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“Oh, stop pouting,” Liv reprimands. “You don’t even know if you’ll have time to do anything. And, if you do, just insist that you need to go shopping.”
I watch Liv fold my clothes and place them in my suitcase. I’m nervous and excited all at once, which has my body both jittery and jumpy. The only thing I’ll miss is Sterling and the chance of him coming to me. Today’s Thursday. When he got back to town on Monday evening, not Tuesday evening as he previously said, he told me he had some things that came up and wouldn’t be able to come to me until tonight. He hasn’t brought up my impending trip with Asher again, but he knows I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning. I wonder if this visit is a reminder to me that I belong to him. I have no idea what tonight will entail. Is he planning on revealing himself, or just claiming my body so thoroughly I won’t forget him while I’m gone? He doesn’t have to worry about that. I’m one of the last people Asher would want to have an affair with. My only problem is, I don’t know if I would refuse Asher if he did want me. I want to say no, just for the simple fact that I have Sterling in my life now, but I’m not entirely sure I could. And I worry that makes me a terrible person.
“Get off your ass and help me pack your suitcase. I have to meet Tony in an hour.” Liv swats me on the butt.
I stick my tongue out at her, earning me another swat. Laughing, I walk over to the dresser and pull open my top drawer. The memory of finding it open and gone through flashes in my mind. I still don’t think I left it open, but the alternative is shudder worthy, so I try to ignore it. I pull out several pairs of bra and panty sets, along with a few thigh-highs and walk them over to the suitcase.
“I think Asher wants to fuck you,” Liv says out of the blue, shocking the shit out of me.
I look over at her with my mouth hanging open to see her looking at me out of the corner of her eye as she continues packing.
“Have you lost your mind? Where in the world did you get that from?” First Eric, and now Asher. The girl is delusional.
“You really have no idea, do you?” she asks curiously and turns to face me, her head tilted slightly.
“No idea about what?”
“How amazingly beautiful you are.”
A soft smile forms on my lips at her words. Liv can be so sweet sometimes, even if other times I really think she’s gone off the deep end. I, by no means think I’m ugly, but I also think Liv likes to romanticize men when it comes to me. She’s so happy with Tony, she wants me to have what they have, and hopefully one day I will. But she needs to stop with this crap.
“I think you like to see things that aren’t there,” I tell her, taking the skirt from her hands and folding it, then placing it on top of the others.
“And I think you need to open your eyes and see what’s in front of you.”
“I’ve worked for Asher for almost a year, Liv. I would think if he was interested he would have made it known by now. Besides, there’s Sterling.”
She sighs and pushes back the suitcase. Grabbing my hand, she pulls me down so I’m sitting beside her.
“The Sterling thing is a fantasy. He’s not even real yet, and won’t be until he actually shows his face. And Asher may not have come right out and said how he feels, but I see it when he looks at you. I’ve seen it for a while. I think he tries to hide it, but sometimes he can’t and it slips through. There are times he looks at you like you hung the stars.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me. “And sometimes, he looks at you like a starving man with a juicy steak in front of him. My point is, you can’t put your life on hold for some faceless man, not when another good man is there, willing and waiting.”
I pull my hand from hers and get up from the bed. I pace my floor in front of her. Anytime I’m uncertain or nervous, I pace. It helps calm my racing thoughts.
“I just can’t ignore Sterling, Liv. Even without knowing who he is, I feel like I need to give it a chance. There’s something that’s pulling me toward him and won’t let me back away. As far as Asher, well, you know I’m not the type of person to just sleep with someone for the hell of it. And I think you’re way off base. Asher has never acted like he wanted a relationship with me. It’s always been business between us. At least Sterling has been truthful with his feelings and intentions. I don’t feel right stringing them both along.
I stop pacing and turn to her. Her expression is filled with pity. I hate that look.
“Just promise me you’ll keep an open mind and won’t completely close the door on the possibility.”
At her earnest look, I give into her. It’s the least I can do.
“I promise,” I tell her with a smile.
She gets up from the bed and comes to me for a hug. We break apart and she walks back to the bed and grabs her purse.
“Okay, I’m off. Tony will have my hide if I’m late. Call me when you get to Dallas.”
I walk her to the door and pull it open. “I will.”
“And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she says, turning around and giving me a wink.
I laugh. “So in other words, do everything?”
“Yep, pretty much.”
We both laugh and hug one more time, before she walks out, leaving me even more confused than I was before she got here.
I just walk out of the bathroom and into my bedroom with a towel wrapped around me when I feel a tingle of awareness at my neck. I freeze in my tracks and hold my breath. I don’t know how, but I know Sterling is nearby. Without moving the rest of my bod
