Crossing Boundaries (Miles for Love Book 1)

by Sandra Alex

  “A mother knows, dear.”

  “Mom, seriously, we’re friends. Close ones, but friends all the same.” I’m not sure where this is coming from.

  “Kayla, don’t make him wait too long. Men like that don’t stick around forever.”

  I guffaw. “Mom, I don’t know what you’re talking about it. He doesn’t love me more than as a friend.”

  She takes my hand in hers. “You’ll see.”

  “Quiet, mom. He’s coming back.” I warn under my breath. Daniel looks at both of us. He’s no fool. He knows that mom asked him to go check the mail so we could have privacy.

  “No mail yet. Is there a coffee place in here somewhere? Can I go get us something to snack on?” he offers. I give him a warm smile. He is such a doll.

  “No, you two should get going. I’m getting awfully tired.” Mom says, although she hasn’t gotten winded or pale like usual. I give her a sideways glance and know that she’s putting on a show so that we’ll leave. Mom. Forever the matchmaker.

  “Okay, mom.” Daniel plays along, giving me a wink. Mom pats his hand as he grabs the handlebars so he can push her wheelchair back to her room. We kiss her goodbye and walk out. “Everything okay with your mom?” he asks, giving me a telling glance.

  “Yeah, she’s just…imagining things. It’s nothing to worry about.”

  “Imagining things…huh.” He lifts a brow, but doesn’t press.

  “So, where are we going to eat dinner? I’m starved.” I ask, changing the subject.

  “I thought about that little mom and pop place just up the road. I saw it when we were here last. It looks homey.”

  I shrug. “Okay.” I lift a finger at him. “But there better not be any hotdogs on the menu.”

  He smiles. “Get in the car.”

  As we arrive at the restaurant, we bring our books inside, order our meals, and go through the last of our material. “I think we’ll both ace the quiz.” Daniel says simply. “But I’d like to be prepared for the worst. Who knows how rough Gladstone is with grading and testing.”

  “Exactly. And for me, the first test paves the way for all tests.” I point out.

  “Well, to be fair, it’s just a quiz. It only weighs about five percent overall.”

  I raise my hand, shaking my head slightly. “Still. I’m not taking any chances.”

  “You’ll do fine.” Daniel says as one of the waitresses comes barreling towards him.

  He looks stunned but smiles a little, my feeling is that it’s to be polite.

  “Danny!” she gushes. She’s wearing a logoed apron, but it isn’t done up in the back, which means she’s either just starting her shift, or just ending it. My guess is that she’s just starting, because we haven’t seen her the whole time we’ve been here. Unless she works in the back. “Oh my God! I haven’t seen you since my parent’s anniversary last summer!”

  She’s got very large breasts, underneath a shirt that is clearly one size too small. There is a tattoo of a heart and angels evident on her right arm, and her voice is rough, like she’s a smoker. She certainly smells like one. Daniel sticks out his hand to shake hers. “Hi, Melissa. How’s it going?”

  Melissa doesn’t take the hint. Instead of shaking his hand, she bends over and hugs him, making sure to press her breasts up against his chest. Daniel pats her benignly on the back, not bothering to rise from his seat. He certainly doesn’t hug everyone the same way. “I’m great! Broke up with that shithead a couple of months ago. So, are you a doctor yet?” she touches his arm purposefully.

  “Not yet. Another couple of years. I didn’t know you were working here. I thought you were working at that firm where your mom works.” Then he pauses. “Oh, man, excuse my manners.” He looks at me apologetically. “This is Kayla. We’re just studying while catching a bite.”

  “Oh, you two are taking a class together?” she asks while giving me her hand to shake. I shake it back, giving her a tight smile.

  “Yeah,” he says casually.

  “Hey, have you spoken to Anita?”

  Daniel averts his gaze from her, focusing on a spot on the wall. This subject seems to make him uncomfortable. “Nope.”

  “Oh, so you don’t know that she’s getting married then.”

  He purses his lips together and shakes his head once. I can’t tell if he’s pissed off or if he just doesn’t want any details. This Anita person must be his ex-girlfriend.

  “Oh. Well he’s an asshole anyway. You were way better.” She touches his arm again. He almost flinches. “He’s so full of himself, but incredibly dull.”

  Daniel looks at her from the corner of his eye. “Hey, listen. Do you mind if we catch up later? Kayla and I have some studying to do.”

  Her face is pained. “Oh, sure. No problem. Hey, I don’t have your number anymore.”

  “I’ll give it to you on our way out.”

  She nods and walks away. When she’s out of earshot, Daniel exhales. “Man, I’m so sorry about that.”

  Now it’s my turn to give the apologetic look. “Don’t be sorry. There’s nothing to be sorry about.” A pause. “She likes you.”

  “Yeah, well I have zero interest in her.”

  “Clearly. You looked like she was covered in boils when she kept touching your arm.”

  “She’d be great for my brother Christopher.” He says as if he’d just eaten a hot pepper. “Too wild and forward for me. She practically felt me up.”

  “I hug you a lot, too. You don’t recoil like that.”

  “That’s because you don’t act like you’re on speed.” He reaches into his back pocket, takes out a fifty dollar bill and picks his books up off the table. “Let’s get the hell out of here before she comes back.”

  I giggle. “Are you…afraid of her?”

  “Hell, yes. I’m never coming back here again.” He takes my hand in his and walks briskly to his car.

  When we’re seated and ready to go, I turn to Daniel and say. “It’s really too bad that you don’t like that place.”

  “Yeah? How come?”

  “They didn’t have hotdogs on the menu.”

  Chapter 16

  Kayla

  “Melissa. Oh, man. Of all the girls I had to run into in front of you. The bubble-headed, scanky, way-too-handsy for me chick who tried to jump my bones on more than one occasion when I was with Anita. The girl has no scruples and even looser morals…among other things.”

  “I wasn’t offended by her. I actually think it’s cute that you’re repelled by her. On the bright side, we managed to get through all the study material.” As I sit in the passenger seat, Daniel looks at me.

  “So, where to?” he asks.

  “Do you mind if we go to your place? I haven’t even seen where you live yet.” I raise a hand. “Or are you all weird because you didn’t have a chance to tidy up?”

  “Ha…ha.” He gives me a sideways glance. “Before Christopher moved in, my house was always spotless. I’m not a slob, he is. But we can swing by, as long as you don’t mind him being there.”

  “I don’t mind at all.”

  He lifts a brow. “Consider yourself warned.”

  I wave. “He can’t be that bad.”

  “He’s a hormone with legs.”

  “I can handle it.”

  When we pull up to his house, I look at him. “Um…you live here?” his house looks like something out of a magazine. Double-car garage, two small pillars out front, flanking a huge bay window. His lawn is meticulously manicured, like he pays someone to do it. And there is a small water feature in the middle of a circle of grass that is in the middle of his rounded, cobblestone driveway.

  “Yeah,” he says casually, as though he lives in a shack.

  “Daniel…are you a Rockefeller?”

  He smiles and snorts out a laugh. “I told you my last name is Lynch.”

  “Tell me you’re in a hundred year mortgage, or you won the lottery, or your rich uncle died and left you a ton of money…because right no
w I feel totally embarrassed that you ever set foot in my little shoebox I call home.” My tone is comedic, like I’m telling a joke.

  He places a hand on my knee. “Relax. My dad’s a retired military surgeon. My mom used to be one of the top paediatric and obstetric specialists in North Carolina before her retirement. My grandparents were both well-renowned medical specialists, too, and they left the family a lot when they died. Don’t let it bother you. If you think this is impressive, wait until you see the house my brother is having custom built.”

  My face is blank. I’ve never met anyone with money before. I grew up with a single mother who had to rely on her mother to pay for her medical bills and my food and clothes. Mom didn’t work much because of her health. Nana Mary lived with us during my teenage years, until she married Bruce. “Jesus, Daniel. My God…what you must think of me.”

  “Are you judging me because of this?” he points to the monstrous garage in front of us.

  “No, I’m judging your opinion of me.”

  “You think people with money can’t be friends with people without money?”

  “No.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “I just…I just…” I stammer. “I don’t know…you just…you don’t act like you…live here.”

  “And you don’t act like you…live there.” He skates a finger down the side of my face. “Come on. Come and see how normal we are. Meet my perverted brother, that oughta shake you out of your funk.”

  We walk inside his house and someone who I assume is his brother, is standing in the ginormous open concept kitchen as we enter. He looks very much like Daniel except that he’s a slightly younger version, and he has longer, curlier hair than Daniel has, tucked under a baseball cap. He looks to be making a homemade pizza. Daniel walks in and hammers on Christopher straight away.

  He lifts a finger at him. “Be on your best behavior. This is Kayla.”

  “Yeah, I remember her. The chick from the bar, right?” He sticks his hand out and I shake it.

  Daniel shakes his head. “Well, I’ve got to hand it to you. You broke a record for the quickest fail ever.”

  “Relax, bro.” Christopher takes my hand and kisses the back of it.

  “Hey…hey!” Daniel shouts.

  I giggle. “It’s okay, Daniel. You made out like he was going to feel me up or something. Remember, you were the one who got felt up earlier.”

  Christopher’s eyes light up. “Nice!” He looks at his older brother and gives him a thumbs-up, and then he addresses me. “Although I’m the better-looking Lynch kid.”

  My face turns red. “Um…it wasn’t me who felt him up.”

  Daniel lifts a hand. “Nobody got felt up.”

  I look at Daniel. “You said that…Melissa girl felt you up.”

  “I said she practically felt me up.” He says, emphasizing the ‘practically’.

  Christopher laughs out loud. “You ran into Melissa? Where?”

  Daniel names the restaurant. “Evidently she works there.”

  “Oh, screw the homemade pizza. I’m heading over there.” He guffaws.

  Daniel looks at me. “See? I told you he was a hormone with legs.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Kayla. My brother is a stick in the mud. He doesn’t know how to have any fun.”

  “That’s because I’m too busy cleaning up after you.” Daniel changes the subject. “Why didn’t you just order a pizza?”

  Christopher waves. “They’re always stingy with the toppings. I like my pizzas like a sloppy joe; toppings so high they fall off.”

  Daniel thumbs towards his brother. “That is one thing I’ll give him. He’s a hell of a cook.”

  Christopher pats Daniel on the back. “Thanks, man. Hey, you guys want some?”

  “We already ate.” We answer simultaneously, which gets a giggle from all three of us. Daniel takes my hand.

  “Let me give you a tour.”

  His house is immaculate. The living room has a large screen television, bay window, huge leather sectional, and a large bookcase full of medical books. “Some of these are from my grandfather’s collection.” I walk up to them and run my hand down the length of some of the volumes. They’re all leather-bound, some with gold-leaf lettering on the spines.

  “Beautiful.” I comment.

  “I have more in my room. Also, Grampa Lynch left me his first stethoscope. It’s upstairs. Let me show you.” He takes my hand again. It feels nice. Nobody has held my hand since I was a child. Daniel leads us past a guest powder room and up a small winding staircase to the top floor. The first room on the right is the master bedroom, he explains. He’s turned it into a family room, with a smaller sectional, another television, another bookcase, and a foosball table.

  “I send Christopher up here when he pisses me off. I’ll show you the rest of the downstairs later. It’s just a workout room and an office.” He explains. The next room is a spare bedroom, then a large bathroom with a glass-enclosed stand-up shower and soaker tub. “That came with the house. I’ve never used it.” He says as he points at the tub. The room at the end of the hallway is his room.

  He has a double bed in a relatively large room. There is a wing chair beside the bed, a small fireplace, and a huge bookcase that runs the expanse of one entire wall. “I read a lot.” He says. A small, glass-enclosed shelving unit is displaying a stethoscope, some medals, and a few framed awards.

  “What are these?” I ask.

  “That’s Grampa’s stethoscope that I mentioned, some of his medals from the military, some of mine, and a couple of academic awards I got when I was doing my undergraduate degree.”

  I look at him. “What sort of medals did you get in the military?”

  “Mostly participation awards, but I got a couple of medical awards while I was in Afghanistan.”

  “Your parents must be so proud of you.”

  He ignores the statement, pursing his lips together modestly. “I wanted to put a master bedroom on the main floor, with a set of French doors walking out to a deck with a hot tub, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”

  “How long have you lived here?”

  “Almost a year. I wasn’t even going to buy my own place since my parents needed me at their place so often, but when a friend of mine told me this place was up for sale, I really liked it and didn’t want to lose it.”

  “Are you close to your parent’s house?”

  “That’s precisely why this place was so perfect. My parents live less than five minutes away.”

  “So how come Christopher didn’t move back in with your parents?”

  “He didn’t want the responsibility.” He lifts a hand. “I’m sorry, but I don’t really like talking about it. It just pisses me off.”

  “Okay. I’m sorry.” I say, feeling bad.

  Daniel takes a step towards me and rubs both my arms. “It’s okay. Do you want to see the basement?”

  “Sure.” He takes my hand again and leads me back downstairs. Christopher is talking on his cell phone, calling someone ‘baby’.

  “Must be another bootie call.” Daniel grunts grumpily as he walks by his brother.

  “Does that bother you?”

  He shakes his head. “Only if he brings his conquests here. I told him specifically that unless his guest is male and familiar to me, he isn’t welcome to have them over. I don’t need to have that complication in my life.”

  “Wow. You’re strict.” I say as we walk to a set of glass double doors and onto a wooden deck. The landscaping in the backyard is as perfect as in the front yard. “My backyard is a dump compared to this.”

  “It mostly came this way. The deck will need to be redone in a couple of years. That’s when I’ll put in the hot tub. I put in the shed and those few seedling trees.”

  “Do you do all the landscaping yourself?”

  He nods. “Yep. It helps me unwind.”

  I’m impressed. “Wow. Do you have a garden?”

  “No. But I’
d like to put one in over there.” He points to a clear area just past the deck, along a wooden fence.

  “Would you put flowers or vegetables in, or would you grow medicinal herbs?”

  “No, just some flowers. I can’t grow vegetables to save my life, and I’m not training to be a naturopathic doctor, so there will be no medicinal herbs here.” He pauses. “It’s nice outside. Do you want to sit out here?”

  “Sure.”

  We sit at the six seat table on the deck and adjust the umbrella so the early evening sunset isn’t blinding us. “So does this place look like the Rockefeller’s, or are you convinced that I’m as normal as you?” Daniel asks as he takes a seat across from me.

  I shrug. “You’re pretty normal.”

  “I’m glad you’re seeing it my way.”

  “Don’t press your luck.” I tease, just as his phone rings in his back pocket. Daniel pulls it out and looks at the display.

  “It’s Greg. Do you mind if I take it?”

  “Sure, go ahead.” I say, growing concerned.

  “Hey, buddy. How’s it going?” Daniel says. “I’m just sitting here with Kayla.”

  He pauses as a ‘v’ forms between his brows. “Did you call the police?”

  I lean up in my chair and Daniel lifts a hand, indicating that Greg is okay.

  “Don’t sweat it. Yeah, we can come pick you up. Where are you?”

  Another pause. “Okay. I’m on my way.” And he hangs up.

  “What happened?”

  Daniel sighs as he slides his phone back into his pocket. “Seems Greg was out at the bar with his friends, and his wallet got stolen. He can’t find his friend who usually drives him all over, and the buddies that he was hanging out with apparently have all left him behind. He’s got no way to get home and no money to call a cab.”

  Rising, Daniel sticks his hand out for me to take. “Do you want to come with me, or do you want me to drop you off first?”

  “I’ll come with you…make sure he’s okay, if it’s all the same to you.”

  “Sure.” Daniel and I walk into the front foyer, where we can see that Christopher is just placing his pizza in the oven. It looks more like one of those high school volcano projects than it does a pizza. “Don’t worry…it looks weird, but it’s delicious.” Daniel says.