Gina Martinez doesn’t have time to date. She’s too busy working hard, raising her siblings, and trying to take her pole dancing business to the next level. Gina harbours deep-seated trust issues, but that's her secret to keep.

However, when it comes to Harry Erskine nothing makes perfect sense anymore. As soon as they're introduced her rules fly by the wayside. The man is pure sex-on-a-stick; a professional boxer, a hot blooded Scott and ex-military. Harry also carries a few secrets of his own.

Fate brings them together when Gina ends up designing a marketing campaign for his new business. The moment they lay eyes on each other, things get out of control; rules are broken and sexual chemistry makes them inseparable….until secrets threaten their future together.

On the Brink is created by Joanna Mazurkiewicz, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

On the Brink

   It was a long day, and I was heading home, thinking about dinner. Patrick was eating for two now, and all of his trousers were too short for him. He was fifteen. On top of everything going on at work, I needed to have a chat with Nina. I went for a parents' evening yesterday, and apparently her grades had been slipping. Her English teacher mentioned that she had a lot of potential, but she lacked focus.


   I presumed it was her teenage hormones. She'd snapped at me a lot lately, but in the past, she'd always been able to focus on school. I felt a little guilty because I hadn't spent a lot of time at home recently. 


   I had been looking after my sister and two brothers since I turned eighteen. It was hard at times, especially when I had to work in the day and study at night. Our parents died during a car accident in the Highlands. For ten years, I had worked my arse off to provide for them, while doing an Open University course at night. I didn't have many friends outside my pole dancing business, and my love life was nonexistent. 


   Nina was sixteen now, and Josh twenty-one. People always told me that I should be proud of myself; after all, I didn't let social services take them away.  


   That was why I didn't have time for men or relationships. My siblings always came first. But today something shifted inside me. Harry Erskine showed up at my job. Mr. H: the guy who got me so aroused that I couldn't forget him. The guy I witnessed fucking my boss's wife last night. 


   Although the attraction was there, I knew I had to stay away from him. That man was trouble. And the sooner I could be done with his campaign, the quicker I could be done with him. 


   It was after seven and it was already pitch black. I took the groceries out of the boot and started carrying them to the house. My siblings and I lived in one of the decent neighbourhoods in the city. I was lucky that Nina and Patrick hadn't gotten into any trouble in the past. Josh had been problematic, but he had sorted himself out. They all did well in school, and I thought I had brought them up well. 


   I walked through the door and dropped the bags in the kitchen, then headed over to check on Nina. 


   I stopped mid-sentence, seeing that she wasn't alone in her room. There was a boy sitting on the floor, and it looked like I had just interrupted a serious kissing session. 


   "Gina, maybe you should've knocked first," my sister shouted, and I stood there completely paralysed, now knowing why she had been acting so odd lately. It turned out that my sixteen-year-old sister had a boyfriend. 


Chapter 7: Gina