Crossing Lines (17 page)

“Yeah,” he said, trying to sound as convincing as possible. “Everything’s fine.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her hobble across the living room to the sofa, where he sat next to Michy, pulling Sam into his lap. “Who wants to go swimming?”

“Meeeeeee!” Michaela sprang off the couch like a jack-in-the-box and took off toward her bedroom, presumably in search of a bathing suit.

“Do you ever skinny dip in that pool?” Sam asked, wrapping her arms around his neck and whispering in his ear.

He laughed and shook his head. “No, I’ve never had a reason to. But I bet I can get Marianne to keep Michaela one night this week…”

W
ith Kevin going to Riverside on Monday to deal with wedding stuff, Sam wanted to go ahead and run her ideas by him, giving him time to digest them tonight and maybe make some decisions while driving the next day. Her ability to help him was limited and only possible after he obtained a revised site plan—which couldn’t be done until he made a decision on the best way to solve the problem.

Their first order of business was swimming with the kids—mostly Kevin swam while she sat on the side of the pool and stayed out of the way. Then they’d get to work.

“Uncle Kevin, throw me in again. Pleeeease.”

“Me, too. Me, too.”

“One last time,” Kevin said, putting on a fabulous show of flexing arms and back muscles as he pulled himself out of the pool. His body was a work of art, without an ounce of fat to be found—something she’d verified with hours of visual and physical inspection.

She sighed at his beauty as he walked toward her… then hovered over her and shook like a dog.

“Gee, thanks.” She wiped a stream of water from her face. “That’s all right. I was starting to get hot anyway.”

He bent down on one knee, leaned over her shoulder, and held her chin in his fingers while giving her a smooth, languorous kiss. “You’re always hot.”

With a smile and a wink that left her belly fluttering, he walked to the deep end where the kids stood shivering in the shade, waiting for another toss-in. “This is the last one. Sam and I have a little work to do.” He paused, then looked up at her and smiled as if he liked the way that sounded.

She liked the sound of it too, for several reasons. She loved this type of work and desperately wanted to get back to the building side of things, rather than doing inspections for the rest of her life. Anytime she had the opportunity to talk over the development phase of a project, she would jump.

She and her daddy talked shop all the time, something her mother and brothers often complained about. They didn’t understand something always needed to be worked through, and it was easy for Sam and her father to jump into conversation about a project while sitting around watching football, or even during family dinners.

Sam also liked having a man in her life with whom she could share project logistics. Michael could’ve cared less about her work, since he didn’t want her working in the first place, so he’d never been interested—

Why in the world was she thinking things like
a man in her life
? She didn’t want a man in her life. Kevin was a temporary thing… like a new toy for her collection. Only this toy breathed and kissed and moved independently, and boy, did he ever move. He had moves she couldn’t ever dream up, and even if she did, she’d never be able to make those vibrating pieces of plastic feel so friggin’ fantastic. But that didn’t make him anything more than a temporary good time, and she’d be well served to remember that.

“Okay, that’s it for now,” Kevin said as Spencer popped up from the water. “We’ll be sitting at the patio table, working, but we can still see you guys. All right?”

Grumbled “yes, sirs” and “fines” came from the pool as Kevin grabbed his towel and ran it over his head and the back of his neck, then paused mid-swipe. Cocking his head to the side, he studied Sam for a moment, then sat down on a nearby chair.

“Hey,” his soft and gentle tone tugged at her. “What’s wrong? You hurting that bad?”

Shaking off the melancholy thoughts of her daddy and the way her life had been before, she said, “No, I’m fine.” She grabbed her towel and dried her legs. “I have your job folder and the site plan in my bag. Do you mind grabbing them from the house?”

“Of course not. Do you want something to drink?”

Kevin had forgone the cooler today, but made several trips in and out of the house for water and lemonade. This seemed to be a new thing for him, and several times she’d caught him taking a drink of his water, then holding the bottle up and looking at it, as if surprised it tasted so good.

“A glass of sweet tea would be great.”

He’d already started toward the house and stopped mid-stride to turn around. “Iced tea?”

She grinned and nodded. “Yeah, any Southern boy worth his salt will have sweet iced tea on hand.”

His shoulders drooped as he slowly shook his head. “I guess I’m a total disappointment.” He brightened. “At least this time. Next time, I won’t let ya down.”

As he disappeared into the house, she pushed to a standing position and began the slow, laborious, and extremely painful trek across the patio to the Holden’s outdoor table that was so big it could accommodate an entire family reunion. She flopped down in the chair and propped her foot up on the seat next to her as Kevin exited the house.

He looked around the pool for her, and when he found her at the table, frowned. “Jesus, woman, you’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met.”

“I’m not an invalid. You, yourself, pointed out I’m going to need to figure out a way to get around tomorrow.” She shrugged. “Why not start now?”

He set her bag and two bottles of water on the table and leaned down nose to nose with her. “Someone needs another spanking.”

Whoosh!
Just like that, with a single sentence, a fire erupted in her belly and spread upward into her chest and breasts and down through her sex.
Yes, please
, was the only intelligible thought that came to mind, but she hadn’t meant to actually say it. However, the words were out and she couldn’t take them back, so she laughed and said, “My new name’s More, remember?”

His eyes were like onyx, dark and soft, and his mouth gathered like it did when he was deep in thought. “I’ve been thinking about that
more
you seemed so interested in. I need to make a phone call, but I think I’ve figured out a way we can make your fantasy threesome happen.”

Sam’s heart rate hit triple time. “We?” she squeaked. “As in you and me or you and”—she gulped—“someone else?”

Although still dark with passion, his eyes softened, as did his features as he knelt in front of her. “I heard every word you said.”

That was scary, because several times she’d been crazy out of her mind. She had no idea what all she said in her sexed-up state, but she got the impression, right now, he was strictly talking about her fantasy threesome. She’d been terrified of admitting the fantasy, but her answer seemed important. When he responded with great relief at hearing it was only a fantasy, she was glad she’d shared the private information.

His steady gaze locked onto hers and held her tight. Reaching for her hand, he said, “I know your boundaries. Will you trust me to fulfill your fantasy?”

He knew she wanted a threesome, but he also understood it needed to be a twosome, giving the impression of a threesome.

“Yes.” Chill bumps rushed up her arms as she shook her head nervously. “I trust you.”

“Thank you.” He leaned in for a slow, bone-melting kiss before standing and pushing her bag over to her.

The heat of the moment dissipated on the breeze as Sam pulled out the Vanguard file and site map.

Kevin was all business as he scooted a chair around next to hers and said, “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you working on this for me the other night.” He ran a hand over the top of his head and sighed. “This project has been my baby from the beginning. I was concerned about jumping the gun without the tower, but Papà convinced me it would be fine.”

“Daddy and I had a similar situation once, which is why I felt I might be able to help.” She rolled the site map out between them and pointed to where the water line came onto the property. “Right now, the water line goes to the box here”—she pointed to a location off to the left of the club house—“and then divides into the individual buildings.”

She pulled out the tracing paper she’d used for drawing an alternative map and laid it over the site plan. “You’re gonna have to run a new four-inch line from the road directly to the dumpster pad back here in the corner, build a small, temporary shelter for the booster pump, then route the water back to the cut-off. God willing, you’ll never use the booster pump, so as soon as the tower’s installed, you can resell the pump and remove the temporary shelter. Or, you can build the structure so the front wall stays intact and acts as a barrier to hide the dumpster.”

She ran through a few other possible options, none of which were any less expensive than the first, and, in her opinion, none as good. They would all create additional work, like tearing up the parking lot and landscaping in multiple locations, rather than the few places she marked. Also, if they ever had a leak, it would be a nightmare to figure out where the problem originated.

Kevin listened to all of the options and studied the plan and her notes carefully. After several moments of silence, he leaned back in the chair, wrapped his arm around the back of hers, and said, “Personally, you prefer the first option, right?”

“Yeah, it’s going to be a pain in the ass and expensive to run an additional water line from the road to the future pump house, but you’ll only have to cut the pavement in…”—she counted the places they would need to cross the road and parking lot—“three places. And they’re narrow trenches.” She winced. “You’ll need to do curb and gutter repair in two places, but I still think you’d be better off going this route than any of the others.”

He rested his elbow on the armrest, propped his head in his hand, and stared at her. After a long, looooong uncomfortable silence, he said, “You’re not only beautiful; you’re smart.”

Heat infused her face while her chest filled with pride. No one but her daddy ever acknowledged her competency on a job, and while the reminder sent a pang of sadness through her, she also sat a little taller. “Thanks. But, like I said, I’ve been through this, so the experience helps.”

His eyes narrowed and his demeanor chilled. “Your brothers’ lack of faith did a real head-job on you.”

She laughed uncomfortably. “Yeah, of course. That and—” She cut off the thought, refusing to allow Michael to be a part of this conversation. “When someone doubts your ability, it messes with your head.”

“It wasn’t just someone, Sam, it was your whole family.”

She drew in a breath and slowly exhaled, pushing the pain out with the air. “Yeah.”

He leaned forward in the chair and took hold of her hand. “Their stupidity is gonna be my gain. Come to the office Tuesday morning and meet with Marianne and me.” He grinned. “She’s gonna have my ass for jumping the gun like this, but I don’t need more research.”

“If she needs more research to be comfortable with a decision, then she should do it. I can give you the name of another builder in Columbia who had a similar situation. He can tell you how he solved the issue.” She grinned. “Although, he’s going to tell you the same thing.”

His grin broadened and his eyes sparkled. “You misunderstood what I was saying—”

A young, attractive brunette stepped onto the patio from the Holden home, interrupting his sentence. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She jumped back a step, startled by their presence. “I didn’t know you were over here. I’m sorry to interrupt.”

“Hey, Callie, it’s okay.” He stood and greeted the young woman with a hug. “Come here. I want you to meet someone.”

“Sam, this is Callie Holden. She’s recently gone to work for us and will be responsible for decorating the Vanguard buildings”—he paused to playfully glare at Sam—“as soon as the mean building inspector gives me my CO. Callie, this is Sam Wallace… the mean building inspector who won’t give me my CO.”

Callie laughed as she shook Sam’s hand. “She doesn’t look mean to me.”

Kevin snorted and crossed his arms over his chest while widening his stance. “Don’t be fooled by the pretty face.”

Sam laughed at his teasing and took a brief moment to enjoy the playful intimacy. Getting on board with the act, she crossed her arms in return, then threw him the bone she’d been holding on to. “After that comment, forget the temporary CO I’d planned to give you.”

“What?” Kevin’s arms fell to his sides while the rest of his body snapped to full alert. “You can do that?”

“Well…” She moved her head side to side. “Once I get the revised site plan back from the engineer, showing the proposed changes, I can walk it through permitting and get you a temporary CO. Only so Callie, and the other finishing contractors, can get in to set things up and prepare for opening. Not one customer is to set foot in that building.”

Kevin squeezed his eyes shut and muttered something in Italian before kneeling in front of her and wrapping her in a hug so tight she could barely breath. “Thank you. Thank you…” His voice cracked and he buried his head in her neck. “You have no idea what a blessing you are. Thank you.”