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  Despite the fact, Sasha knew nothing was ever going to happen between her and Sterling. Secretly a small part of her was pleased he wasn’t involved with anyone at the moment. She wasn’t too naïve to comprehend a successful and powerful man like him wouldn’t date a woman like her, one still trying to make her mark in the world.

  Sure, Sterling might flirt with her every once in a while, but never to the point that she would take any of it seriously. He was more attracted to women in his social circle, and she couldn’t blame him.

  However, if he ever considered changing his no dating employees rule at CSC, she would be the first person standing in line to get a shot at him. Some days she would get so caught up staring at his tight ass as he sauntered around in his tailored dress slacks that she was sure he could feel her eyes burning a hole through the back of him.

  Almost thirty minutes after leaving home, Sasha pulled into the semi-empty parking lot of her job. It was almost time for the night crew to get off from cleaning the place, restocking the shelves, and fixing the display beds on the showroom floor. Hiring the night staff had been one of Sterling’s ideas as soon as he came on as the new manager and so far it was working out pretty well. It gave the place a more professional look, so it wouldn’t be done while customers were trying to shop.

  Turning off her car, Sasha grabbed her briefcase and purse from the passenger seat, and as she was about to get out of the car her cell phone rang.

  She quickly dug through her purse and checked the Caller ID. Sasha frowned at the phone number displayed on the blue screen. Of course, now this sister would want to talk to her when she already at work and about to go inside.

  Flipping the phone open, Sasha put it up to her ear. “I tried calling you earlier,” she said. “Why didn’t you pick up then instead of calling me now when I’m at work? You know how much I hate being late.”

  “What do you think I was doing at six o’clock in the morning? I’m not scheduled to work at Luxury until eleven o’clock,” Genise complained. “I was asleep and I shouldn’t get yelled at from you because of it. Why don’t you call at the hour a normal person would?”

  Rolling her eyes, Sasha swallowed down her initial comment, knowing Genise would only hang up on her. She didn’t want to push her sister into starting her day off on the wrong foot, so she would be the mature one.

  “Sorry. I will remember not to call you so early next time. I’ve been trying to get a hold of Rachelle and Akisha. Have you talked to either one of them?” Sasha knew it was a slim chance that Genise had spoken to Rachelle, but maybe Akisha would be a different story.

  “No, I haven’t heard from Big Sis. You know how Rachelle is since she married Cash. They’re probably spending most of their time in their cabin and not worrying about the outside world.

  “Actually, I’m very happy for her. I think it was way past time she finally got a life,” Genise admitted. “I swear I thought Rachelle was going to become one of those women who started collecting stray cats. Thank God she met Cash and he swept her off her feet.”

  “Okay, what about Akisha?” Sasha cut in. Maybe she was the only one of her sisters who missed having Rachelle around.

  “Nope, I think the last time I talked to her something was going on at work. You know how she can be. Sometimes Akisha wants to do the sisterly thing with us and then she doesn’t. What’s up anyway? Is there something wrong? Is that the reason you wanted to talk to us 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 everything out in the open over a good bottle of wine.

  “Can you come over for dinner tonight? I want to discuss some things about Luxury with you and Akisha. 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 her head. Genise hated discussing business outside of Luxury and everyone knew it, but this was important and had to be done. They needed to draw people to their hotel.

  Yes, Rachelle might be in charge of running Luxury, but she, Genise, and Akisha had all invested some of their money into the inn and they wanted it to be profitable just as much as she did.

  Last night she had a new idea about adding a small gift shop to Luxury, so when out of town visitors stayed there they could buy t-shirts, hats, or other small gifts to take back home with them.

  “I’m not sure I can make it,” Genise hedged.

  Enough is enough.

  “If you don’t show up tonight to give your opinion about the new designs and additions I want to discuss, don’t bother coming to work for a while,” Sasha said. “The hotel is supposed to be a family-owned business and if you don’t want to contribute why should you keep getting a paycheck for work you aren’t even doing?”

  It was about time she or one of the other sisters put their foot down when it came to Genise’s inability to grow up. Anytime they wanted her opinion she always avoided giving it, then continuously complained about anything and everything after the ideas were completed.

  Her sister cursed in her ear. “You can’t threaten me like this and you know it. Stop it.”

  “I bet Akisha and Rachelle would agree with me on this. So, the choice is yours. I would show up if I were you,” she warned her little sister. She was done playing these games and Genise needed to know she meant business.

  “Sasha, are you sure it has to be tonight?” Genise 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 in a couple of weeks. Since he finally decided to give me a night off, I was going to hang out with some friends I haven’t seen in a while.”

  Why did I ever think I could count on Genise for anything important?

  Genise 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 ever since they were kids. Her sister’s main priorities included attending parties and going shopping. She wasn’t ever going to change…at least not in this lifetime.

  “Go ahead and hang out with your friends. Forget about calling Akisha, 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 her sibling tried to redeem herself with another sorry excuse. Currently, she had too much going on to get swept up into any nonsense with her sister. How much more had to happen before she got it into her thick skull about Genise? Genise didn’t have the skills to step up when it came to anything important.

  She loved bragging about everything she had going on in her life, but Genise seldom wanted to do any extra work to take it to the next level. Sasha wanted to be more disappointed with her, but she couldn’t. Her sister’s personality hadn’t changed all that much since they were children.

  Why should she think it would be any different now since they were older?

  Tossing the phone back into her purse, Sasha got out of the car with her belongings. This would be the first time in a while that she wouldn’t be the one who apologized when she and Genise had a difference of opinion. She wasn’t the sister who made the mistake. Genise was the one, and she was going to stay firm until her little sister made the first move to fix the problem.

  Chapter Three

  Walking across the parking lot towards the front doors, Sasha grudgingly shoved the terrible conversation out of her head. As her excitement grew about the new promotional campaign starting today, she crossed her fingers and secretly prayed everything went well for Sterling. She might actually be more keyed up about this grand reopening than him.

  The Hamilton Corporation didn’t have the best track record with their previous managers. One spent more time in the bac
k room talking on the telephone instead of taking care of the business. The one before Sterling got too cozy with a certain female employee and hadn’t put enough time or energy into making the business successful or marketable to the public.

  This campaign had to work because it was Sterling’s last chance at making the bedding and furniture store a success. If it failed, he would have a going out of business sale, then liquidate the remaining merchandise and leave town. The mere idea of never seeing him brought a pain to her heart that she had never felt before.

  Since Sterling’s arrival, he had shown all the employees how a regional manager should behave by firing all of the old store managers and the female employees they were sleeping with. He was ten times more professional and organized than the men she had worked for. But that was just her humble opinion, which could be a little biased since she was constantly dreaming about what Sterling looked like naked.

  When he wasn’t being a brilliant salesman, Sterling spent the rest of his time overseeing his employees. He was self-directed and always setting new goals for himself and the staff.

  The heavy sound of footsteps rushing behind her drew Sasha’s attention. In the morning, the parking lot was pretty safe and she never worried about something happening. Nevertheless, she knew better than to park her car so far from the entrance, but she had gotten so caught up talking with Genise. She had forgotten her first rule of parking lot safety—always park in a well-lit place and as close to the front door as possible.

  She didn’t realize how long the walk was until right now. Sasha tried not to panic as her heart sped up inside her chest, making it almost too hard to breathe. Her fingers tightened around the car keys in her right hand as the sound of the footsteps grew closer, until it felt like the person was practically on top of her.

  “Stop!” a male voice yelled out to her. “Sasha, will you 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 for anyone.

  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!” she screamed as she spun around with her purse raised to defend herself. Her eyes locked with Sterling’s stunned expression.

  “My God, Mr. Hamilton.” She gasped, trying to catch her breath as her heart continued pounding against her ribs out of lingering fear.

  She never saw her boss this early in the morning. What was he doing here scaring the shit out of her? He didn’t usually come into the office for at least another hour. This was one of the reasons she didn’t recognize Sterling’s voice yelling at her.

  “You scared the hell out of me. I know you took ten years off my life. What are you doing out here this early? Is there something going on with the campaign?”

  “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. 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. He was so gorgeous that he could be in the pages of GQ, but he was so unaware of how he drew in the opposite sex. She 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.

  Last month, she was standing next to a group of women at work. She overheard them talking about how Sterling was the only reason they came to CSC. They weren’t interested in buying anything at all, but only wanted to catch a glimpse of him.

  Once, right after she started working for Sterling, she had been unfortunate enough to be around when one of their regular female customers asked him out on a date. However, she immediately left before she found out if he accepted her invitation or not.

  How could she get on Rachelle for falling in love with Cash?

  It was like the pot calling the kettle black, Sasha hated to admit. But, she was probably worse when it came to Sterling than Rachelle had ever been with Cash. She wasn’t even in Sterling’s presence five minutes after their first meeting and she wanted him with a passion she had never felt before.

  “Mr. Hamilton, I’m sorry I didn’t turn around when you were calling me. I was upset over a fight I had a few minutes earlier with my sister Genise,” Sasha answered, staring at his firm lips and wondering what it would feel like to kiss him.

  Sterling looked at her a few minutes before nodding. “Genise, I remember meeting her once when she came by to pick you up for lunch,” he said, surprising her. “It’s amazing how much you look alike, but still so different. I wouldn’t have ever guessed you were a triplet.”

  Sasha was astounded and secretly pleased Sterling acted like he could tell the difference between her and Genise. His people skills must be better than she gave him credit for, because it usually took people a very long time to tell them apart.

  “How can you tell us apart?” Sasha asked, wanting to know if he could genuinely recognize the difference. “Most people are constantly getting me, Genise, and Akisha mixed up,” she continued when Sterling didn’t answer her.

  Could this mean Sterling had been paying attention to her without her knowing it? Or could it mean her boss saw something he liked better in Genise instead? God, she hoped that wasn’t the real explanation he could tell them apart so easily. She was very aware of how Sterling’s answer was going to affect her opinion of him.

  “It’s really quite easy,” he answered. “You have this gorgeous beauty mark on your right cheek. Honestly, what man in his right mind wouldn’t see how this adds to your loveliness?”

  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 his compliment.

  “I didn’t know you had even noticed it,” she whispered, touching the back of Sterling’s warm hand with her fingers.

  Sterling gazed at her hand on his and then quickly jerked it away like her touch bothered him. His abrupt withdrawal was like a bucket of ice cold water poured over her feelings. 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 touch you.”

  Sasha tried her best to school her features after hearing Sterling’s confession to her. Well, if I thought he was hiding any romantic feelings about me, I just found out that he wasn’t.

  “So, why did you stop me?” Sasha questioned, trying to keep the sudden hurt she was experiencing out of her voice.

  Later on, she would have time to replay this conversation and break it apart in her head when Sterling wasn’t standing right in front of her.

  “Was it something important or can it wait until later? I need to get to my office and get my day started. I have a lot to do before the rest of the employees get here.”

  A momentary look of concern 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! Does he really think I would tell him yes after what he just confessed to me?

  Sterling practically snatched his hand away from hers and then quickly apologized for touching her like he had committed one of the horrible seven deadly sins. However, in spite of his stinging insult along with the hard blow it caused to her feelings, in his next breath he actually asked her to work an extra shift tonight for him.

  Well, Sterling Hamilton was out of his fucking mind. She wasn’t even going to give his question a second thought.<
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  No way in hell!

  She wasn’t about to change her plans for Sterling. CSC was his business, not hers. He should be the one working the extra hours. If he wanted someone to work longer so badly then he could call in another employee. Most of the women employed here were half in love with him, so it wouldn’t be a problem to give one of them a call.

  But, the saddest part was, before his earlier insult, Sasha knew she would have literally jumped at the chance to spend any extra time with him…but not now.

  “Sorry, I can’t. I already have dinner plans. I need to leave on time or I’ll end up being late. You will have to get someone else to do it for you, but I know it shouldn’t be hard.”

  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.

  Chapter Four

  Standing in the back of the showroom by his office door, Sterling watched as Sasha walked around, taking notes as she watched the employees interact with each other. The yellow dress she was wearing hugged her ass perfectly, and every time she moved it highlighted her best asset.

  She looked even sexier today than in his wet dreams last night. He lost count how many times he had woken up with his hand wrapped around his throbbing cock. There hadn’t been a night since he had taken over this part of his family business Sasha hadn’t invaded his dreams.

  At first it pissed him off, because a woman he barely knew made him hornier than a teenage boy. She was always very cool and professional towards him while he was fighting daily not to drag her into his office and have sex with her on his desk, or anywhere else around the building.

  He finally thought of a way for them to spend some time together alone, but everything backfired when she turned down working late with him.