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The ring of her phone broke the serene setting of her bathroom. She had a good hunch who was calling. She reached behind her to where her phone sat on the toilet seat.
“I’m blissfully naked and trying to enjoy a bath. Make it quick, Penn.”
A male voice chuckled. “Sterling?”
She shot up, ripping away the towel from her face. “Who is this?”
“Sterling, it’s Jack.” She could hear the smile in his voice.
Shit.
“Jack.” Sterling covered her exposed breasts, which were flushed red from a combination of mortification and the hot water. “Hi.” She looked down at her body. Why was she covering herself? It’s not as if he could see through the phone.
“Penn gave me your number.”
A call from the man she could never have: the perfect way to start the day. Could she feel any shittier?
“I hope I’m not interrupting. Although…” His voice was low and seductive. “I love the image you just put in my head. Naked Sterling. Wet and—”
“You’re not interrupting,” she blurted. The seduction in his voice was exactly what she did not need to hear. He must think her wanton. This was so not her. She swallowed hard. “Can I help you with something?”
He laughed. “I wanted to talk to you about a job.”
Okay. Not what she expected.
“You said that you’re a professional organizer?”
“Yes.” She settled back against the tub. The gentle whoosh of the water against her breasts made her nipples hard. She stifled a groan. “I have my own business.”
“My mother’s house…” He paused. She knew exactly where this conversation was going.
“My mother’s house needs to be packed up.”
“Oh, um…I’m not really a packer.” She usually bit off a person’s head for assuming all she did was pack. But the resignation in his voice kept her pettiness in check. “It’s more my job to design space and suggest storage options.”
“Well, I guess we need that, too. We don’t want to get rid of anything, just put it away.”
There were worse jobs out there. But was putting herself right in the line of Jack Vaughn such a good idea? A man she’d almost slept with. The man who she had thrown experimental Exciting Sterling at. The man she was speaking to right now wearing nothing but bubbles. “Shouldn’t you and your brothers be going through her things? It seems to be kind of a sentimental job.”
“Honestly, we don’t have the time, and…” Jack hesitated. “My brothers don’t know about this yet. It needs to be done and I can trust you.”
“I’d have to think about it. I’m booked solid for the next three months and I really wouldn’t have the time to—”
“I’ll pay you three times your going rate.”
Shit! Jack Vaughn knew just what to say. The extra cash couldn’t have come at a better time. If she said yes, she’d have the mortgage payments paid up in no time. But there was only one problem that would put a kink in this brilliant opportunity. He thought she was a crazy one-night stand girl who liked dirty, kinky, back-of-a-limo sex with men she had just met. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Her parents’ most recent financial bomb reminded her that she should stay in her boring, organized Sterling box.
“Sterling?” Jack said. “Are you still there?”
“I’m here.” Why wouldn’t she say yes? Because taking this job means you will never get to let loose your libido on Jack Vaughn. Sterling groaned. Now was not the time to think exciting, fun, and experimental. She needed this job. “If it’s not a problem with you, I could work for a couple of hours during the evening and on the weekends.”
Evenings and weekends? That didn’t make her seem desperate, did it? And she wasn’t thinking about the money.
“It wasn’t my intention to put you out.”
“I think I can sacrifice some personal time.” Hopefully she wouldn’t regret this decision too much. “Penn has only the nicest things to say about all of you so…you have yourself a deal. Your mother’s things are safe with me.”
“I have no doubt.”
