Edge of Disaster Read Free Page B

hotter than sin and probably smarter than hell.  What in the world would he do with a strung out slut that partied too hard and ended up in bed with two guys at once that she didn’t even know?  Besides, I wasn’t ready to date anyone. Probably wouldn’t ever be ready to date anyone.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    The next morning I had to run some errands again for Lisbeth, so while I was getting my list from her, I asked her about the Charleston Middleton’s. 
    “Do you know any of them?”
    “Alexia dear, I know all of them. Why do you ask?”
    “Well, last night I at work, one of my patrons was a surgeon named Pearce Middleton and I was wondering...”
    “Well, dear, that would be my dear friend, Avery’s grandson.  She has a blooming dozen I believe. Grandchildren that is. Anyhow, Pearce is a surgeon, his daddy was a doctor, his grandaddy was a doctor and I think Pearce has two brothers that are doctors.  I know one of them is here but I’m not sure about the other.  In any case, Pearce is certainly a Charleston Middleton.”
    “Thanks Lisbeth.”
    “Is that all?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “What I mean my dear Alexia is are you not going to tell me anything else about him? Is he handsome? Is he going to call on you? Is he going to court you?”
    I giggled.  I just loved Lisbeth.  She never pulled any punches.
    “Lisbeth, people don’t court anymore.”
    “Honestly, what’s happened to the youth, I’ll never know.  Young women calling men.  I declare, in my day, we never would have done such a thing!”
    I burst out laughing.  “Things have definitely changed. But to answer one of your questions, Pearce Middleton is quite handsome.”
    “Is he now?”
    “Oh yeah.  Very. Tall, dark with gray eyes. Let me just put it this way. I’m sure he hasn’t been short on girlfriends.”
    “I suppose he hasn’t.  His daddy is a good looking man.  So was his granddaddy. I guess you could say he comes by it honestly.  So are you going to go out with him?”
    “Why, no!”
    “Alexia Smith Hammond, you listen to me.  You are wasting your life away. I know what you’re going to say, but you’re wrong.  You have to move on.  It’s been three years and you can’t live like this forever.”
    “I know,” I said as my shoulders slumped and I folded up into myself.  I really didn’t want to have this conversation with her.  I didn’t want to have it with anyone.  Peter was always there, going nowhere and never forgotten.
    “It’s what he would have wanted, you know.”
    I looked up at her for a moment, my brows creased.  I thought for a second and then I said, shaking my head, “No Lisbeth, I think he would have preferred to have lived.”
    I turned and walked away.
     
    ********
     
    I finished all my work and went home.  I plopped on my bed with a puff and lay back for a second thinking about everything.  Terri was right.  I promised no more drugs, so I would stick to that.  I wouldn’t go home with any guys until I got the test results back.  If I went home with anyone after that, I would always have a condom and insist on them using one.  I would only go home with one guy at a time.
    What the hell are you thinking Lex? Listen to yourself. You’re not changing your ways.  Your still a slut but instead of sleeping with two guys at once, you’re only sleeping with one. So what does that make you? A half-slut? Get real here. Be honest with yourself.  Find out why you do it.  Is it the company? Do you not like to be alone? Is it just the drugs or is it something else?
    I forced myself to do some serious soul searching that night.  I would start the quest to find out why I was doing that crap.  It wasn’t me at all. I never did that kind of shit before. I knew I was lonely.  But that behavior didn’t help.  That was like putting a damn bandaid on an amputation. It wasn’t sexual gratification either because I couldn’t remember any of it afterward. The only