couldn‟t help it. If something was out of place, or was broken then she would find a way to make it right. It didn‟t matter if it was her house, office or either one of her jobs. On the other hand, Fawn thought her need to have everything in order without any mess was part of her being picky and not wanting to see things another person‟s way, but it wasn‟t. She was very flexible about certain things in her life. Plus Sasha thought she had the wonderful ability to fit in anywhere or with anyone if she wanted or had to for a situation. However, she knew when she was sacrificing herself or her time and would point it out if the situation called for it.

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Sasha wasn‟t against being adaptable, but she wasn‟t going to be anyone‟s doormat. Sterling was done using her for her business sense while ignoring the rest of her. It all came in the same cute sexy package and he should appreciate her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. “Here you are. I thought you were in your office until a guy pointed me in this direction,” a male voice said directly behind her. Sterling! Sasha didn‟t have to turn around she would know his deep velvet voice anywhere. Why was he here at Family Affair? Taking a deep, unsteady breath, Sasha slowly turned around and glanced up at Sterling noticing the serious look on his handsome face. “Mr. Hamilton, what are you doing here?” She questioned. “You don‟t come by Family Affair unless it had to do with my other job. I can‟t come in to work if that is what you wanted me to do.” Sterling shook his head causing a lock of his hair to fall against his forehead giving him a sexier appearance. “No, I‟m not here about you coming in to work today. I need to speak to you about something else more important. Do you have a few minutes to spare back in your office?” “Sorry, I can‟t do it. I should get back to work at the front desk to greet the guests,” Sasha answered.

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She strolled away from Sterling nodding at a few people as she moved back towards the sign-in desk; however, before she got too far. She was abruptly caught up by the elbow and firmly escorted in the direction of her office before she could utter a word of protest.

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Chapter Ten

“What in the hell do you think you‟re doing?” Sasha snapped at Sterling the second he slammed her office door closed. She jerked her arm away shooting him a hard glare. He came close, looking down at her intensely. “You weren‟t being reasonable out there, so I brought you back here so we could talk in private.” “What is so important that you had to embarrass me in front of my employees and the guests I had out there.” Sterling better tell her quick or she was out of here faster than he dragged her inside. “This!” He growled before yanked her hard against his chest and kissed her. Sterling‟s kiss wasn‟t demanding or forceful instead it was slower more stimulating. His tongue brushed the top of her mouth silently seeking entrance. Despite the fact, Sasha wanted to deny Sterling but she couldn‟t because she wanted him too damn much. She opened her mouth wider allowing Sterling the admission he was seeking from her. With a growl coming from deep within his throat, Sterling pushed her against the wall trapping her between it and his hard body. Grabbing her hips, he

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wrapped her legs around his waist grounding his hard cock against her damp underwear. “Fuck you feel so good in my arms. I knew that you would,” Sterling whispered against her mouth before trailing hot kisses down the side of her neck. “Stop,” Sasha protest, but even the request sounded weak to her own ears. A deep masculine laugh came from Sterling‟s mouth as he raised his head and his gorgeous eyes locked with hers. “No!” He recaptured her already devoured lips with his and continued his sexual dominance of her senses until she gave into him by wrapping her arms around his wide shoulders. Cupping her aching breasts in his hand, Sterling thumb brushed back and forth across her right nipple sending her nerve endings into havoc. Eyes slipping shut, Sasha moaned softly. She couldn‟t remember the last time a man had made her feel so dangerously close to losing control. “Baby, I need to taste you.” Lowering his head, Sterling‟s opened mouth hovered above her nipple and was about to draw it between his lips when a knock at the office door jerked them apart. Sasha only had a few moments to shove Sterling away from her before Allura sauntered in carrying a medium sized box in her hands. “Hey Sasha, what are you doing back here in the office?” she asked, not noticing Sterling near the side of the

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door. “I wasn‟t sure if anyone was in here or not that‟s why I knocked. You‟re usually out in the main entrance talking to the guests getting to know them better. What‟s up with you today?” Sasha started to answer her sister‟s nosy question, but Sterling cut her off before she could do it. “I believe that‟s my fault.” Her sister jumped at the unexpected sound of Sterling‟s voice before her eyes darted over to him then back at her. “Sorry. I didn‟t know Mr. Hamilton was in here with you,” Allura apologized, but a smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. “Just let me sit this box Keyshia sent to us on the desk and you can get back to whatever you were doing with Sterling.” “Mr. Hamilton is here because he needed to talk to me about something concerning work. You didn‟t interrupt anything important,” Sasha said, hoping she sounded convincing enough. Allura was sharp and it would take a lot to fool her. “You can stay here while I open this. There‟s no telling what is inside of it. You know how Keyshia is when it comes to sending us gifts.” Allura glanced at her and then back over at Sterling from the corner of her eye. “Sure, I didn‟t,” she chuckled and then she walked over to the desk placing the box in the middle. “Well, I need to head back to work. Please just stay out of trouble and remember to lock the door next time, so none else will interrupt your „talk‟. See,

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you later Mr. Hamilton and that shade of red by the corner of your mouth is very becoming.” Allura spun around and made her way back towards the open door. “Bye, Allura,” Sterling told her sister, but his eyes were still on her as he wiped her lipstick from the side of his mouth. From the corner of her eye, Sasha felt her face glowing warm from embarrassment as Allura winked at her before leaving the office and closing the door behind her. God, there was no way Allura wasn‟t going to tell Fawn about catching her making out with Sterling in the office. Now, that she was alone with Sterling and her mind had cleared. Sasha wondered what in the hell had come over her earlier with her boss. One minute she was pissed at Sterling for acting like he didn‟t want her touch and now not even twenty-four hours later she was allowing his tongue inside of her mouth. Honestly, if Allura had walked in five minutes later there was no telling what she might have caught the two of them doing. Sasha had to find a way to get rid of Sterling because she needed time to think. There was no way she could do that with him so close. He was looking at her like he wanted to start up from where had left off before Allura‟s surprise appearance. “You should go. I‟ve got to get back to work,” Sasha said, fixing her clothing. “I don‟t know how I let this even happen between us, but we need to make sure it

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doesn‟t again.” She really needed to have her head examined by a professional. Turning around, Sasha headed for the door, but Sterling stepped in front of her blocking her path. “No, I‟m not going to let you leave without saying more than that to me,” Sterling said, staring down at her. “We need to discuss what happened at work and a few minutes ago. I know you were into it as much as I was. If your sister Allura hadn‟t walked in on us, we would still be going at it and you know I‟m telling you the truth.” Stepping back, Sasha thought about just walking around Sterling again and leaving the room, but after seeing the determined look on Sterling‟s face. He wasn‟t about to let her leave until she gave him some kind of answer. “Mr. Hamilton.” “Sterling,” he corrected, shooting her a look daring her to argue with him. Sasha took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face. Tuesdays were the busiest days of the week at Family Affair. She didn‟t know why, but they were and she should be at the front desk dealing with the chaos and making sure everything ran smoothly. She had to deal with Sterling as quickly as possible and then leave, so she could get back to work. She couldn‟t let her mind think about how good it finally felt to have him kissing her.

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“Sterling, we don‟t have time to discuss what occurred between us right now.” “When do you think we should have a talk about it?” Sterling asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “Give me a time and day then I‟ll be ready, but I‟m not going to let you brush it under the rug. You liked when I was kissing you. Don‟t you dare tell me you didn‟t?” Sasha was momentarily caught off guard by the demand in his voice. Sterling seemed like he really wanted to talk with her. “We can meet after I‟m off work but I have to get back out to the front desk. Please move out of my way.” Standing there, Sasha waited for a few more minutes while Sterling thought over her comment. “I‟ll be back here for you around six o‟clock. We can go out to dinner.” Moving away, Sterling opened the door but paused halfway glancing back over his shoulder at her. “Don‟t try to leave without waiting for me. I‟ll come to your house looking for you if you do.” Spinning back around, Sterling left her standing in the middle of the office staring at his wide back until he disappeared around the corner at the end of the hallway. Great! How did Sterling know she was planning on seeing if Allura would stay and

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work her shift? Now, she had no other choice but to stay here and not think about the hot kiss they shared. What in the hell was going on with her and Sterling? One minute he was pushing her away and then the next he was shoving her against the wall thrusting his tongue down her throat. Sasha was so confused by Sterling‟s appearance and everything that occurred between them. The only thing that made it worst was she didn‟t have a clue what she was going to do about it.

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Chapter Eleven

Sasha may not know it, but she was going to give him a chance to explain tonight over dinner, Sterling thought to himself as he tossed his car keys on his bed. She wasn‟t going to slip through his fingers now that he had made such a huge step with her. Before he came back home to take over as CEO for his father‟s failing furniture business his life only consisted of one goal. It was finding a way to prove his father wrong. He wasn‟t worthless by any means. He had become a lot more rich and accomplished than the man he hated with a passion…but his father hadn‟t lived to see it. As soon as Sterling graduated from school, he left home on the very first flight he could book to get as far away from his father and his domineering ways. The first job he landed was as a bellboy in a hotel in Florida. He worked his way up from the bottom and twelve years later. He was lucky enough to start up his own business and surprisingly after that eight years later he was the proud owner of ten more hotel chains yet he still wasn‟t satisfied and constantly felt like something important was missing from his life. Leaving home at nineteen had been a huge decision on his part but Sterling

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knew deep down he had to prove he wasn‟t the screw up his control freak father constantly called him since his thirteenth birthday. Being the star quarterback of the football team as well as exceeding at baseball, wrestling and swimming never pleased Victor Hamilton. His dear old father always wanted more and more which usually meant woman after woman came in and out of their lives. He never had time to give any kind of praise of the success of his only child. Sterling never told anyone the real reason he left home at such a young age. He let people believe it was because of the way his father treated him, which wasn‟t entirely the whole truth. His father‟s girlfriend, Tiffany, had been waiting for him naked in his bed after he had just gotten out of the shower. Tiffany tried coming on to him telling him how much she wanted a younger and sexier man like him instead of his old father. The thought of sleeping with a woman who had been sleeping with his own father turned his stomach and he relayed his thoughts to her. After the words had left his mouth, Tiffany wrapped a sheet around her body and jumped out of his bed running right into the arms of his father. She actually spun the story so he would look like the bad person and not her. Of course, when he tried to tell his side of the story Victor didn‟t believe him. In addition, his father demanded that he move out of the house before he

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returned from his trip with Tiffany. Who was standing next to his father smirking at him like the cat who had eaten the canary? Until now, Sterling wondered what had gone wrong with his life because he was a millionaire and could date any woman he wanted. Hell, he even proved his father wrong by becoming more successful and well-known than him, but in his heart he felt like something was always still missing. The last woman who shared his bed was picture perfect in every since of the word from her ultra long legs, dark red hair and huge cat like green eyes. The sex between them was hot enough to burn the sheets, but after two weeks he had grown tired and dumped her. Now, he was alone because his ex-girlfriend hadn‟t touched the part of him that he kept hidden from the world. She hadn‟t been the woman he wanted to share his deepest secrets with. He had never felt more alone and needy for some affection in his adult life. Sterling knew he was a grown man and shouldn‟t be looking for warmth and comfort, but he couldn‟t help it. Maybe it steamed from his father‟s lack of interest in him as a little boy. Most of his associates back in Florida constantly told him he had it all, but they didn‟t understand what he truly didn‟t have in his life. Yes, he was rich, successful and had more money than he could probably

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spend in three lifetimes, but all of those material things weren‟t making his heart happy. Only his best friend Payton realized how he wanted more from his life now that he was older and he recognized Sasha could be the woman who gave it to him…if he could only fix things between them tonight. Payton was the only person he confided in about his feelings about Sasha because he considered Payton more than a friend, because he was like the brother he always wanted. They had started being friends at a young age at school bonding over fathers who really didn‟t give a damn about them. He had been sitting on the playground eating his lunch watching other classmates when Payton came up to him and sat down next to him without even asking. At first, he thought something was wrong with Payton until he offered him half of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich which bonded them instantly. Their friendship grew even stronger over the years and he had even kept in touch with Payton after his father tossed him out of the house as a teenager. So, he genuinely respected Payton‟s opinion a lot which is one of the reasons why he was pursuing Sasha. If, Payton could read how much he wanted Sasha in his life then she was the one and he was going to do everything to make sure it happened. Yeah…Sasha was in for a special night. Smiling to himself, Sterling headed for his closet to find something to wear.

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Tonight he would make sure this would be the next step in landing Sasha Williams as his girlfriend and then hopefully something more important later on down the road, but he didn‟t want to get ahead of himself just yet. He had to get through tonight‟s date first and then move on from there.

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Chapter Twelve

“You know that you can cancel this date with Sterling. He can‟t make you go out with him,” Allura pointed out. “Hell, I‟ll call Sterling and tell him to get lost if you don‟t want to do it.” Sasha loved that her little sister was so protective of her but this was something she had to do for herself. She had thought about canceling her date with Sterling while she was getting dressed but changed her mind at the last minute. She wanted to go out with Sterling. Isn‟t this what she had been dreaming about for months? “Allura, I don‟t need you to do anything for me. I‟m going out on this date with Sterling. Everything will be okay. I don‟t want you or Fawn to be worrying about me. Sterling wants to talk and I‟m going to give him the opportunity to tell me what is going on inside of his head. I need to know if we could ever be on the same page.” “It‟s my life so let me live it please,” Sasha said glancing out from the bathroom to look at her sister. After checking her appearance for the second time in the span of ten minutes, Sasha finally decided she look good.

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Coming out of the bathroom, Sasha walked over to a chair and took a seat hoping to calm her racing nerves. She had been on dates before but her nervousness had never been this bad. She was glad she told Sterling she would meet him at the restaurant instead of having him to pick her up from Family Affair. She didn‟t want him to see her like this. Sasha wasn‟t about to tell Allura about her edginess or her sister would use it as another reason she should back out of her date tonight with Sterling. She wasn‟t a coward and she wasn‟t about to start being one now. “Sasha, are you sure that you‟re okay?” Allura frowned. “You have this worried look on your face.” Sighing, Sasha tried her best to hold her tongue, but in the end failed. “Can‟t you just be supportive and wish me luck tonight with Sterling? This might be what I‟ve been waiting for all of these months. I know that I‟m not as close to you as Keyshia and Fawn, but God at least pretend you want me to have a good time tonight.” Allura stopped pulling the novelty t-shirts out of the box Keyshia sent them from her honeymoon and stared at her. “I‟m not trying to be a bitch or tell you how to live your life. I only want you to be happy and I don‟t think you can get all of your dreams from Sterling. He doesn‟t seem like a man who knows how to stay with one woman.”

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“Anyways, he‟s your boss which means the two of you shouldn‟t be having a relationship outside the work place at all. What if things don‟t work out and he fires you? What will you do then?” Was her partying and living each day without accountability to sister really trying to give her some sound advice? If she didn‟t know body snatchers weren‟t real, she sure in the hell would think something had taken over Allura‟s body. So, Sasha wasn‟t sure if she should laugh at Allura or be upset with her pointing out things she had already thought of herself. How could Allura give her any advice at all about dating her boss when she was head over heels in love with her boss Ethan Newman? “Do you think you should be dishing out your opinion about me staying away from Sterling?” Sasha questioned. Allura picked up another t-shirt out of the box and laid it down on the desk next to the other ones already there. “What are you talking about?” she asked. “Come on,” Sasha laughed. She couldn‟t believe her baby sister was actually trying to pretend like she didn‟t know what she was talking about. “All of us know that you‟re in love with Ethan. Every single time you mention your boss‟ name this look of happiness comes over your face. Don‟t even try to deny it.” Sasha wasn‟t about to stand by and allow Allura to pretend that she was the

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only Williams sister interested in her employer. No, that wouldn‟t work at all…not with her. “I don‟t want to discuss Ethan Newman,” Allura snapped, slamming down the lid on the box. “He has pissed me off for the last time. After Calendar Girl is open and running, I‟m quitting. I can‟t waste anymore of my life on him and his fear of getting involved in another relationship.” Her big sister senses immediately kicked in when Sasha heard the pain in Allura‟s voice. What was going on? The last time she talked to Allura things seemed to be going good between her and Ethan. Allura even hinted that they might be going out on their first date pretty soon. “What‟s wrong?” Sasha asked, pushing her earlier argument with her sister to the back of her mind for the moment. “Talk to me. If you need me to I can cancel my date with Sterling after all, I will do it and stay here with you. We can go back to your house and order Chinese food. You can fill me in on everything Ethan has done. I‟m sure Fawn won‟t mind working some overtime tonight.” Allura glanced back her and then shook her head. “No, I‟m fine. Go on your date with Sterling and have a good time. I shouldn‟t have ever opened my big mouth anyway. I don‟t want to ruin your dinner date. My problems with Ethan will still be here tomorrow and the day after that.” Sasha still didn‟t feel right about leaving her sister despite the fact she was

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excited about meeting Sterling at the restaurant pretty soon. “Are you sure? I can call the restaurant and leave a message for Sterling. I‟m here if you need me to be. I want you to know that.” Smiling at her, Allura nodded her head. “I know you are and I appreciate how you want to change your plans for me, but you don‟t have to do it. I‟m good. Please leave for your date. I will feel so bad for Sterling if you stood him up besides you look too gorgeous in that dress to be staying here with me. I swear to you I don‟t need a shoulder to cry on.” “If you‟re sure,” Sasha hedged, standing up as she grabbed her purse out of the chair next to her. Allura waved her hand at her as she walked around the side of the desk. “Sasha, go before I shove you out of the door myself.” Running up to her sister, Sasha gave her a hug and then a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for staying and working late for me. I owe you one.” Spinning around, Sasha hurried from the room closing the door behind her with a soft click.

Sitting inside the restaurant, Sterling glanced at his watch for the fourth time wondering where Sasha was and if she had stood him up. He wanted to pick her up at Family Affair but she had insisted on driving to the restaurant herself. He didn‟t understand her reasoning behind it, but he agreed since he

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wanted to do everything in his power to make up for his earlier mistakes. Sterling already promised himself that Sasha was going to see a different side of him tonight on their date. He wasn‟t going to be her boss, but a man out on a date with a woman. Their date tonight was going to be about Sasha‟s wants and needs for him; he would do everything in his power to give the best to her. Getting a second chance with Sasha was a lucky break on his part. She was still very upset with him when she left work the other day. So, he had been a little nervous about calling her and asking her out to dinner, but he hadn‟t gotten this far in life by not fighting for what he wanted….and he wanted every sexy and adorable inch of Sasha Williams. After dinner was over, he hoped Sasha would see him as a possible love interest and not the man who hurt her feelings with his knee jerk reaction to her sudden and unexpected touch. For years, Sterling had confidence in his ability to run a winning company; he could carry out any project with purpose and passion. He constantly was raised that work was more important than friends or family by his father. His ability to understand how people respond to him through his work achievements only helped to make everything more balanced in his world. One of the main causes he was still single was his fear of getting too close

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and if he sensed it was happening. He would always find a way to move on when it got to intimate for him. Sometimes, Sterling almost felt like his second career was avoiding getting romantically involved with a woman. Being alone and taking care of himself was at the top of his list and dating a good woman ranked towards the bottom until he laid eyes on Sasha. She made him want more than he currently had going on in his lonely life. But he might come across like he didn‟t want a wife and house full of kids when he was actually jealous of people who could manage having a career and family. Usually he focused on what he had going on with his life not who or what was missing until Sasha unexpectedly breezed into his world without one single warning. Now, he wanted someone to snuggle up with on the couch late at night while watching an old black and white movie. A woman who he could go share his problems with or just a special female he loved so that he would call her just to hear her voice on the other end of the phone. With every single fiber in his body, he wanted Sasha to be that woman. She was clueless to how she made him feel. Tonight was going to be the first way he proved to her that she had made a huge mistake thinking he didn‟t want her. He found Sasha more than appealing. He felt like…no he knew she could be the woman who would finally make him want to get down on one knee and

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propose. Sterling was about to check his watch again when he noticed Sasha coming through the door wearing a stunning off the shoulder white dress that hugged every curve of her gorgeous body. Hell! How was he supposed to keep his mind on food when he was craving Sasha to be his main course?

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Chapter Thirteen

“Have I told you how stunning you look in that dress?” Sterling asked Sasha the second he took a seat across the table from her. “I swear every guy‟s head turned to look at you the minute you walked through the door.” Sasha wasn‟t really concerned about what the other men in the fancy restaurant were thinking about her. She was only interested in Sterling‟s opinion. “Thank you,” she complimented, eyeing how handsome Sterling looked in his dark blue suit. “I have to be honest. I almost cancelled on you at the last minute.” “What? Why?” Sterling questioned, sitting up straighter in his seat. “After everything that has happened between us, I wasn‟t sure why you wanted us to go out with each other and then the kiss only confused me more.” She still couldn‟t get over the kiss they shared inside Keyshia‟s office. “Sasha, I want you to know that I liked what happened between us in your office. Honestly, I hated that your sister barged in on us. I‟ve been waiting for such a long time to kiss you.” Sasha sucked in a quick sharp breath. She was amazed at the thrill Sterling‟s

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confession gave to her. His personality was such an ever-changing mystery. She honestly didn‟t know what he was going to do from one moment to the next. “You‟ve never acted like you wanted to kiss me before,” she tossed out there wanting to get a reaction from Sterling. Leaning back in his seat, Sterling eyed her for a few minutes before answering her question. “Sasha, I‟ve wanted you since the first time I laid eyes on you, but you never seemed to pay any attention to me. I tried a couple of times to ask you out on dates, but you found ways to change the subject.” What!? Sterling had wanted to date her? Why hadn‟t she noticed before now? Could she really have been so blind that she never saw he was interested in her? “I never had any idea,” Sasha admitted, softly. “You always seemed so distant in my opinion. Like you had this invisible wall between you and everyone else around you and no matter how hard I tried to get around it I couldn‟t.” Sterling watched her with complete surprise on his handsome face. “I guess I was better at hiding my feelings than I thought I was. You‟re a beautiful woman and I was a little nervous about approaching you.” As their eyes met, Sasha felt a shock run through her at his confession. She couldn‟t comprehend how she had wasted so much time wondering if Sterling was interested in her when he wanted to date her all this time!

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God, wait until Keyshia found out about all of this, it was going to blow her sister‟s mind. “So, what does this mean for us? Do you want to start dating? I‟m just a little worried that I might get the same reaction I got before from you. If you‟re used to having such a thick wall up for so many years, how can I be sure it wouldn‟t make another appearance when I least expect it?” Sasha felt a small triumph when Sterling winced at her words. She shouldn‟t have said anything, but she just wouldn‟t and couldn‟t allow him to think a few sweet words could fix the rejection she had felt when he had distanced himself away from her. “Sweetheart, I‟m truly sorry about how I hurt you‟re the other day. I want to make it up to you. How about we start over with a clean slate? I think we should allow ourselves to get to know each other. There is so much I want to know about you.” Suddenly a warm feeling flow through Sasha‟s body at Sterling suggestion, she was more than willingly on her part to see if anything more could develop between her and Sterling. A part of her was positive he was the man for her, but she wasn‟t about to jump into anything with him too suddenly. She would leave the quickie marriage to her sister Keyshia.

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The main obstacle the two of them had to overcome was the fact Sterling was still her boss which made her his employee. How would their sudden relationship affect the other employees? “Sterling, don‟t you think things are moving too fast? I know you mentioned starting with a clean slate, but how about we just work at getting through our first date?” Sasha wasn‟t sure if Sterling understood how deeply she cared about him. She wouldn‟t place all her cards out on the table until she knew exactly where his head was. “I think our first date will turn out perfectly,” Sterling insisted, smiling at her. “I‟m so positive you‟ll enjoy tonight. I already have the place for our second date in mind.” “Aren‟t you being just a tad bit overconfident?” she asked, reaching for her water glass. “How can I not be overly confident when I‟m having dinner with the most gorgeous woman in the room?” Sterling flirted back right before the waiter came up to their table. “Good evening. Would like something to drink before you order?” the young man asked, handing each of them a menu. “Yes, I would like an ice tea,” Sasha answered as she took the menu.

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“A brandy for me,” Sterling replied as he flipped open his menu. The waiter wrote down their orders. “I‟ll be back with your drinks in a few minutes and then I‟ll take your orders if you‟re ready.” Sasha waited until the waiter walked away before she addressed Sterling‟s comment. “You‟re good. I will give you that much,” she laughed. “Sweetheart, you don‟t know how good I am, but I‟ll be more than happy to show you anytime you want,” Sterling flirted back his voice a tad deeper. Sasha squirmed around in her seat as hot images of her and Sterling naked and sweaty in his bed flashed before her eyes. “Mr. Hamilton, you better quit while you‟re ahead. Let‟s move the topic on to something else.” “Alright, I‟ll let it go for now, but I‟m far from finished with you Ms. Williams.” Sterling tossed his menu down on the table and then crossed his leg over the other. “How about you tell me how it felt to grow up as a triplet? You‟re the middle child aren‟t you? Since, I‟m an only child I find it fascinating you were raised inside a household with so many siblings.” “Being part of triplets isn‟t as exciting as you think it might be since I was the „middle child‟. I always felt like I wasn‟t included in a lot of things. In my mind, I wasn‟t as special as Keyshia since she was the oldest and the apple of my parents‟ eye and since Fawn is the youngest it always seemed like she could get away with

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murder and never get into trouble.” “I know you really don‟t want to hear about all of this,” Sasha said. “Yes, I love that I get to learn more about your family.” Sasha was debating about what she should tell Sterling next when the waiter returned with their drinks placing them on the table. “Are you ready to order?” he asked, politely looking at her instead of Sterling first. “Yes, I would like to order Linguini with Clam Sauce.” Sasha handed the menu to the waiter and waited while Sterling gave his order. “Give me the Tenderloin Steaks with Herb Cheese Topping,” Sterling ordered giving the waiter his menu. “It will be a few minutes on the Tenderloin Steaks. I‟ll get your order to you as quickly as possible.” The guy looked at her again giving her a smile before walking away from the table. “I can‟t believe that jerk is flirting with you right in front of my face. I‟ll make sure to have a few words with him when he comes back with our food,” Sterling complained, staring holes into the young guy‟s back at he got further away from their table. Sasha was thrilled Sterling was jealous, but he was wasting his emotions on that kid. He couldn‟t have been older than twenty one and that was way too young

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for her. “Sterling, he‟s a kid. Leave him alone. I‟m not interested in dating a college boy.” Any grown woman in her right mind would be crazy not to pick Sterling over that college jock flirting with her. Swinging his eyes back over to her, Sterling pinned her with a stare. “Are you sure? I know some women who would love a young guy like him into them.” “If I wanted to be on a date with a boy, why did I agree to dinner with an attractive, intelligent man?” The hard lines in the middle of Sterling‟s forehead, instantly relaxed. “Nice compliment. How about you get back to telling me about your childhood?” Picking up her ice tea, Sasha took a long sip before she continued. It felt a little strange talking about her siblings on her date, but if Sterling wanted to know. She would tell him a little more. “All while I was growing up, I looked up to my older sister Keyshia. I wanted to do everything she did to a certain point. My parents thought of Keyshia as the perfect little girl. I wanted to please my mother and father, but not as much as Keyshia did without even trying.” “Do you feel like your parents loved Keyshia the best?” Sterling asked. “No, my parents loved all of us equally. They were never too busy to answer our questions about anything and everything. I think a part of me is more

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easygoing than Keyshia and my other siblings.” “You come across to me like you would be the peacemaker or mediator if something came up in the family. You don‟t seem like you would like a lot of conflict.” Sterling studied her like he was waiting for her to disagree with his perception of her, but she couldn‟t. He was almost completely right about her.

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Chapter Fourteen

“How did you figure that out about me?” Sasha asked somewhat surprised. “I have to be honest and tell you that my best friend is a middle child and he was constantly complaining about how he was the peacemaker in his family. Payton always felt like he didn‟t get enough respect from his parents or his brothers.” “I never felt like I didn‟t get respect. However, for a little time in my life I didn‟t feel like I was special enough or what my place was in the family. It was almost like I was the fifth wheel or something in my head. Doesn‟t that sound horrible?” Sterling shook his head. “No, I get where you are coming from. Being in a family that big had to be hard on you for a while, but you turned out to be a beautiful and successful woman with a good head on her shoulders.” Sasha thought it would be the best time to confess a little secret to Sterling. “I was only able to become the woman you see because I left home right after I graduated from high school.” “How did you manage that?” she heard the shock in Sterling‟s voice.

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“I wanted to live in an apartment closer to the college I was attending and my parents helped me out until I got a job. I think my sisters consider me more of the „free spirit‟ in the family.” “What about you? Did you have a good relationship with your parents?” Sasha asked eager to learn more about Sterling‟s childhood. A look of disappointment came over Sterling‟s face a second before he was able to conceal it. “Let‟s just say my father wasn‟t anything like your parents. He didn‟t believe in bedtime stories, taking me to the park or even tucking me in at night. He worked countless hours not to provide me with a good home, but to show off his wealth.” “Oh God,” Sasha whispered, reaching across the table. She laid her hand on top of Sterling‟s. “I can‟t believe your father was so uncaring. Maybe he just didn‟t know how to show you love. Some people especially men have a hard time expressing their feelings.” Sterling moved his hand away from hers. Picking up his drink, he tossed it back before placing the empty glass back on the table. “See, you‟re wrong there. My father knew how to show love to the women who were in and out of his bed.” “He even loved one of them enough to kick me out of the house right after I graduated from high school without any money. If I hadn‟t saved up my own money from working to leave town and get a fresh start, I might have a totally

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different story to tell you.” “Your own father kicked you out of the house over his girlfriend?” Sasha was stunned beyond words. What kind of parent would do that to their own child? A muscle flicked angrily in his jaw as Sterling‟s brows drew downward in a frown. “My dear old dad would have kicked me out sooner if he could have, but he thought he was doing me a favor by allowing me to stay that long. How about we move on to something different?” he asked. Sasha had to conquer her involuntary need to ask more questions about Sterling‟s past, but she would respect his wishes and move on. Just hearing how unfeeling his father was towards his own son made her frustrated and more than angry. “Okay, I‟ll agree with you. We can move on to something else; however, I‟m giving you far warning that I‟ll bring this topic up again.” “Fair enough,” Sterling said as the waiter brought their food. “But tonight all I want to do it just enjoy the time I get to spend with you. You are my main focus tonight and nothing else.”

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Chapter Fifteen

Where had the time gone? Sasha thought as she stood on her front porch with Sterling. She hated that their date was already over and now she was back at home. She could have spent another three hours in his company and still been able to get up early for work tomorrow. This was truly the best date she ever had in her entire life. “What time to you want me to pick you up for our date tomorrow?” Sterling asked, resting his shoulder against the doorframe while she unlocked the door. Don’t jump at the chance for a second date. Make him work for it a little. “I don‟t recall agreeing to a second date with you,” Sasha teased as she took her key out of the door sliding it back into her purse. “You know you want a second date as badly as I do.” Leaning into her, Sterling captured her lips with his in a soft, slow kiss. Moaning softly, Sasha wrapped her arms around Sterling‟s shoulder tugging him closer to her body. He tasted like a wonderful mixture of brandy and chocolate because of the slice of chocolate cake they shared after dinner. Grabbing her by the hips, Sterling held her against him and she felt his cock

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getting harder. No, she had to stop this before it got out of hand. She seldom even kissed on the first date and now she was outside under the porch light making out for the entire neighborhood to see. She wasn‟t in high school anymore. Placing her hands in the middle of Sterling‟s chest, Sasha pushed him away from her. “No…we can‟t do this. I need to get inside and you have to leave.” “Are you sure about that?” Sterling whispered against the side of her neck as his hands roamed up and down her back tempting her to change her mind. “I would love to come in for a drink or anything else you might have in mind. Don‟t you want to offer me something to drink?” Yes! Her mind screamed. But, Sasha shoved down her burning need to act on it. Few men respected a woman who gave away her goodies on the first date. “No, I really can‟t. I‟ve to get up early for work. My boss can be a real pain in the ass if I show up late.” Reaching behind her, Sasha turned the doorknob and pushed open the door. “Can‟t I find a way to make you change your mind?” Sterling asked, running his index finger over her bottom lip making her pulse race. God, Sterling had a charm about him that found a way to draw her into every single time, but she would fight it tonight. “Yes, I‟m sure I have to turn you down as much as it hurts me to do it.”

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Wrapping her fingers around Sterling‟s wrist, Sasha eased his finger away from her mouth. “If I give in now, what do you have to look forward to later on? Just think about how much more intense it will be if we wait just a little while.” A faintly eager look flashed in Sterling‟s eyes mingled with a spark of some indefinable emotion. Taking a step back from her, Sterling shoved his hands into the front pockets of his slacks and stared at her. “Do you know what you‟re sending me home to?” he asked, softly. Great! What kind of game was he going to play with her now? She was already having a hard time not yanking him into her house, so she could have her way with him. Whatever he told her she had to stay strong. “No, I don‟t know, but I‟m pretty sure that you are going to tell me.” She couldn‟t wait to find out what was going on inside Sterling‟s head. “Well, beautiful. You‟re sending me home to a long, cold shower and then a big empty bed. Do you really want to do such a horrible thing to me? I promise if you let me in I‟ll show you for the rest of the night what a good decision you made.” Was Sterling actually trying to give her that line? He wasn‟t going to be spending the night in her bed…not on the first night of their date. She had better get inside of the house before she changed her mind.

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“Sterling, I‟m sure this isn‟t the first time you went home in that condition before. I know you‟ll get a handle on it.” Sasha gave Sterling a quick kiss on the mouth before going into the house and locking the door. The sound of deep male laughter came through the door as she leaned her back against it wondering had she made the right decision by sending Sterling away. But in the end, she couldn‟t keep the grin from spreading across her face at how good her evening turned out with Sterling. Maybe she did a good thing by listening to Allura after all.

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Chapter Sixteen

Moving away from the front door, Sasha kicked off her favorite pair of black Jimmy Choo‟s before making her way into the kitchen for a warm glass of milk. It was something her mother always gave her as a little girl to help her sleep. Since she was so wired from her date, the warm milk would be the perfect thing to help her get to sleep without any problems. Before getting her drink ready, she decided to stop at the CD player on the counter and pushed the play button. The smooth sounds of Avant‟s voice filled the room as she got everything together for her drink. Pouring the milk into a mug, Sasha placed it inside the microwave and turned it on just as the telephone rang. Thinking it might be Sterling calling to tell her good night, she rushed over to the kitchen table and picked up the cordless phone. “Hello,” she answered, quickly. “How did your date go?” Allura asked. “I debated on if I should call you or not because I was worried I might be interrupting something and then I realized you don‟t give away your kitty kat on the first date.”

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Sasha rolled her eyes as she hurried back over to the microwave for her late night drink. “What makes you think I didn‟t give my kitty kat up on the first date? You don‟t know me all that well.” Allura‟s sudden laughter surprised her. What was so funny? She might have been in bed with Sterling right now and then her sister‟s phone call would have really upset her. “Come on, Sasha next to Keyshia you‟re the most prim and proper sister in the family. I know you‟re attracted to Sterling, but not enough to end up in bed with him. You aren‟t made like that at all.” Grabbing the mug out of the microwave, Sasha made her way over to the kitchen table and took a seat. “Sometimes, I really do hate how much of a know-itall you are.” There was a short pause on the other end of the phone before Allura finally answered her. “Sorry that the truth hurts,” her sister laughed. “So, are you going to tell me what happened? You know that my love life is going nowhere. I have to live through my sisters. Give it up.” Sasha took a small sip of her milk to make sure it wasn‟t too hot and relaxed in the chair. She shouldn‟t tell Allura anything at all, but Allura was the final push that made her go out with Sterling for the fabulous date. “I had a wonderful time,” Sasha gushed, remembering how good it felt to

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share the chocolate dessert with Sterling. Tonight turned out so much better than she ever thought it might have. “Girl, give me more details than you had a wonderful time. Did Sterling at least try to kiss you again? I know the two of you were making out in the office, but broke apart when I accidentally walked in on you.” Allura wasn‟t going to get anymore out of her than what she had already told her. Her little sister wasn‟t the one who went out on a date with Sterling. She was and that‟s why she was going to keep the rest of the night to herself. “Allura, I‟m not telling you anything else. Why don‟t you find a way to get Ethan out on a date? I don‟t want you to give up on him. I think you and him would make the perfect couple.” “Haven‟t we already discussed this? I‟m not going into this again with you. Good night.” The phone hung up with a loud click. Looking at the phone in her hand, Sasha shook her head before placing it back on the table. She picked up her milk and took a sip glad it was still a little warm. Allura wasn‟t going to get away with blowing her off, but she would give it a rest for now because she wanted to give all of her attention to her growing relationship with Sterling. He really showed her a different more relaxed side of himself tonight. She only hoped things would continue to get better between them.

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Secretly, Sasha wondered was her boss at home thinking about their date tonight like she was if not what was he doing.

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Chapter Seventeen

Turning off the shower, Sterling opened the sliding door before grabbing the thick folded brown towel off the sink wrapping it around his waist and left the bathroom. He was still having a hard time believing Sasha sent him away instead of inviting him to spend the night. Allowing her to go inside the house instead of pulling her back into his arms took sheer willpower on his part because the sight of Sasha in that dress had been turning him on all night. She had made it so hard for him to concentrate on anything but her over dinner. All he thought about while they were eating was getting Sasha alone someplace so he could show her how long he had wanted to be with her but things hadn‟t worked out like he wanted. Removing the towel from his waist, Sterling dried off his damp body then tossed the towel in the hamper by the door and crawled between the crisp sheets of his big empty bed. He folded his hands behind his head allowing his mind to wander back over all of the wonderful things that occurred during and after dinner.

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Asking Sasha out on a date had turned out so much better than he had ever hoped once they finished dessert because of going straight back home. On a whim, he had suggested to Sasha they go for a walk and she had instantly agreed. Without even thinking about it, he reached for Sasha‟s hand and she had taken it. Sterling couldn‟t ever recall a moment being so perfect in his life. Sasha‟s fingers fit like a glove with his and during their walk he learned even more about her childhood along with her siblings. Hearing about the close knit family Sasha had made a small part of him long for something in his past that was gone forever, but Sasha and her bubbly personality could give him everything now that unfortunately he missed out on growing up as a kid. There wasn‟t a doubt in his mind he might be lucky enough to get Sasha permanently in his life. She would be able to fill the void in his heart left there by his uncaring father and equally his lousy childhood. During their walk, out of the blue it suddenly hit him Sasha provided him with sustenance he wasn‟t aware he was lacking….love. The emotional support, tender affection he secretly craved most of his adult life could be found with Sasha if he just got past the apprehension she was feeling towards him right now. If that stupid mistake hadn‟t happened, he would have his woman wrapped

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up in his arms right now, but he was alone in his bed thinking about Sasha. Why didn‟t he think things out better before he acted on instinct? For a spilt second, Sterling thought about calling Sasha and then decided against it. Sasha was probably already asleep since she was scheduled to be in early tomorrow morning to work on the display and the redesign of the store for the new stock arriving. Sterling wondered now how he would be able to keep his hands off Sasha since he knew what it was like to kiss, touch and hold her. Hell! He could still taste the sweet taste of her on his mouth. For months and months, Sasha‟s killer body, sweet smile and alluring scent had given him countless cold showers along with sleepless nights wondering how it would be to have her in his arms and most importantly in his bed. After their kiss, Sterling made a vow to himself that he was going to do everything in his power to make Sasha his wife.

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Chapter Eighteen

Standing back in the middle of the showroom floor, Sasha crossed her arms over her chest frowning at the bare bed on the display stand. She decided to come in early so she would have enough time to work on getting the new bedding placed on the bed. It was part of her job to make all of the new sheets and linens eye-catching so customers would want to buy them for their on personal beds. But she was having a hard time getting any ideas because her mind was on Sterling and their date last night. Usually all of her ideas helped Sterling‟s business sell thousands of dollars every week and thousands in bedspreads, but none of that was going to happen today if she didn‟t get her head on straight. God, she couldn‟t be this whipped after only one date with Sterling. Yeah, he was gorgeous. But her job came first and if she wasn‟t able to stay on point with it what would keep Sterling from getting rid of her as the Sleep Softly model and hiring someone else in her place? “I need to get busy and get my mind off of him” Sasha whispered to herself

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as she dropped her arms. “I hope you talking about me and not another man,” a deep male voice said by her ear as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist. Sasha jumped and then glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes connected with Sterling‟s 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,” Sasha said, facing Sterling. “I came in the back way because I wanted to surprise you when I noticed your car already parked out front. I thought you weren‟t scheduled to be here for another hour.” Sterling planted a kiss underneath her ear. Sasha felt a tad bit uncomfortable with Sterling touching her so freely in the store. What if another employee had been around? What would she have to say for herself? All of the employees knew that Sterling had strict rules about employees dating each other. “Maybe you shouldn‟t do that out in the open,” Sasha complained, moving a couple of steps away from Sterling. “I don‟t want the other employees to think. I‟m getting special attention if they see us like this.” Reaching out, Sterling brushed the back of his hand down the side of her cheek and smiled at her. “Baby, you‟re special to me. I don‟t care if my other employees see me showing you attention.”

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“However, I understand your concerns and I‟ll try my best to keep my hands to myself while we‟re at work. But once you clock out I‟m not going to pretend that we aren‟t together.” Sterling took a step away from her, but he was still close enough that she felt his body heat. “Since we‟re the only two people working today how about we get some breakfast?” he suggested. What was Sterling talking about? They weren’t going to be the only ones here today. “Why are we the only two working today? It isn‟t a holiday?” Saturdays were usually their busiest day of the week. There was no way Sterling would close the store today. “I called everyone before I left the house and told them to take the day off. I wanted to spend some more alone time with you. I loved the time we spent together last night. Didn‟t you? I was up late last night thinking about our kiss outside on your porch. I was so upset that you didn‟t invite me inside.” Sasha loved that Sterling had done the same thing as she had last night in bed. “Yes, I had a wonderful time, but you already know that. I think I told you more than once how much I liked our date.” Touching her elbow, Sterling tugged her back into his arms. “I was thinking about us doing something this weekend together. We haven‟t anytime alone and I really want to do that with you.”

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“We have only been on one date. Are you sure we‟re at the stage of going away with each other?” 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 pn with each other because of so many misunderstandings. Can you really blame me? I‟m the kind of man that when I see what I want I grab it with both hands.” Sterling‟s 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 that jump? “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 that Sasha wasn‟t too sure if she liked it or not. “Alright, I‟ll drop the trip about us going away together, 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 about how you wanted to redo the showroom?” New and unexpected warmth surged through her at how Sterling hadn‟t pressured her into going away with him. He just proved he wanted more than just sex from her. She realized with a start that Sterling was deeper than she thought. “I‟m still not just sure of the theme I want to do this time, but I do have some suggestions for you,” Sasha said, moving out of Sterling‟s embrace.

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“Tell me what you have in mind.” Sterling asked, stepping back from her. “I can tell your mind is on business instead of playing this morning.” “Oh, I want to play with you a lot,” Sasha flirted back. “Just not at out here in the showroom. I would like a little more privacy.” Sterling leaned back against one of the display cases and sized her up. “Baby, we can move to my office for all of 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 will until I get you in my office. Now, I‟m really ready to listen to your ideas,” he said, letting go of her arm. As much as Sasha wanted to laugh at Sterling‟s line, it made her smile instead. He was the only guy that she knew who would say those words to her with a straight face. “Let‟s take a seat over there at the table in the corner and I‟ll tell you what I‟ve been thinking about.” Spinning around, Sasha headed in the direction of the table and took a seat. She waited for Sterling to sit down before she told him her ideas. “Since I started working here I‟ve come to realize how much devotion Sleep

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Softly puts into their mattress. Every single customer gets the finest in design, durability and value. Sleep Softly is the highest quality by offering comparable prices of standard size bedding along with customer bedding for special needs.” “I know our regular bedding includes: steel coils and heavy gauge for maximum support for the entire body and durable batting fiber insulation for added firmness.” “Sasha, I know all of this already,” Sterling cut in. “I know but what I was thinking is that we should have a fifteen percent discount for police officers, fire fighters and teachers for the next month since their jobs are stressful sometimes. I thought it might be nice for them to be able to get a new bed along with a fifty dollar gift certificate off bedding.” A wave of apprehension swept through Sasha‟s body as Sterling leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms across his stomach. “How is it that I was lucky enough to get a beautiful and intelligent woman all bottled up in one amazing little body?” he asked as his blue eyes met her brown ones. “I think this is a great idea. I‟ll ask my friend Payton to design some flyers so we can send them to the police and fire stations then the local schools. I think everyone will love your suggestion. I have to make sure that I never lose you.” “If you treat me with respect you‟ll never have to worry about me going anymore,” Sasha pointed out.

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Sterling was so unaware to how much his words were turning her on. The sexiest and alluring thing Sterling could do for Sasha was take care of her emotional needs way before trying to seduce her into the bedroom.

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Chapter Nineteen

“Tell me again why you wanted to come back a day early from our honeymoon?” Steven complained, kissing the back of his new wife‟s neck. “I wasn‟t ready to share you with the world or your family yet.” Spinning around in her husband‟s arms, Keyshia smiled loving the way Steven still wanted to keep her to himself, but she just felt like it was time to come back home to her family. “Sweetheart, you know that I would have loved to spend another month away with you,” Keyshia said. “However, you know how I am when it comes to my sisters. I don‟t like leaving them by themselves too much despite the fact they are adults. It just seems like trouble follows them no matter what the three of them do.” “Honey, you have to realize your baby sisters are adults,” Steven pointed out to her. “Why don‟t you think they can‟t take care of themselves?” For such a long time Keyshia thrived on being in control, organized and on time for everyone. Stop being the leader of the family would be hard for her to give up, but she could do it.

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“You‟re right,” Keyshia agreed reluctantly. “I need to let my sisters live their own lives now. But ever since my childhood I felt like I was the responsible one who had to get everything done including taking care of my little sisters when my mother needed the extra help.” Steven held her even tighter to his body. “Baby, I love that you‟re a high achiever with everything you do. I think the high expectations you have for everyone is such a wonderful quality to possess. I‟m very proud of the way you get things done.” “Oh really?” Keyshia questioned as she wrapped her arms around her husband‟s shoulders. “Yes, baby. I do. I love how bright, willful and meticulous you can be sometimes is a turn on. I hope you keep those qualities.” “Steven, your belief in me is surprising and touching. I think I can keep part of it and tuck another part away. I mean I will need to have some of it for our children.” Tenderly, Steven‟s eyes melted into hers. “Keyshia, you want to have babies? We have never talked about this before.” “How could we? I think we fell in love and got married in record time. I would love to have at least four. What about you?” she blurted out. Instead of answering her, Steven swung her up into his arms. “I think if you

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want four kids then we better get started with the best part first.” Turning on his heel, Steven carried her into the direction of their bedroom and she couldn‟t get over how much she loved that Steven‟s mind was on the same track as hers.

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Chapter Twenty

“Come over to my house tonight for dinner,” Sterling whispered by Sasha‟s ear as she hung up the phone in his office. He and Sasha had been working nonstop since yesterday and tonight was the last leg of the promotion for work. He was tired of only seeing Sasha during work hours because after leaving this job. She was usually rushing to her second job since her sister Keyshia was still on her honeymoon. They were still in the getting to know you stage with each other. For months, he had craved a deeper connection with Sasha and now that he was almost there Sasha was still holding back from him. He couldn‟t find a way to fix it unless she spent more of her free time with him. “I can‟t,” Sasha told him. “That was my sister Fawn on the phone she called to tell me my sister Keyshia is back from her honeymoon and she wants all of us to have dinner at her home tonight.” Another obstacle was being placed in his way, but he wasn‟t going to let it deter him at all. He was going to get Sasha. “Can you just stay for a little while and then come by my place later?” Sterling suggested again.

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He really wanted to spend more time outside of the work place with Sasha. It was going to be now or never. He spun Sasha around in his arms and stared down into her eyes. “Don‟t you want to spend more time with me? I thought our first date went perfectly and I‟m dying for a second one.” Sasha smiled at him then gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. “Sterling, you know that I do but I just can‟t abandoned my sister and new brother in-law on their first night back in town, can I?” she asked. “How about you come with me? I‟m sure that Keyshia wouldn‟t mind at all. She would love to get to know you better.” Go with her? Sterling wasn‟t too keen on big family gatherings because he didn‟t experience them too much growing up, but he could and would find a way to stick with this one for Sasha‟s sake. He wanted to show her how much he cared about her. “I‟m not that fond of family dinner parties, but I‟ll do it for you.” Leaning back in his arms, Sasha stared up into his eyes a slight frown etched across her beautiful face. “You know that you can open up to me about anything. You didn‟t talk about your childhood much to me over dinner. What else happened with your father that you aren‟t telling me?”

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Being close to his selfish and uncaring father wasn‟t ever an option for him. He gave up on having a „perfect‟ family a long time ago. Maybe that was one of the reasons he was so drawn to Sasha. Sasha lived to connect, share feeling and she loved more than anything spending time with her family. Sterling knew Sasha would welcome him into her home, but how would the rest of her family treat him? Allura and Fawn shared a connection with her. They could have a huge influence over her when it came to them, but it didn‟t matter what they might say or do. He had gotten a dinner invitation from Sasha and he was going to be there next to her at the dinner table breaking bread with the rest of her siblings. “How about we go into my childhood at another time?” he suggested. “Now isn‟t the time to bring up my less than happy upbringing.” For so long, he had kept his father‟s treatment of him to himself that he might not be able to find the words to tell Sasha about it. Titling her head back a little more, Sasha‟s continued to stare at him with real concern in her eyes. “I can cancel my dinner with Keyshia and stay here with you if you need to talk. My family means a lot to me, but you‟re important to me as well.” Family stability was a big part of Sasha‟s life and Sterling had known this

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for a while. So, her willingness to redirect her plans with her sisters showed how much he was beginning to mean to her. However, he would rather be with Sasha tonight as her boyfriend to prove to everyone that they are more than boss and employee. “No, you aren‟t,” Sterling corrected and kissed Sasha by the corner of her mouth. Because if he kissed her on the mouth, he might not be able to stop and he didn‟t want to start something he couldn‟t finish. He moved back putting some space between them. “Why don‟t you head on home and get ready for our first appearance as a couple. What time should I pick you up at home? I can‟t have your sisters hating me by making you late for dinner,” Sterling teased. “My sisters won‟t hate you,” Sasha replied as she walked away from him. “They might give you a look, but I‟m pretty sure all of them will keep their opinions to themselves until I‟m alone with them.” Sterling watched as Sasha picked up her jacket off the chair in his office. He couldn‟t believe that he was so close to having everything he wanted because he didn‟t think it was ever a possibility when he was growing up. Being alone had became like second nature to him, opening up and pursuing Sasha had taken a lot on his part more than she would ever know. But it was worth fighting down his past demons to get the woman he couldn‟t keep out of his

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mind for more than thirty minutes a day. After Sasha got her jacket, she spun back around and came back over to him. Sterling couldn‟t keep his pulse from speeding up. God, he still was trying to wrap his mind around how hard and quickly he had fallen for Sasha. She was perfection in every sense of the word. Sasha was a combination of Mary Ann and Ginger: an intelligent woman with a knock out body. He had a crush on both of them when he was going up and now he was lucky enough to find them wrapped up in one sweet little package. Grabbing him by the shirt, Sasha pulled his six feet four inches down to her adorable five feet five inches height. “I just had the most amazing idea while I was getting ready to leave.” Whatever Sasha‟s proposal might be he would agree to it without a second thought. How could he not do it? “What is it?” he asked. “How about I think of an excuse so we can leave early and go back to my house for a night cap?” “Sweetheart, I think I love and I do mean love the way your mind thinks,” Sterling breathed against Sasha‟s plump lips before capturing them for a kiss.

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Chapter Twenty One

Taking a sip of her drink, Sasha watched Sterling joking around with Steven over near a small table at the side of the room filled with her big sister‟s famous finger foods. Subconsciously, she touched her hair making sure that it was still in place since Sterling decided he wanted more than a kiss when he picked her up at home. If she hadn‟t come to her senses rather quickly the two of them wouldn‟t be here right now. Sensing her eyes on him, Sterling glanced away from Steven giving her a huge smile and then waved before he turned back towards her new brother in-law. Sasha couldn‟t keep the smile off her face even after Sterling wasn‟t looking at her. Was this what it felt like when you were falling in love with another person? If it was she didn‟t want it to end anytime soon. “Care to tell me what has placed that huge smile on my little sister‟s face? What happened between you and Sterling while I have been on my honeymoon? The last time I heard about you two. You hated him more than anything in the world.”

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Spinning around, Sasha grinned at Keyshia, she loved Allura and Fawn but she was so thrilled to have her big sister back home. Keyshia was the one she could always talk to about anything. “Sterling and I are a couple now. We‟re trying to see where things can go with us.” She hoped that they would only get better and better. “Oh honey, I‟m so happy for you,” Keyshia said, giving her a hug and then moved back. “I was wondering what was up when Sterling came to dinner with you and I couldn‟t get anything out of Allura or Fawn when I asked them in the kitchen.” Sasha grabbed Keyshia by the arm and dragged her away from the others guests. She wanted to be able to talk to Keyshia alone. She was so close to Keyshia that she knew she could tell her anything. Keyshia always seemed to be able to give her the best advice out of anyone in the family. “Do you know how glad I am that you‟re finally home? I have needed your advice so bad lately,” Sasha said really hoping that Keyshia could finally make her stop secretly worrying about her involvement with Sterling. “Sasha, what‟s wrong?” Keyshia asked pulling out a chair from the kitchen table. She took a seat. “Sit down and tell me what‟s going on.” Grabbing a chair, Sasha joined her sister. “You know how I can be. I have wanted to be with Sterling for so long and now that we‟re dating. I‟m just

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wondering how things will turn out between us.” Linking her fingers together, Keyshia leaned forward across the glass kitchen table and gave her full attention to her. This was the one thing she loved the most about her big sister. No matter what was going on around her, if she needed Keyshia‟s help anywhere, anyplace and anytime she got it. “First thing you should do is stop over thinking everything so much. You know that I‟ve told you this before. Don‟t worry about the future with Sterling. Just enjoy the journey of falling in love with Sterling. Honestly, learning more about the man you care about is the best part of the relationship.” “Keyshia, I understand what you‟re telling me but you know how I‟m about everything,” Sasha cut in. “I‟m so motivated by the need to understand where my feeling are coming from. It‟s like I‟ve wanted Sterling from the first moment I saw him, but he was so distant for so long. How can I trust what we are moving towards is real?” Reaching across the table, Keyshia placed her hand on top of hers. “Sweetie, sometimes it takes a man longer to figure out what is right in front of his face. I saw the way Sterling was looking at you. He‟s very interested in you. I don‟t doubt he isn‟t falling in love with you.” Sasha moved her hand away from Keyshia and placed them in her lap. “Sterling has such a hard time expressing his deeper feelings. He has told me a

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little about himself, but not enough. I want him to see me as that special woman he can tell his deepest secrets to and anything else that might be on his mind.” “Ever since you were a little girl you have always felt things more deeply than Fawn and Allura. I think it‟s wonderful you want to do so much for Sterling, but don‟t lose who you are to help him be the core of your relationship.” “Sterling needs to be there for you as equally as you are there for him or even more. Any loving relationship is share between the couple. One person shouldn‟t add more than the other one.” Sasha was hearing what Keyshia was telling her and all of it was excellent advice, but she didn‟t know if Sterling could be the man Keyshia was describing. “Is Steven that for you?” Glancing past her shoulders, Keyshia looked at her husband and then back at her. “Little sister, I wouldn‟t have ever married Steven if he wasn‟t. Now, how about you get up from here and go get Sterling? I think the two of you need some more along time and you aren‟t going to get it here with all of us.” “You‟re right,” Sasha agreed, as Keyshia got up from the table a few second after her. “I‟m so glad you‟re home. I really have missed you.” “I‟ve missed my family, too.” Keyshia gave her a hug and then moved back. “Okay, time for you to hit the road and remember everything I told you.” “I will,” Sasha said before turning away and heading over to Sterling. She

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had so much to discuss with him when they got back to her house.

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Chapter Twenty Two

“I thought we would never leave your sister‟s dinner party,” Sterling‟s hot breathed whispered against the back of Sasha‟s neck as she unlocked the front door to her house. “All I could think about while I was there was getting you alone. We need to spend more time together.” Sasha pushed opened the door and walked inside leaving Sterling to follow behind her. She was listening to Sterling, but her thoughts were still back on the conversation she had with Keyshia in the kitchen. Was she really over thinking everything with Sterling should she just go with the flow more and allowing each day to uncover something new and exciting? “Baby, is everything okay?” Grabbing her by the arm, Sterling spun her around to face him. “You were awful quiet in the car. Did something happen at Keyshia‟s house I don‟t know about? I noticed you were in the kitchen with her for a long time.” Her apprehension about Sterling got pushed to the back of her mind when Sasha remembered what Keyshia told her. Things were going so well between her

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and Sterling, it was time for her to get off her pity boat and live in the moment and stop worrying about the unknown future. “Sterling, I‟m fine,” she answered with a huge smile. “I was only remembering how happy my sister looked. I never thought Keyshia would get married and now she‟s happily in love and married.” “Do you not like Steven?” Sterling asked. “No, he‟s a great guy. He loves my sister so much. I can see it every time he looks at her.” “Yeah, he‟s a pretty nice guy. I can tell he loves your sister too, but he can‟t love her more than I love you.” Everything around Sasha stopped as Sterling‟s words settled into her mind. She was so shocked that she couldn‟t form any words to even give Sterling any kind of response. Where in the hell had that come from? Why was he telling her that he was in love with her? “Don‟t you have anything to say?” Sterling asked, pulling her closer to his hard body. “Or have I shocked you speechless?” Licking her lips, Sasha took a couple of deep breaths and then answered Sterling. “How can I not be shocked? Your confession just came out of left field. I mean….” “Sweetheart, I have been in love with you for a while. I think my love for you

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is one of the reason I had such a hard time asking you out in the first place. I didn‟t want the woman I was falling in love with to reject me. I haven‟t had the best track record with commitments in the past, but none of that matter to me after I first saw you.” “Have we actually done enough to fall in love with each other?” Sasha asked. “I mean don‟t people have to go date after date getting to know each before they can confess their love?” Sterling‟s face lit right up before her eyes. “Are you telling me that you love me too? I mean I know there is a slight age difference between us, but do you really think you can over look that?” “Yes, I love you,” Sasha admitted without even thinking about her age. Sterling was the man for her. She loved him more than anything in the world. “Your age doesn‟t matter to me. I‟m twenty-eight and so what you‟re in your forties. It doesn‟t matter to me in the least. I just never thought I would be like Keyshia and fall for someone this quickly. What if this is just lust or something else?” “Baby, I can prove to you that it‟s just more than lust. Hell, if you want to go on a hundred dates, I can do that too, but it won‟t change how I feel about you. How I have always felt about you. I love you Sasha Williams. I‟m tired of trying to keep my feelings a secret. I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”

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Sterling stared down at her with such intensity that she felt like she was the only woman in the world for him. Cupping her face in his hands, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip making her gasp. “God, I don‟t know how I wasted so much time fighting my feelings for you. You‟re the woman I want and I‟m going to prove how much I belong in your life.” “So, I guess you‟re happy that I love you as much as you love me?” Sasha teased as she stared up into Sterling‟s blue-gray eyes. “Damn right, I do,” Sterling growled right before his lips came crashing down on hers. She wrapped her arms around Sterling‟s neck as he continued to make love to her mouth sending her over a little more each time his tongue touched hers. Picking her up, he wrapped her legs around his waist. He walked over to the couch and sat down with her straddling his lap, the feel of his cock against her damp underwear sent Sasha‟s desire level up another notch. Slowly, Sterling‟s long fingers worked at the buttons at the back of her dress slipping them out of each hole. The soft brush of his knuckles over her already heated skin sent another rush of moisture into her underwear making her squirm to ease some of the ache between her thighs. “I know baby, I can feel how wet you are for me,” Sterling whispered against

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her mouth. “I promise you that I‟m going to make our waiting worth it.” Pulling the material from around her shoulders, he let the dress pool between their bodies. He stared at her hard nipples that he was dying to taste. His cock jumped and strained against the front of his pants as he continued to stare at her breasts. “I have never seen a more tempting sight in my life. You are so beautiful.” “I‟m so glad you like what you see. How about I help you get out of some of your clothes?” Sasha asked, working the buttons on his shirt until it was wide open displaying the light dusting of hair on his chest. Taking the tip of her finger, she trailed it down the center of Sterling‟s chest smiling when he growled in the back of his throat. “I love when a man has chest hair. It‟s so masculine and such a turn on for me.” “Well, you aren‟t going to see any other guy‟s chest hair after tonight. Make sure you understand that very clearly.” Sterling eyed her before he ran his fingers through her hair giving it a little tug. She gasped at the roughness as Sterling nibbled at her earlobe before sucking it into his mouth. “Sterling,” she moaned as he let go of her hair and got to work on her bra. With a light snap it came undone very quickly and Sterling took it off her body tossing it behind them somewhere on the floor. “Shit! Look at how perfect you are.” Sterling‟s thumbs gazed over her

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nipples making them even harder for touch. She bit down on her bottom lip to keep from screaming her pleasure. Her body was tingling from head to toe at Sterling‟s touch. Surprisingly, his hands had a slight callous feel to them which was making her even hotter for him. “Sterling,” she moaned as he drew her nipple into his mouth. Sasha was going out of her mind as his hands slipped under her dress and they palmed her ass. Sterling moved her lower body back and forth across his throbbing erection. “What is it, baby?” Sterling asked as he let go of her nipple with a loud pop. “Do you need to tell me something?” The heated look in his eyes made her even crazier with the need to get Sterling off the couch and into her bed. She felt like she was having an out of body experience since she had dreamt about being with Sterling for so long. Sasha jumped when she felt one of Sterling‟s finger ease underneath her underwear and brushed against her damp curls. “Come on, tell me what you want. I swear. I‟ll be more than happy to give it to you.” “I want you,” she whispered. “I need you so badly.” “Spread your legs wider for me.” Sterling grabbed the hem of her dress pulling it up her body and over her head. He didn‟t even bother looking where he tossed it after it was off her body. She hurried and did as Sterling requested. His thumb brushed again and

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again over her wetness causing tiny currents of shock waves to dance across her skin. Before he worked two of his fingers inside of her body; Sasha moaned out loud not caring how she sounded because she couldn‟t keep it in any longer. Sasha felt his fingers move in and out of her at a slow agonizing speed, slowly pulling out and then pushing back inside until she thought she was going to lose her mind. She whimpered in the back of her throat as the sensations started feeling better and better. “Your fingers are amazing,” she moaned arching her back to get Sterling‟s touch further inside of her. “However, I need more than that from you.” “Baby, you don‟t have to ask. I‟ll be more than happy to give you anything that you want,” he whispered then kissed the corner of her mouth. Sterling removed his fingers from her body and stood up from the couch with her legs around his waist. “Where is your bedroom?” he demanded, hotly. “It‟s all the way at the end of the hallway.” Sasha answered as her arms circled his shoulders.

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Chapter Twenty Three

Gently, Sterling placed Sasha in the middle of the bed and stood back eyeing how stunning she looked in her lacy white underwear and nothing else. He could get used to see his woman like this for the rest of his life, but right at this moment all he wanted to do was make love to Sasha. He had been waiting way too long not to finally get what he wanted. Tonight wasn‟t going to be another wet dream or cold shower to alleviate the ache in his body because of his need to be with Sasha. She was sitting on the bed waiting for him like she had all the time in the world and he was losing his mind. “This is truly going to be the best night of my life,” Sterling said as he kicked off his shoes and then removed the remainder of his clothing until he was naked. Sasha‟s rich brown eyes dropped down to his cock and her tongue licked her bottom lip. His cock throbbed and grew another inch as her hand reached out and wrapped around it. “Oh shit!?” he hissed between his front teeth as her thumb brushed over the tip.

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She smiled up at him as she repeated the movement with her hand. “Do you like this?” Sasha teased. “You know that I do, but if you don‟t stop. I won‟t be able to hold on much longer.” Sterling grabbed Sasha‟s small warm hand and eased it away from his throbbing cock. He gently pushed her back on the bed and removed her underwear. Sterling eased two of his fingers inside of Sasha‟s tight little body stretching her to accommodate the thickness of his fingers. Smiling, he started moving his fingers in and out of her faster and faster drawing a low moan from the back of her throat. She got wetter and wetter. Her juices flowed over his fingers and down his hand, taking a deep breath Sterling tried to calm himself down. He didn‟t want Sasha to cum like this their first time together. He wanted to be buried deep inside of her. Sterling slowly started to ease his fingers out of Sasha when she grabbed his wrist. “What are you doing?” she whispered. “I don‟t want you to stop.” “Baby, I‟m not going to stop,” he assured her as he gently removed Sasha‟s hand off his wrist before pulling his fingers out. “I just don‟t want our first time together to end up with you coming all over my hand. I‟ve dreamt about being in that tight little body of yours for way too long.”

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Easing away from her, Sterling picked up his pants up off the floor and dug a condom out of his wallet. He tore it open and got it on in record time. Sterling ran his middle finger over Sasha one last time causing her to gasp before he covered her softer body with his harder one. Sterling couldn‟t keep the smile off his face as Sasha‟s eyes connect with his and he saw the desire there. The look made his arrogance level kick up another notch. He bent his head slightly and licked the side of her neck loving the salty taste of her sweat on his tongue. Sterling brushed his cock against Sasha and she moved her hips restlessly like she was dying to have him inside of her. “Sasha, do you want me?” Sterling whispered into her ear. “Yes…oh God...yes, I want you,” Sasha moaned, loudly as her hands scratched at his back. Sterling tried to continue touching and kissing on Sasha‟s temping tight body, but he had been denied access to it for far too long. He needed to be inside of her now, or he would lose his mind from desire. “You‟re going to get me, sweetheart,” he promised. Sterling lined his cock up to the opening of Sasha‟s vagina. He didn‟t want to thrust right into her because his cock was above average maybe eight inches long. He wanted to make this pleasurable…not painful. But he had to have her…he could no longer just be satisfied with his wet dreams at night.

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Slowly, Sterling inched his way inside of Sasha growling in the back of his throat when her scorching heat wrapped around his throbbing cock. Shit! She was wetter and tighter than he could have even thought of in any of his fantasies. He took a few minutes to savor the perfection of her tightness then thrust the rest of the way in until he was completely inside of her. “Are you okay, baby?” he breathed against the side of Sasha‟s neck as one of his hands played with her breasts. Sterling could feel her soft body squirming on the sheets beneath them. He knew she was enjoying having him inside her, but he had to hear the words. “Please…” she begged, softly making his cock jump and grow another inch. His body‟s reaction to the sweet sound of Sasha‟s voice constantly surprised him. He never got this hard for another woman in his life. Sasha had some kind of hold over him. “Please…what, Sasha? What do you want me to do to you?” “I want you to make love to me like you have done in my dreams every night.” That was all Sterling needed to hear. He started thrusting in and out of Sasha…not too fast…not too hard, but at the perfect pace both of them could enjoy. “Sterling,” Sasha moaned, as she closed her eyes tossing her head back on the pillow.

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Her low whimper urged him to thrust harder. Lowering his mouth, he sucked Sasha‟s hard nipple into his warm mouth biting down gently on her nipple drawing another reaction from her. “I need…More!” She hollered, sliding her fingers through his damp hair. Sterling fucked Sasha harder causing the headboard to bang against the wall behind him. He could feel his cock sliding in and out of her body as it grew wetter and wetter from his movements. Her body squeezed his cock harder as her orgasm hit hard. Sasha opened her mouth, but no words came out. The sight of her caught up in her pleasure is what finally sent Sterling over the brink. It was more than he could take and it sent him over the edge with her. Tossing his head back, Sterling hollered his release as he held Sasha‟s body closer to his and his orgasm continued to rake through his body until he couldn‟t do anything else but collapse on top of her. Minutes ticked by until he felt Sasha finally stir underneath him. As much as Sterling wanted to stay like this with Sasha, he knew he was too heavy for her. He rolled to the side and removed the condom tossing it into a trashcan he spotted at the side of the bed. Pulling Sasha‟s body against his, Sterling covered them with a sheet and then kissed the back of her head. “Are you okay?” he asked her.

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“Yes,” she answered, softly. “I wasn‟t too rough. I didn‟t hurt you, did I?” Turning Sasha around, he placed a finger under her chin making her look him in the eye. “No. Everything was perfect. I‟m fine. I swear.” Sterling released a breath that he didn‟t know he had been holding. He would have torn him up inside if he had hurt Sasha in anyway shape or form. He cared…no loved her way too much for that. “Do you know how much I love you?” Leaning back, Sasha‟s eyes grew wider at his words like she still didn‟t believe him. “You don‟t believe me, do you?” “My heart wants to believe you, but it‟s in a battle with my head because of everything that has happened,” Sasha admitted, placing her hand in the middle of his chest. “It just seems like─” “How about you just let me love you and everything else will work out for itself?” Sterling suggested as he tugged Sasha back to him. He wasn‟t going to lose her. In time, Sasha would realize he was telling her the truth. It was just going to take a little work on his part.

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Chapter Twenty Four

A week later “I‟m so glad that you could finally get the night off from Family Affair, so you can meet Payton,” Sterling said after he opened the car door for Sasha. Grabbing her by the hand, he helped her out of the car and then slammed the door closed behind them. “How could I miss out on having dinner with your best friend?” Sasha asked. “You have talked about him so much that I already feel like I know him. I‟m very excited about meeting Payton.” “Let me warn you that my buddy is a born flirt. I‟ve warned him about you and he better listen or else.” “Sounds like your jealous I might like Payton flirting with me,” Sasha teased. Spinning her around, Sterling back Sasha up against his car. “Of course, I‟ll get jealous of any man who spends too much time looking at what is mine. I wasn‟t raised to share my things. My father wasn‟t very big on sharing or giving things away to anyone.” Sasha brushed the tip of her fingers down the side of his face. “Sterling when

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are you doing to open up to me about your father? I‟ve heard rumors about him, but I want to hear the truth from you.” Sterling moved Sasha‟s soft hand off his face and placed it against his chest over his heart. He didn‟t doubt whispers about his father had gotten back to Sasha. He was still having a hard time unlocking that part of his past for her, but he would soon. “I think we better make our way to Payton‟s house. He told me he was going to fix his famous chicken casserole. I believe it was his mother‟s recipe.” “Oh, I feel so special that Payton is cooking a home cooked meal for me.” “For us,” Sterling quickly corrected his voice a tad bit deeper. “What?” Sasha asked confused. “Payton isn‟t cooking you a special dinner. He‟s cooking it for us and that‟s it. Remember, I told him not to flirt with you at all. He doesn‟t need anymore woman in his little black book.” “Sterling, you are too cute with your jealousy. You know that I don‟t want any other man but you.” Sure, he knew that but he still had to make it known to Sasha what a born flirt Payton was with any woman. “Come on. Let‟s go. Payton doesn‟t like it when I‟m late.” Linking their fingers together, he escorted Sasha towards Payton‟s front door hoping Sasha and

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Payton got along with each other. He couldn‟t have his best friend and girlfriend hating each other.

“I see why Sterling wanted to keep you to himself for so long,” Payton joked with her after dinner as he passed her a slice of cheesecake. “I‟m just a tiny bit pissed that I didn‟t‟ see you first. I know I wouldn‟t have waited as long as Sterling did to make my move.” Sasha was pretty sure that Payton didn‟t have a problem attracting woman with his dark blond hair and ocean blue eyes. He was the poster boy for all surfing magazines and oozed enough charm to make any woman melt if he glanced in her direction. “Payton, that‟s enough,” Sterling warned. Payton‟s blue eyes left hers for a moment to look over at Sterling. “Oh, calm down. I‟m not going to steal Sasha away from you unless she wants me too.” “Payton, I‟m not going to tell you again.” Wow…She couldn‟t believe Sterling was taking Payton‟s flirting seriously. He was actually jealous. She thought it was so cute. Payton was only teasing with her. She knew the difference between harmless fun and a man actually stepping over the line with her. Did Sterling actually think his best friend was trying to steal her away from

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him? “Sterling, I‟m not taking Payton seriously. I‟m sure he has plenty of women after him. He doesn‟t want or need me.” Payton‟s smile grew even wider as he looked back and forth between her and Sterling. “No, I‟m single. Do you know of anyone who‟s looking for a date with a reasonably attractive man? I‟m not picky at all.” Sasha fought against laughing out loud at Payton. God, he was too much. It was going to take a special woman to make this guy settle down. “Right now, I don‟t know of any available women. But, if I think of anyone I‟ll let you know.” “Great,” Payton told her. “Are the two of you done?” Sterling asked as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “I‟m thinking I better get my girlfriend home before I get anymore jealous.” Leaning across the chair, Sasha whispered in Sterling‟s ear. “I promise to make your jealousy go away once you get me back to your house.” Sasha gasped when Sterling jumped up from his chair pulling her with him. “Payton, sorry about dessert but Sasha and I need to leave.” His best friend looked back at him and then Sasha with a knowing grin. “I thought you mentioned on the phone you wanted to discuss a design you wanted

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me to do for you.” Damn it! Sterling had forgotten all about the flyers the second Sasha mentioned to him about taking her home. Well, there was going to be a change of plans. “I‟ll email you the details either later on tonight or early in the morning,” Sterling said as he tugged Sasha toward the front door. “Payton, it was so nice to meet you. I had a great time,” Sasha told his buddy as his hand touched the doorknob. “Hopefully, we all can have dinner again real soon.” “Not anytime soon,” Sterling mumbled under his breath before opening the door. He quickly ushered her out into the warm night air closing the door behind him. “God, you sure got me out of Payton‟s house in a hurry,” Sasha laughed, walking to the car with Sterling. “I thought your best friend was too entertaining. I can‟t believe he‟s still single. He‟s so hot and funny. Guys like him usually get snatched up pretty fast.” Stopping in his tracks, Sterling tugged Sasha to his body. He hated that he was jealous and he knew Sasha was into him, but he hated the way she got along with Payton so easily. He wished there wouldn‟t be any problems and damn it there hadn‟t been.

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“Please don‟t tell me you‟re still upset about the fun I was having with Payton?” Sasha questioned. “What if I am?” he tossed back. Sterling hated this feeling. He had never experienced it before and it scared the hell out of him. He never knew love could feel this away…so all consuming. “I think it might be best if you took me back to my house instead of yours. I don‟t want to deal with you and the mood you‟re in. I don‟t have time for it at all.” Placing her hands on his chest, Sasha pushed him away from her. Fuck! He didn‟t want their night to end because of a stupid argument which was entirely his fault because it was caused by his insecurity. “Sasha, wait!” Sterling grabbed her by the arm, but Sasha shook off his touch. “Let me apologize.” “Don‟t. You wanted me to hit it off with your friend and when we did you get jealous for no apparent reason. I just want to go home, take a long bath and crawl into bed. I don‟t have to work tomorrow and I want to sleep late.” Sasha continued to make her way to his parked car without another word to him. Shit! What had he done? Sterling thought as he watched Sasha get into the passenger side of the car and then close the door. Since Sasha wasn‟t schedule to work at Family Affair or Sleep Softly tomorrow he was going to surprise her with a horseback riding trip. He knew how

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much she loved horses, but never got the chance to ride them as much as she wanted. Now, after the dumb way he acted. He wasn‟t going to be able to do any of that with her. Shoving his fingers through his hair, Sterling slowly walked over to his car. He wasn‟t even going to try to convince Sasha into coming to his house. He could tell from the way her head was facing the passenger side window that Sasha wasn‟t too interested in anything he had to tell her least of all an apology. He would let her have tonight, but bright and early tomorrow morning he was going to be at her door bearing gifts.

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Chapter Twenty Five

Early the next morning, Sterling stood on Sasha‟s porch wondering why in the hell Sasha wasn‟t answering her front door. It was too early for her to be up and out for the day. Anyway, it was her day off which meant she would want to sleep a little later than usually. He really needed to apologize to her for acting like such a jerk last night at Payton‟s house. After he had dropped Sasha off at her house without her saying as much as two words to him the entire drive, he decided to call Payton and give him an apology as well. Thankfully, he and Payton had been friends for so long that his buddy just laughed off his behavior and congratulated him for finally working up enough courage to finally ask Sasha out on a real date. In addition, Payton also warned him not to wait too long to put a ring on Sasha‟s finger. Oh, he wasn‟t going to wait much longer to make Sasha his wife, but first he had to get her to open the front door for him. He knocked again hoping that Sasha would come this time.

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“God, what is it?” Sasha snapped as soon as the front door swung open. “Good morning, gorgeous.” Grabbing Sasha by the waist with his free hand Sterling tugged her against his body planting a quick kiss on her surprised mouth. Sasha tried to resist him, but slowly she gave in wrapping her arms around his neck. “Baby, I missed you so much last night. I‟m sorry I acted like a jealous jerk,” Sterling whispered against Sasha‟s swollen lips. “I don‟t know if I should,” Sasha said, staring up into his eyes. “You were totally out of line last night at Payton‟s house. At first, your jealousy was endearing but then it got a little crazy.” Sighing, Sterling pressed his head against Sasha‟s forehead. She was right about his behavior. His attitude was all over the place and Sasha had every single reason not to want to be around him after last night. “Can you forgive me if I promise not to allow my jealousy to take over again?” Sterling asked as he backed Sasha into the house closing the door behind them. “I guess I could, but it all depends.” Sasha took a step away from him. “Depends on what?” he asked a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “If you show me what‟s behind your back that smells so good. I‟m starving. I was about to fix some breakfast until an impatient person kept knocking at my

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door.” From the teasing tone in Sasha‟s voice Sterling was beginning to think that he might be out of the dog house, but if he wasn‟t this would be the first step in getting him out. Moving his hand from behind his back, Sterling held up a white paper bag from Sasha‟s favorite bakery. He had noticed her numerous times bringing something from there to work. “How did you know I loved their freshly baked donuts?” she asked, taking the bag from him. Sterling watched the pleasure that crossed Sasha‟s face as she opened the bag and took a whiff. “It isn‟t fair at all that you brought glazed donuts over to my house for breakfast, so I would forgive you.” Sterling couldn‟t keep the grin off his face as he moved Sasha back into his arms careful not to smash the bag in her hand. How did he make it so long without having Sasha like this? The last leg of everything going on at work was over tomorrow and after it ended. Sasha was going to be blown away by the plans he had for her. She wasn‟t even going to see it coming. “Do you want to stay and have a couple of these with me?” Sasha asked. As tempting as Sasha‟s offer was Sterling knew if he stayed here that he

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would be sampling another sweetness that didn‟t involve fried dough. Shit! Why had he told Payton to meet him at Sleep Softly so they could discuss the mock flyer he emailed him early this morning? For a spilt second, he thought about canceling his meeting with Payton and then decided against it. The sooner he got finished with Payton. The quicker he could get back here to Sasha. He had so much to tell her. But he wanted to do it without any interruptions from anyone because this was going to be the best day of his life. “Sweetheart, I would love to stay, but I have a meeting with Payton about the flyers,” Sterling sighed, taking a step back from her. “Oh, I hate that you are leaving. But I have a suggestion how about I show up at Sleep Softly later and we can spend the day together doing something fun?” Sasha suggested. “I don‟t know the last time either one of us played hooky from work.” “Sasha, I love that idea. How about you eat breakfast and then meet me at work? I don‟t think my meeting with Payton should take longer than a couple of hours at the most.” “Sounds like a good idea to me,” Sasha grinned at him. Today was turning out so much better than he could have ever thought it would. Sterling knew today was going to be the day that he asked the woman he loved more than anything in the world to become his wife. Life couldn‟t get any

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better for him if he wished for it.

“Thanks so much for coming. I wasn‟t sure if you would after the way I acted at your house last night,” Sterling told Payton later as he took a seat in front his desk. “I was a total asshole to you.” “I‟m going to tell you the same thing I told you on the phone don‟t worry about it. A man in love will do a lot of crazy things. I just hope you like the quick draft of the flyer I did for you. I just moved some stuff around on the last one I did for you and emailed you my mocked one,” Payton said. “Honestly, I thought it was too funny that the great Sterling Hamilton was jealous of me flirting with his girlfriend. You know I would never do that to you. Our friendship is too valuable to me. You know how I am when it comes to keeping a relationship. I‟ll probably be a playboy for the rest of my life,” Payton sighed leaning back in his chair. “Oh, I doubt that. You‟ll meet the right woman and fall head over heels in love just like me,” Sterling assured his best friend. “By the way, the mock flyers are perfect. They are just what I wanted.” “Great! I‟ll get them printed out for you and sent back over by courier. However, I‟ll believe it when I see it about me falling in love. So, enough about me have you decided what you‟re going to do about Sasha? Are you going to keep her

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on as an employee after the campaign is over?” Sterling didn‟t have to think about Payton‟s question long before he gave his buddy a response. “No, I‟m not going to keep Sasha on at Sleep Softly after next week. I won‟t have any more need for her here as my employee. I‟ll be through with her in that aspect.” A soft gasp from the doorway made both Sterling and Payton‟s heads quickly swing in the direction of the open doorway. Sterling‟s heart dropped to his shoes when he spotted Sasha standing there before she twirled around and raced away. “Sasha, wait! Let me explain,” Sterling hollered as he jumped up from his chair and went after her.

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Chapter Twenty Six

A month later Sasha was sitting back in the office at Family Affair working on sorting through the mail when a loud knock on the door interrupted her. She was hiding out in here because she wasn‟t in the mood to deal with anyone. She was still having problems getting to sleep because every time she closed her eyes. She heard Sterling‟s words over and over until she couldn‟t take it anymore. Well, she didn‟t give Sterling the chance to fire her because she sent him her letter of resignation the same day she overheard his conversation with Payton. Things were over between them now if she could only get her heart to be in the same place as her head. “Come in,” she said without bothering to look up from the task she was working on. “Sasha, can I talk to you for a moment?” a male voice asked her. Glancing up from the mail, Sasha was stunned to find Payton standing there looking at her. Payton was here to see her? Why? They had only met once and that was when she was still with Sterling. “What are you doing here? How did you know where I worked?” she asked

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confused. “Sterling told me awhile ago about Family Affair. He was always talking about you any chance he got anyone who would listen.” Sasha wasn‟t in the mood to listen to Payton defend Sterling. He had wasted his time even coming here if he expected her to want to hear a word from him. “Payton, if you came to tell me how much Sterling loves me than I don‟t want to hear it. I have already quit my job and I‟m through with him, so you can leave the same way you came in.” Coming further into the room, Payton came up to the desk and stared down at her long and hard before speaking. “I can‟t believe you‟re the same confident and strong woman that Sterling used to praise all of the time. He used to tell me how you would never back down from a fight not even with your equally opinionated sisters, but I guess he was wrong about you. Maybe you‟re just as scared of a true commitment as him.” “I‟m not scared of anything,” Sasha denied jumping up out of her seat. “I heard what Sterling said about me. Why would I want to stay with a man who felt that way about me? Can you please leave so I can get back to work? Does Sterling even know that you‟re here?” she asked retaking her seat. “First off you are scared. I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your voice. I know the telltale signs from being around Sterling for some many years.”

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“Don‟t you dare compare me to Sterling,” Sasha warned, glaring at Payton. God, why was he still here bothering her? “You‟re so much like Sterling that it is hard for either of you to see how similar you are to each other. Sterling loves you with everything he has in him. Are you telling me that you really still don‟t care about him?” Sasha opened her mouth and then snapped it shut. She wanted to lie and say that she was no longer in love with Sterling, but she couldn‟t do it. She still loved him with everything in her. “Yes, I still love him, but you were there. You heard what he said about me. Sterling wanted me gone so I resigned before he could do a Donald Trump and fire me.” “Shit!” Payton mumbled. “I swear you and Sterling are going to give me my first gray hair. He doesn‟t want you gone out of his life only Sleep Softly.” “What is the difference?” Sasha frowned. “Aren‟t they the same thing when it comes to Sterling?” Sighing, Payton shook his head at her. “No, it isn‟t the same. Not since you came into his life. Go and talk to him. He‟s been working himself too death this past month trying to get over the pain of losing you.” “If the pain of losing me is so terrible for him, why isn‟t he here instead of you?” Sasha demanded.

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“Pride,” Payton tossed back at her. Sasha nibbled at the bottom of her lip. Why should she be the one who goes to Sterling? He was the one who had done something wrong…not her. “I can see from the torn expression on your face that you‟re having a hard time debating on rather or not if you should go to see Sterling. All I have to say is, are you going to allow a conversation you truly misunderstood keep you from the man you love?” “Think about that for a little while.” Payton gave her one last look before heading out of her office closing the door behind him. Once Sasha was alone she was able to think about everything Payton had told her, this was one time that she couldn‟t run to Keyshia for any help. Her decision would have to be made all by herself and if she was honest with herself Sasha knew she didn‟t need any more time to think about whether or not she wanted Sterling in her life. Getting up from her seat, Sasha took her purse off the back of the chair before heading out the door to deal with Sterling and their future together.

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Chapter Twenty Seven

Walking around his house, Sterling called himself a thousand kinds of fools. Why didn‟t he tell Sasha what he was thinking when he left her house that day. He just wanted everything to be so perfect when he proposed and he ended up ruining everything instead. How could Sasha ever think that he didn‟t want her in his life permanently? After Sasha rushed away from his office he had tried to stop her from leaving, but by the time he made it outside she was already driving out of the parking lot. He had been shoving down his feeling for Sasha because he was afraid of getting too close to her in fear of being rejected. Maybe his fear of being tossed to the side still came from his father‟s treatment of him growing up. Just when there was a shimmer of hope that his father might pick him over of his current lover, his hopes got a bucket of cold water tossed over them. Ever since he could remember some form of rejection had been in his life. He thought he might have gotten used to it, but he was able to see now how wrong he was. Sasha hadn‟t even given him a chance to explain what she accidentally overheard.

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All she did was toss him to the side without a second thought. She already knew how much he loved her? So, why was she so willingly to accept the worst instead of seeing what was right in front of her face? The sound of the doorbell drew Sterling away from his thoughts. Who in the hell could that be? He had already listened to Payton‟s lecture before he kicked him out. He even tired staying at work hoping that would get his mind off Sasha, but that didn‟t work either. Well, he would get rid of who was ever at the door. Today, he wanted to be alone so he could figure out a way to get Sasha back. There was no way in hell he wasn‟t going to be spending the rest of his life with her by his side and she would have a ring on her cute little finger. Storming over to the door, Sterling swung it open just as the words „Go Away‟ were about to leave his mouth. They caught in his throat instead when he found Sasha standing on the other side looking too beautiful for words. He couldn‟t believe it had been a month since he had been in her presence. Why was she here? Hadn’t see already ripped his heart out of his chest? What did she want to do now dance on it? “Can I come inside for a few minutes?” Sasha asked. “I need to talk to you.” Sterling could only nod his head and move to the side since the shock of seeing Sasha right in front of him had made him momentarily speechless.

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“Thank you,” she said softly walking past him into the house. He took his time closing and locking the door before he answered Sasha. “What are you doing here?” he asked, eyeing the short red dress Sasha was wearing that showed off her toned legs to perfection. “I went by Sleep Softly and one of the employees told me had already left for the day.” Sasha told him. “Yeah, I tried to stay but I couldn‟t. Work just isn‟t the same with you gone.” Sterling folded his arms across his chest, so he wouldn‟t pull Sasha into his arms and beg for her forgiveness. She had come to him for a reason and he would hear her out, but he was secretly hoping that Sasha was going to tell him that she would be willingly to let him fix his mistake. “Payton come by to see me at Family Affair. He told me in so many words that both of us was too obstinate and scared to realize what we have is good.” Uncrossing his arms, Sterling walked towards Sasha until he was standing directly in front of her and truly at that moment he realized how much Sasha truly loved him for her to come to him. “I hate it when Payton is right. We both are stubborn sometimes, but I‟m hoping that will end at least on my part after I tell you about my father.” Maybe after he got this out in the open, he would finally be able to keep his father in the past where he truly belonged.

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Taking Sasha by the hand, Sterling took her over to the couch and pulled her down next to him after he had already taken a seat. “My father never loved me. I think he might have actually hated being a father more than he despised having me as a son.” “Oh, Sterling that can‟t be true,” Sasha gasped, placing her hand on his leg. For years, Sterling tried not to believe the truth but now it was time that he did. He had to accept the facts if he was ever truly going to put everything behind him, so he could move on with Sasha. “Yes, sweetheart it‟s true. I know it is horrible to hear, but my father never wanted me around. I had nannies taking care of me so much that I can‟t really recall not having one around. I was a thorn in my father‟s side that wouldn‟t ever go away.” “He didn‟t want to send me to boarding school because he had an image to keep up both professionally and personally. However, he didn‟t care about the endless women that were brought into my life.” “What happened to your mother?” Sasha asked as her big brown eyes searched his. Sterling shrugged his shoulder. “I don‟t know. Every time I asked my father about her. He would change the subject and tell me to stop asking him. I knew then to just leave it alone.”

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“Oh, honey. I‟m so sorry.” The concern in Sasha‟s voice touched him deeply. He pulled her further into his arms resting his chin against the top of her head. “Don‟t be. My father was just a very uncaring man when it came to me. I think the final nail in the cabin of our already horrible relationship came when he kicked me out of the house after one of his girlfriends lie about me coming on to her.” “Instead of listening to my side, he warned me I better be out of his house when he came back from his cruise with his latest lover. After that I knew there wouldn‟t ever be anything between us. I guess my father‟s constant rejection made me leery and very cautious of approaching you.” “Did you think I was going to hurt you the same your father had when you were younger by pushing you to the side without a second thought?” The hurt in Sasha‟s voice was loud and clear to Sterling‟s ears and it made him feel even worse than he already did. “Yes, I guess a part of me did think that,” he admitted truthfully. “Payton was the only person who had been through the toughest times with me. I was afraid to open up completely to anyone until I saw you. I knew what I was feeling for you was something worth fighting through my own personal demons for.” He moved Sasha completely back from his body, so he could look directly into her eyes. Sterling wanted Sasha to see the love in his eyes when he told her

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this. “Baby, you have to understand what you heard at Sleep Softly that day was only part of the conversation I was having with Payton.” “Are you saying that you weren‟t going to fire me from Sleep Softly?” “No, I was going to fire you. You‟re right about that part,” Sterling said and he held on tighter to Sasha when she tried to move away from him. “Let go of me,” Sasha said, struggling against him. “No, not until I‟m finished now be still” Sterling waited for Sasha to calm down before he continued. “The night I went to the party at Keyshia‟s house and talked to Steven. Every other word out of his mouth was how much he loved your sister and the wonderful feelings she had brought into his life. I knew then I felt the same exact emotions for you.” “I couldn‟t possibly think about spending another moment without you in my life or not at my side. Sasha Williams, you complete me. Everything I‟ve ever wanted I found in you. The reason, I was going to fire you from Sleep Softly was I no longer wanted you as my employee, but I wanted you to run it side by side with me as my wife. Will you marry me?” Suddenly tears filled Sasha‟s eyes as she looked at him with utter shock on her gorgeous face. “You want to get married?” “Yes, I want to get married and I want it to be in a church full of people so I

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can show everyone the beautiful woman that captured my heart. So, are you ready to accept my love and become Mrs. Sterling Hamilton?” “Yes, I‟ll marry you,” Sasha said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I didn‟t think this day would ever happen.” “Me either, sweetheart,” he whispered against Sasha‟s soft hair. Sterling held Sasha close to his body as the sounds of his father‟s harsh and uncaring voice calling him worthless and unlovable finally left his head because of the unconditional love he found with the woman who was wrapped up in his arms.

The End

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www.freewebs.com/irwriter/

Author Bio:

The Queen of Tease: If you want to read interracial romance stories that leaves you panting for more and turning the pages faster than you can read them. Marie is for you. After reading her first “dirty” book as a teenager, Marie knew she had to become a writer. She started writing a few years ago because she wanted to reach for her dream. She writes her characters so her fans will believe in the Happily Ever After. She loves collecting bear figurines and reading a HOT book when she gets the chance. You can find out more information about her and her work at the following places: Official Site: http://www.freewebs.com/irwriter/ Official Blog: http://shopdiva28.blogspot.com/ Official Yahoo Loop: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marie_rochelle/ Official Yahoo Discussion Loop: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MarieRochelle2/ Awards Best Selling Author All Romance eBooks Best of 2008 Awards

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Marie Rochelle is a bestselling author and award winning author of interracial romances featuring black women and white men. Marie first started writing IR books about three years ago and it has been nonstop for her ever since. Her first best selling IR romance was entitled Taken by Storm. This bestseller will be released by Phaze later on in the year. Her hero in the book Storm Hyde won the 2006 Choice hero from REC. In addition Ms. Rochelle has several bestselling books published through Red Rose Publishing that include: With All my Heart, Dangerous Bet; Troy‟s Revenge, Cover Model and Pamper Me. Marie loves hearing from her fans. Please drop her an email at [email protected] or visit her website @ www.freewebs.com/irwriter/. She also has a discussion group fans can join and talk about her current releases. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MarieRochelle2/. Or you can visit her website and join her regular yahoo group.

Red Rose Publishing: Beneath the Surface- Available in ebook and print Pamper Me- Available in ebook and print Be With you – Available in ebook and print Cover Model – Available in ebook and print With all my Heart – Available in ebook and print

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Love Play - Available in ebook and print Tycoon Club Series Dangerous Bet: Troy‟s Revenge: Available in ebook and print Boss Man: Now Available-coming soon to print Cole‟s Surrender Business or Pleasure Something Pumping- Available in ebook and print Special Delivery: Book 2: Heat Me Up- Available in ebook and print Accept My Love: Sasha: The Williams Sister Series-Book 2 Calendar Girl-coming soon Hello: Keyshia Williams

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