Free Late Nights by Marie Rochelle

spend in three lifetimes, but it took hard work and dedication on his part to get here. None of those items prized by other people were making him a happy man.
    Only his best friend Holden realized how he wanted more from his life now that he was older, and he recognized Sasha could be the woman to give it to him… if he could only fix things between them.
    His buddy was the only person to whom he had confided about his feelings for Sasha because he considered Holden a brother. They had become friends when he bought Holden’s failing hotel over ten years ago. Instead of bad blood between them, they had sparked up an instant friendship and it had stayed that way.
    When Holden had needed help starting up his own car flipping business, Sterling loaned him the money to do it. His best friend was a horrible hotelier, but when it came to knowing his way around a car Holden was the best he had ever seen. There wasn’t a problem that he didn’t know how to fix.
    Their friendship grew stronger because he genuinely respected Holden’s opinion, which was one of the reasons he was pursuing Sasha. If his best friend could see how much he wanted Sasha then she was the one for him. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure she understood there wasn’t another man out there for her.
    Yeah…Sasha was in for a special treat.
    Smiling to himself, Sterling headed for his closet to pick out something to wear for his date. Tonight, he would make sure this would lead him towards being a part of Sasha’s life.
    Hopefully, she would allow what they had to build into something more, but he didn’t want to get ahead of himself. He still had to get through tonight’s date first and make plans for his next move afterwards.

 
     
    Chapter Twelve
     
     
    “You know you don’t have to go out with Sterling tonight. You can cancel your date with him. He can’t force you to do anything you don’t want,” Akisha pointed out. “I can call Sterling and tell him to take a hike if you don’t have enough nerve to do it.”
    Sasha loved that her little sister was so protective of her, but this was something she had to do on her own. She couldn’t lie. She had thought about canceling her date with Sterling, but changed her mind. She couldn’t back out now and then think about it days later. Isn’t this what she had been dreaming about for months? It was finally here, so why wasn’t she happier?
    “Akisha, thanks so much for your help. I think it’s wonderful you want to help me. However, I don’t need you to cancel my date for me. I’m going out with Sterling. Everything will be okay.
    “I don’t want you or Genise worrying about me tonight. Sterling only wants to talk and I’m going to give him the opportunity to get whatever it is off his chest. I need to be able to put him in my past, so I can move on to someone else. I’ve wasted too much time on a man who isn’t ready to commit.”
    “I still say Genise or I should be there as a backup plan just in case he tries to trick you into believing he cares about you.”
    Sighing, she shook her head. “No, that isn’t a good idea. It’s my life so let me live it, please,” Sasha said, coming out of the bathroom to look at her sister sitting on her bed.
    Walking to a chair by the bay window, Sasha sat down, hoping to calm her racing nerves. She had been on dates before but her apprehension had never been this bad. She was happy she told Sterling she would meet him at the restaurant instead of him coming here to pick her up. She wanted to make sure she had everything under control before she saw him.
    She wasn’t about to tell Akisha about her nervousness, for her sister would use it as another excuse to watch over her tonight at the restaurant. She didn’t need any help dealing with Sterling. She had to make him understand she wasn’t easily swayed by well-placed words. He had hurt her feelings and he needed to understand he just couldn’t get by with doing it. She had