“I’ll see you out front,” he says, stepping out of the dressing room and closing the door behind him.
Wow.
I’ve always had a habit of running my hands through my hair to calm myself, and that’s exactly what I do once he’s gone. Shock settles over me as I change back into my normal clothes and try to process what just happened.
Brit will never believe any of this. Every aspect of my day since I left work is so out of line with my life that it’s like I’ve been transported into a book or a movie. Of course, I don’t even know the next time I’ll see her or whether or not Sterling will even let me go to work. I belong to him now.
I step out of the dressing room, now wearing my winter clothes, to see him standing at the front door waiting for me. He holds out a fancy bag from the store that I place my new items in, and like a gentleman, he carries it for me as he opens the door and walks me out to his car, which is already running and warm.
“You’re welcome,” he says as we get in and he pulls away.
“Oh, I’m supposed to thank you for something you basically forced me into?” I ask. Sterling just chuckles.
“I saw your uniform when you came home. You work at a coffee shop?”
“I sure do. Why do you care?”
“I’m not an ogre, Leia,” he responds. “I’d like to get to know you.”
“Oh, you would?” I reply. “Well, normally I just make drinks or work the register, but today I was putting up Christmas decorations because no one else wanted to do it.”
“Christmas decorations, eh?” Sterling nods with approval, which for some reason adds to that funny feeling in my belly. “Your house could have used some of those.”
“Yeah, well, my dad hasn’t been much into the holidays since… “ My voice trails off. What am I doing opening up to this guy I barely know who basically just bought me? I don’t owe him my life story.
“Since what?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Never mind.”
Sterling glances over at me, and for a moment I tense up, worried he’s going to press me. But then I hear him chuckle.
“Well, gorgeous, if you decorated your coffee shop, you can help me decorate my place too.”
I just laugh to myself. “I get it. Now I’m going to be your little house-slave too.”
“Hmm, maybe.” Sterling nods, a pleased little grin on his face. “I hadn’t thought about that actually, but why not?”
I’m about to blurt out a string of argumentative retorts when I notice the expression on his face: He’s just messing with me. Maybe this man isn’t quite as bad as he comes off, but then again, he did just basically buy me from my father, so it’s probably too soon to be letting my guard down.
It’s only a few minutes more before we’re pulling up to his place—an obviously pricey modern house in a part of town I could never dream of affording.
“Nice shack,” I tease as I follow him to the front door.
“I’ll get a nice place one day,” he jokes back as he uses a fancy key fob to let us in.
To my surprise, the inside isn’t cold and gray like I’d expect a modern house of this style to be, but warm and homey. Like he said, it could use some Christmas decorations, but I actually feel quite comfortable as I step inside and kick off my boots.
I follow him inside into a large, inviting living room with two long off-white couches cornering a white coffee table. He picks up a remote and presses a button that ignites a fireplace on the far wall.
“This is not what I was expecting,” I tell him.
“No? What were you expecting?”
“I dunno.” I shrug. “Dark, wood paneling, leather couches. Ever seen The Godfather?”
Sterling laughs, nodding. “Hey, I can have my own tastes. And if you ask me, I have very good taste.”
His eyes are fixed on me now. Those fiercely intense brown eyes. I can barely keep myself together when he stares at me like that. I grip my fingers together behind my back and try not to let my anxiety show on my face.
It’s important that he doesn’t know how nervous he makes me. I don’t know why.
“So are you going to show me my room already?” I ask with as much sass as I can muster, my pulse pounding in my ears. “Or are you going to put me to work decorating tonight?”
My thighs are trembling. I swallow hard as I wait for a response from Sterling, who is just looking at me now with a gaze that could bring down mountains.
After what feels like an eternity, he steps over to me and takes my hand.