On the Edge (The Grange Complex Book 1)
Chapter 41

Sasha

I hurled my favourite coffee mug on the floor in frustration. Dexter had lied to my face. I thought that he would come clean and tell me about his trip to the strip club. I didn't want to cry, but when my stomach revolted I ran to the bathroom to throw up again, probably because I was so angry at him. Maybe I should have waited until we had dinner. The minute he came home I started interrogating him. This wasn't wise, so it was no surprise that he kicked off.

Dexter had seen that stripper for a reason, but he refused to say anything. Maybe he was taking drugs again and feeding me lies, thinking that sex could solve all our problems.

I stripped off, locked the door and had a long and relaxing bath. It was difficult to take my mind off the man that I had fallen for. I waited for him to tell me about the phone calls, the small box, the strip club, but he just stood there trying to pretend that everything was all right. The fridge in this apartment was empty, and I was starving. I left my purse in his apartment and I didn't want to go back there. We both had said enough. I never thought that this would happen to me again-for the fourth time? Deep down I think I knew that he wasn't cheating, but his lies had hurt me.

An hour later, while switching channels on the TV, I heard a loud knock and Dexter's voice behind the door.

"Sasha, I'm sorry, baby."

I was on my feet, marching towards the entrance. I unlocked the door ready to tell him to get lost.

"Go back to your own apartment. I don't want to see you," I said, realising that he was completely drunk. He took a step towards me, but he lost his balance and landed on the floor. He normally drank when he felt guilty or when he had a very stressful day. Maybe he did care after all. It didn't take him long to finish that champagne that he bought for both of us.

"Barbie, I love you so much. Please don't be upset," he mumbled, tangling his fingers through his hair. Dexter had changed his habits with whiskey and weed; now he drank in moderation. I had never seen him out of control over the last three years. This wasn't how I wanted to tell him about our baby.

"Come on, you can't stay here. We need to get you to bed," I said, keeping my serious tone, helping him back on his feet. Our argument was silly. I only wanted to know the truth.

"There isn't any other pussy, Sash. It's just you... my special "

He didn't finish his thought before barging through the door and burping loudly. I helped him to get down on the sofa. My anger faded. Now it was just the disappointment and sadness of being lied to. Whatever was going on with him, it wasn't good.

"Dexter, I meant to tell you this before. I'm pregnant with your child," I said loudly, after about five minutes. When I glanced back at him, he was out, snoring next to me, mumbling words that didn't make much sense at all. I covered my lower belly with my palms, thinking about the life that was ahead of me. Maybe Dex wasn't ready to be a father. From what I remembered, Kirk was excited when I told him. I couldn't compare a scumbag like Kirk to Dex. They were very different and Dexter had changed for me.

I picked myself up and went to bed leaving him on the sofa. All of a sudden I felt exhausted, drained and wanted to push the last twenty-four hours out of my mind.

I was out within minutes and dreams took over. My baby was beautiful and it was a girl. Tears were streaming down my cheeks with joy and happiness. Dexter was with me and he couldn't wait to see this precious creature, to take her into his arms.

When I woke up there were arms around me, and I felt a little disorientated for a moment. Then everything came back: last night, our argument and storming away to the other apartment. Dexter had gotten drunk, because he felt guilty. This was easy to fix-he should have told me the truth. We could have avoided all these problems.

He was cuddled into me and he was fully erect. I felt his cock pressed over my ass.

"We aren't okay, so you might as well get up and leave me alone," I said, aware that he wasn't asleep anymore.

"I'm sorry, baby. I don't want us to fight and I have a killer hangover," he growled, kissing my neck. Why did I have to turn into a pile of mush when he was all nice and back to the usual Dexter? "This afternoon I'll explain everything, promise. I'll pick you up from work, all right?"

I turned around abruptly staring at his handsome face, still pretty pissed off. I couldn't tell him that I played a stalker and followed him to the strip club. That was a low blow. He obviously didn't remember my confession about the baby, and now it was time to tell him.

Come on, Sasha, do it.

"What for? You won't tell me the truth," I whispered back, fighting with myself about what was right and wrong.

"I will. Just trust me, please. Maybe this doesn't make sense now, but it will."

He kissed me again and then jumped out of bed, disappearing into the bathroom. I couldn't talk about the baby right now. I had to know what he was up to first. Ten minutes later, he nagged and nagged until I agreed to whatever he was planning to do. My gut feeling told me that there was never going to be a right time for this kind of talk.

Dexter

My head was absolutely banging. Last night I behaved like a complete asshole. Sasha was smart. I didn't realise that she would listen in on my conversation. We argued and then she slammed the door, telling me to stay away. I was angry, so I drank our champagne and some beer that I found in the cupboard.

She thought that I was fucking another woman. Shit, I should have known that it would have been difficult to keep this kind of secret from her.

This morning I left with a hard on, thinking about her gorgeous body. I had to bide my time and wait until later. Getting drunk was one thing, but executing my carefully prepared plan after messing things up was another. Sasha needed to be shown that sometimes I had a heart too.

She was still upset when I left for work and it took a bit of convincing for her to agree to go out this afternoon. The most difficult task was ahead of me.

The situation at work was complicated. We had a few large projects going on and I had to be focused. Rob was coordinating the work while I tried to act like I wasn't nervous about later. Many people wanted to hire me. I had gained a reputation in the market, and with meds my life was better now.

The hours dragged, but everything was ready. Harry was also involved; he suggested bringing her friends and my brothers. I agreed, and now my nerves were slowly eating me away.

I called her up to check if she was willing to give me a special performance tonight, but she didn't pick up. Maybe Lorraine, the stripper, was right. Women were insecure and I was crossing the line with using another stripper. On the other hand, Sasha had always been very comfortable in her body. She was bloody stunning.

At two o'clock it started raining. This wasn't a good sign. Instead of waiting around and risking leaving her a voicemail, I told Rob that I had personal matter to take care of. I had to surprise her, not anger her even more. There was no point involving another dancer. How could I be so stupid to think that she would like that sort of thing?

I headed straight to the strip club and managed to rearrange the setting. Lorraine wasn't too happy when I revealed that she wasn't needed anymore. The engagement ring was back in my jacket pocket. Harry looked relieved when I mentioned that I'd changed my mind. He suggested calling my brothers and Sasha's friends. After everything was sorted in the strip club, I headed straight to the hospital. My shirt was sticking to my back, and I was twiddling my thumbs waiting outside.

I knew one thing, Sasha was still pissed off with me, and I had to make this right. When I showed up on the ward, the nurses were glad to assist me. Sasha looked amazing in her white uniform that sparked up my dick's attention instantly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest. "You were supposed to call first, not show up while I'm still working."

"I left you a load of messages, Barbie, and you know that I'm not a very patient person."

She rolled her eyes at me.

"I have been busy, Dex. I only had ten minutes for lunch and I haven't even looked at my phone."

"Okay, I get it, but we need to go, now."

She shook her head, looking at me like I had lost my mind.

"Dexter, this doesn't quite work like that. My shift doesn't finish for another hour."

"This is important for me, Sash. Let me talk to your boss. I'm sure that I can convince her to let you go early,” I said.

She opened her mouth, probably to argue with me, but I kissed her. This always worked, the distraction.

"You're truly the most annoying person that I have ever known," she said after I pulled away, hiding a smile. "Stay here. I'll be back in a minute."

Her ass looked awesome in the uniform. I had to bloody calm down. This wasn't the place or the time to get hard. She made me wait a while and by the time she came back I was struggling to keep myself in line.

"Okay, Dexter, I'm free to go, but I want you to explain to me what is going on."

"Not now, Barbie," I said, grabbing her hand. She was relentless, so I had to come up with something fast.

"Dex, I'm-"

"Everything will be clear to you in about half an hour. Please, Barbie, just trust me," I leaned over and whispered in her ear.

She gave up until we got into the car. Then she told me off about drinking last night, asking, probably hoping, that I would tell her where we were going. I kept quiet, telling myself to keep calm.

When we parked outside the club, I could see anger beginning to form in her soft features, my pulse started speeding and my palms were damp with sweat. It amazed me what I had to do in order to get laid again.

Jesus.

"Strip club? You can't be serious," she said, drilling me down with her green eyes.

"It's been so long since I've seen you performing. I thought that you could dance for me today," I said, grabbing her hands and leaning over, inhaling her alluring perfume. For a split second, I thought that she was going to hit me. Instead she pressed her lips in a hard line, glaring at me in frustration.

"So let me make this clear," she said, drowning a breath. "You want me to dance for you, after you got hammered and put yourself at risk?"

"Baby, I want to spice things up a little. I fucked up. Please just one dance. You haven't danced for me for so long," I pleaded, knowing that she was ready to break.

"And then you'll tell me what is going on with you?"

"Yes... of course. I'm getting hard thinking about your stunning body."

"Fine, one dance, but don't get your hopes up. This won't solve all our problems," she scoffed, getting out of the car. My breaths were shallow and my heart was jackhammering in my chest, reminding me why we were really here. I couldn't wait to see how this whole afternoon would pan out.

"Welcome, Mr. Tyndall, everything is ready for you," said Larry, greeting us with a smile at the entrance. The club wasn't busy, so the timing was perfect. We walked through two sets of doors until we were in a private part of the club. The central part of the club had its own large stage and a large bar at the back. We didn't stop there but carried on walking further down the long dark corridor.

Larry opened the black door and vanished, silently wishing me good luck. I didn't need it. I was confident but nervous as fuck. Four walls were painted in red and there was a comfortable black leather sofa in the centre. I smelled vanilla in the air. The place had just been cleaned up. The decor was elegant and minimalistic. I was already imaging Sasha sitting on my face.

Shit. Stop it, Tyndall.

I had to pull myself together. This wasn't the reason that I brought her here tonight.

"Come on, baby, show me your best moves," I whispered, kissing her along her jaw line.

"Dex, I'm in my uniform."

"That's even better. You have no

idea how long I have been meaning to ask you to wear it during sex," I said, sitting down comfortably on the sofa She hesitated, looking around with open curiosity, but then our song began playing, and that was it. Her eyes shimmered with excitement. She recognised it. It was the same song that Harry played during her first performance at the mixer party. "Sexy Can I" by Ray J and Yung Berg. I loved that tune.

Sasha dropped her bag on the floor and moved back.

"I can't believe that you remembered that song, Dex." She laughed, tossing her hair behind her. I shifted on the sofa, thinking that I was already losing control, and she hadn't even done anything yet. Her eyes shifted, revealing burning desire and arousal. Blood rushed down to my groin as she began swaying her hips in the rhythm of the song, slowly at first.

I tensed up, swallowing hard. The air around me vibrated, thickening with crackling lust and the scent of vanilla. I had to concentrate and just be patient. She was such a turn-on moving around me. She licked her lips and began unhooking her uniform, slowly.

I didn't think that I could wait until the end. This woman controlled my desire, provoking me, drowning me of the last bits of control and resistance.

She brought her hands to her hair and bent down, keeping her eyes on me, biting her lip. I was melting down in my seat; my heart shuddered between my ribs. My cock was rock hard, ready, throbbing in my pants.

Sasha turned around, revealing an arm with a giggle, then bent down unexpectedly, showing me her magnificent ass.

That was the moment that I had been waiting for, the moment that I had craved. I reached out to my jacket pocket and went down on my knees, quickly opening the box that I retrieved earlier on from Lorraine.

The diamond was shining brightly, reminding me of the colour of her eyes. It suited her perfectly.

When she turned around, ready to drop her uniform, she stopped moving, finally noticing my position.

I was shitting myself, but this was it. There was no turning back now.

"God, Sash, you're so unbelievably sexy. I can't take it any longer. Will you fucking marry me?"