Crossing Lines (11 page)

Now… she had the appearance of someone who
had
battled the world, tried to kick ass and take names, but was badly beaten. She appeared small, isolated, and exceptionally lonely.

“For what it’s worth, I have no doubt you were more than capable of running your old man’s business. I’m sure you would’ve made him proud.”

Her shoulders rose with her deep inhale and the corner of her mouth lifted. “Thanks.” She played with a puddle of water that gathered on her float. “This probably sounds silly, and it’s a completely different situation, but I wish someone had thrown me a life raft when I needed it. That’s why I took you home last night… I mean…” Her face flushed. “I took your
file
home last night and spent some time, umm”—her lips twitched as she glanced away—“working up options for you and Wade to look over when we meet on Monday.”

Kevin stared, dumbfounded and nearly speechless for the second time in five minutes. “You worked on my project last night?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t any big deal. Michy and I did our normal Friday night thing. We ate pizza and drank beer while watching our requisite Friday night movie” She rolled those big eyes to him. “
Beauty and the Beast
, in case you were wondering.” She laughed. “I guess I should clarify. She had root beer. I had the real thing. Anyway, after I got her to bed, I didn’t have anything else to do, so I sat down to work. I enjoyed it.”

All he could do was stare and keep pushing breath in and out. She’d spent her Friday night at home, drinking beer and eating pizza, watching a movie with mini-Sam, working on his project. He’d never seen a Disney movie—at least not that he remembered—but aside from that, she’d had the opportunity to enjoy a perfect Friday night, relaxing and doing nothing. Instead, she worked on his project.

Meanwhile, he spent the night cinched into a suit, feeling out of place in his own home, surrounded by strangers, with a woman who was going to be the death of him.

He turned, lifted himself out of the pool, and bolted for the cooler. He’d been having so much fun with Sam and the kids, other than the beer he drank when they first arrived, he hadn’t considered having another. He hadn’t even finished the first one. But now, thoughts of Lizbeth sent him running for an ice-cold Bud like his life depended on it.

As he knelt down, a gust of air blew over his wet skin, chilling him to the bone. He paused with the top of the cooler partially unzipped, recognizing this was a defining moment. Did he want to continue down this path, or did he want to take a different road?

He looked over his shoulder at Sam sitting on her float, completely bewildered by his quick escape. He watched the kids wrestling over the other float, laughing and playing and having a great time without a care in the world. He looked at the massive house casting a shadow over the pool and thought of Max Holden and all he’d lost because of bad choices.

Kevin was close, real fucking close, to crossing the line that could jeopardize everything he’d ever worked for and everything he’d ever wanted.

He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, swallowing the panic rising in his chest. He re-zipped the cooler and pushed it under his chair, hoping out of sight would be out of mind. He wanted to make different choices in every segment of his life. Choices that would allow him to take better care of himself and find happiness, rather than always putting someone else first.

The concept was so foreign, a large part of him bulked at the idea. He felt like a selfish asshole, but he had to talk to Lizbeth. Forget all the reasons he had for not ending things with her; his quality of life demanded otherwise.

She had to see the writing on the wall, and it wasn’t right to continue when they were never going to be more than they were now. He wasn’t going to risk losing something that might be special just because he didn’t want to hurt Lizbeth.

New choices. New roads.

After a quick prayer for strength and the release of guilt, he slipped back into the water next to Sam, who studied him from the corner of her eye, wary and confused. He rested his forearm on the opposite side of the raft and leaned over her. “Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a big deal. Really.”

It was a big deal. He was so grateful she’d shown up in his life, even if their first two meetings had been costly for both of them. But he decided to leave her thinking it was all about Vanguard.

He had no idea what the future held, but he wanted it to look like her.

Her eyes roamed over his face, studying him a little too closely for comfort, but he didn’t back off or look away. After a moment, she said, “What just happened?”

While he didn’t feel the need to hide, he also didn’t see a need for full disclosure. Besides, what would he say?
“I’m on the verge of being an alcoholic, although I’m realizing it’s more of a situation thing. With you, I’m happy and don’t need to drink. But when I think about my girlfriend—oh yeah, have I failed to mention her?—I want to guzzle by the gallons.”

Yeah. Not.

He smiled and shook his head, shrugging off her question, then stepped back, giving her some space. “Nothing.”

He ran his hand over her uninjured foot and down the sole. She closed her eyes and moaned with pleasure as he ran his thumb up her arch, then circled it over the pad below her toes.

He’d avoided crossing one line today, but as he rubbed her foot and enjoyed the ecstasy etched on her face, he slid into dangerous territory. The boundaries between right and wrong were blurring. A smart man would remove his hand from her leg, take a step back, and make sure he maintained at least ten feet of distance between them at all times, at least until after he’d talked to Lizbeth.

However, he’d apparently lost all sensibilities, because rather than removing his hand, he leaned in closer and said, “You went above and beyond for me. Now let me do something for you. Let me stay with you and Michy tonight, so I can take care of you.”

T
wo hours after The Incident, as Sam had come to think of it, she still hadn’t figured out what launched Kevin out of the pool and across the deck like his ass was on fire and the ice in the cooler was his only chance at survival. But since then, he’d been a perfect cabana boy, seeing to her every need while she reclined on the lounger, her leg propped up on a pillow covered in a luxurious, multi-million thread-count pillowcase, an ice pack wrapped around her ankle, and a glass of lemonade… complete with a little umbrella Kevin found in the kitchen cabinet—a leftover from Callie. Or so he claimed.

After announcing his intentions to stay with her for the night, he’d spent several moments convincing her she needed to stay off her ankle so it would heal faster. The best way to do that, of course, would be with his help. She didn’t accept help easily, but the heat flaring in his eyes as he said, “So I can take care of you,” had done more to convince her than anything else.

Although the subject of sex hadn’t come up, an excited rush skittered across her shoulders as she thought about what the night might bring. She hoped like hell his idea of caretaking amounted to more than making tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner.

The side gate opened and a tall, dark-haired woman stepped into the backyard. Spencer jumped out of the pool and rushed her. “Mamma, I don’t want to go. I want to stay here with Uncle Kevin and Michaela and Ms. Sam. Can I, please?”

His mother’s gaze slid across the patio to Michaela, who clamored out of the pool to serve as Spencer’s backup, then to Sam. She wore an odd expression as she cut her eyes to Kevin, then turned back to Spencer.

“Sorry, buddy. Uncle Kevin left a message saying you guys were here instead of the beach. I tried calling back, but I didn’t get an answer, so I decided to come on over and find you. Since I’m here, you need to come with me.”

“Sorry,” Kevin said. “I’ve had my phone on vibrate.”

His sister arched her brows and opened her mouth, but Kevin gave a sharp shake of his head to cut her off as Spencer leapt in with more begging.

“Please, mamma. Why can’t I stay?”

Kevin tossed him up over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. “Your mamma said it’s time to go.” He spun around so he faced Marianne and mouthed, “Can he come back tomorrow?”

“Sure.” She shrugged. “Other than mass, I don’t have any plans.”

Kevin gave Spencer a hug and set him on his feet. “Your mamma says you can come back tomorrow, but only if you behave tonight. Deal?”

Spencer stuck out his tiny fist and bumped Kevin’s. “Deal. Is Michaela gonna be here tomorrow too?”

“Uh…” Kevin spun around to Sam. “Yes?”

Only a fool would pass up the opportunity to do this again. “Sure.”

“Yay.” Michy and Spencer celebrated the victory while a strange vibe passed between Kevin and his sister.

Sam realized she and Michaela hadn’t been introduced, so maybe his sister was trying to figure out who the strays in Kevin’s yard were, without coming right out and asking.

“I’m Sam, by the way. Michaela and Spencer go to afterschool together.” She pushed to a sitting position and began to stand, then glanced down and stopped. “I’ve wanted to talk to you about arranging some playdates with the kids, but I’m usually too late to catch you.”

Marianne winced as she approached. “Ow, that looks painful.” Extending her hand, she said, “I’m Marianne Mazze. Spencer talks about Michaela all the time. It’d be great to get them together.” Marianne turned to Kevin and grinned. “Maybe we could leave both kids with Kevin sometime and grab lunch or something.”

Sam felt her eyes light up. “That sounds wonderful.”

Kevin rocked back on his heels and smiled at Marianne. “Maybe
you
could keep both while Sam and I grab dinner.”

Marianne’s mouth went slack, but she quickly recovered. “Uh, sure. I could do that.” She grabbed Spencer’s towel and glasses from the chair. “Okay, buddy. Let’s go. Where’s your shoes?”

After gathering his shoes and change of clothes from the house, Spencer told Sam good-bye, then ran to the gate where his mom and Kevin waited.

“Sam, it was nice to meet you.” As she freed the latch on the gate, Marianne frowned and asked Kevin, “Can you help me with something real quick?”

He exhaled sharply and nodded. “Of course.”

He ruffled Michy’s hair, who’d run to the gate, looking like her best friend was leaving forever. “Don’t look so sad,
piccolina.
He’ll be back tomorrow.” He nodded to Sam. “I’ll be right back and we can figure out what’s for dinner.”

“More than tomato soup and grilled cheese?” Sam asked hopefully.

Kevin crinkled his nose and chuckled. “Yeah. I’d planned on more than that.”

Sam’s smile grew as she mentally rubbed her hands together.
Me, too.

* * *

Kevin knew this conversation was inevitable, but he’d hoped to avoid it until Monday. Marianne, however, had less patience than him, and his hope had only been a pipe dream.

While she helped Spencer into the car, cranked the engine so the air conditioner would keep him cool, then shut the door to block his little ears from the conversation, Kevin stood by like a child, waiting to be lectured.

“You want to fill me in on what’s going on with your life, because I’ve obviously missed a few important changes.”

Kevin shook his head and studied the expansion joint in the concrete driveway. “You haven’t missed anything, sis. This isn’t exactly what it looks like.”

“What
exactly
is it?

“Sam’s a building inspector… the same one who shut us down yesterday.”

Marianne crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. “I see.”

Okay, that wasn’t the reaction he expected. How could she see anything when he still fumbled around in the dark? “You see… what?”

“You’re making nice and letting her kid swim in your pool so she’ll give us the CO.”

“What?” He drew back and did Erik’s squint-for-clearer-focus thing again. Which was absolutely ridiculous, because this particular move hadn’t proved any more effective than counting backward from ten. “No.”

Marianne rolled her eyes and pressed one hand to the hood of his truck while propping the other on her hip.

“Michaela and Spencer go to afterschool—”

“I got that part.”

He ran his tongue over the front of his teeth and glared. “You ready to let me finish?”

“Go ahead,” she said while spiraling her hand, motioning for him to continue.

“The kids had a plan to meet up at the Boardwalk today. Amazingly enough, it worked out. But Sam fell and sprained her ankle, so I brought them back here so the kids could still play.”

“And… based on the dinner comment, Kevin has plans to play as well.”

As his jaw creaked from the extreme pressure, she threw her palm out defensively. “Hey, I don’t care. I’ve never understood the Lizbeth thing anyway. I always figured it came down to great sex because that’s the only thing you guys could possibly have in common. I’m just curious what’s going on and wondering if Lizbeth knows she’s been replaced.”

“She doesn’t know— She hasn’t been— I just…” His shoulders slumped.