Breaking Boundaries (SEAL Team Heartbreakers Book 5) Read online

  “Julio won’t sue. That would jeopardize his job prospects if the company had to pay. What kind of issue did Warren start?”

  “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  “I’ve worked construction big and small since I was sixteen, Tom. You know I can do the job. My leg is not an issue.”

  “I know it’s not. I’ve got your back, Cal.”

  Then why the hell had he called him in here? Why wasn’t he going to the head office with this bullshit? If he lost his job over this guy—He wasn’t going to go there until it happened. Waste of time to worry about something he couldn’t control. But he was going to be watching his every step and making certain Warren had no grounds to give him trouble.

  Cal drew a deep breath and tried to wrestle back the rage. He would not be made a victim over some guy’s prejudice. He left the trailer before his temper was tried any further.

  He looked toward the front entrance of the site, past the turnstile security box positioned for workers to come into the site. The news vans parked there all morning were finally gone. He breathed a sigh of relief.

  He spotted Hector sitting on his truck, eating. Retrieving lunch from his own vehicle, Cal hiked himself up on the hood of Hector’s beat-up Ford and leaned back against the windshield beside him.

  “Everything okay?” Hector asked.

  “Yeah. Now the news vans are gone.” There was no reason to start a bitchfest with Hector. There was nothing he or the others could do about Warren.

  “They’re at Julio’s house. He said he was sort of tricked into answering some questions.”

  “Shit! I hope he left me out of it.” Cal studied his ham and cheese sandwich without appetite. He tilted his head back to study the misalignment of the steel beam the ironworkers were working into place topside.

  There were some days you were constantly trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. The workers above him seemed to be experts at that. And they were daredevils. They had to be to do what they did. Out of all the different jobs on a site, theirs was definitely the most dangerous. Though heights didn’t bother him, he’d never had any desire to do that particular job.

  As he watched, two workers monkeyed up the parallel beams high in the air. The crane lifted a fifteen-foot section toward them. The men worked in tandem to slide the ends into place between the two goalpost-like supports. Once positioned, they hammered in high-strength bolts to secure it. One man slid out to uncouple the beam, and the crane lowered the rigging to the deck below and then raised the next steel section.

  Finishing his sandwich, Hector lay back like he was sunning in a lounge chair and sipped his soup from a large thermos cup. “It gives me the willies to watch them, man. Seeing Julio dangling over the side of the platform damn near made me blow chunks.”

  “Me too. The only reason I didn’t was I thought he’d be pissed when he had to pick them out of his hair.” Cal was growing expert at deflecting talk about the accident. It was getting old fast. He wished everyone would just forget about it.

  Hector threw back his head and guffawed. “That would have been a sight. So who you bringing to dinner tonight at Julio’s?”

  He’d vacillated back and forth between the urge to call Kathleen and dread of calling. Telling her Jessica and Julio wanted her there gave him leverage. But he hadn’t wanted to ride that horse. If she went, he wanted her to arrive as his date. He tugged at the neckline of his T-shirt.

  He hadn’t had this issue before getting his leg blown off. In the past, he’d reach for the phone and call, and if he got turned down, he dusted himself off and called someone else. But right now there was no one else. Since the last girlfriend’s defection over his intimacy issues…her words, not his…it had been months since he’d even been interested in going out. He realized he put up boundaries, but a guy couldn’t leave himself so open to a woman that she could rip his heart out. Stacy had come close enough to doing that.

  Cal finished chewing a bite of ham and cheese, stuffed his sandwich back in the plastic bag, and jerked his cell phone from his pocket. He hopped down off the side of the truck, caught his balance, and stood with the phone in his hand. Shit, she’d probably turn him down because he’d waited to the last fucking minute. But he’d been rejected before. And survived. And he had a reason for asking her to go with him.

  “If you haven’t called already it’s too late to do it now, man. Women don’t like getting invitations at the last minute. They like to have their wardrobe planned out and know everything you’re doing.”

  Hector knew what he was talking about. He had a wife and four daughters.

  Cal found the number for the main office. He’d looked it up the night before. He pushed the button and listened while it connected and began to ring. Hector had a few other things to say about what women didn’t like and Cal threw up a finger to shut the man up. “You’re going to jinx me.”

  Hector chuckled.

  An operator or receptionist answered the call, and he asked to speak to Kathleen O’Connor.

  The phone rang again twice, three times. “Kathleen O’Connor.”

  She sounded a little preoccupied.

  “This is Cal Crowes.”

  A beat of silence followed by a shy, “Hello. How are you?” had his anxiety level dropping a little.

  “I’m good.” Shit. What was he doing trying to ask her out when they’d had a five-minute conversation and nothing else? Hell it wasn’t even five minutes, it was more like two. But she was already on the other end of the phone, and he had to man up and ask.

  “I saw the video on the news last night,” she said, before he could ask.

  He bit back a groan. “I don’t know who sent it to the news stations. I’ve been dodging reporters this morning here at work. They were parked outside the site when I got here.”

  “It was pretty dramatic stuff. You didn’t say anything about grabbing Julio by his safety vest until you could get hold of his hand.”

  “Well, at the time it was the only thing I could get a grip on.” He really didn’t want to relive the whole thing over again. “You didn’t look too bad in action either.”

  “Thank God no one knew who I was. Mr. Wiley’s already been in to check on me and make sure I’m not going to do any interviews.”

  That didn’t sound good. “I hope he wasn’t giving you a hard time.”

  “No, he just thanked me for responding so quickly, then told me next time to let the men handle things.”

  He could practically hear the seething anger in her tone. “You’re not pissed off at all men about that, are you?”

  “No. I’m very selective at the ones I’m aiming that at right now.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. Julio and his wife are having a big get-together tonight. His wife Jessica called me,” Two days ago. Why the hell hadn’t he called then? “She said she’d really like to meet you in person so she could thank you for what you did. I was hoping you’d come, too, as my date.” He paused and when she remained silent, went on. “I know I’m a stranger, but I thought you’d feel safe having dinner with them and about a hundred other people, so we can get to know each other.”

  “A hundred other people?” Amusement came across in her tone.

  “Julio has about twenty cousins who live here with their families, and half the crew will be there, too, with theirs. Since you’re new here, it will give you a chance to get to know some of the people who’ll probably be building the structures you design.”

  She remained silent for a moment.

  “It’ll be good food and good people. No pressure.”

  “That sounds like something I’d like. What time?”

  His shoulders fell. He hadn’t realized how tense he’d become, waiting for her answer. “Seven.”

  “I have an early meeting in the morning. I’ll only be able to stay a couple of hours. If I meet you there, you can stay as long as you like. What’s the address?”

  Was she giving herself a back door in case things went s
outh? The thought threw him, and his mind blanked. He asked Hector what the address was before giving it to her.

  “What’s the celebration about?”

  “They’re having a baby, their second, and after the scare Monday, they wanted to celebrate life.”

  “That sounds like a good idea. Throw out the bad and embrace the good.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’ll try to make it on time. I’m not familiar with the area, but I have a GPS.”

  “If you like, we can meet after work and get coffee while we wait to go to Julio’s. Then you can follow me there.” Why hadn’t he thought about that before? It wasn’t a good idea for her to drive unfamiliar streets in that area.

  “Thank you, Cal. I’d like that.”

  He mentioned a coffee shop close to her office. They made arrangements to meet there at six-thirty. He’d be able to fit in a shower and a change of clothes before they met.

  Relieved, he closed his phone and put it in his back pocket.

  Hector needled him, “You were sweatin’ bullets getting that date. I hope she’s worth it.”

  “She is. She’s beautiful, and brave, and she tried to run interference for me with asshole Warren the other day.”

  “To bad she wasn’t here today.” Hector’s expression went from sour to a smile. “Ah—the hot mama with the curves and the hair. If her skin wasn’t so fair I’d think she was Chicana.”

  Cal grinned. “She’s Irish. Her last name is O’Connor.”

  “I like my women with meat on their bones, too.” Hector waggled his eyebrows. “Gives you something to hold on to at night. My Carmela is soft and warm in all the right places.”

  “Whoa, Hector, way too much info.” Cal threw up a hand as though warding him off, but he grinned.

  Hector smirked. “You sure you can handle someone like her? I mean, she had bigger cojones than Warren. She was the one who went over the side to help save Julio while Warren was standing there with his thumb up his butt.” He frowned, suddenly serious. “Why is Warren on your ass?”

  Cal picked up the sandwich he’d stuffed back in its bag. “He thinks my leg makes me more of a risk on-site than other workers. He’s trying to goad me into a fight or figure out a reason to fire me.”

  “Mierda. If I didn’t already know about your leg, I’d never guess there was anything wrong.”

  Cal had worked hard to be as versatile as possible on the prosthetic for just that reason. And he’d had a wonderful physical therapist who helped him with it. Cal leaned against the front quarter panel of the truck and finished his sandwich.

  “Do you think this chiquita can help you with that?”

  Cal shook his head. “She’s new to the company. She was just hired a couple of days ago.”

  “It’s good you asked her out because she’s beautiful, and not for what she can do for you. That way she won’t have to rip your balls off later. You need to get out more, my friend.”

  If she liked him, that was the plan. If she could hang over the side of a platform to help save a guy, dating a guy with part of a leg missing shouldn’t bother her at all.

  *

  Kathleen hung up the phone and returned her attention to the sheet of paper taped to her drafting table. That moment on the site on Monday had wound its way through her mind like a song, over and over. The wind had kicked up, and Cal stepped close to block the dust billowing up and tucked her hair behind her ear. Every motion seemed protective and—

  She’d responded to him instantly. That had never happened to her before.

  It took more than polite behavior to impress her. Having eight brothers, she was used to their rude, crude, and obnoxious jokes and behavior. But they could be tender, caring, and strong, too. Like Zach had been that morning. She was spoiled by their protection and love, since she was the baby in the family. Too bad they still insisted on treating her as if she was two instead of twenty-five.

  Her thoughts shifted back to Cal. His quiet strength had stood out from the moment they dragged him up on the platform still gripping Julio. He’d kept his cool then, and maintained his composure when Paul Warren suggested he secure the safety netting. Combine that with his modest avoidance of the limelight and she was…very interested.

  Zach would be shocked she was going out. He’d think she’d accepted just to prove she was ready to move on.

  Too late now. She had a date. Even though it was just for her to meet Julio’s wife. Her heartbeat picked up and nerves played castanets in her stomach. She couldn’t allow herself to respond too eagerly. She had to maintain her distance.

  Men weren’t monogamous by nature. The clues to understanding that had been in her brothers’ numerous conquests and in Lee’s infidelity. Even two out of her four married brothers had strayed from their spouses, one ending in divorce and the other was still in marriage counseling.

  So did that mean she would one day have to accept that her husband would stray, no matter how much she loved him? Would she have to worry constantly about if or when it would happen?

  All of this inner agony over the first date she’d accepted in six months since her breakup. Maybe she wasn’t ready to date. But it was just a get-together with friends to share a meal. She and Cal wouldn’t be spending all that much time together in private.

  Needing the distraction, she shifted her attention back to the project. She’d been thrown into the deep end of the pool the morning after the accident, and had been in meetings for two days about the commercial structure she and the others in her pod would be working on.

  She felt in her element with a Rapidograph pen and straightedge ruler in her hands. Every architect had his or her own way of working. Some worked out their design directly on the computer. Others drew them old school onto large sheets of drafting paper by hand. For now, the computer could wait until she had the perspective drawings done.

  She’d do the plans on the computer in AutoCAD and turn them into three-dimensional renderings using the software. But on paper she plotted how the structures would look when being approached from different directions. She’d wandered the site with the others, taken photographs, studied the survey diagrams and prospectus, and talked for hours with the client about what kind of structure they wanted.

  She finished her drawings, then moved on to setting up the parameters of her AutoCAD program. She was so intent on her work she didn’t hear anyone approach until he cleared his throat.

  Thinking it was Edward or Dave, she didn’t turn. “Need something?”

  “I’ve come to apologize for Monday.”

  She straightened from her hunched position over the computer and swiveled her desk chair to look at Paul Warren. “Oh, hello, Mr. Warren. No reason to apologize. We had a difference of opinion. It happens.”

  Paul pulled the spare chair out from beneath the counter and sat down.

  Kathleen bit back a sigh. She carefully saved her work before swiveling around to face him.

  His smile was sheepish. “We didn’t get off to a very good start. I’d like to take you out for a drink to make up for my bad behavior.”

  Feeling more wary than reassured by the offer, Kathleen said, “That isn’t necessary.” It wasn’t she who deserved an apology, but Cal Crowes. “We’re coworkers, and we’ll probably have other times when we don’t see eye to eye.” She shrugged and searched for something to talk about that would head off another attempt to ask her out. “How’s the breezeway coming along?”

  “The crew will be putting the roof on tomorrow.”

  “It’s a beautiful design. I loved the optical illusion created by the side supports when standing at either end. Whose design was it?”

  “It’s Hillary’s.”

  “I’ll have to tell her how impressed I am. I looked at some of her framed designs and the pictures of them yesterday. She’s very talented.”

  “Yeah, she is.” His phone rang and he looked at the screen. “I have to go.” He rose from the chair. “I’m sure we’ll cross swords�
�uh—paths again soon.” He grinned.

  She smiled, relieved he’d been called away. “Thanks for stopping by.”

  “Later.” He threw up a hand and was already hitting redial before he turned away. He strode out the door, the phone pressed to his ear.

  Kathleen returned to her computer.

  “Was Paul making a second pass?” Hillary asked from behind her.

  She was starting to like the open concept of the room less and less. It lent itself too easily to interruptions. “Only a half-hearted one.” She swiveled her chair. “He’s not really interested in me any more than I am him. I think it might be he’s trying to live up to the reputation he built for himself.”

  Hillary’s brow wrinkled, a thoughtful look crossing her face.

  Considering the woman’s interest in Warren, Kathleen wondered if possibly she had a thing for him. How hard would it be to love someone and watch them date so many other women? She knew exactly how she felt, but at least Kathleen hadn’t known until after she broke it off. Hoping to lighten the other woman’s load, she said, “Don’t worry, you won’t have to return the bet money.”

  “Good thing, since I already spent it on beer and hot wings.”

  “And I enjoyed every one of them. Thank you. Oh, and I love the design you did for the breezeway. It’s truly beautiful.”

  Hillary smiled. “Thanks. I was really lucky the company who commissioned it was open to paying a little more for what they wanted. It has more steel in the construction than their budget called for. Sometimes you can get away with adding a few elements to a design, but not often.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Hillary wandered in closer, and when she reached for Kathleen’s drawing, Kathleen laid a hand on it, holding it beneath the sheets she was using to do computations. “I’m not finished with the design yet. I want it to be a surprise.”

  Hillary frowned, then smiled, though it appeared a bit stiff. “Okay. Now I’ll be curious as hell until I get to see it.” She wandered back to her own cubicle.