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To Reese’s surprise, he started giggling and swatted her hand. Sterling James was ticklish? His giggling was infectious and Reese smiled. This was a softer side to him she hadn’t seen. She understood how he got the Night and Day nickname. He really did seem to be a different person when he took down the walls. The openness in his face was beautiful and she sucked in her breath, feeling like she was witnessing an intimate moment.
“No tickling,” Sterling said, scooting away from Morgan. “You know the rules.”
“Yeah, and you know that we need to work on your image. That’s why we hired Reese. Let’s stop wasting her time and knock this out. Okay?”
Sterling huffed and ran his hands over his face. “Fine. What was that last question?” He actually met Reese’s eyes for the first time since they had started. It threw her. They were the kind of eyes she could imagine waking up to every day.
Now that was a stupid thought. As if.
Reese focused on his forehead so she didn’t have to look directly at his eyes, but it would look like she was. “I’m looking for words you’d like people to use when describing your public persona or image.”
“Right,” Sterling said. He started spinning the pick again over his knuckles. “This is hard to think about objectively. Morgan?”
“You want to stop the whole Day and Night thing, right? Let’s start there.”
“What would you like people to say instead?” Reese asked. “Maybe think about a magazine or newspaper or blog—what would you want them to write about you in an article?”
Sterling was still looking right at her. “What do you think?”
“Me?” Reese’s voice cracked a little. She glanced at Morgan, who looked amused, and back to Sterling.
“You,” Sterling said. “Let’s see what you’ve got. I mean, we did hire you for this.” A slight smile lifted the edge of his mouth. She heard the challenge in his voice.
“Are you asking what I think you should go for? Or did you mean me, like what would I want people to say about me?”
He cocked his head and Reese fell into the trap of those gorgeous eyes again. “I meant what do you think I should go for, but let’s hear yours. Maybe it will get the wheels turning. What would you want people to say about you?”
Reese’s cheeks felt warm and she hoped that she wasn’t blushing too much. “Hm …”
Sterling grinned. “Not as easy as you thought, right?”
It wasn’t that the question was hard. Reese had gone through this questionnaire herself when she created it. Every so often went through it again just to see if it needed tweaking. She knew the answers, but didn’t know if she wanted to be so transparent with Sterling. Having Morgan there made it a little easier. If she ever wanted him to trust her and open up, she needed to set the tone.
The glint in Sterling’s eyes shook her out of the hesitant, frozen place she’d been stuck in. She liked a challenge. And she wanted to succeed at this one.
Leaning forward, Reese met and held Sterling’s gaze. “I would want people to say that I’m the kind of woman you trust with your secrets. The one you want in your corner of the ring. I’d like to garner respect for my ability to think—and land—on my feet. I want to be seen as a brilliant strategist and the kind of person you don’t cross. I want them to use words like fierce, loyal, smart, and strategic. But also kind and fun. Someone you could go into battle with or spend a night laughing with.” She took a breath, feeling like she had just unloaded a big piece of her soul in front of him. “Does that give you a better idea of what I’m looking for?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. Sterling’s voice was quiet when he spoke. “It does. What would you say for me?”
Reese forced herself to hold his gaze, though everything in her felt like she should run from this question. Or maybe run from the room.
Taking a breath, she started. “I don’t know you very well, but from what I’ve seen, I’d want your public persona to encompass more of your playful side. I think you keep that locked up pretty tight, but when you let it loose, it’s captivating. I think you should let people see your softer side, like how you spent so much time with that shy pre-teen girl at the meet-and-greet. You were so kind to her, like you could sense how much she needed that. I’d want people to describe you with words like strong, warm, tender, and freaking talented. You’re the kind of guy who made his own career and held it and never lost himself along the way.”
His eyes pinned hers, blazing with an emotion she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Had she made him angry? Reese really didn’t know him well. These were her words for him, the ones that she would suggest. But did they resonate with him at all? Were they close to what he wanted?
And did they make her attraction to him totally obvious?
“What about my rock star image? This doesn’t sound very tough,” Sterling said.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Reese said. “There is great strength in vulnerability. People are afraid of it. They don’t understand that other people inherently recognize how brave it is to be raw and real. You would be tougher and softer at the same time. Powerful, but tender. It’s the best combination.”
A strange sort of tension filled the small room, like they all held their breath at the same time. Reese’s eyes felt dry, like she hadn’t blinked in a long time. Maybe she hadn’t. She was too fixated on the dark olive flecks in Sterling’s eyes.
She felt suddenly stripped and vulnerable. She knew what he meant when he questioned her about vulnerability, because she felt completely powerless under his gaze. Looking down, she fiddled with her pen.
“I don’t know what you’re looking for, but that’s just what I might suggest,” Reese said.
“I knew I liked you,” Morgan said. The tension whooshed from the room.
