Crossing the Line Part One (A Novella) by Samantha Long Read Free Book Online Page B

teachers. If you
need me to go with you, I can."
    Halle laughed softly. Victoria had forgotten
she was there. "You asked for advice, Victoria. I'd say you got
it."
    "I did, didn't I?" Victoria smiled at her
mom, even though some of it was hard to swallow. "Thanks."
    "That's right. Now finish these dishes. I'm
going to spend time with my granddaughters. Expect Addie to be
coming to help."

Chapter Eight
    The next
morning, Victoria met Nick outside her office at eight a.m. He
waited with two cups of coffee and she wondered if he knew this was
the straight line to her heart, the IV that kept her going
sometimes. She'd stayed up most of the night, worrying about Helena
because of her attitude, and Lucia because of her desire to go on
the date Friday night.
    "Morning." Nick flashed a smile that made
her forget all about her worries, including her lack of sleep. He
held the cup out for her.
    "Do you ever wear anything other than jeans
and a t-shirt?" When she realized how bitchy she'd made it sound,
she took the coffee. When his fingers brushed hers, she let out a
silent gasp. "Thanks. And you don't have to answer that. I'm just
tired."
    He leaned against the side of his beat up
truck, grinning suddenly like he loved getting up early and going
antique shopping.
    "Why the heck are you so happy?"
    "Why wouldn't I be?" He stood. Flashed that
grin again that made her weak in the knees. "I get to chauffeur a
beautiful woman around all day, and help her pick out old furniture
for clients."
    Surprised laughter burst from her. "Old
furniture? I'd love to hear what my clients say about that."
    He opened the passenger door for her. "Well,
let's get to it. I'm sure there's plenty to find at the flea
markets."
    Victoria slid in, making sure her sundress
didn't expose anything, and noticed that the truck smelled like
vanilla. Her eyes swept the cab of the truck and knew he cleaned
it. The truck was immaculate. Not a fast food wrapper or empty can
in sight. "Did you clean just for me?" She asked when he got in and
started the truck.
    "I may or may not have decided that you
might run screaming if you saw the state of my vehicle, so I may or
may not have thrown some stuff away."
    "Well, maybe I'll thank you or maybe I
won’t. Since you might or might not have cleaned it."
    They both looked at each other and started
laughing as he pulled out of the parking lot.
    Victoria sipped more of her coffee. "Thanks
for taking me. My dad is being ruthless in his efforts, but I
really couldn't reschedule some of my clients."
    Nick nodded. "It's cool. I figured that by
the look of panic on your face when he said he couldn't take you.
It was the least I could do," he took his eyes off the road for a
quick second and winked. "It's going to be such a hard day."
    "Ha." Victoria felt a wave of heat hit her
cheeks. Her lips stretched into a wide smile. She hadn't felt this
happy in a long time. It was nice to enjoy the attention of a man
without there being huge expectations. Without wondering if you
said the right things or made him feel flattered enough. With Nick
it was easy. Almost too easy.
    "So, where to first? I kind of need to know
where we're going."
    Victoria thought about it. "Let's try the
flea markets on the north highway first, and then if I can't find
everything there we can go to the outlets in the next town."
    He nodded like he did this everyday. "Okay,
so what put that frown on your face this morning?"
    "What?" She glanced over at him. "What
frown? I didn't have a frown."
    "Yeah, you even had that wrinkle in your
forehead, like the morning you came in after the girls fought."
    For a moment she sat, speechless. "You
noticed that?"
    "Hard not to." He looked at her, then back
at the road. "Do you want to talk about it?"
    Victoria was shocked. Never had Roger
bothered to ask if she wanted to talk about how she felt. What did
he want to know? Was he just being nice or looking to strike a
conversation? Or did he really want to know how the other
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