Blurring the Line (The Line Series Book 2)

by Nikki Rose

  “Good, then let’s continue...”

  The lecture went smooth for the rest of class. Tracy didn’t say another word to me until after the professor dismissed us.

  “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble. There’s just so many unanswered questions.I didn’t realize you were seeing anyone.”

  She talked as though we were best friends, but in all honesty, we’d only chatted on occasion about class assignments or missed notes.

  “Sorry, I gotta go.”

  “Okay, buy.”

  I walked as quickly as I could toward the door where Chris was waiting. He smirked at me as I passed him and headed into the hall.

  “Do you usually get called down in class? I might need to have a talk with your dad about you interrupting class.” He teased knowing full well Tracy had been the cause. He’d know since he barely took his eyes off of me.

  “Having someone staring at you through the whole lecture is extremely distracting.”

  “Tell me about it. Having you and your friend ogling me the whole time made it hard to focus on the security in the room.”

  “Ogling? In your dreams.” I rolled my eyes and kept walking without even bothering to look back at him.

  “Awe. You aren’t jealous are you?” His patronizing tone made me want to scream. I only scoffed but my reaction seemed to encourage him to continue. “I think she might be developing a little crush.”

  “Asshole.”

  “Come on. Let’s get you to your next class, princess.”

  Chapter 6

  Things had been going better between Chris and I. Even though I still wasn’t crazy about having a bodyguard, if I was going to have to have one for now, at least it was someone like him. As much as I couldn’t stand him at the beginning, I’d begun to develop an attraction to him now. There was something in that smug smile that made me want to slap and kiss him at the same time.

  I climbed into the car and Chris shut my door before rounding the car. My phone chimed, signaling an incoming message.

  Derek: Hey babe. Haven’t seen you in awhile. Meet me at the club tonight.

  I glanced at Chris who was focused on driving and texted back.

  Me: Can’t. I’m still on lock down.

  Derek: Sneak out. You need out of that prison sometimes.

  Me: It’s on lockdown since last time.

  Derek: Damn it. Starting to feel like I don’t actually have a girl anymore.

  Me: Sorry...didn’t mean to mess things up for you.

  Derek: Its ok. You can make it up to me later.

  I pocketed my phone instead of letting myself get worked up. Derek was making me feel guilty but it wasn’t my fault that I was on lock down or that someone was after me. It irritated me that he was more concerned with not having his girlfriend around instead of someone being after me.

  On the way home, Chris pulled off onto a side street. Usually after class we would go straight home to avoid any danger.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I thought both of us could use some fresh air. I don’t know about you but I’m sick of being cooped up in that house all day every day so I thought we could go for a walk in the park.”

  “That sounds great. And, it's such a nice day.”

  We found a parking spot and climbed out of the car.

  The park was filled with young families letting their kids play on the swings or monkey bars and old couples strolling arm in arm along the shady walking trails. It was a picturesque scene I was happy to be a part of.

  As we walked along the park, breathing in the fresh air and feeling the warm sunshine on our skin, I couldn’t seem to get a smile off my face.

  “Now there’s a rare site.” Chris glanced over at me with an amused expression.

  I glanced around, curious at what had caught his eye. “What is?”

  “You’re smile. A genuine, happy smile.”

  “Oh.” I let out a nervous chuckle and blushed though I wasn’t sure why.

  “It suits you.”

  “Thanks?” I wasn’t sure how I felt about Chris’s compliment.

  “Not very good at getting compliments I see.” He smiled and bumped my shoulder with his making me laugh.

  The day felt light, carefree, except for Chris’s constant scanning of the park. I was sure this wasn’t as relaxing for him as it was for me, which made me appreciate the gesture even more.

  Up ahead, I spotted a snow cone cart and nudged Chris’s arm. “Can we?”

  “How can we not?” He grinned and hooked my hand into the crook of his elbow and we made our way toward the cart.

  “Hi, one tiger’s blood with cream, please, and...” He looked at me for my order.

  “One cotton candy, please.”

  “cotton candy?” He scrunched his face as if he’d tasted something terrible and shook his head. “That sounds awful.”

  “It’s so good.”

  “Whatever you say, princess.” Chris paid the man and we carried on with our stroll. Chris took a bite of his snow cone and a deep moan rumbled in his chest. “Now, this is good.”

  “cotton candy is the best.” I declared as I took a big bite.

  “Let me see about that.” He used his spoon to scoop a little bite of my snowcone and I pulled it away.

  “Hey, you have your own.”

  “But I paid for both, so technically they are both mine.”

  “Well, I would have paid for mine if I knew that’s how it was going to be.” I teased and took another bite while keeping it away from him.

  Chris took the bite of cotton candy ice he’d stole from me and made a horrible face, barely swallowing it. “Oh wow. That’s absolutely terrible.”

  “It is not.” I gawked at him. “What’s so great about yours? What is tiger’s blood anyways? That sounds disgusting.”

  I stole a taste of his snow cone and the fruity, creamy taste was heavenly but I’d never admit that to him. “Hmm. Not bad.”

  He raised one brow suspiciously. “Oh no. I saw that look. You loved it.”

  “It’s not bad...”

  “You loved it. Admit it. Mine’s better.”

  “No. Yours is good, but—.”

  “But nothing. Mine is better. Admit it and I might even give you another taste.” He smirked at me, teasing me with a spoonful of the red ice.

  “Never.” I tried to take the bite but he moved it away before I could. “Come on. Let me have another bite.”

  “You have your own.” He continued teasing me by taking a dramatic bite.

  “Fine. Yours is better. Now can I have a bite?”

  “Say please...”

  “Please?”

  “Say, Chris is a genius and knows all.”

  “Chris.” I stopped walking to stomp my foot but I had to fight the urge to laugh.

  “Say it.”

  “No.” I took a scoop of my cotton candy snowcone and catapulted it at him.

  He sidestepped, dodging the flying ice. “Oh, you’ve done it now.” He charged at me and before I could run away, he tucked his body low and hoisted me up over one shoulder like he had the first day we’d met.

  I gasped as he flung me onto his shoulder and squirmed to get out of his grasp. This time instead of anger though, I laughed as I ordered him to let me down.

  “Put me down you caveman.”

  “Caveman?” He chuckled. “Come on, now. I’m a little more evolved than that.”

  “Not by much. Now put me down.” I squirmed and kicked playfully but my heel accidentally hit him.

  “Ouch, shit.”

  “Oh my G— did I kick you?”

  “Yes you kicked me, that’s what happens when you go swinging your legs all around.” I was just about to open my mouth to apologize when his hand came down with a sharp slap on my ass. It wasn’t enough to really hurt but it did sting and more than that, shocked the hell out of me.

  “You just —.”

  “That’s what you get for kicking me.” C
hris chuckled and lowered my feet back to the ground.

  “I really am sorry. Where’d I kick you?”

  “My lip.”

  I leaned in to look closer. There was a small cut with just the tiniest bit of blood.

  “I’m so sorry. It looks like I busted your lip.”

  “I’ll survive. It's definitely not the worse injury I’ve gotten.”

  “What was?”

  “The worse injury?” He leaned down and picked up our two spilt snow cone containers and I followed him toward the trash can.

  “Yeah.”

  “About five years back I was on a mission overseas.”

  “What happened?” I looked up at him and it was as though a shadow washed over his face at whatever memory was stirring up.

  He turned his gaze away and motioned toward a park bench under the shade of a large oak. “Let’s sit.”

  We made ourselves comfortable on the bench, turning to angle toward each other. I didn’t say a word, I just waited for him to continue.

  “I was on a mission overseas. I can’t exactly give details about what the mission was but, during the course of my time there, I was captured by a small enemy organization and was held for eight days.”

  “Is that how you got hurt? When you were taken?”

  “Sort of.” His whole demeanor changed. I’d seen business Chris, angry Chris, playful Chris, and even caring Chris, but this was a new side to him. He seemed darker. The pain of whatever happened there was so intense in his eyes that I couldn’t help but reach over and squeeze his hand to offer him comfort.

  He took a deep breath and continued but he chose his words carefully. “There was some information our enemies wanted that they believed I had. They used certain persuasion techniques in order to motivate me to tell them what they wanted to know.”

  “Did you tell them?”

  “No.”

  “What did they do to you?”

  “I was beaten every couple hours. They gave me just enough food and water to keep me alive — if you could even call it that. They used sensory overload, sleep deprivation, electroshock, waterboarding — which sounds a lot more fun that it is, trust me.” He let out a nervous laugh and I started to realize that Chris’s humor was a coping mechanism to deal with uncomfortable situations.

  I squeezed his hand and lowered my voice. “So, what happened?”

  “I could tell my captors were losing patience. Their torture was progressively getting worse and I knew it was hours, maybe days before they’d kill me if I didn’t give them something, but I just couldn’t do that. They strapped me to a chair, securing my arms and legs with metal chains — Are you sure you want to hear this?”

  Chris looked at me with so much pain and vulnerability in his eyes, it made my heart hurt. Words evaded me, so I simply nodded, desperate to find out about the man who was sent to protect me.

  “They needed a new way to get me to talk. They’d already exhausted so many options. They started by making small shallow cuts all over my chest, abdomen and thighs. Shallow cuts won’t kill you — at least not quickly. But, they are excruciating since that's where the majority of the nerve endings are.”

  I let out a hissing sound through my teeth just imagining the pain he must have endured.

  “That’s not the end...tell me if it gets to be too much though.”

  “Its okay. If you could handle going through it, I can handle listening to you tell about it.”

  “Once they were done with the shallow cuts, they decided to cut deeper, starting by removing my middle finger. The pain...shit, it hurt so bad I thought I’d lose consciousness but I didn’t trust being unconscious around those bastards”

  “I didn’t notice you missing a finger.” I looked down at his hands curiously and he held out his left hand and pointed midway up his middle finger at a faint white scar.

  “I sat there bleeding out for nearly two hours but I was lucky, my team busted in while I was fighting shock to stay awake. One of the guys had the mind to find my finger and they got me to a hospital just in time. They were able to reattach it. Success in having full functionality is only about 50 percent but I defeated the odds. I love to prove people wrong.” Chris smiled at me and I returned a smile though it was forced. After knowing all he’d gone through, it was hard to smile.

  “I’m sorry you had to go through something so horrible.” I had the sudden need to be close to him. I leaned my head on his shoulder, my hand holding his with my thumb making little circles around the scar.

  After such a deep conversation both of us needed time to process. We sat there in comfortable silence for who knows how long until Chris finally broke the silence.

  “It’s almost time for dinner. Let’s head on home.”

  Chapter 7

  Sitting at the table to eat dinner with Director Applegate and Caroline was one of the strangest situations I’d ever been in. It was like getting a peek at something you weren’t supposed to be watching. I felt like an intruder observing as they chatted about her schooling and what her plans were for the summer. I was so lost in watching the two of them interact together that I almost missed when the Director pointed the conversation to me.

  “How are you holding up with this assignment? I’m sure you’re getting antsy by now just following my daughter around all day.”

  I took a sip of my water to wash down the bite of chicken before answering. “I suppose it's as good a vacation as any, although I’d prefer to be soaking up some rays somewhere in the Caribbean.”

  Director Applegate laughed and took a drink.

  Caroline reached over the table and grabbed a roll with a big grin. “Well we should be seeing at least a little bit more excitement coming up in a few weeks.”

  “What happens in a few weeks?”

  “It’s our annual Memorial day cele—.”

  “I’ve canceled the party for this year.” The Director’s tone was firm but with a hint of regret. From seeing how excited Caroline had appeared, I could understand why.

  “No. Why? We have this party every year, it’s my favorite holiday.” I used to see this as Caroline being a spoiled brat but the way her eyes glistened with unshed tears nearly broke me.

  “We will still do something here for just us.”

  “It’s not the same. Please, I’ve been trying to keep a better attitude about having a security detail and having to rearrange my life because of the threats but we haven’t heard anything in weeks. Maybe they’ve given up.”

  “I’ve already made my decision.”

  I had to bite my tongue. The Director was my boss. My job was to follow his orders but there was a pull in me to protect and comfort Caroline. To see her hurt so much over a little party her father had canceled was silly but there was something in the pain in her eyes that made my heart ache.

  Caroline cleared her throat, blinking to fight back tears. “If you’ll excuse me.” She sat her napkin in her plate and scooted her chair out before hurrying out of the room. The sound of her shoes on the hardwood echoed all the way up the stairs and into her room.

  “Sir, with all due respect—.”

  “Careful. Most of what follows those words are anything but.”

  “I was just going to say that Caroline had a point. We haven’t heard or seen anything in weeks.”

  “I’m not willing to risk it.”

  “She has had to deal with so much. Her life turned upside down by these threats. There is a fine line between protecting and smothering.”

  “I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe.” Applegate snapped and I knew I was pushing my luck to keep speaking but I couldn’t help myself.

  “As will I. But, safety shouldn’t be the only concern.”

  “I couldn’t protect her mother. I’ll be damned if I lose her too.”

  “I understand that you don’t want to lose her. It is my job to protect her but there is more to protecting than just being safe.”

  “What else is there?”


  “Happiness. I think we both can agree we want Caroline safe — and happy. Why not go on with the party as planned? Just up security on the premises. Invite the guys from work to the party as guests and backup.”

  Several moments passed in silence as the Director mulled over my suggestions — or contemplated the best way to kill me and dispose of the body for butting in when it comes to his precious daughter. I wasn’t sure which.

  “Okay. Contact headquarters and see if we can get some guys to volunteer to work security at the party. If you can get enough to sign on by tomorrow then I’ll make the calls to reinstate the plans.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “And go tell Caroline. I’m sure she’s too mad at me to let me in but she’ll talk to you.” He gave a sad smile. It was hurting him to disappoint his daughter. He might be this hardass director to me but when it came to her, he was just a father trying to protect his little girl.

  “Yes, sir.” I smiled and got up from the table to go find Caroline.

  As I got to Caroline’s door I could hear her quiet sniffles. Ah hell. She was crying. If it was one thing I hated, it was to see a woman cry. I softly knocked on her door but there was no answer. I knocked a little harder when her raspy voice finally answered.

  “Go away.”

  Like hell I was. I slowly opened the door and peeked inside. She was lying diagonally across her bed with her face buried in her pillow. Her body shook with silent tears. The quiet only broken by the soft sounds and her sniffling.

  I kept my voice low, not wanting to startle her, “Caroline?”

  “I said go away.”

  “You know I’m not going to do that. Not when you’re lying here crying. Talk to me.” I was hesitant to push the boundaries of being in her bedroom but I needed to be close to her, to comfort her.

  I perched myself on the side of her bed closest to her feet but didn’t touch her. “Why are you so upset over a party?” I needed to understand. When I’d first met her, I thought she was just a spoiled brat, upset if she didn’t get her way but over the weeks together, I realized there was more to her than that. She was frustrated at being so protected that she almost couldn’t live her life. I couldn’t imagine being raised that way and as much as she loved her father, she was beginning to resent him for it.