Read Romance: Edge of Desire for Free Online Page A

fall for him. The guy is rich, amazingly handsome, charming and seductive. And you were tired. It was two o’clock in the morning and your resistance was gone. Don’t beat yourself up over this. It was what it was.”
    “And that’s the problem, Nicole. It was incredible. If it was poor, sad sex then I don’t think I would be feeling this bad. But it wasn’t that. There was a connection between us. A real connection. Something that made the room alight with chemistry. It was unbelievable sex… to me, at least.”
    “And to him?”
    “Maybe it was just more sex. Maybe to him I was just another girl.”
    “You don’t believe that,” Nicole states firmly.
    And she’s right.
    I don’t believe it.
    Nicole knows me better than I know myself, and that is why she is the perfect person to sit down and discuss life with. We have been there for each other over these last two years. She has been there for me more times than I know, and I have been her shoulder to cry on when she has needed it.
    We have been through boyfriends, one-night stands, stalker-like men, creeps and bad bosses at the coffee shop. But all that has only served to make our relationship stronger.
    We are both strong, smart, independent women and sometimes it feels like there is no man out there that can handle us.
    Well, Brad could have handled me.
    It’s just that I can’t handle him.
    “What am I going to do? I can’t go back in there tomorrow.”
    “Of course you can. You’re looking at it the wrong way. Don’t look at it like you’ve been used – look at it like you’ve used him. What you’ve gotten out of this is a great job with great pay, a chance to pay back all your debts, and a night of unbelievable passion. Nights filled with that much passion don’t come around very often. You need to take that moment and remember it forever.”
    “I suppose…”
    “Look when you’re fifty-five years old, and you have a house in the suburbs, three kids and a busy social life, you can look back on your moment of pure, passionate lust. When you’ve been having sex with the same guy for the past twenty years and it is only ever missionary style on a Saturday night, you can think back to that night of incredible lust.”
    We both burst out in a fit of giggles.
    She certainly knows how to change my outlook. “I suppose you’re right.”
    “Of course I’m right. Look at it like you’ve used him – not he has used you. You used him for sex, nothing more. Amazing sex, but that was it.”
    “So I should go back to work tomorrow?”
    “Of course you should. You will go back to your great job tomorrow. The alternative is going home to the country and I don’t want you to do that.”
    I nod, “You’re right, as always. I used him, not the other way around.”
    If only I believed that were true…
     
     

Chapter 14
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
    After drinking and laughing with my best friend last night, I return to the mammoth building the next morning, reinforcing to myself that this is just a job.
    This is just a job. 
    I have been sucked in and used by Brad’s game but it will not happen again. And I used him – not the other way around.
    “I used him. I used him ,” I mutter to myself, trying to convince myself of that fact.
    Working here might not be the dream job – but it is providing me with the opportunity to continue my city dream. I am using this job to stay in the city.
    That is all.
    “Good morning.”
    The voice is smooth and elegant, relaying a sense of calm.
    My heart skips a beat.
    Damn.
    He almost has me at the first words that he has said this morning.
    “Hi,” I manage to utter without a smile.
    “You look amazing today. Your hair looks fabulous.”
    No. Don’t fall for that. Don’t fall for his charm.
    He is a player.
    “Coffee?” I try to redirect the conversation.
    “Please. One sugar this morning.”
    I move to the coffee machine and aggressively begin making coffee.
    “Harper, you are an extremely