than the necessary facts. Maybe he didn’t care if everybody knew. When Bambi and he got married they would all know anyway. And that’s exactly where he was seeing things going—straight to wedded bliss. And this time it would be bliss for him because she was the right woman for him. He had no doubts this time. This would not be a mistake, but letting her go because he was too afraid to make a move would be.
Chapter Four
S terling had run a bath for her. The claw foot tub seemed out of place with the overall modern design of the bathroom, but somehow it just fit perfectly. With the peach stone floors, the glass enclosed shower on the other side of the bathroom, and the black claw foot bathtub somebody had set up the perfect serenity escape. The overhead skylight meant she could look up at the sky and see some of the tree coverage overhead, or at night she could see some of the stars in the clear spots.
She was sitting there contemplative at this moment. Looking upward was not on her mind. Dealing with her emotions was. It wasn’t just encountering Peter for the first time since the night of the attack. She had had words with his brother, but other than picking Peter out of a lineup she hadn’t had to talk to the man, look at him, see him in any capacity so today was a kick in the stomach shock. No, what had her mind in a fog right now was her feelings for Sterling. When he held her in his arms she could no longer deny what she felt was love. She had been in love with him for a long time now, but she denied it. She told herself it was just respect, admiration, friendship and that the feelings beyond that was just lust because she hadn’t dated in forever and he was a good man. But that wasn’t it at all. Men had asked her out. She could have dated when she was ready to date, but she hadn’t done that. She hadn’t said yes to them because they weren’t him. All the denial in the world was not going to change that fact. She wanted Sterling in a way she might not ever be able to have him given the nature of their relationship.
When she heard the door shut and lock her eyes lifted from the bath sponge in her hand to the door as she saw Sterling striding toward her. His dress shirt tails were still tucked in and he still looked like a man doing business. The bubbles covered her body enough not to be showing anything yet she still felt unnerved, immodest and in need of covering.
“Is something wrong?” She looked at him.
“Yeah, this,” he said with a deep rumbling voice as he dropped to one knee. He removed his cuff links, rolled up his sleeves and took the sponge from her hand.
“Sterling?”
He didn’t respond. He just poured a dollop of body wash cream on the sponge, lathered it and started to rub it over her neck and shoulders. Her body instinctively sat forward trying to help him, but he just gave her a crooked grin before placing his other hand on her shoulder and guiding her back to rest against the back of the tub. Then he took one arm at a time and draped it on the lip of the tub. “Relax,” he said.
Right, relax when a man she was in love with was washing her naked body—how was she supposed to do that? Not only was she nervous but every nerve in her body was tingling with desire. The look in his eyes was unreadable. Maybe this was just him being friendly. No, that wasn’t it. After a certain age friends didn’t help friends bathe unless they were too sick to do it themselves—or they were more than just friends.
She was wondering which of those was the case here. Did he think she was too emotionally stressed to do this herself, or did he feel something more for her than friendship—something deeper? She didn’t have to wonder for long when he slid the sponge down her body, his hand disappearing beneath the sudsy water and then she felt him touching her, but this time it wasn’t the sponge, it was his hands.
Her left thigh fell to left as
Chapter Four
S terling had run a bath for her. The claw foot tub seemed out of place with the overall modern design of the bathroom, but somehow it just fit perfectly. With the peach stone floors, the glass enclosed shower on the other side of the bathroom, and the black claw foot bathtub somebody had set up the perfect serenity escape. The overhead skylight meant she could look up at the sky and see some of the tree coverage overhead, or at night she could see some of the stars in the clear spots.
She was sitting there contemplative at this moment. Looking upward was not on her mind. Dealing with her emotions was. It wasn’t just encountering Peter for the first time since the night of the attack. She had had words with his brother, but other than picking Peter out of a lineup she hadn’t had to talk to the man, look at him, see him in any capacity so today was a kick in the stomach shock. No, what had her mind in a fog right now was her feelings for Sterling. When he held her in his arms she could no longer deny what she felt was love. She had been in love with him for a long time now, but she denied it. She told herself it was just respect, admiration, friendship and that the feelings beyond that was just lust because she hadn’t dated in forever and he was a good man. But that wasn’t it at all. Men had asked her out. She could have dated when she was ready to date, but she hadn’t done that. She hadn’t said yes to them because they weren’t him. All the denial in the world was not going to change that fact. She wanted Sterling in a way she might not ever be able to have him given the nature of their relationship.
When she heard the door shut and lock her eyes lifted from the bath sponge in her hand to the door as she saw Sterling striding toward her. His dress shirt tails were still tucked in and he still looked like a man doing business. The bubbles covered her body enough not to be showing anything yet she still felt unnerved, immodest and in need of covering.
“Is something wrong?” She looked at him.
“Yeah, this,” he said with a deep rumbling voice as he dropped to one knee. He removed his cuff links, rolled up his sleeves and took the sponge from her hand.
“Sterling?”
He didn’t respond. He just poured a dollop of body wash cream on the sponge, lathered it and started to rub it over her neck and shoulders. Her body instinctively sat forward trying to help him, but he just gave her a crooked grin before placing his other hand on her shoulder and guiding her back to rest against the back of the tub. Then he took one arm at a time and draped it on the lip of the tub. “Relax,” he said.
Right, relax when a man she was in love with was washing her naked body—how was she supposed to do that? Not only was she nervous but every nerve in her body was tingling with desire. The look in his eyes was unreadable. Maybe this was just him being friendly. No, that wasn’t it. After a certain age friends didn’t help friends bathe unless they were too sick to do it themselves—or they were more than just friends.
She was wondering which of those was the case here. Did he think she was too emotionally stressed to do this herself, or did he feel something more for her than friendship—something deeper? She didn’t have to wonder for long when he slid the sponge down her body, his hand disappearing beneath the sudsy water and then she felt him touching her, but this time it wasn’t the sponge, it was his hands.
Her left thigh fell to left as
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