Edge of Paradise

by Lainey Reese

  "And there you have it." Jax started walking backward with his hands raised in the air as he spoke. "Exactly what I was talking about. Mean and grouchy as The Blues Brothers’s nun. Stay away from her Luke. I mean it. For your own good, keep your distance and if you ever cross paths, pretend you're a deaf mute. Trust me buddy; ten minutes talking to you and she'd probably sell to the Manson family before she'd see the farm go to you."

  Luke considered trying his hand at javelin throwing, but Jax reached his car and was getting in by the time he finished talking. Luke settled for returning the other man's sarcastic wave with a hand gesture that, although immature, was still satisfying.

  "What the hell does he know?" Luke asked Pansy as he grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow and hefted the weight of it. He reflected on the last time a woman had come between them. “Bastard's the last person on earth I'd listen to." As he passed the placid, dewy-eyed, cow he nodded in her direction. "I'd sooner listen to you." Then he trudged to the waste pile out behind the barn to drop off the first of many loads that were on today's agenda.

  Chapter 4

  Logan Baxter was a gorgeous young man. Andie could see his father in him clear as day. Instead of the military crop of hair his dad sported, Logan’s black locks were longer on top in that messy, careless way that reminded her of the Seattle grunge scene from the nineties. Only, on Logan, she could tell his style was not artifice but rather incidental. He probably couldn’t care less that he looked like the modern-day James Dean bad boy. Andie bet he set every female pulse racing within a fifty-mile radius.

  When Andie realized the neighbor Jax had referred her to was Luke, she almost didn’t call. Honestly, she never wanted to see that insufferable man again. But when she thought about all Jax had told her regarding Logan and how much he already worked here, she knew she couldn’t hire a different ranch hand. It would be a slap in the face. Now, as satisfying as it would be to slap his father, Logan was innocent, and she just couldn’t do something so underhanded to a kid.

  “You know, I may be your employer, but you are the one who’s going to have to train me.” She smiled at him and wrinkled her nose as she lifted her hands in a helpless gesture. “I haven’t pitched in around here since I was a kid. Even then, I only did the jobs Uncle Wally assigned me. I don’t have a clue what all the chores are here on a daily basis.”

  “That’s cool.” Logan shrugged with his mumbled words as he sipped the cola she’d given him earlier. They were seated at the ancient dining room table going over his hours, salary, and job description. The longer his list of duties got, the more Andie wanted to pay him.

  “Are you sure I shouldn’t hire another field hand, Logan?” she asked as he kept remembering things for the daily to-do list. “This seems like a lot of work for just two people.”

  “Nah, it’s fine.” Another shrug. “I mean, it’s your place, your money, so if you wanna hire on another dude, it’s all good but I can do all this no problem even if you don’t pitch in.”

  “Well, of course I’m going to pitch in,” she assured him. “But if you say we got this, then I’ll take your word for it.” Deciding to put words to action, Andie pushed back from the table and stood. “How about we start now? You can show me what needs to be done in the veggie garden.” She smirked at him good-naturedly. “Since I’m the boss, I’ll leave the septic inspection to you.”

  “It’s no problem. The system here is old, and Wally had me giving it the onceover monthly as long as I’ve been helping out. I’m used to it.”

  Andie cringed comically and won a reluctant smile from the stoic young man then followed him out the door to begin.

  By six o’clock that night, Andie was so sore and exhausted that she feared she wouldn’t have the energy to make it up the stairs.

  “C’mon, girl.” Standing at the foot of the staircase, Andie looked up and thought to herself that it must have grown throughout the day, because right now it looked like so many stairs even Rocky Balboa would be daunted. “Sure, it’s longer than it was this morning, but you can do it. One step at a time.” Lifting her leg to the first step Andie whimpered like a sullen toddler, since there was no one around to hear and think less of her. It felt like there was not just a fifty-pound weight attached to her foot, but her thigh and ass muscles burned like they were on fire. “Okay, that wasn’t so hard. See?” she blatantly lied to herself. “You can do this. You have to do this.” The next step was even more excruciating, and the one after that too until Andie seriously considered giving up. The second story seemed farther away than ever, and she contemplated just sleeping on the couch—filth and all. “Get over yourself. Sheesh!” she muttered, then digging deep, she powered up the next three steps with gritted teeth and a two-handed grip on the bannister.

  The Charlie-horse hit her in the ass like a gunshot. Andie went down instantly with a sharp cry as the left side of her back end bunched up like it was literally twisting into a knot. The pain was bright and hot, and as her right hip and shoulder landed hard on the steps, Andie’s left leg trembled in an uncontrollable spasm. Crying, she tried to rub at her tush, and Andie was horrified. The cramp was so severe that it felt like her ass was made of marble. Her fingers didn’t have the strength to work at loosening the muscle, and as the spasms continued to worsen, she wondered if it was possible to die from a muscle cramp. Right now, she sure felt like it was.

  “Shit! Andie, what happened?” Through the pain and tears, Andie saw Luke drop whatever it was he was holding and bolt for the stairs.

  She opened her mouth to tell him she’d be fine, but then another wave hit so strong it shot her body into an involuntary arch as an agonized cry tore from her throat.

  “Oh fuck. Here. Let me….” Luke knelt on the step next to her, and Andie realized pain overrode pride. Under normal circumstances, she’d be mortified for him to see her filthy and sprawled out like this after the way he treated her. Right now, she couldn’t care less and only turned her head into her arm to muffle her cry as he grabbed a handful of her ass. “Holy shit, that’s a bad one. Shh,” he soothed when she barely managed to muffle a scream as his strong fingers dug into the unrelenting flesh. “I know it hurts. Hang in there. We’ll work it out.”

  Andie cried as flames burned through her bottom like a wildfire and radiated down her thigh. She muffled them as best as she could, but in all her life, she’d never hurt like this, so if he wanted to judge her and think she was a wimpy city girl, he could go right ahead.

  “Damn, Andie, this is the worst cramp I’ve ever seen. Your muscles are getting torn to shit.” Luke adjusted closer and gave her a worried look. “I’m going to really put some pressure into it. Hang on, ‘kay? This is gonna hurt like a bitch.” Andie didn’t think it was possible to hurt more, but she nodded and closed her eyes.

  She was wrong. It was possible. The pain intensified to nuclear levels as Luke kneaded her ass like it was bread dough. It was an eternity in hell before he spoke. “There we go. That’s better now.” Even as he said it, Andie felt the agony subsiding and breathed a small sigh of relief.

  Just when she thought she was out of the woods however, the cramp came back for an encore, and her whole body shuddered as the pain redoubled and lanced through her like a lightning bolt.

  “Fucker.” Luke’s mutter exactly matched her sentiment as he dug back in, and Andie didn’t know what was worse, the cramp or the massage to relieve it. It was an agonizing ten more minutes before he was satisfied that she was safe to try moving. “Here you go,” he told her in a sweetly gentle voice that was a stark contrast from the muttered curses he grumbled as he worked on her. “Just put your arms around me. I’ll carry you up the rest of the way.”

  Pride and her vanity returned now that the pain had receded. “Oh, please.” She wiped at her tear-streaked and dirt-smudged cheeks. “I’m grateful you came when you did. So grateful. But you don’t have to carry me. I’ll just sit here for a minute until I can work up the courage to try again.” She meant it as a
joke, hoping it would lighten the mood; however, he looked anything but light.

  “How much did you do today?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, confused by the anger she could sense coming off him.

  “You had Logan over here to work the farm and do the heavy stuff.” His voice had a steel undertone to it that she found intriguing. Instead of reminding her of the way things ended for them that fateful night, it reminded her of the way they started.

  “I did. He was here all day.” In contrast to his tone, hers got lighter in hopes of defusing the frustration she could sense simmering just under the surface. Although, for the life of her, she didn’t know where his frustration was coming from. Or why she cared.

  “Then how do you explain this?” he asked, motioning with one hand over her body.

  “Well, he did the hard stuff. I just pulled all the weeds from the garden then churned the soil in the compost pile, and then….” She trailed off at the incredulous look on his face.

  “Andie, you’re coming straight off a desk job. You aren’t in shape for this kind of work right out the gates. Not by a long shot. You can do serious, long-term damage to your body.” He shoved up as he spoke and marched out of sight toward the kitchen. If Andie had the physical ability, she would have followed, but since she was pretty sure her butt was broken, she settled for craning her neck as far as she could in hopes of glimpsing his whereabouts.

  “I don’t have to ask you if you drank enough water today; it’s obvious you didn’t. Here.” He reappeared as quickly as he vanished and shoved a bottle of water in her hand as well as a banana he must have snatched from the fruit bowl on the table. “You need water and potassium. Do yourself a favor and get some good quality vitamins, okay? And keep up with these.” He tapped the banana in her hand. “They will help more than you’d think.” As she just sat there holding both and staring at him like a simpleton, he took the bottle from her and opened it. When he handed it back, he took the fruit and peeled it halfway before giving that back too. “C’mon. Bottom’s up. Finish both and then I’ll help you the rest of the way.”

  “I don’t know if I’m more grateful or embarrassed. Or confused as to why you’re here,” she prompted after a healthy swig from her water.

  “No need for either of the first two. I’m glad I showed up when I did.” He regarded her with amusement now. And, unless she was way off, embarrassment of his own. “And as for why I showed up when I did, I had some papers I wanted you to take a look at. Now, don’t go blowing up on me, but I was gonna talk to you about selling. See—”

  Andie was sure her eyes turned red and steam started pluming out the top of her head. Otherwise, she had no explanation for the speed with which Luke snapped his mouth closed.

  “But that can wait.”

  “You’ll be waiting a long time on that, Baxter.” She was torn. Losing the farm after he’d had his heart set on it for years had to be hard on him. Andie knew also that if they hadn’t had any history between them, she’d feel a whole lot worse about it. She glanced out the window as she tried to focus on that and his current savior status and leave the rest out of it for now.

  When she looked back at him, she caught him eyeballing her from head to foot with his lips compressed as if he was trying hard not to laugh at her.

  “I know. I’m a hot mess.”

  He smirked. “Nah, you just look like you put in a full day’s work.” When she gave him the skeptical look that lie deserved, he chuckled and added, “Or maybe a full day of mud wrestling wild animals.”

  “I thought so,” she said with a sigh and took a big bite of her fruit. Now that she’d taken one bite, she suddenly realized she was starving. Famished even. And Andie made short work of her snack as Luke looked on with a smile that made her wish this situation had happened when she was showered and wearing anything other than the grungy jeans and the dirt-smudged tee she was draped in. Oh well, she thought as she took another swallow. So the hottest guy she’d ever known was seeing her at her worst—that was just her luck. Then she reminded herself that she hated him anyway and not to spare his opinion of her another thought.

  Luke tried very hard not to let his thoughts show as he regarded his new neighbor. When he’d come by to drop off the papers for her to look over and saw her writhing on the stairs, he’d been panicked at first. Afraid she’d been attacked or taken a bad fall, or who knows what. All he knew was that the level of fear he felt was way out of proportion, considering their rocky past.

  Of course, he thought, I can always let that asshat Jax handle this, if things get too sticky. He hated the man, but she apparently was keeping him on as her bookkeeper, so he could always just communicate through him. Although, it was a tossup on which was the worse option.

  Andie moaned and arched. As the ass he’d been massaging for the last half-hour lifted while the curve of her back deepened, Luke’s mind emptied. She was delectable. His hands flexed at his sides as he fought the urge to take what he wanted. He mentally kicked himself for what felt like the millionth time over that night. He wasn’t a guy who lived in the past or wasted time on shoulda, woulda, couldas, but he’d spent more time regretting his actions that night than he had almost anything else in his life.

  She was obviously still hurting, and all he could think about was how great she felt under his hands. Get it together, Baxter.

  “Okay.” Andie smiled, charming him with the smudges of dirt on her nose and cheek. “That’s better. I think I can make it into the shower without serious bodily injury now.” She set the mostly empty bottle down with a decisive plop. “You game?”

  “God, you’re cute.” He smirked, her entire face showed how surprised she was at his compliment. Eyes as round as a doe’s, her eyebrows disappeared into her bangs and her pink lips made a perfect O. “Yeah. I’m game. Let’s go slow though. C’mon.” Luke decided the best course of action was to not give her time to respond. Just keep moving and let her think about the fact that for them, the games had changed. He barely caught her when her leg buckled as soon as she put weight on it.

  “Shit!” he said as his arms banded around her. “I got you. Hold on to me.”

  “What the frick?” she exclaimed, and her middle-school-approved curse brought a chuckle from him. “It was just a cramp. A cramp from the pits of hell. But still, just a cramp. Why?” Then her words trailed off as she turned to face the steps.

  “You do realize that cramps can do serious tissue damage if they are severe enough, right? And yours was pretty severe.”

  “Okay.” Andie took two deep, huffing breaths. “Okay. I can do this.” She glared up the stairs like they were an opponent to be destroyed. “That which doesn’t kill me and all that jazz, right?”

  “Right.” Then, because if she got any more adorable, he’d have to do something about it, he urged her up the next step.

  “Holy fucking Jesusss! You gotta be fucking kidding me!” And there went her middle-school manners.

  Luke was glad she was loud and concentrating on watching her feet; she couldn’t see or hear him chuckling. He tried biting his lip to keep from grinning anyway, just in case she looked back and caught him laughing at her. She had a white-knuckled grip on each railing and was pulling herself up while he took shameless advantage of the situation to put his hands on her butt again and pushed.

  She cussed her way up to the top landing with enough imagination and gusto that even he was impressed.

  “Keep going,” he told her when she stopped with a huge sigh of relief. “Straight to the shower. The hot water will help. In fact, I think you should just soak in the tub for a while. There’s bound to be Epsom Salts here.”

  “God, that sounds good,” she agreed as she started forward. “Shower first though. I’ve got three pounds of dirt and manure and God knows what clinging to me. No way I’m soaking in water with that kind of debris floating in it.”

  It made him chuckle again. Her wit was a welcome revelation. Seemed like everything he l
earned about her just made her all the more alluring. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed you’re still holding my butt. The only reason I’m not saying anything is because I’m a little afraid it’s going to fall off if you let go.”

  Yup. Adorable. Luke let her hear his chuckle that time and reluctantly dropped his hand. They’d reached the bathroom anyway.

  “Hey,” he said, stopping her before she opened the door. Andie turned to look at him over her shoulder. Hair a mess, dirt and God knows what dusting her from head to foot, and she still looked as beguiling as a Disney princess. “Those papers I brought to go over with you? I made up a new offer. This one is just for the back forty. You’ll get to keep the house, farm, and most of the spread. I think it’s a good fit for both of us. Why don’t I come back tomorrow, and you and I can look it over during dinner?” He let her see his interest. In his expression and by reaching out and using his thumb to wipe away a smudge from one plump cheek.

  “Dinner?” That cheek flushed a lovely pink, and her white teeth caught her bottom lip as she regarded him with wide eyes. “Are you sure that’s smart? We could just look over your offer. We don’t have to sit through a meal together. It’s just business.”

  Ouch. But Luke knew he had that coming, so he tried to keep the sting of her words from showing. “Even in not-so-big cities, business and dining go hand in hand. Us country folks can be just as civilized as you city slickers.”

  “You’re sure we can be civil?” There was a spark in her eyes that charmed and challenged him.

  “I’m sure.”

  “Okay then.” She was still tugging on that lip with her perfect white teeth. “Is six too early for you?”

  “No. Six works just fine.” It took a lot for him to resist leaning in and nibbling on that lip himself, but instead, Luke took one giant step back. “I’ll see you then, Andie. Be careful tomorrow. And stretch. Stretch tonight and first thing in the morning, even if it hurts, all right?”