Late Nights Read Free Page B

I’ll able to count on one of my sisters to do the mature thing and show up tonight for dinner.”
    “Sasha, I’m─”
    Sasha disconnected the phone in disgust before her sibling tried to redeem herself with another sorry excuse. Currently, she had too much going on to get swept up into any nonsense with her sister. How much more had to happen before she got it into her thick skull about Genise? Genise didn’t have the skills to step up when it came to anything important.
    She loved bragging about everything she had going on in her life, but Genise seldom wanted to do any extra work to take it to the next level. Sasha wanted to be more disappointed with her, but she couldn’t. Her sister’s personality hadn’t changed all that much since they were children.
    Why should she think it would be any different now since they were older?
    Tossing the phone back into her purse, Sasha got out of the car with her belongings. This would be the first time in a while that she wouldn’t be the one who apologized when she and Genise had a difference of opinion. She wasn’t the sister who made the mistake. Genise was the one, and she was going to stay firm until her little sister made the first move to fix the problem.

 
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    Walking across the parking lot towards the front doors, Sasha grudgingly shoved the terrible conversation out of her head. As her excitement grew about the new promotional campaign starting today, she crossed her fingers and secretly prayed everything went well for Sterling. She might actually be more keyed up about this grand re-opening than him.
    The Hamilton Corporation didn’t have the best track record with their previous managers. One spent more time in the back room talking on the telephone instead of taking care of the business. The one before Sterling got too cozy with a certain female employee and hadn’t put enough time or energy into making the business successful or marketable to the public.
    This campaign had to work because it was Sterling’s last chance at making the bedding and furniture store a success. If it failed, he would have a going out of business sale, then liquidate the remaining merchandise and leave town. The mere idea of never seeing him brought a pain to her heart that she had never felt before.
    Since Sterling’s arrival, he had shown all the employees how a regional manager should behave by firing all of the old store managers and the female employees they were sleeping with. He was ten times more professional and organized than the men she had worked for. But that was just her humble opinion, which could be a little biased since she was constantly dreaming about what Sterling looked like naked.
    When he wasn’t being a brilliant salesman, Sterling spent the rest of his time overseeing his employees. He was self-directed and always setting new goals for himself and the staff.
    The heavy sound of footsteps rushing behind her drew Sasha’s attention. In the morning, the parking lot was pretty safe and she never worried about something happening. Nevertheless, she knew better than to park her car so far from the entrance, but she had gotten so caught up talking with Genise. She had forgotten her first rule of parking lot safety—always park in a well-lit place and as close to the front door as possible.
    She didn’t realize how long the walk was until right now. Sasha tried not to panic as her heart sped up inside her chest, making it almost too hard to breathe. Her fingers tightened around the car keys in her right hand as the sound of the footsteps grew closer, until it felt like the person was practically on top of her.
    “Stop!” a male voice yelled out to her. “Sasha, will you wait a minute?”
    Scared out of her wits, Sasha quickened her steps, determined not to glance over her shoulder. Why should she? She was almost at the door. It wouldn’t make any sense for her to stop moving for anyone.
    Finally reaching her destination, Sasha