Sugar on the Edge Read Online Free

it’s only ten o’clock in the morning, and I was hoping to sleep past the majority of my hangover.
    Painkillers… that’s what I need right now.
    Gingerly sitting up and swinging my feet out of bed, I hesitantly put my fingertips to my temple and try to massage the pounding away.
    Boom, boom, boom.
    Fucking hell. That’s someone banging on my door, which causes the actual pounding in my head to skyrocket. Lurching out of bed, I stumble out of my bedroom, down the flight of stairs, and into the kitchen with my eyes only open to half slits because the sunlight isn’t helping the pain either. I manage to crack my hip against the counter, letting out a string of curses as I make my way to the front door.
    Boom, boom—
    I swing the door open forcefully and glare at the person standing there. “You better have a good excuse for pounding on my fucking door this early,” I snarl.
    “Mr. Cooke? You told me to be here at ten,” the person says… a woman, I can now glean, even though I’ve yet to fully open my eyes.
    Squinting at her hard, my eyes still blurry, I can make out a young woman with dark brown hair and unrecognizable facial features, as I’m sure I still have drunk goggles on. “I did?”
    “Um… yes, to talk about cleaning your house,” she says quietly. Even in all my hungover glory, I don’t fail to notice that she takes a small step backward.
    My mind is blank for a moment, and I have no clue what she’s talking about. Clean house? Ten o’clock?
    Then it sinks in… this is the woman my realtor recommended. It’s vaguely coming back to me that she called last night and we arranged a time to meet this morning.
    Scratching my stomach, I open my left eye up a little bit more to take a better look, and she starts to come into better focus. Pretty girl… beautiful actually. Not in the sunny, bright way that is Casey Markham, and not in the luscious, centerfold way that is my ex, Amanda. But in a fresh, wholesome kind of way. Long, brown hair with some red glints in it, soft brown eyes, lightly tanned skin, and full lips. As a writer, I’d stereotype her as the girl next door. She’d be the classic character that would immediately get ravaged by one of the monsters in my books, just for the sake of ravaging a fresh innocent.
    Taking a step back, I manage to open both eyes and clear my throat. “Sorry, I forgot, but come on in.”
    She looks at me for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip and clearly indecisive about whether she should accept my invitation. I don’t wait around for her decision, instead giving her my back and walking into my kitchen. I hear her step inside and softly close the door.
    Busying myself with making a pot of coffee, I watch out of my peripheral vision as she hesitantly steps into the kitchen and stands as still as a statue. I don’t turn around to look at her but ask, “What did you say your name was again?”
    “Savannah,” she says softly. “Savannah Shepherd.”
    After I put a filter in the machine, I scoop out some coffee, putting in extra to make it strong enough to help chase away this hangover. I take the pot and turn to fill it in the sink, giving her a quick glance. “Well, Savannah Shepherd, Casey told me that you do some house cleaning on the islands. Thought you might be interested in doing my house as well.”
    She doesn’t respond to me though, so I raise my gaze up to her after turning off the water and pulling the pot back. Her wide eyes stare at me in indecision, and I suddenly wonder if she’s daft or something. “Cat got your tongue?” I ask.
    Shaking her head, she casts her eyes downward. “No… it’s just. Maybe you should get dressed first before we talk.”
    I blink a few times, trying to register what she’s saying, and then drop my own gaze to casually peruse myself. Well, what do you know? I’m only wearing a pair of boxers with the fly gaping wide open, and my cock is sticking out half erect.
    Oops. Bet she got an eyeful when I