Over the Edge (Bridge #3)(46)

I twisted a strand of her hair between my fingertips, wishing we had more time, preferably alone. I regretted the crowd of people around us now and the obligations that stole away moments like these. Private moments that could lead to more pleasure than I’d expected to find in a woman.

“Can I beckon you?” I teased, but I was serious too. With my obligations mounting, I wanted her when I wanted her.

“Yes, you can beckon me. I may even come on my knees.”

Her sly smile seduced me in a heartbeat. Her eyes glittered with mischief and heat.

I pulled her close and kissed her again, unable to hold back. “I love you, beyond all reason. Do you know that?”

She softened against me. “I love you too, Will. Beyond all reason.”

IAN



Will’s limbs twined possessively, almost indecently, with Liv’s. Their bodies were close, leaving no doubt that they were together. A couple.

I watched from a distance, regretting that I didn’t have a shift at work to save me from attending the event. Instead, I was being forced to pretend like I barely knew the woman who’d effectively brought me to my knees.

No one here knew it, but I was closer to her than I’d ever been to another woman. Olivia Bridge called to me. Not just her body, soft and giving, fitting perfectly around mine. But her mind…her heart. The soul of her that reached into the soul of me.

Our night at the studio was permanently embedded in my mind. Every second. Watching her paint, entranced by the act, a feeling I knew all too well. Then baring my grief to her. It was uncomfortable and painful, but after the pain came a kind of solace that I hadn’t known before. She was a welcome and unexpected salve on a year of unresolved emotions. No one had gotten that close to me before. I didn’t expect anyone would again.

Will was fighting his own war. I’d known him long enough to see how the stress of his father’s troubled company weighed on him, now more than ever. And I recognized that his connection with Liv was strengthening every day. He needed her the way I was beginning to need her.

I was lost in that thought when Darren arrived at my side.

“Hey.” He wasn’t smiling. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” I frowned, irritated that his presence was taking my focus away from the woman whose presence seemed to demand all of it.

“Want to tell me why you’re eye-f*cking my sister?”

I held my jaw tight, biting down on the truth and resisting the urge to call him out with the truth.

Staring at his sister? I’d been inside his sister, deep in her tight heat. I’d held her in my arms and felt her heartbeat fly after a screaming orgasm. I’d tasted her sweet mouth and the honey between her thighs. And I’d pay a dear price to be experiencing any of those sensations again right now.

The harder truth was that I could have her every way she’d let me, but I’d never be able to call her mine.

I had no words for Darren. I wasn’t about to apologize, and I wasn’t going to lie. One thing was certain though. I didn’t belong here.

Even though it was dangerous, I left Darren and approached Liv.

She turned from Will when I said her name. Her blue eyes were bright and soft when they met my mine.

“I’m leaving. I just wanted to say good-bye and congratulate you. Everything looks amazing. You guys did a great job.”

A small smile lifted her lips. “Thanks, Ian. Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” I lied. “Enjoy the night, Liv. You deserve it.”

She frowned. Before she could say more, I turned and made quick strides toward the door. Once outside, the night air rushed into my lungs. I headed in the direction of the apartment. The weather was mild, and a walk would do me good.

“Ian. Wait.”

I slowed and turned toward Liv’s voice. When she caught up with me, she grabbed my hand, as if that could keep me from getting the hell out of there as quick as I could.

Her touch sent a jolt of electricity through me. That magnetic force between us couldn’t be ignored.

“What’s wrong? You seemed upset in there.”

I closed my eyes, fighting the urge to pull her tight against me and kiss her breathless. “It’s nothing, Liv. I’m just going to have to get used to being on the sidelines. It’s a hard pill to swallow when I feel the way I do about you.”

Her lips parted and pain washed over her expression. I began to step away, but she wouldn’t let go, pulling me back by sheer will.

“Did someone say something?”

My jaw tightened when I remembered Darren’s accusation. “I couldn’t take my eyes off you tonight. Darren noticed. My first instinct was to tell him to f*ck off, but that would have been easier to do if I could say you were mine. But you’re not.”

She was silent a moment, her grasp tightening around my hand. “You know that’s not true, Ian.”

I laughed and shook my head. “You’re mine behind closed doors, Liv. I’m grateful for every minute with you, but the rest of the world will never know what you mean to me. You’re with Will. That’s what the world thinks.”

“Who cares what the rest of the world thinks?”

“You’d care if I kissed you in there the way I want to right now. If I put my hands on you like you belonged to me. I can’t even f*cking look at you without your brother getting on my ass. How am I supposed to be with you like this?”