Page 79 of Crossing the Line

Everything Good

Paisley Grove

What’s that noise? Where am I? Why can’t I move?

My arm stretches toward my chiming cellphone, proving that I can move.What time is it?

As soon as Clive showed me to the door, Lake texted and asked,how was it?

I responded:It ended up okay.I’ll tell you about it in the morning. Sleepy.

She texted back:Mason’s here. Want to do lunch tomorrow?

And I sent her a thumbs-up.

So surely this isn’t Lake calling me so late—or early, depending on how one looks at it. But the chiming is annoying. I preferred the silence and being able to get much-needed sleep.

To stop the noise, I answer without looking to see who is calling. “Hello,” I say tiredly.

“PG.” Hercules’s voice enters my ear like a sigh of relief.

I drag myself up to sit against the headboard. “Hercules?”

“Hey,” he breathes.

“What do you want?” I sound cold, and that’s deliberate. Yes—I have to work at it. And I hate that I have to work at it. I should be naturally angry with him. I should end our call right this second. But I can’t. I need to hear what he has to say.

Oh God, help me, but I think I’m a fool in love with him.

Hercules sighs, and I can imagine him squeezing his temples the way he does when he’s anguished. “I know I’ve been MIA,” he whispers. There’s a frog in his throat like he’s getting sick or something.

But I’m ready to pounce. “By the way, Lauren showed me your marriage license yesterday. She’ll officially be yours on Friday. Congratulations.”Ooh, it feels good to say that.

“What?” he roars before I can say good night.

Every moment of my encounter with Lauren at the Blue Cherry comes gushing out of me. I have to catch my breath by the end of it.

“I can’t believe her. She’s desperate.” Then he says with assurance, “I am never going to marry her, Paisley. I need you to believe that.”

Eyes shut, I shake my head. I just don’t understand what he means to do about it. Their marriage is already set in stone. “I don’t know what to believe.”

“Paisley, I’ve been MIA because I’ve been working on something, and I’ve gotten my days and nights turned upside down. But I’ve made some serious progress, and I want to let you in on it. Are you working tomorrow?”

Oh, yeah, then there’s the matter of my job.“No,” I say with a sigh. “I quit.”

He’s silent for several seconds. “Okay, then, let me swing by and pick you up at around seven. I want to take you somewhere, show you something.”

I’m inclined to say no. I’ve lost faith in Hercules’s claims of never marrying Lauren. Maybe not, though. Deep down inside, I have a glimmer of hope. I also have a question. I know how sexually attracted Hercules is to me, and of course, the feeling is mutual. But even though there’s more than that between us, I refuse to give him one last roll in the hay before he skips off into happily never after with Lauren.

“Are you just trying to have sex with me?” I ask.

Hercules is silent for a few beats, but I maintain my resolve. I want to know the answer.

“No, Paisley, I am not trying to have sex with you. I promise, you willwantto come with me. You’ll want to see what I have to show you.”

* * *

How in theworld could I have fallen asleep during those four hours between when Hercules called and seven in the morning, the time he was supposed to arrive? I just couldn’t. I tried to make Hercules spill the beans, but he wouldn’t do it.