Edge of Bliss (Love on the Edge Book 3)

by Molly E. Lee

  After the sixth shot of them filming me either fake-looking at my computers like I was working or playing with Hail, Blake’s voice carried through the house. I ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time before I wrapped my arms around her in the living room. “You all right?”

  “Yes,” she said, clutching me to her. “I’m good. He wants to talk to you alone, though.”

  “Wonderful,” I said, releasing her.

  “Dash?” She grabbed onto my hand, stopping me from opening the door. “I know it sounds insane, but he’s different. I haven’t seen that version of Justin since we were kids. It doesn’t change what happened between us . . . just go out there knowing that, okay? No fights.”

  I gave her a reassuring smile. “If he’s really changed, he won’t try to fight me.” I turned around and opened the door, letting it swing shut behind me. “You needed something?” I asked, my tone sharp since Blake was no longer out here with him.

  He jerked his head toward the sidewalk, and I followed him away from the house. “I need your help,” Justin said after crossing his arms over his chest.

  I laughed, crossing my own to mimic his stance. “That’s one I never thought I’d hear.”

  “I’m aware,” he said.

  I sighed, glancing at the sky. A storm was brewing, something I’m sure I would’ve noticed sooner had I not spent the day worrying about what this meeting would do to Blake. Finally, I looked at him. “Look, I’m glad you’re in the program and you’re trying to get some sort of a life back, but I can’t allow it to include Blake. She’s still sorting through the shit you put her through, and I’m doing my best to help her, but it runs deep.” Deeper than I even realized. “You coming back here would only—”

  “I’ll stop you right there, buddy.” He cut me off, and I ground my teeth. “I’m not back in Blake’s life. This was a one-time deal. She deserved an apology . . .”

  “She deserved eight years worth of apologies from you!” I snapped, stepping so close to him that I could practically see through him.

  “You think I don’t know that?” he asked. “Fuck, man. It eats at me every single day.”

  “Forgive me if I don’t weep for you.” Who did this guy think he was talking to? I loved Blake. And I wouldn’t hesitate to end him if he even contemplated fucking up her life more than he already had.

  He threw his arms in the air and took several steps away from me. “Look, this isn’t why I’m here. I need you to keep a close eye on Blake.”

  I shook my head. “I do.”

  “No, I mean, like a stalker-level eye on her. She mentioned she doesn’t live here.” He glanced at my house. “Does she at least stay with you often?”

  I cut my eyes to him. I had been two seconds from asking her to move in with me before we’d been interrupted. “That is none of your business.”

  “No shit,” he said. “I got into a bit of a situation when I was in prison, okay? Some not-so-nice guys went through some of my old shit when I got out, for leverage. Found Blake’s pictures, notes, everything I hadn’t gotten rid of.”

  An electric shock ran through me like a lightning bolt. “Oh fucking hell,” I said, pacing.

  “Right. They make me look like fucking Santa Claus. I’m not giving them a reason to go after her. It’s just to keep me in line—”

  “Which you’re so good at,” I cut him off, my hands shaking.

  “I’m trying! I’m really fucking trying, man. Okay? This is the last piece of bullshit I have to deal with, and then I’m setting sail on a new fucking life. I just don’t want her getting hurt in the process of severing ties.”

  “You really are an asshole,” I said, dropping my arms to my side. I could see the sincerity in his eyes over his concern about Blake, but it didn’t make me hate him any less. “Tell me you have a plan. Some sort of sure-fire way to get out of whatever shit you’re in and make sure Blake isn’t involved in the process.”

  Justin didn’t move. Didn’t blink.

  I raked my hands through my hair. “Fuck.”

  “I’m working on it.”

  “I feel so much better,” I said, sighing. “Did you tell Blake?” I asked, wondering if she knew what kind of shit he’d gotten into. From his dark past, I really didn’t want to fucking know.

  “Of course not.”

  I nodded. Well, at least there was that. She already had enough to worry about. She didn’t need this shit, too.

  “I didn’t want to worry her over nothing. You know how she is . . .”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I do know.”

  “I get it. She’s yours. No need to piss all over everything,” he said and I managed to chuckle.

  I eyed the car behind him, noting the worried gaze of a girl with really blue hair. “I take it you have your own to worry about?”

  “Something like that,” he said, glancing at the girl quickly before looking back at me. “Or the hope for it.”

  “She doesn’t know either does she?” I asked, realizing how close he was playing everything.

  “She knows more than anyone ever has.”

  I smirked, same asshole as always. “Didn’t answer the question, which means both our girls are in the dark. If she’s anything like Blake, and I hope to God she isn’t, then she’ll lose it worse if she finds out you’re keeping something this huge from her.” Blake wouldn’t stand for it, and I was already keeping too much—about the show’s terms, for instance—from her. Adding this to the list made my gut twist like I’d swallowed barbed wire.

  “She’s worse,” he said, and I hissed. “Blake is easy to forgive. Charlie . . . I don’t know.”

  “Too easy,” I said, remembering Blake saying that Charlie was his sponsor. I assumed that was against the rules but didn’t care enough to bring up that fact to him. “Anyone in particular I need to watch out for? Description? Things they might ask?”

  Justin proceeded to unload a shit-ton of information on me, about a thug named Devlin and the crew that worked for him. With each word the tension in my body snaked around my nerves until all I wanted to do was scream.

  “Why not just take all this to the cops?” I finally asked.

  He laughed in my face. Dick. “Yeah, because they’d believe me. Plus, he’s got guards in his pocket. Who knows how deep his reach runs?”

  “Fuck, man.” This type of shit only happened in bad-cop dramas. How the hell had this guy ever gotten a girl like Blake? No answer would ever justify it in my eyes.

  “I’ll figure it out,” he said. “Are we good?” He extended his hand to me.

  I thought seriously about punching him in the face, just for old times’ sake, but instead shook his hand so hard I cracked his fingers. He jerked it out of my grasp, the muscle in his jaw ticking. The one I knew from experience came right before he would throw a punch. But he didn’t. Somehow, he locked down the anger that normally ruled him.

  “Stay clean, Justin,” I said after he had successfully dulled the rage in his eyes. I didn’t bother telling him we were good because we never would be. There wasn’t enough time in one life to make up for all he’d done to Blake, and while she could forgive him all she wanted, I couldn’t. I loved her too damned much. “You might want to get wherever you’re going, quick. A storm is coming,” I said, glancing at the darkening sky. “And send word when you have this shit settled, okay?”

  “Good luck with your show,” he said, jerking his arm toward my house.

  I glared at him before stomping up the porch. The show’s drama, plus the girls of my past, were enough to deal with. Now I had his shit to worry about, too. And half of it I had to keep from the woman I was actively trying to find the perfect time to propose to.

  With my hand on the door of my own house, yet not really wanting to go in and face it all just yet, I realized with a tragic sort of irony that my life really had become the perfect outline for a TV drama.

  What were the fucking odds?

  Dash

  “WHAT DID HE want?” B
lake asked as she pulled Hail away from the window overlooking the porch.

  My gut twisted, not prepared to hide one more thing from her, but knowing I needed to in order to keep her safe. “He wants me to watch after you,” I said, feeling slightly better at giving her most of the truth.

  She tilted her head. “Don’t you already?”

  I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to me. “Exactly what I said.”

  The tension in her shoulders melted as she sighed against my chest.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked, fingering the long, silky strands of her hair.

  “Better.” She shifted to look up at me, her eyes clenched slightly. “But worse, too. He’s different, which I’m thrilled about . . .”

  “But?” I urged her on when she didn’t continue.

  “I could’ve not seen him again and been fine. Seeing him . . . regardless if he’s changed, churned up memories I’ve spent every day since I left him trying to bury. It’s a conflicting sort of feeling. My stomach hurts.” She swallowed hard, her eyes not fully in the present with me, but half in the past with him.

  “Hey,” I said, drawing her gaze. “I have a secret weapon for that.”

  “Distraction?” She arched an eyebrow at me.

  “Yes,” I said, smiling and shaking my head. “But not the kind you’re thinking of.”

  She pouted.

  “Ice cream and a tour of our new lab?”

  Her eyes lit up, the look I was counting on when I mentioned dessert and new weather toys. “Really?”

  I nodded as she bounced on her toes. “Come on,” I said, planting a quick kiss on her lips. “Let’s get out of here.”

  She sank back down. “What about the crew?” She eyed the kitchen where Daniel and the others were.

  “Forget them,” I whispered, my eyes cutting to the door. “Hurry!”

  We tiptoed out the door as fast as we could, Blake blowing silent kisses to Hail, who took up a firm seat at the window and watched us climb into my truck. I’m sure Daniel would love to film Blake and I exploring our new lab for the first time, but I wasn’t interested. The only thing that mattered right now was reminding Blake of the woman she was today—not the one of the past, the one who always cropped up whenever it came to Justin.

  As I drove toward her favorite ice cream shop, I couldn’t help but glance in my rearview mirror, checking like a maniac for anything that looked like we were being followed. By the time I’d ordered her favorite treat, I had half convinced myself Justin had elaborated the whole scheme to turn me into a paranoid freak.

  Not that I would ever stop worrying about her, or looking out for her anyway, but who was to say he hadn’t exaggerated the entire scenario in his mind? How could I really trust what he’d said?

  “Something wrong?” Blake asked as we toted our ice cream into the building the network owned.

  “No, why?” I led the way down the twisting halls, using the keycard Daniel had given me to gain entry into the room designated for our equipment.

  “You haven’t taken a bite. You’re usually done by now.” She motioned to where the ice cream was melting in the cup, which was so full it was dripping over the lip and down my hand.

  “Distracted,” I said, switching hands to lick the stray vanilla off my fingers

  “I’ll say.” Her eyes followed the motion of my tongue.

  Heat flared in my gut, but I pushed it down. I would not use sex as a distraction for her, not now, not after she most likely had to relive that one horrible night with Justin, his presence bringing it to the front of her mind. The night he nearly . . .

  I clenched my eyes shut for a moment, taking a steadying breath. I’d already doled out the punishment for that one a year ago, but it didn’t make pummeling him today any less distant from my thoughts. I’d wanted to, desperately, but Blake had asked me to behave.

  “Oh!” Blake said after I’d gotten the door open to our lab. “This is fantastic!”

  I closed the door behind us, watching as she raced around the room, checking out the multitude of brand-new computers, scanners, radars and desks throughout the room.

  “I can input weather maps from here!” She pointed to a scanner and computer combo before motioning to another area. “And you can edit footage there!”

  A smile shaped my lips as she rushed around the room again, gasping and sighing like she’d died and gone to weather heaven. I slowly walked around, taking in every new toy while finally eating my ice cream. This was top of the line, and for a few moments, I felt like we’d made it. Then my shoulders sank, and I tossed my half-eaten dessert in a nearby trashcan. There were so many stipulations revolving around our contract that I didn’t know how to simply enjoy the perks of being signed with the network. I was sure that once the year had passed and I could renegotiate terms, I would feel so much better about all the new equipment, but until then, everything felt like it had such a heavy price.

  I sank into a plush leather office chair, this one with no arms for easy maneuvering, and waited silently as Blake tested out four of the ten computers in the room.

  “Did you see the handhelds over there?” she asked, approaching me as she pointed to the farthest corner of the room. I followed her hand, glancing at the table stacked with more cameras than we had chasers.

  “You think they want us to recruit new chasers?” I asked.

  She scrunched her eyebrows at me. “Could be. I suppose if the show does well they’ll want more chasers positioned at different places where activity may occur.”

  I sighed. “Always something.”

  “Now I know something is up.”

  “What?” I asked, straightening in my chair.

  “Usually I’m the one who is fighting Daniel’s or the network’s terms. You’re always the one to talk me back. What’s up?” She looked down at me, her hair framing her face.

  “Nothing,” I said, swallowing the truth about the non-compete clause and the ownership of all our footage angle. I wouldn’t worry her for no reason. As long as no one wanted to jump ship before the year was up, we’d be okay. Focusing on that, I smiled. “I like our team the way it is. It’s hard to imagine having to entrust it to more chasers.”

  She nodded. “I get that. We’re like a family.”

  “We are family,” I said. “John and Paul are brothers to me. And you’re like my—” I stopped myself before I said the word wife.

  Her mouth dropped open, and she smacked my shoulder.

  “Ow!” I said, grabbing it even though it didn’t sting. “What was that for?”

  “I swear, if you were about to say sister I will end you right here and now!” She smacked me again, but this time I blocked her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down to me.

  She resisted, bracing herself with her free hand on the back of the chair.

  “I’d never say that about you,” I said, my mouth no more than a breath from hers.

  “Oh yeah?” She laughed. “Then what were you about to call me?”

  I looked from her lips back to her eyes and shrugged. “Girlfriend just doesn’t seem like a good enough word for what you are to me.”

  Her eyes lost the playfulness they’d had seconds before, and she let go of the chair, shifting so that she straddled my lap. “Dash.” She sighed my name before wrapping her hands behind my neck. “I love you.” She pressed her lips against mine, and I finally let go of her wrist, holding her to me.

  I slid my hands up and down her back, loving the feel of her above me as I traced the edges of her teeth with my tongue. This woman. She had me any way she wanted me. Whenever and wherever, but I found the strength to break away, holding her a few inches back.

  “Wait,” I said. “Blake. This has been an incredibly rough day for you. I don’t need to do this. I’m more than happy to simply sit here and talk to you . . . about whatever you need to talk about. Whether that’s him or everything that isn’t your past. Just tell me. What do you need?”

  She grinned a
nd rolled her hips against me, eliciting a groan from my lips. “I know, Dash. That’s one of the reasons why I’m so in love with you. I know if I wanted it, you’d hold me as I cried my eyes out and spilled buckets over what happened in my past. I know you’d listen as I raged for hours about the unfairness of it all. But, you know what? I’m done. I don’t want to cry over the past. I don’t even want to be angry over it anymore. I just want . . . this.” She cupped my face in her hands and kissed me. “You are my future, Dash Lexington. The freaking source of every piece of happiness I didn’t know existed. So, please. Can’t I have what I want?”

  I snuck a hand under the hem of her shirt, feeling the warm skin of her back. “And what is that?”

  “You.” The answer was simple, and all I needed. I claimed her mouth, angling her so I could get deeper, stroking her tongue with my own until she sighed between my lips and writhed above me.

  Blake’s mom’s house smelled like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and lavender and rain and all the things that made me feel at home.

  Blake led the way toward the kitchen, and I had the sudden panic that her mother would be able to sense all the things I’d just done to her daughter in our brand-new weather lab. I cleared my throat, smiling, when Ms. Caster stepped out of the hug Blake had wrapped her in.

  “Dash,” she said. “I’ve missed you, boy. Come here!” She waved her arms around until I met her in front of the stove, where she enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug. “Thanks for keeping her safe,” she whispered in my ear.

  For a second I froze, wondering if Justin had gotten to her somehow, too? Then I realized how insane that notion was. Ms. Caster would shoot him on sight, no questions asked. “It’s been an easy storm season,” I said, and she tilted her head at me, fixing me with a knowing look that was eerily like the one Blake used against me all the time.

  “I may not have a sixth sense about storms like you and my daughter do,” she said, pointing a wooden spoon at me, “but I know that easy is the last word I’d use to describe your time on the alley this season.”