Love in the Dark (LarssonSiblingsSeries#1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN - EDWARD

EDWARD

Even after a three-course meal, I can still taste Delilah on my lips. Yes, we kissed. And, yes, I freaked out too.

My lips haven't touched another woman's since secondary school, and even then it was awkward and unnecessary. Nothing about our kiss was awkward. Far from it. It's actually taking all I have in me not to reach for her and seal the deal on this table. I'm hard. And it's becoming real uncomfortable having to watch Delilah as she licks the chocolate mousse off her spoon. The little temptress know's what she's doing, I'm sure of it.

I sit back in my chair and slice into the chunk of Stilton cheese on my cheese board. Dexter leans in and gets up close to my ear. "You like Delilah?"

I choose to ignore his question, layering a savoury biscuit with the homemade truffle butter. "It's none of your business."

He takes the celery stick from my board and crunches into it. "If you do like her, then you need to cancel all dealings with EcoMax."

My eyes zero in on Delilah, who is speaking to Betty. I get some relief from that. "Shut your big mouth."

"No," he hisses right in my face. It causes me to shuffle about in my seat. "You will ruin any chances with her if you go ahead with things like you are, Edward. Hell, she'd be out of that door if she knew what you are already messing up for her family."

"Nothing is set in stone yet." I bite into the cheese.

The moment he lets out a low growl is the moment my blood pressure soars. "Don't forget, I sometimes work for you. I see the paperwork. Noah does too. We think you're an idiot."

"I said we set nothing in stone, all right?" I raise my voice, shutting it down when Delilah looks over here. Her chocolate brown eyes are curious, silently asking if I'm okay, but it's too much to have them on me. It doesn't feel good.

"Yeah," Dexter mumbles, shaking his head at me.

I don't need his judgement right now. He will never understand my need to get better. It's like a virus infecting every cell in my body. It's just the way I am. It isn't something I can control.

"Trevor told me you uploaded a new song to YouTube, Betty. I thought you would have texted me to let me know about it," Laine says from across the table.

Betty glances away from her conversation with Delilah and towards Laine. It's a tense few moments before she answers. "It's only a cover. Nothing major."

Laine gives off a shaky laugh with enormous balls of hurt in her eyes. "I don't care if it's only a cover. I like to know what's going on with you."

"You follow me on there. You should get the notifications. Maybe Trevor just looked before you," she replies, aiming her steely eyes in Trevor's direction.

That makes him squirm enough to look back at his empty dessert plate. Laine's not done with the conversation, however. The desperation on her face turns my insides over. "It's still nice to communicate with you."

"I'm busy," is Betty's response, and I can see Laine's heart breaking from here. It shatters into a million pieces, forcing her to lower her head

Laine's arms fold over her chest too. Her confidence shot hard enough not to look at anyone. "Too busy for your sister?"

Betty turns to Delilah to ignore Laine's question. We all sit in silence. The stoic energy is tangible in the air. I can see my mother gripping onto my father's hand as he whispers something in her ear. The fallout was hard for everyone, but mum took it the worst out of us all. Thinking it was somehow her fault.