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    Off-Limits
    Off-Limits
    Off-Limits
    Ebook53 pages51 minutes

    Off-Limits

    By Callie Cline

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Lydia doesn’t intend to get involved with Lee, her best friend’s older brother. After her last painful breakup, she’s determined to stay single –– and besides, he’s off-limits! There are several good reasons to stay away from him, and only one not to: she can’t deny her long-held attraction to him. What starts as a casual hookup turns into an addictive summer fling, with both of them beginning to understand that when autumn comes around, they’re going to have to decide what they mean to each other.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBryant Street Shorts
    Release dateMay 7, 2020
    ISBN9781094410029
    Author

    Callie Cline

    Callie Cline grew up in a small coastal town and was happy to return after ten years away, traveling and getting degrees in literature and creative writing. Now, she works in her hometown as an editor by day and a romance writer by night.

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    4.5/5

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    • 5/5
      I love the cover! Nice to read a story where the heroine is a POC.

    Book preview

    Off-Limits - Callie Cline

    Part 1: Fireworks

    Everyone claps as we trail off singing Happy Birthday at our own pace, and Ellie leans over the picnic table to try to blow her sparkler candles out. Her birthday falls on the Fourth of July, so every year, there’s a big party at her parents’ house, with all her siblings and cousins making the trip to the beach town and the grandchildren running around barefoot in the yard after the local parade. We’ve been best friends since we were 13, so I’m part of the family now, too.

    I lean down from behind her and hug her tightly around the shoulders. Happy 31st, baby, I murmur in her ear.

    She turns and beams up at me. This year will be great for both of us, Lydia. I can feel it.

    I hope she’s right. Thirty was a rough year for me, as I slowly disentangled myself from a toxic relationship that had gone on several years too long. But through it all, Ellie was there for me, gently encouraging me to move forward. I’ve spent more than one night with my head in her lap, sobbing and crying while she stroked my hair, poured me wine, and cracked jokes that somehow never failed to make me laugh, even through my tears.

    And now, on the other side of that trauma, I finally feel whole again. I don’t quite feel ready to start dating, but I’m slowly recognizing there are men out there that I could have fun with.

    Fun — something my life has been sorely lacking the past few years. Ellie and her boyfriend laugh at how surprised I am when I see them do something simple, like order dinner or choose a movie, without getting into a fight. Simple fun always evolved into an unavoidable fight with my ex.

    But to be honest, I’ve been proud of myself for how well I’ve adjusted to being alone. My house is peaceful now, and I’m so much more productive at work. The only time I get lonely is when dusk is nearing, and it’s time to make dinner — I haven’t quite gotten used to cooking for one.

    Now, it’s just me. But I have Ellie, I tell myself, smiling down at her. I always have Ellie.

    Section Break

    After cake, the kids and Ellie’s parents and grandmother drift away, leaving most of the siblings to toast the birthday girl. As has become a tradition over the years, we move to the round table in the greenhouse and crack fresh beers. Ellie’s dad built the greenhouse for her mom, Carol. It has beautiful old French doors and windows, and Carol, who has a magical green thumb, fills it with everything from golden tomatoes to vibrant geraniums and sweet jasmine. It’s fragrant in here, and the heat feels delicious. Even in July, this coastal Oregon town isn’t too hot for an afternoon in the greenhouse, the doors flung wide and the fan stirring the leaves.

    I end up between Ellie and her oldest brother, Lee. She’s the youngest of five, and she and Lee are the only ones who aren’t married with children. I first met Lee when Ellie and I were new friends, and he was twice my age. I do the math — that puts him at 44 now.

    Lee and I have flirted occasionally over the years, but I never took him seriously. As my best friend’s brother, he’s definitely off limits — not to mention way too old for me! He is cute, though. Secretly, I’ve always thought that. As Ellie’s sisters tell stories about their many childhood antics, I take in Lee’s intense blue eyes, his straight nose, and the golden two-day scruff on his jaw.

    He catches me looking and grins. So, Lydia, he says, under the noise of his siblings, how have you been? He lifts his brows in a look that is both sympathetic and playful. A few years ago, as we enjoyed drinks with friends at a bar, he made it clear to me that he thought I could do better than my ex. The

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