Crossing the Line

by Long, Samantha

  She never did anything rash, other than marrying Roger, and look how that turned out.

  “Mom?”

  Victoria turned to see Helena standing in the doorway. Every day she worried about boys because of her daughter’s willowy bodies. She dreaded the day they would learn to drive and went on their first dates. How was she going to deal with it?

  “What is it, sweetie?”

  Helena sat on the edge of Victoria’s bed and picked at the white duvet. “Lucia is going to try out for the cheerleading team.”

  Victoria heard the hurt in her daughter’s voice and moved to sit next to Helena. “And you don’t want to?”

  Helena shrugged, a small pout on her lips. “No, but this will be the first time we don’t do something together as sisters.”

  Victoria’s heart ached at the worry in Helena’s voice. “It doesn’t mean that you two will grow apart. You’re best friends and always will be. Like me, Addie, and Halle. We’re very different but very close.”

  “Lucia said that trying out for the math club at school made me a nerd. But I don’t like dancing around, and I love to solve problems. It makes me happy.”

  There it was. The real reason Helena’s feelings were hurt. She was the quiet one, the analytical one, the sister who wanted to be good and please everyone. Especially her twin, Lucia, who on the other hand was rash, impetuous, and loud. Everyone wanted to please her. It didn’t surprise Victoria that the girls were branching out, doing stuff on their own.

  “Sweetie, your sister is probably sad that you want to do something else. You know how she can be. She knows that you love brainy stuff.”

  Helena shrugged again. “I’m not a nerd, am I, Mom?”

  Victoria wished she could explain that being a nerd didn’t matter after school, that nerds actually became very successful in life. Halle hadn’t listened to it when their dad told her; she knew her daughters wouldn’t believe her either. “You’re not a nerd. Lucia knows that.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.” Lucia bounded into the room, her radar going off that her sister was in with their mom. She stood at the foot of the bed, glaring at Helena, arms crossed over her chest.

  Victoria bemoaned the fact that her baby girls needed bras. Real bras, not the training kind. Next year they’d already be in seventh grade. “Lucia, if Helena wants to be in the math club, it doesn’t make her a nerd. And you shouldn’t tell your sister things like that.”

  Lucia glared a moment longer, then sighed. “I know. I just wanted her to be on the cheerleading team with me.”

  “I don’t want to. I don’t like the other girls; they’re mean. And they kiss stupid boys and worry about their looks.”

  Victoria’s stomach clenched. She remembered what it was like to be a cheerleader. She just didn’t think that sixth graders worried about that kind of thing.

  Lucia sighed again. “We’ve never done anything by ourselves before. I don’t know how to do it without you.”

  Jesus, a breakthrough. “You two can’t do everything together for the rest of your lives. What if you decide to go to separate colleges? Move to different cities? Which you better not do.”

  Helena smiled at Victoria, then at her sister who shared the joke. “Stop suffocating us.”

  Victoria laughed at them. “Look, why don’t you both try these things by yourselves. You may find that you won’t fight as much, and you might actually miss each other.”

  Both girls rolled their eyes, argument forgotten. They left, talking about cheerleading, math, about how their mom was clueless.

  These times were especially poignant to Victoria. Not that she missed Roger, she just didn’t know what to do with herself now that she had no one to argue with. After the girls settled down, she and Roger would argue about who would clean, what they would watch on TV, or if they would have sex or not.

  Now that she had the evenings to herself, even after a year, it was almost decadent to choose what she wanted. Although most of the time she chose work. She changed into boxers and an old t-shirt, switched her contacts for her glasses, and settled into the bed with her laptop. It was time to catch up on emails and update her website and social networking sites. She loved the marketing side almost as much as decorating. Interacting with peers, clients, and potential business partners excited her.

  By the time she finished, it was after eleven. She put everything up, plugged her cell into the charger, and got underneath the covers. When she shut her eyes, Nick’s face appeared in her mind. His gorgeous face, tanned with a hint of scruff made her skin flush. She remembered how, from just a look, she’d wanted to run her hands along his rigid muscles. The next few months were going to be hard if she couldn’t get a handle on her hormones.

  Chapter Three

  NICK’S MOUTH TWISTED while he looked over the blueprints. He stood with his hands on either side of the paper, pencil tucked behind his ear, and black framed glasses on his face, which he only wore while working on the design. The smell of sawdust hung in the air, and it calmed him. Cold air from the window unit blew over his knees, which were exposed from the holes in his favorite work jeans. He didn’t see any point in buying new pairs until the ones he had were completely unwearable.

  His mother hated that he never threw them away. She bought him new pairs of jeans anyway, still able to accurately guess his jean size. He had at least fifteen new pairs in his closet at home that he’d yet to wear.

  His brother, Luke, banged open the door to his shop, carrying a box. “This is yours. Saw it out by the mailbox.”

  Nick gestured in the direction of the other boxes. “Ordered some materials.”

  Luke set it down with the others. “I’m headed to the gym. Have some interviews with a new trainer.” Luke was an ex-MMA fighter, like Nick, although he had kept to that line of work. While Nick had gone into contracting, Luke had opened his own gym. “Nice glasses, nerd.”

  Nick flipped his brother off. “What are you doing here?”

  “Checking on my big brother. Heard you got a job redoing something for one of Wes’ daughters.”

  Knowing that his brother had always had a crush on Halle in high school, he put Luke out of his misery. “It’s for Victoria.”

  Luke frowned. “Damn. Thought I could’ve given you a hand. Would’ve been nice to set eyes on Halle.”

  “She’s married.” Nick decided the plans looked great and rolled them up. “Besides, she’s out of your league.”

  “She’s married to an ass.” Luke’s jaw clenched. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair.

  Nick frowned. “Did you hear something new?”

  “Heard from one of the guys that her husband is banging one of the damn chicks at the office.”

  Nick tampered down the anger that rose at the thought of any man cheating on a woman. He’d never understand the need to lie to a woman, tell her that she was his one and only, then ruin that trust by bedding other women. He feared it was in his blood, since his father had done the same thing to his mother, so he shied away from commitment. He wouldn’t cause a woman that same pain. “Maybe it’s time to let go of the crush, bro. There have to be other women who interest you.”

  Luke shrugged. “Maybe. But I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind since high school. She never even noticed me with her head always buried in a book, but there was just something about her. Call it fate. I’m going to the gym. Call me if you need me.”

  Nick waved his brother out, grabbed his blueprints and materials, and walked to his truck. The door squeaked open, it was almost the same age as him. But it was reliable, and that was all that mattered to him. The sun blared, the beginning of the day surrounding him. It didn’t matter where you were in Sanctuary Bay, you could hear the call of the seagulls from the beach. He’d spent some time chasing the MMA circuit all over the country, but home had always stuck with him.

 
; Anticipation coiled in his belly at the thought of seeing Victoria again. Her silky hair, slumbered eyes, and full lips crowded his mind. When they’d met a few days ago, she’d looked like a sexy librarian, but he’d sensed the interest in her eyes. She held herself back, which only made him want to spark a fire between them.

  He wondered what she’d be like when she loosened up and enjoyed herself. Laughed, maybe danced, then later…ended up in his bed.

  No, that thought pattern had to stop. He couldn’t get involved with a client, and she looked like a woman who wanted more than a one-night stand. From what he’d picked up from conversations around town, she had twin daughters. Definitely not someone who would want to fool around and then go their separate ways.

  He parked next to her shiny SUV. Through the window of the office, he saw her. She stood in profile to him, her curves and legs on display, and he took a deep breath. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Damn it, he wanted to dig his hands through her silky hair and taste her lips.

  “Okay, Nick,” he said to himself. “You’ve worked with sexy women before. You can do this.”

  Another look, and she stared at him through the window.

  “Oh man.” He began to understand what Luke meant about the sisters having a certain pull. There was no way he was going to fall, though. He was made of stronger stuff than his brother.

  * * *

  Victoria smiled politely when Nick entered the office, carrying the rolled up blueprints and a tool bag. Her heart thumped, as if she were a teenager again. She needed to get control. “Good morning, Nick.”

  His mouth twitched. “Having a bad day?”

  “What gave me away?” Victoria remembered the girls’ fight earlier over a curling iron. She’d wanted a glass of wine before she’d even left the house.

  “The frown. And the crease on your forehead.” Nick grinned and pointed to his own forehead.

  Damn if he didn’t make her want to smile and forget all about the stress from earlier.

  “Not that you’d really care, but my girls fought over a freakin’ curling iron this morning. Which is crazy, because Helena isn’t even interested in the girly hair stuff. But Lucia called her a nerd the other night, so now she’s determined to prove her wrong…” Victoria trailed off, aware she rambled like when she talked to her sisters. Nick watched her with a grin, brows raised.

  “I don’t have any sisters, so it’s hard for me to relate. I can see how it would cause you to have a bad morning, though.” Nick set the tool bag down on the counter and Victoria watched him move. He looked so comfortable in his own skin, and that confidence turned her on.

  “Yeah, it did.” Victoria couldn’t believe she’d vented about her girls to him. She didn’t want him to think that she couldn’t handle her own kids.

  “I finished the blueprints yesterday. We can go over them, and I’ll make notes on what you think should change. The permits will be approved soon, and then I can get started.”

  “Great.” Victoria looked around the space. It definitely had potential.

  Nick spread the blueprints out on the old receptionist counter. Victoria moved next to him, focusing on how much she hated the ugly counter and not how good he smelled. She pursed her lips and concentrated on the plans. She pretty much knew enough to get a vague idea since her dad was a contractor, but she pretended to understand it even less, just to hear Nick’s smooth baritone. He explained the plans patiently, without even a hint of superiority. When he looked at her, those ice-blue eyes warmed her entire body.

  “Is there anything you’d like to change?” He nodded toward the plans, breaking the moment.

  She swallowed and focused her brain. “Would it be a big deal to add a window in my private office? I love the openness of it.”

  “No, it’ll be easy. I can make the adjustments. Do you need me to show them to you before I get the permits?”

  Victoria arched a brow. “My dad trusts you enough to try to set us up, so I think I can trust you to get the permits.” Why, why did she bring that up again? It made her seem desperate, as if she fished for a date. The smile froze on her face.

  Nick’s lips quirked up at the corner. “True enough. I’ll get the permit and call you so we can go over start times, fees, all that.” He pulled out his cell phone, then looked at her. “I need your number to do it.”

  Her stomach flipped. Relax, she told herself, it’s purely professional. After she rattled off her number, determined to act calm and collected, she thanked him.

  “No problem.” Nick rolled the blueprints back up and walked to the door. “See ya soon.”

  “Bye.” She waved, watching him as he got into his truck. Her heart rampaged Roger hadn’t even made her feel this way. This…lost. She could still feel Nick’s body heat next to her. She was in way over her head right now, and she had to keep it under control. This business was important to her, and getting spacy over the man fixing her office was not a good idea.

  With one last look at the office space, she grabbed her purse and left. The rest of the day, she staged a house for Carmen, a real estate agent she loved to work with. The Texan woman was loud, sweet, and had a sharp mind for business. Carmen welcomed all the questions Victoria asked when she started her own business.

  In this house, Victoria worked using earth tones to coordinate with the walls that were painted by the previous owners. She arranged yellow pillows on the couch to brighten the room and admired the stone wall surrounding the fireplace. Victoria knew this place would attract a lot of buyers.

  Her cell went off, and she dug it out of the back pocket of her oldest jeans. She saw Halle’s name and answered. “Hey, what’s up?”

  Halle’s breathless voice came over the line. “I’m walking to the deli to get lunch. Had to get out of that office. It gets nuts sometimes.”

  “I can imagine.” Victoria leaned against the back of the couch. Halle worked as a nurse and office manager for her husband’s private practice.

  “So, Addie told me about your hot contractor.”

  “She can’t keep her mouth shut,” Victoria said. “His name is Nick, and Dad hired him.”

  “Go, Dad,” Halle cheered. “It’s about time you moved on. You wasted too much time on someone who wasn’t worthy.”

  “I have moved on. And I’m not interested in seeing anyone right now. I have to focus on the girls and the business,” she reminded herself again. Something she had to keep in mind when Nick was near.

  “Oh bull. You’re afraid that it’ll end up like it did with Roger. Well, honey, I remember Nick’s reputation from high school, but no one can be as self-serving as your ex-husband. It defies the laws of nature.”

  Victoria forgot that her sisters could see right through her. It didn’t mean she was going to give in, though. “Halle, I’m serious. I’m not ready.” Victoria tapped her nails on the side of the phone.

  “Uh-huh. I can hear you doing your nervous nail tap thing. But I understand. Anyway, I’m at the deli. Call me later, okay?”

  “Okay.” Victoria hung up the phone. She wasn’t afraid, she was just nervous. Nick seemed so intense and probably didn’t want a ready-made family.

  Chapter Four

  “MOM! MOM!”

  Victoria heard her daughters calling her after they burst through the front door. Their feet pounded on the hardwood, and they raced into the kitchen where Victoria stood over the stove.

  “What is it?” Victoria laughed at the obvious joy on their faces as they jumped up and down, squealing.

  “I made the cheerleading team!” Lucia exclaimed first.

  “And I made the math club!” Helena beamed.

  Victoria enveloped them in hugs, and held on a little longer than they wanted. She couldn’t help it. Those little embraces were few and far between now. What happened to the days when they’d toddle up to her, fighting for a
spot in her arms? “That’s fantastic! Both of you! We need a treat. I’m going to make cookies for dessert.”

  The girls squealed again.

  “Go take a shower and then do homework. Dinner will be ready in a bit.”

  “Thanks, Mom!” Helena gave her one last hug before following her sister out of the kitchen.

  The girls were a whirlwind she couldn’t live without, and Helena’s happier mood brightened her own.

  Victoria reached up into the cabinet and grabbed the ingredients for homemade chocolate chip cookies. Her mouth watered at the thought. She hadn’t made them in a while.

  Her phone’s text message whistle rang out. She washed her hands of flour before checking it.

  Nick: Hey, got the permit approval. By the way, this is Nick.

  Victoria stared at the screen for a minute. Blinked against the rush of butterflies that hit her. God, she really was acting like a teenage girl. Should she text back? Would he see that as a sign that she was desperate? Or would it be rude to ignore it, making him think she was a bitch? When did it become this big of a deal to answer a freakin’ business text? Before she changed her mind, she answered.

  Victoria: Good. When do you want to start?

  Nick: What are we referring to?

  Maybe it was because she was at home and not near him, or maybe because she was about to eat the best cookies in the world, but she couldn’t resist flirting with him. It was harmless, right?

  Victoria: Contracting, of course. What else would be discussing?

  He didn’t respond immediately like before. Victoria’s insides twisted. Did she say something wrong? Then her phone whistled. She read his text and laughed, surprising herself.

  Nick: Our date to the new restaurant on the boardwalk, naturally.

  She couldn’t believe she found that funny. The attention and flattery stimulated her after so many years of disinterest from Roger.

  Whoa, stop it. She didn’t want to compare the two of them. It wasn’t like she was considering being in a relationship with Nick. She had to stop thinking of him that way. The best thing to do now was end the conversation.