Page 54 of Edge of Heaven

“It does.”

“What are you going to do?” she asks. “Confront him? Go kick his ass? Call the cops? Like, what is your plan, Mick? I know you’re mad. I’m upset too. But it wasn’t what you’re thinking—okay? He has four payments left. That’s a lot of damn money. Toby needs me and I’m not going to do anything to fuck that up. You can’t either. Do you understand? If you’re going to get riled up every time Callum does something that upsets me, we can’t keep doing this.”

I close my eyes and try to breathe through the whiplash of emotions I’m feeling.

He hit her.

And if I do anything to take care of the situation, it could make her situation worse or cost Toby the treatment he needs.

I feel angry and helpless and guilty—a cocktail of emotions I don’t like. Especially feeling helpless. I don’t do helpless.

I’m the kind of guy who takes action and—there are tears streaming down her face.

Dammit.

I grab a tissue and hand it to her, kicking myself for making her cry.

Callum does enough of that, and I don’t want to be another person in her life she can’t count on.

“I’m sorry,” I say quietly. “I just—I can’t stand the thought of him laying a hand on you.”

“I know.” She dabs at her eyes. “But it’s not a huge deal. He’s been extra nice the last couple of days, so it’s okay. He won’t get grumpy again until it’s time for me to leave for L.A. I figure I’ve got two good weeks.”

“Taryn, what am I supposed to do?” I ask in frustration. “I care about you. A lot. You can’t expect me to sit here and do nothing.”

“If you care about me, that’s exactly what you’re going to do.” She puts her hands on either side of my face. “You know why I put up with it. The clock is ticking. It’s almost over. If I can hang in there, so can you. Otherwise, then we can’t…do this.”

“I don’t know what we’re doing!” I grumble.

“No?” She cocks her head. “I thought we talked about this in New York?”

“It was different when we were together. Now that we’re back under his thumb, it’s…” I don’t even know how to express what I’m feeling.

“Hard.” Her lips tilt up ever so slightly. “Trust me, I know.”

We stare into each other’s eyes and my heart slams against my ribs.

“I want to kiss you,” I rumble. “So fucking much.”

To my surprise, she leans up and in, her lips lightly touching mine. “I want that too.”

“I thought we were waiting.”

“To be together, yes. But every time I leave to see my son, he sends me pictures of women sucking his dick. I think I’m entitled to let the guy I want to be with kiss me.”

Fuck. Yes.

I continue staring into her beautiful face for a while, one hand cupping her cheek, drinking in every line of her face. She’s so pretty, and such a sweet, kind soul. When she looks at me like she is now—as if I’m the only man in the world—everything else slips away.

I don’t care about Callum or the band or anything else.

All I want is her.

And this kiss—this first kiss after what feels like a lifetime since I last kissed her—is important. It’s not our actual first kiss, but it’s a different kind of first kiss. The kind that holds a promise of more. A promise of something I’ve never given anyone else.

Even though we have to wait.

“You know how long I’ve waited for this?” I whisper, my mouth just an inch from hers.

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