Over the Edge Excerpt

IAN

The vodka had just about worn off, but the Red Bulls hadn’t. The sun had been up for an hour when I stopped staring at the ceiling and finally went to the kitchen. I’d spent the night throwing back some drinks and talking shit with pals from work. I’d even talked to a few women that I could have pursued, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Liv in Will’s bed. The potent visual flooded my thoughts every time I contemplated bringing someone home.

Thousands of pretty girls in New York, but the irrefutable truth was that no one could hold a candle to Olivia Bridge. She wasn’t a diamond in the rough. She was just a fucking diamond—beautiful, refined, smart. A prize for any man.

Except she was Darren’s sister…and Will’s new fucktoy.

It had been a late night at the bar, extended further by a few more hours of listening to Liv’s primal screams. I’d been hard half the night, and now my body refused to succumb to sleep.

I scowled and pushed scrambled eggs around a frying pan, eager to satisfy at least one of my basic instincts.

I’d never had anything but an easy camaraderie with Will, but right now I fucking hated the man. I hated him for being the one to have her last night. If I hadn’t been so honorable for once in my life, I’d have been the one making her scream my name.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

I turned, and Liv was standing in the middle of the kitchen, wearing nothing but a white T-shirt that she was tugging down at the hem. Her makeup had worn off. Her hair was tousled, her lips were full, and her skin glowed. She was impossibly beautiful.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself to be good—whatever the hell that meant. For the moment, I’d try to pretend like I hadn’t heard her in the throes of ecstasy for hours. I wouldn’t let on that I’d spent those hours fantasizing about all the ways I could take her over the edge, with or without Will.

I cleared my throat. “You hungry?”

She chewed her lip and eyed the food cooking on the stove. “A little, actually.”

“Sit.” I motioned toward the stools that lined the kitchen island. “I’ll make you a plate.”

She took a seat and tucked her hair behind her ear shyly. I turned away and tried to focus on the task at hand. But having her in the same room was distracting as fuck. Either that or I was still half drunk.

I finished cooking the eggs and the sausages that sizzled on the burner and made us each a plate. We ate in silence, and as the minutes passed, the tension saturated the air between us. She was close enough to touch, and that’s all I could think about—tangling my fingers in her hair and kissing her breathless.

When she finished, she set down her fork and pushed her plate away. “I wanted to thank you for your…discretion,” she said quietly, breaking me from my single-minded thoughts.

“Thank you for yours.”

Her brow wrinkled.

“Darren pretty much forbade me from even looking at you. It’s been nice to cheat a little. Even if he’ll skin me alive if he ever knew what I know.”

She blushed with a small smile. “You saved his life. Hopefully he’d forgive you. I doubt he’d forgive me.”

“Big brothers are overprotective. I get it. I’ve got four little sisters.”

“Yeah…” She picked up one of the little green fruits that were piled into a bowl on the counter. She rolled it between her fingers, studying it, but her thoughts seemed far away.

“Try one,” I said, grabbing one for myself.

“What are they?”

“Quenepa. I get them at the Caribbean market down the street. Reminds me of the Dominican. They call them limoncillo there. Little kids would sell them on the beach, and I ate them like crazy.” I cracked the green skin of one with my teeth before popping the sweet fruit into my mouth.

“Did you grow up there?”

I worked the flesh off the fruit and removed the seed, reaching for another.

“No, my mom did, though. I used to spend summers there with my sisters to see family. You know, until we grew up and had to find real jobs.” I smirked, but something told me she didn’t know that much about summer jobs. Darren was as down to earth as they came, but he and his siblings were born into money. The kind of money I knew nothing about.

She shrugged with a smile. “Nothing like the summers of youth.”

“No kidding. Now it’s running into burning buildings and laying tile. Not nearly as fun.”

“Seems like you’ve all got side gigs. Like risking your lives every day isn’t enough.” She folded her arms and leaned in.

I shrugged. “Yeah, but I’ve had this one since high school. I learned the trade from my dad. He put me to work as soon as I could be trusted with power tools.”

She laughed. “Do you still work together?”

“Nah.” I shook my head and avoided her penetrating gaze.

I was mixed up enough. Last thing I wanted to talk about was my father…or that gaping hole in my chest that his death had left behind. I tensed my jaw. Nope. Wasn’t going there.

“I guess I should get cleaned up.” She stood, came beside me, and reached for my plate.

“I can get this. Don’t worry about it.” I rose, stopping her. But as I did, I sensed her heat. My breath caught being this close. Close enough that I could inhale her lavender scent and see the small reactions of her body. Her short breathing, her nipples getting hard under Will’s T-shirt. Her back was to the counter. Another few inches in her direction, and I’d have her pinned.

Her gaze flickered up to mine and then lowered down my bare chest. She reached out and softly traced the mosaic of ink that stretched across half my torso.

My heart raced. All my senses went on high alert, reacting to her proximity. I tensed, silently praying that this would be her last night here. I’d never known Will to let a girl stay overnight. I had no idea what his plan was. I didn’t want Will to hurt her, but I couldn’t do this. She was temptation personified, and I was so fucked right now.

“What does it mean?” Her voice was as soft and sensual as her touch.

I shook my head, my jaw tight. “Doesn’t matter.”

A hundred women might have asked me the same question, but for the first time since the needle had hit my skin, I wanted to say it out loud. I wanted to tell her. But I couldn’t…wouldn’t.

When she pulled her hand away, I caught it and pressed it back against my ribs. My hand covered the delicate planes of hers. I took the last step that had us nearly touching, and she sucked in a breath. I caressed up her arm, slowly, reveling in her softness. I sifted my fingers through the silky strands of her hair and angled her face up to me. Her eyes were hazy. Those beautiful rose-colored lips parted like they were begging without words. And she didn’t move, even as my skin burned under her touch. I bent toward her, craving those luscious lips, inhaling her scent into my lungs. Even as my mind screamed…

Don’t do this.

Don’t fucking do this.