Page 27 of Recipe for Satisfacton (Madewood Brothers 1)

Shock and excitement registered on her face. “Belong…to you?”

“All week you can be Boring Sterling. On the weekends we’re going to indulge your fantasies. But I have one stipulation.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “What about my stipulations?”

Of course she had stipulations. She was probably formulating a list in her mind at this very moment.

“Me first.”

“Okay.”

“If you accept, you have to leave everything at the door. Forget what you’ve been told, all the preconceived notions of who Sterling is, and just enjoy.”

She hesitated for only a moment before she said, “What about the job? You just hired me. I only wanted a one-time thing and I—”

“Let’s make it a four-week thing and I promise you, we’ll work by day, and play by night. The two shall never overlap.”

Her lip curled up and she bit down. She wasn’t buying his brand of bullshit. She was too smart for that, but he smiled when she stepped forward and poked her finger at his chest. “Sex is not payment.”

He nodded. Money was not his number one concern. There was so much they could do. So many places they could go. He had the world at his fingertips and he wanted nothing more than t

o show her the best time of her life.

“And this is strictly a fact-finding mission. I’m not looking for love and I’m not looking to appease another man’s needs.”

He held his hands up in defense. “No strings attached. Come on, Sterling. Do we have a deal?” His stomach danced in anticipation of her answer.

She chewed on her thumbnail, cocking her head. “And what exactly would this fun entail? Would we be—”

He placed his finger against her lips. Silly woman. Always thinking. He was going to have to fix that. “If I told you what we’ll be doing it wouldn’t be a surprise. And where’s the fun in that?”

“I need to have fun,” she said. It wasn’t a question. She was trying to convince herself. “You can make that happen.” Nervousness rippled off her body.

“I’m going to help you let go.” He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “And do you know where the most difficult place to let go is, Sterling Andrews?”

She shook her head, her eyes widening.

“The bedroom.” He grinned. “I have a feeling that’s where you’re going to need the most tutelage.”

There was nothing wrong with a little sex, fun, and no strings to reward a long day’s work. And he planned on working Sterling hard—in and out of the bedroom.

Chapter Seven

Sterling walked into the fluorescent-lit building with a lump in her throat. When she’d spoken to Rose Jennings—her mortgage specialist at the bank—yesterday, she got the impression things weren’t going to run as smoothly as she’d anticipated. Something in Rose’s voice set off a warning bell. Not to mention the fact that Rose had been hounding her to visit the branch to talk about renewal terms.

Sterling couldn’t figure out what the problem was. She’d paid half of the arrears. It depleted her emergency fund and only confirmed the reason she had an emergency fund in the first place. And it wasn’t because of her own stupidity.

She’d also changed the automatic payment information to her personal account. With Sterling in charge again, there was no way for her parents to fall behind, and their deal to keep them in a comfortable lifestyle until her sisters graduated from high school would remain intact.

But when she sat on the client side of Rose’s desk staring back at the brunette’s handsome face, she knew an easy meeting was not in the cards.

“Thanks for coming in,” Rose said as she quickly scribbled something on the paper in front of her.

“Of course.”

“Sterling…” Rose sat back in her chair and closed the blue folder on the desk. “The mortgage is coming up for renewal in a couple of months.”

She was aware of that. She’d actually planned on refinancing, trying her best to lower the payments.

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