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5
At dawn the following day,Kat knocked on Sterling’s door. Sanctuary was already bustling—many of the guests being early risers, especially on mornings when yoga classes were running. When there was no answer, she tried again. The door cracked open and a man’s groggy face blinked at her. She double-checked the room number. Definitely the right one, but if she didn’t know for sure that this man was the one she’d met yesterday, she wouldn’t have recognized him. His blond hair was rumpled, there was a crease across his cheek, and his blue eyes were hazy and befuddled.
“Is there a fire?” he asked, his voice as sleepy as his expression suggested.
A strange feeling bloomed in Kat’s stomach. A kind of unsettled fluttering sensation. At the same time, her heart squeezed that way it did when faced with a fluffy kitten or puppy and she became almost giddy. What was this? Was something the matter with her? Was she finally having a breakdown?
“Is there an earthquake?” he asked.
How did he know the world was shifting beneath her feet? She hadn’t felt this way since… since…
Since Teddy had been alive.
Dear God, she was attracted to Sterling Knight.
She’d noticed yesterday that he was a good-looking man. Anyone would’ve. But beyond that, she hadn’t felt a thing. It seemed she could resist the man when he wore a suit, but not when he dressed in ratty sweatpants and a t-shirt.
“A tsunami?” he pressed impatiently. “Is there a reason you woke me?”
Fine gold stubble dotted his jaw. How would it feel to run her fingertips over it?
“Kat?”
“Yes?”
“Why are you here?”
She blinked. “Because this is my home.”
He sighed. “I mean, why are you at my door before six thirty in the morning?”
“It’s time for yoga.”
“No, thanks.” With that, he pushed the door shut.
She knocked again.
“Go away,” he groaned. “Let me sleep.” But he opened the door, one forearm resting on the frame near her head, bringing him into closer proximity than she’d expected.
She gulped. Yeah, he was lean, but he looked fine with the muscle in his bicep flexing and a scowl curling his lip.
“We have a deal,” she said, stepping back to put some distance between them and crossing her arms over her chest. “You have to embrace my lifestyle for a while, and I do yoga in the mornings. Grab a drink and let’s go.”
Muttering under his breath, he retreated into the room, leaving the door open a smidge so she knew he’d return. When he did, he’d combed his hair, changed his pants, spritzed with a subtle cologne and tucked a designer water bottle beneath his arm. She sighed. Getting Sterling to relax might be more difficult than she’d anticipated.
“A couple of ground rules,” she said. “While you’re here, you don’t wear a suit and you don’t shave every night. Lower your standards. You’re on holiday.”
“Technically, I’m working.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Then consider these my terms.”
“You can’t change the deal whenever it suits you.”
“Watch me.” He was the only one with anything material to gain out of this arrangement. All she had on the line was her ego. And while she saw something within him crying out for her help, nothing awful would happen if she failed in her mission. At least, not to her. Sterling was bound to burn out at some point.
He didn’t respond and they walked down the hall to the foyer, where Rebecca Cane—Bex to her friends—had already set up in front of the glass doors leading to the garden. Bex owned the local gym and art studio, but she came to Sanctuary two mornings a week to lead classes. Five guests sat cross-legged on yoga mats opposite her.
“Morena,” Kat greeted them.
