On the Edge (The Grange Complex Book 1)
Chapter 11

Dexter

Sasha had led me into one of my oblivious dark moods, pushing my self-control, so I left, locking myself in my apartment. I was inches away from taking her on that bed and fucking her until she couldn't take it anymore. I was so lost seeing her bending and crawling around that pole.

On top of that, Victoria crashed the party, screwing with my already fucked-up thoughts.

I wanted Sasha. She was the sexiest woman that I have ever met and her movements on the pole drove my lust for her even more. Whenever I closed my eyes I had her round ass in my face.

I didn't want to sink in deep, but as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out. My limbs felt like they weighed a ton. I'd left the party because I couldn't deal with the emotional garbage. Joey was gone, and there was no one that could listen to my raging rambles and make sense of them. I was on my own. This time I didn't get up at four in the morning, but I slept right through.

Whenever I hit one of these moods, I didn't need alcohol or drugs to get me to sleep, but then the morning was the worst, because I had no energy to get up. My cock was rock hard, and the world around me spun. For the first time in a while I had no motivation to do anything, but I promised Sasha that I would be nicer than normal.

I had to drag my body out of bed. When I put my clothes on, I was fighting against the hollowness that settled deep in my limbs. It took me an hour to convince my shitty self that she was just another task. Once I'd shagged her, I wouldn't have to worry about anything else.

I found the nearest Starbucks a few miles from the complex, bought two lattes and drove home thinking about what I was going to say to her. Back in my apartment, I went around my terrace.

I had no clue if Sasha was still sleeping or not, but I needed to see her. When I pressed my head to the glass, she wasn't in the living room, so I fiddled with the key for a minute and then slid the door open to get inside. Anyone else would probably call the police and they would charge me with breaking and entering, but Sasha loved my attention.

Most of Joey's stuff was missing, and I noticed a lot of boxes by the door. I was curious to know what Sasha was like, so I started nosing around. On the cabinet there were pictures of her smiling with a man and a woman, probably her parents. She looked happy.

I had to get a fucking grip. Fine; she wanted me to get to know her? All right. I could play nice for a day or two, but that was it. I wasn't planning to stay in her life for long. Besides, Joey's apartment was still on the market.

"What are you doing here?"

Fuck, how did I not hear her coming out of her bedroom? I turned around quickly and put my usual, arrogant smirk on my face. Some things weren't easy to change.

"I brought you coffee, Barbie," I said slowly, realising what she was wearing. White, very tight shorts and a loose top. She wasn't wearing a bra and her nipples were poking through the thin material of her top. Shit, this was going to end badly.

She took the coffee, glaring at me with suspicion. My dick started twitching as my eyes couldn't help but wander to her hard nipples.

"Stop staring at my boobs and you'd better tell me how did you get inside my property? The balcony door was locked."

"Joey gave me a key. We were kind of close," I explained, not prepared to say anymore.

She looked a little surprised, but there was some sort of acknowledgement in her eyes. "So this whole persona? The bad Dexter? It's just an act, right?"

"I don't act, Barbie. This is who I am; you either like it or not," I said, lowering my eyes to her tits again. Hell, I was ready to shove my face between those knockers. That was my idea of heaven. She didn't need to know me. We were only going to fuck, that was all.

She rolled her eyes at me and sipped her coffee.

"Is there anything else you want?" she asked. She was throwing me out and I'd just bought her a coffee. She had cheek. I wasn't ready to leave her yet.

"We are having dinner at my place tonight, and then you're going to dance for me," I informed her.

She raised her left eyebrow. "You don't really know how to talk to a woman, do you?"

"Of course I do," I said. "Now, don't tell me that you changed your mind about dancing for me?"

"What? When did I ever... oh, never mind. Fine, I'll have dinner with you, but we'll have to see about that dance. You need to behave first."

I could see a small smile appearing on her sweet lips and I knew that I was already winning her over. A dinner, maybe a dance. This would be a night that she'd never forget.

"Be at my place at six, Barbie."

"You better stop calling me that if you really want me to dance for you," she called as I was just about to disappear.

"Don't talk rubbish. I know you love it, Barbie."

Sasha

When I saw Dexter standing in my apartment in his white T-shirt, with his trousers hanging low on his hips and staring at my photograph, he looked almost approachable. When I woke up, I knew that I needed to brush off our first meeting and just have a normal conversation with him. I had a feeling that it was too early to ask him about my uncle.

Dexter brought coffee and that was sweet of him. Maybe for a brief moment I lost my mind, agreeing to have dinner with him.

The key... I had to make sure that I got it back.

The apartment was still for sale. I was convinced that now, after we had made peace, I wouldn't have a problem with replaceing a buyer.

I was also convinced that this bad boy image, the machismo, was just an act that he put on. For some reason he wanted to keep people away. Anyway, I didn't want to get emotionally involved. It was all about sex and maybe a possible friendship. He was a dangerous man to be close to and I didn't expect much.

My body was aching a little from yesterday's performance, but I was glad that I did it.

Several hours later, after doing some intensive shopping in the city, I was back in my apartment, thinking about this evening. I'd broken my own rules. I was having a date with a guy that didn't actually believe in relationships, with a man that I used to hate. This wasn't normal, but maybe good sex would allow me to forget about that bastard Kirk.

At exactly six o'clock I stood outside Dexter's apartment wearing a V-neck cream dress that showed off a little cleavage. I didn't want to overdress, pretending that it was just a casual dinner. I knocked and waited. My stomach churned when I heard the steps.

A moment later Dexter opened the door, eyeing me up like he was a big bad wolf and I was a lost lamb in the forest. I wasn't scared of him, but rather apprehensive about what was going to happen. "Barbie, you look fucking delicious," he said with a big smile on his face. I didn't wait for his invitation but walked right in, inhaling his cologne as I passed him at the door.

His apartment was a bit bigger than mine. The dining room table was set and there was a lot of activity going on in the kitchen.

"Here, have some champagne. That should loosen you up a little," he said, moving his arm around me to hand me a glass. I felt his body close to mine, and a surge of heat instantly passed through my core, reminding me to be careful. I took the champagne and walked to the table to get away from him.

"I'm fine, Dexter," I said a bit too sharply and sat down on the chair. He was still smirking, watching me. "So if you're capable of having a normal conversation with me, then tell me, what is it that you do?"

"I invest money into properties, renovate them and then sell them for profit. I choose my own hours and I don't answer to anyone," he explained and moved to the kitchen to check on whatever he was cooking. Only then did I notice that he was barefoot, wearing a blue jumper and dark jeans. A nervous tremor passed through me when I watched how he stirred something in the pan.

Holy hell, was it hot in his apartment or it was me? Feeling the sexual tension, I started pressing my thighs together. "You probably already know that I'm a nurse."

"Your sexy uniform gave you away the other day. I was ready to rip it all off you and take you in the lift," he said, turning around.

I felt a flush creeping over my cheeks. I had to stop getting turned on just by him talking about sex. This was my evening and my rules. "I don't have sex in public places."

"Of course. You're such a good girl." He chuckled.

"I might be, but not when I'm on the pole," I added huskily. He dropped the spoon and shot me a very heated look. I wanted to laugh.

"Stop teasing me, Barbie; otherwise I might forget about our discussion from yesterday, lift you up and take you to my bedroom where I will proceed to rip your good-girl dress apart. You will be at my mercy and I won't be nice," he said pressing his palms on the table and leaning over to me. He had beautiful eyes.

I was too bloody turned on to come up with something witty. Dexter had that effect on me, making me forget what I was going to say.

He licked his lips and went back to take care of our food. I began asking him boring questions about his work and the complex. It was supposed to be a good distraction, but it didn't work.

Half an hour later he served dinner: salmon en croute with new potatoes and salad, accompanied by white wine. I didn't want to say it, but it looked like Dexter was a great cook.

"Tell me about your family. Are they from around here?" I asked, chewing the delicious food.

"Yep. Mum lives in Edinburgh. Dad killed himself several years ago. Jack, my brother, moved to England; he's in the army."

I stopped eating then. His father had killed himself, but Dexter was talking about it like this didn't affect him at all.

"Dex... I'm so-"

"No, Sasha, spare me your pity. I'm over this shit. He was a weak man," he cut me off and shoved some food into his mouth. "Better tell me about your pole-dancing training. How did you get into that?" "No one knows that I dance. I started when I was twenty-two. My friend wanted to try it, but she dropped out after the first class. I stayed and trained for years, and then I had a break when I moved away to London."

"How come no one knows? What, are you embarrassed about it? It's the sexiest thing that I've ever seen, and trust me, that's a compliment. I don't give them very often."

I laughed, breaking up the tension.

"I don't know. I just never had a chance to tell them," I said, looking down at my food. I was lying to myself. All of my old friends thought that I was a bore; I had no voice and no confidence. Kirk used to be the life and soul of the party and everyone loved him. When we broke up, I lost everyone. "I guess it was my secret for years until I stopped."

"Why did you stop?"

My stomach churned and when I looked back at him I sensed that he wouldn't be satisfied with a light answer. Dexter was the kind of guy that would dig deep.

I crossed the knife and fork on my plate and got up. I was planning to distract him. Like him, I wasn't ready to talk about my personal stuff, like my breakup with Kirk, so I started to dance.