Shattered Edge by A. M. Hargrove Read Free Book Online Page A

give a shit. A few years ago I got over it all. I decided that I wasn’t going to date anyone unless they meant something to me. End of story. You’re the first woman I’ve been interested in quite a while.”
    She snorted and asked, “Is that supposed to make me feel special? Because if so, it’s not working.”
    “No! I didn’t tell you that so you would feel special. I told you that to reveal a part of my nature. Basically I’m a jerk Terri.”
    She rubbed her chest, as if it ached. “Why would you say that?”
    I bent my neck back, in order to ease the building tension. “I’m being honest here. I could give a monkey’s ass about other women throwing themselves at me. I only care about one woman. The one who is standing in front of me right this very second. The beautiful naked woman named Terri. I want her to know who I am. I’m the most imperfect human being that God ever created. I’m an ass. I’m selfish a lot of the time.  And apparently I’m stupid as hell too. But I’m trying to become a better person. What I want with you isn’t just about the sex. It’s about everything. I want to walk with you on the beach at sunrise. I want to lay with you on a blanket under the stars on a crisp fall night. I want to take you for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway when all the leaves have changed color in the fall. I want to take you to Vail at Christmas time so you can see all the decorations in the village. I want to watch your face when the snowflakes hit it. None of that has anything to do with sex. But I want to get to know you first Terri. I can’t do any of those things unless I know you.”
    She smiled, really smiled when I finished talking. “That was the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
    I hadn’t meant for it to be sweet. I’d only meant to reveal that part of myself that I wanted her to know I was working on. “Terri, I wasn’t trying to be sweet.”
    “But that’s the whole point Justin. That’s exactly why it was sweet.  The best things in life are the ones that aren’t contrived.”
    Well damn, she had a point there.
    “I suppose so. How’d you get so damn smart...and sexy too?”
    “Lucky I guess. Wanna take a shower?”
    Now how the hell could I refuse that? I allowed her to pull me into her bathroom. Every few seconds, she’d glance back at me and give me one of those seductive, smoldering looks. My boner was about to shoot sparks out of it. That girl could get me rocking with a simple glance.
    Thank God her shower was huge. It was a walk in with one of those dual shower heads, one of them being a hand held. I had all sorts of ideas flying through my head when I saw that. It was going to be a long shower indeed.

 
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    Terri
     
    What a day. Justin just left. It was ten thirty and I had to get to bed. I had to be at work at seven thirty for our Monday morning team meeting. But, damn, he’d been gone for all of ten minutes and I missed him already. I was in deep dookie here. We’d had sex all over the place...in the bed, in the shower, on the floor, on the couch, on the kitchen counter and on the dining room table. The man was a master and insatiable. Of course, I guess I was too, ‘cause I’d initiated just as many sessions as he had.
    I had to hand it to him too. He hadn’t tried to hide anything from me. He answered every question and with great remorse. My greatest concern about him was that he wouldn’t ever be able to forgive himself. He reminded me so much of Lexi after her fiancé, Peter died. When he’d been killed in that car wreck, she’d blamed herself for years. It wasn’t until she’d met Pearce that she was finally able to forgive herself and move on. I hoped Justin could do the same. The issue with the women was something I would have to work on. I couldn’t say he cheated on me. That was misleading. We never had committed to each other. Hell, we only had gone out a couple of times. He had every right to date who he