Page 73 of Mountain Boss

She wouldn’t be able to carry a mattress by herself.

And no way in fuck am I letting someone else help her. No one but me is setting foot in her cabin so long as she lives here.

She should save that surprise for when she finds a pair of her dirty panties missing.

Chapter 53

Courtney

I’m sotired when I pull the shower curtain back that I half regret taking the time to shower rather than just falling into bed. But I spent all day prepping the cabins for the guests who arrive tomorrow, and I felt too grimy tonotshower.

And no way was I going to dirty my brand-new, incredibly comfortable memory-foam mattress.

As I brush out my wet hair in front of the mirror, I think about those damn mattresses for the hundredth time.

I crossed paths with Sterling multiple times as Fisher and I carried mattresses back and forth across the property, but I never got the nerve to ask Sterling about them.

Especially after the way he shut me down in the Food Hall the other day.

But it doesn’t make sense—Sterling buying all those new mattresses.

It seemed too coincidental that he bought brand-new ones just days after giving me that other one. But him buying thembecause of meseems even more unlikely.

I set down my brush and twist my hair into two braids.

I don’t have much experience with men. But I swear Sterling has tobe the most complicated one I’ve ever met. He’s been hot, cold, and scorching since I started.

He’s avoided me. Ignored me. Insulted me.

He’s forced me to sleep on a board.

He’s gone through my things.

He’s folded my damn clothes.

He’s hauled me off a ladder.

He’s whispered in my ear.

He’s pressed his big, hard body against mine.

Heat builds in my stomach as I think about him, and I know I’m going to end tonight the same way I ended last night, with my hand in my pajama pants, thinking ofhim.

I put face lotion on my fingertips and rub it into my cheeks. Then I repeat the process with my jasmine-scented body lotion. I found it on a sales rack months ago and have been using it sparingly since. I’m already dreading the day I run out and have to go back to the cheap stuff still tucked away in a box under my bunk.

When all my items are squared away in the corner of the long counter, I bundle up my dirty clothes and hold them against my chest.

I don’t know if any of the guests coming in are women, but even if the entire group is women, I don’t think they’d mind my things here.

The shower stall I’ve commandeered might be another thing, but I can move my stuff out of there if it’s necessary.

Since I still won’t get paid for weeks, I haven’t been able to buy a carrier to haul my things around. But one day…

Daydreaming about a big paycheck, I turn off the lights and push the bathroom door open.

I hesitate.

It’s dark out. Likedark out.

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