Free Crossing the Line Part One (A Novella) by Samantha Long

business dinner. If it got around
that they were having dinners, date-like dinners, the gossip would
be all over the town in less than an hour.
    What was she thinking? It was probably
already all over the place.
    "What's on your mind?" Nick asked. His head
cocked to the side and she felt the intensity of his stare slide
over her skin. She resisted a shiver.
    "Nothing." She made a mental note to ignore
the other people and focus on the business.
    He looked like he wanted to say something
more but instead asked, "Did your clients like the furniture we
picked out?"
    "We?" She laughed. "I'll go with that since
you helped out. Yeah, so far. The sand dollar frame is going in a
beach house I'm redecorating."
    "What exactly is it that you do? I've never
met an interior decorator." Nick nodded to the waiter that brought
his beer and her sweet tea.
    "I redecorate for clients and hunt down
furniture and accessories they want. Some give me creative control.
I also help out the real estate agents around here with stagings,
which is basically where I decorate a house they're trying to sell.
Decorated houses usually sell easier than bare ones."
    "Makes sense." He looked at her over his
beer, his stare assessing. She felt naked underneath it, like he
was looking for something she didn't know was there. "How long have
you been in the business?"
    The sincerity in his voice weakened her
walls. She was used to Roger's indifference, his questions had
always been a roundabout way to talk about himself. "For a little
more than five years. Once the girls were older, I could put the
time I needed into it. It took a while, but the business grew."
    "Because you worked hard." Nick's serious
gaze met hers. "My mom worked hard, too. I can appreciate what that
takes when you have kids."
    A blush crept into her cheeks. "Thanks."
    He winked at her. "Anything to see you
smile."
    Her smile widened and she shook her head.
"What did you want to meet me about?"
    "Okay, no flirting." He sat back, expression
business-like. "We ran into a problem with the old bathroom. We
were building your pretty bathroom around the old pipes and
fixtures, but they busted when we were taking the sheetrock and
wall out."
    "Okay. Will that delay things?"
    He shrugged. "It wouldn't have if Lowe's had
the piping we needed in stock. Apparently there's a lot of
construction going on right now. They ordered what we need, but
it'll take a few days to come in. Whoever owned the place before
you did a horrible job of taking care of it."
    "Dad said it was an out-of-towner. They left
it when tourism dropped and forgot about it. Apparently they had a
lot of money to waste. When they finally put it up for sale, Dad
and I decided to buy it."
    "Your dad's a great guy." Nick told her. An
expression crossed his face that she couldn't read.
    "Yeah, he is." She toyed with the straw in
her drink, nervous but not sure why. "Him butting in at the office
isn't aggravating?"
    "No." Nick smiled, all trace of whatever was
bothering him gone. "He's a big help. Hell, he could run the
place."
    "I think he misses working. Mom probably
drives him crazy, asking him to do gardening and stuff with her.
Thanks for letting him help."
    "It's no problem."
    The waiter brought their food and set it in
front of them. The smell drifted to Victoria and her stomach
growled. She couldn’t remember if she'd eaten lunch or not.
Sometimes she got caught up in work and didn't realize until later
that she'd missed it.
    "How's Helena doing?" He asked after taking
a few bites of his food.
    His interest in her daughters only made her
attraction more intense. If she wasn't careful, she'd forget all
about wanting to focus on her career and fall into bed with him. He
made her crave the passion and desire that he could offer her. He'd
unknowingly woken an urge in her and she had to fight not to
succumb and have him satisfy it.
    "She's not acting any better. Lucia hasn't
said anything else about the bullies at school, but Helena