Page 20 of Edge of Desire

Suddenly, my shin was delivered a mighty kick.

“Ouch,” I cried. I tore my gaze away from Avery’s crotch to see my sister giving me one of her ferocious looks. Shit. I’m in trouble now.

“Avery, let me get you something to help clean that up.” Was that an appropriate thing to say? Should I have offered her my tongue? Probably not.

“Avery,” Caroline said as she jumped to her feet, “let me get you some club soda. Miles, get her some paper towels to pick up the lasagna.”

“On it.”

I went to hand her the paper towels and I saw tears in her eyes. Now I felt horribly for having all those lewd thoughts.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you tidied up in a second,” I said as I went to grab the lasagna. Then she cringed. I mean really cringed. Like she thought I was going to attack her or something. Her hands came up in front of her face and she sort of folded into herself. I looked up to see if Caroline was around, but she wasn’t anywhere in sight. So, I whispered, “Hey, Avery, I won’t hurt you. Ever. I promise.” She lowered her hands and that lip of hers trembled. I don’t know what happened to her in her past, but something did to make her act this way. And it was a something I didn’t like. “You okay?” I asked softly.

“Yeah, thanks.” She did this thing to wipe her eyes a bit and then gave me a half-assed smile. “Not too cool—the lasagna bite, huh?”

“Oh, I don’t know. As far as misses go, it was pretty spectacular.” I gestured with my hand to indicate the trail it left behind.

She barked out a laugh that made me feel all nice and cozy inside.

Seven

Avery

Could this day possibly get any worse? It was bad enough when Just Miles saw my super-duper vibrator and all its attachments, but there I sat, in my cute white outfit, with a ginormous hunk of lasagna wedged in my crotch. Oh, did I mention that it had first ricocheted off my boobs before it finally came to rest there? Lovely. I resembled an abstract painting, a vision in white, splattered in red.

Then, when Just Miles tried to help and went to wipe the lasagna from my crotch, I had this vision of Little Dickie when he attacked me, and I cowered. I slunk into my chair, away from him. He noticed it too. I was so lame. Way to make an impression on the only man I’d been attracted to in years, yes years, dammit!

Well, it didn’t matter anyway. Just Miles cleared that all up for me later that night. I’d sort of thought that maybe he was a little attracted to me too. I mean, he’d been kind of looking at me and all, but now, thinking back, maybe I just had something stuck in my teeth. Maybe some black pepper. But when we were cleaning up the kitchen, I accidentally touched his arm, and he acted like I burned him or something. Then he gave me a look like I disgusted him. Caroline was brewing a pot of coffee, but after that reaction, I didn’t want to hang around anymore. I made my excuses about being tired and headed up to my room.I wanted to be alone and collect my thoughts. This whole day had done a number on me. It seemed like it was one thing after another. It was only nine thirty, but I got ready for bed anyway. I pulled out my iPad and decided I would read for a while.

That romance novel I was reading must’ve taken a turn for the worse because someone was pushing and shoving me and hurting me something fierce. I tried to cry out for help, but my voice jammed in my throat. The harder I tried, the worst it got stuck. He tore my shirt off and his hands clenched my arms in a painful, bruising grip.

“Ouch! Stop!” I tried to scream over and over. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was ugly.

Then someone called my name.

“Avery! Wake up, Avery!”

I opened my eyes and Just Miles was standing over me. I was in bed and all the covers were twisted around me. A feeling of disorientation enveloped me, and I shook my head.

“What’s going on?”

“You were screaming so loud I thought something happened to you. I came in here to check on you and see if you were okay.”

I rubbed my face as awareness crashed into me. Embarrassment quickly followed. I put a pillow over my head. He pulled it off.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I groaned. “It was just a stupid dream.”

“It didn’t sound so stupid to me.”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry I disturbed you.” I pulled the covers over my half-naked body. I was terribly uncomfortable. If I wasn’t covered in that extra poundage, I might have been okay, but thunder thighs and jelly belly were not very excited about being exposed.

He scratched his head and nodded. Then he was gone, leaving behind a whisper of his scent. I should avoid that man as best as I could.

The next day, Caroline dragged me all over that damn town. Admittedly, Seattle had a lot to offer. It was beautiful, clean, and filled with all sorts of delectable food and coffee. There was a coffee shop on every corner. I loved coffee, especially lattes and cappuccinos. And we drank plenty that day. But my favorite spot was Pike Place Market. I had been there before, as I had visited Seattle when Justin did his residency here, but I was younger and less interested in this type of shopping. I discovered it all over again and fell in love. It had everything from fresh fish off the boat to arts and crafts and hundreds of shops. We spent hours there and brought home fresh halibut to cook for dinner.

Caroline and I had planned to cook, but when we walked inside with the food, Just Miles took over, so I went up to my room and huddled there to stay clear of him. At least I wouldn’t have to be around him all day tomorrow.