172. Courtney
Chapter 172
Courtney
I keep my face averted from my coworkers as Sterling walks toward his house.
I don’t exactly understand what is going on with Sterling, but I’m certain I don’t want to have the rest of this conversation in front of anyone.
We walk for a few moments before I feel something press against my hip.
“Did you just kiss me?” I keep my voice low even though I can’t see anyone anymore.
The hand between my legs shifts, and I’m well aware of how his touch is affecting me.
“Yeah, Cookie, I kissed you. And I’m going to do more than that in about two minutes.” As soon as he finishes speaking, we start climbing the stairs to his front porch.
I tense.
Sterling is strong, obviously, but I don’t want to move and make him drop me down the steps.
“I got you.” He answers my silent worry .
I got you.
The same words he told me just the other morning. When I woke up with tears in my eyes.
And when we reach the top of the stairs, Sterling slowly lowers me to my feet.
My head swims for a moment, and Sterling lays his hands on my shoulders. “I don’t want to be casual with you either, Courtney. And I should have done things differently since the first time.” His thumbs stroke along my throat. “I should have taken you to my bed the first time.”
“You don’t?—”
“I do.” He slides one hand to the back of my neck. “I’m sorry I didn’t do this better. If I think on it, I probably thought that you’d feel more comfortable in your own space. But considering how things started for you in that cabin…”
I press a hand to the center of his chest. “It’s a good cabin.”
He shakes his head. “Whether it is or not, I want you in here, with me. Now. Tonight. Tomorrow. Any time you feel like it, I want you to stay with me.”
“Sterling…”
It sounds… too good.
Too easy.
Sterling pulls away from me.
He opens the front door, the unlit room dark beyond the threshold. “Let’s start with tonight.”
He holds his hand out to me.
And it’s just like my dream.
“That’s not for us.”
I take a deep breath.
“Maybe it could be.”
I place my palm in his.
And everything changes.