Jason Cross her boss sat at her kitchen table going over the plans for the bed and breakfast. "These plans are so detailed oriented, sometimes I don't know how you do it."

Gabriella huffed as she took a sip of her wine. "I've been married to contractor for thirteen years who specializes in restoration. I use to do all this for him."

"Luck us to steal you away," Jason said with a raised brow. Jason was an attractive man in his early thirties, divorced with no children. Gabriella liked him and liked working for him at the Historical Restoration Center.

The evening had gone well. They had their spiel down to a science now, and so far the plans were just falling into place.

"Well, I'm still very new to all this. I'd never imagined handling so many projects."

"Is it weird working with him on the Seymour Manor?" Jason relaxed a little in his seat, we could always reassign this to Taylor. She has a good handle on the Seymour project as well."

Gabriella paused as she thought about it for a moment, "It's different. I don't think he's use to me being his project manager but I mean so far we've done alright."

Jason looked very pleased as he reached for his wine glass as well. "I just want you to be happy. You have a really good handle on things and I wouldn't want him to cause you any discomfort."

Gabriella let out a laugh, "Right, Troy discomfort." Gabriella began closing up some of her folders and sorting through the documents on the table. "He's an ass sometimes but it's never been anything I can't handle."

Jason nodded, "If you don't mind my asking, why a separation and not a divorce?" Jason let out a sigh as he lifted his hand to the back of his neck. "I mean; you seem to be happier, more in control and might I say you even look more stunning if that's even possible."

Gabriella smiled politely, "You're only saying that because you don't know about my secret stash of Ben and Jerry's Chucky Monkey. It's been addiction for a while, one I seem to be indulging in more than I would like to these days."

Jason laughed, "I'm more of a moose tracks fan myself. After the divorce I celebrated with an entire tub to myself, it wasn't pretty."

Gabriella smiled as then both chuckled. She put away the rest of their work leaving the kitchen table bare. Instead of getting up and leaving right away, Jason lingered, which seemed kind of strange. Like he might have some to say. Hopefully nothing about her work on their last project with the old library.

Gabriella waited, having no idea what he wanted to say now that couldn't have been said at any point this evening.

Then suddenly his expression changed slightly, and he seemed to move a little closer to her. She suddenly recognized the look in his eyes.

Luckily she heard a knock at the front door and her breath hitched. Ducking her head she turned away from him, "Oh that must be Troy and the girls," she said grabbing his brief case and handing it to him. "Thank you so much for stopping by with the paperwork on the materials."

Surely he wasn't thinking of her romantically. That was crazy. She wasn't even single. She was still married, even if she wasn't currently living with her husband.

And the man was her boss.

Jason seemed a little shocked as he took his briefcase from her, before he could say anything she hurried to the front door and pulled it open holding out her arms for Hailey and Hannah who greeted her with a big group hug.

"Right," Jason murmured as he began walking towards the door, "I'll see you think weekend for Prescott."

"See you then." Gabriella said watching as Jason walked past Troy was quietly standing just outside the doorway watching her with a quiet curiosity.

"Have a good evening," Jason murmured to Troy as he walked by.

"Same." It was Troy said, but the tension in his body said otherwise.

When Troy shut the door behind him she couldn't help but feel rattled and breathless and deeply confused. "Let's go get ready for bed," she announced leading the girls to their bedroom. "Did you have fun with daddy?"

"We went to see a movie!" Hailey said barely able to contain herself. "Daddy said we were the perfect date."

"Just like you," Hannah added as she skipped ahead.

Gabriella bit her lip as she followed the girls and quickly got them settled in. When she came back out to the living room Troy was standing at her kitchen table.

"Hi," she said wishing the blush would fade from her cheeks. "Everything alright?"

"Yep," he said before pointing to the wine glasses on the table. "Did you have a good time?"

Gabriella looked at him closely and for a moment she thought he looked kind of bristly. His features were a little stiff and his shoulders were tense. "What's wrong? We're the girls behaved?"

"No, the girls are fine," he murmured in a low voice that she recognized as suppressed impatience. "Everything is just fine."

"What's wrong with you?" she said giving him an annoyed look as she made her way to the counter to collect the glasses. She walked past him and towards the sink, reaching up she grabbed her self a clean glass from the cabinet and got some water from the sink. She felt suddenly very hot.

Troy didn't move. "Nothing is wrong with me. I had asked you a question and you completely ignored it."

Gabriella thought for a moment. "Oh that. I didn't mean to be rude. Yes, tonight went alright. Things are all set up for this weekend."

"And Jason Cross?"

She was leaning back against the counter, and Troy was standing far too close to her. Once again invading her personal space. And once again his tone was little tense. "What's wrong with you?"

Troy had one hand on the counter beside her, bracing himself as he stood just a few inches away from her. His blue eyes were intent on her face, and she saw his nostrils flare just a little. "You smell like him."

Gabriella gasped, mostly from shock and outrage but also with the faintest trace of arousal at the intimacy of the words. "What?'

"I said," he gritted out, edging even closer until the fabric of his shirt brushed against her arm and one of her breast, "you smell like him."

"Well what do you expect? I spent the evening with the man."

Something grew even tenser in his expression. "Did you?"

She knew him well enough to understand the resonance in his words. "What are thinking Troy?' she asked in a hushed voice, making sure her voice didn't carry past the kitchen. "What are you possibly thinking?"

Clearly Troy was also conscious of not raising his voice to be heard since his murmur was think, rough and soft. "I'd like to remind you of the fact that you're still my wife."

"And you really think I need to be reminded of that?"

His lips tightened into a white line. "I've seen the way he looked at you and I've seen the blush on your cheeks. We clearly interrupted something."

She sucked in an indignant breath and clenched her fist at her sides. Troy was still far too close. She could feel the heat radiating off his body, sense the leashed tension in his stance, hear the fast, uneven breaths he was taking. She was angry and defensive and hurt and excited, and she felt strangely close to him all at once. "He gave me a compliment. So what, someone isn't allowed to be polite to me now because I'm still you're wife?"

Troy made a guttural sound and braced his other hand on the counter, imprisoning her between his arms. He leaned forward, pushing her back against the counter and he rasped against her ear. "That man wasn't just being polite. You know that was well as I do."

She knew he was right about that. She'd been foolish in not recognizing what Jason was thinking long before now. But he didn't have to act like he thought she would actually respond to it.

Beneath her all her emotions was a familiar feeling building beneath her belly. She knew how to recognize it. Knew it was triggered by the proximity of Troy's lean, hard body, his familiar scent flooding her senses, his piercing eyes and thick voice.

She wanted him so much. She never stopped wanting him. Not matter what happened between them.

"Why are you acting this way?" she stiffened her back and tried to ease her groin away from Troy's hip since she was fighting the temptation to grind herself against it.

Troy eyes watched her carefully before he backed off and began making his way to the front door. "I don't like him," he murmured as he pulled the door open.

"Troy," Gabriella followed him to the door, "Wait."

He spun around so suddenly she stopped right in her tracks to brace herself or run the risk of smashing right into him.

Troy let out a low breath as he shut his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. His expression changing as he relaxed against the door. "Yes?"

Gabriella opened her mouth and then shut it. After a moment she opened it again. "The girls have a performance assembly later this week."

"Thursday at four," he nodded.

"Right," Gabriella nodded as she placed her hand gently on the door. "They would love to see you there."

"And I will be," Troy said with a small nod, he straightened up and for a moment she thought he might kiss her good night. She even hopped for it. But instead he just turned and left her standing in the doorway.

Troy leaned back at his desk as he looked over the paperwork. The work on Seymour Manor was taking up most of his time. It hadn't been intentional but the amount of work that was required on the old building was slowly beginning to pile up.

Bonus, Working with Gabriella these last few weeks had been the closet he'd been to her since she moved out. At the thought of it the image of Jason Cross standing in her kitchen last night made his vision blur with anger.

Troy wanted to tear something apart, but he had to stay leveled for the girls. Letting out a breath he dragged a hand through his hair. He did however owe Gabriella an apology for the way he'd acted later that evening.

The phone rang and Troy welcomed the distraction. "Troy," he greeted as he sat up at his desk.

"We have a problem," Sharpay said.

Troy let out a groan, "I'm on my way."

When he arrived on the sight Chad and others were already fast a work. They murmured hellos and some unnecessary teasing as he made his way into the Seymour Manor. He needed a distraction this morning, anything to get his mind off his wife and her boss.

He'd never understand why she wanted to work for him. She been tinkering around here and there on different projects. Helping Sharpay with the book shelves for the library, Helping Chad with some of the stained glass work. She'd even helped him project manage a time or two.

He wasn't against her having a job. He could understand it, the need to want to do something. But she had been doing something. She'd been raising the girls, keeping up with things at home and in her free time working on projects here and there. She'd never once mentioned she was unhappy or feeling oppressed.

She'd always seemed happy. Content. And then one day she was throwing a fit in kitchen because she gotten a job offer form Jason Cross.

Of all the people.

Troy blinding anger returned and he took a deep breath to soothe it.

Jason Cross was a serial womanizer. He'd worked on projects with him in the past. He'd heard the stories, heard him bragging about the latest hot little number. Even when he'd been married to Kelsi Nelson, he'd been wining and dining a secretary here or there. It was disgraceful. The moment she'd gotten the job offer Troy knew all too well what Jason was after.

He could hear her voice as clear as day even though the argument had taken place a year ago.

"Please?"

"No."

"What is the matter with you, you've worked with him. You said he was a great restoration advisor."

"Of course he is, but he's also a man."

She stiffened in annoyance. "So what because he's a man offering me a job, it can't possibly be because I'm any good at it."

"I never said you weren't good at it. Hell, I've offered you the same damn job for me."

"I don't want to work for you. I want something of my own. Maybe if I had something that was mine I wouldn't feel so lonely all the-."

"Lonely?" Troy said interrupting. "I'm right here, when the hell are you alone?"

"You know what I mean Troy," she pleaded. "Why shouldn't I look for a job? I've got two master's degree now and I've done nothing with them since we got here. Why shouldn't I look around and see if there's something I'd be good at?"

"Because you're my wife," Troy said in frustration. He'd been working all day, he was so tired. His eyes burned to stay open as he watched her standing there in their living room her lips pressed into that grim little stubborn frown. "What about their girls?"

"What about the girls?"

"You're planning to take this job and just leave them-"

"I'm thinking of getting a job, NOT abandoning our children on the street. Why the hell shouldn't I consider taking a job?"

Troy let out a grunt as he brought his hands up to his temple. "Of course you can consider getting a job. You know perfectly well I'm okay with that. Just not with HIM."

"I am taking this job."

"Gabriella you're priority should be our family not some wild dream that you want to chase around."

"Oh that's just rich coming from you." Gabriella shaking with frustration. "You're such a hypocrite."

Troy shook his head, the echo of her voice fading as he looked at the steps in front of him.

"What happened?" he asked looking at the four bottom steps that had been completely dismantled.

Sharpay let out a breath, "I got in early today and checked the condition of the front steps before they get refinished. Those bottom ones are hopeless. They need to be rebuilt."

Troy let out a low groan as he began crunching numbers and time. "Can we make them look consistent with the rest of the stairs?"

Sharpay's expression and half shrug answered the question. "I can do my best. I know a place no too far from here that sells reclaimed wood. I can head over there now, see what I can find that will match. Refinishing the steps will make them look basically the same."

"Yeah but basically the same isn't what Gabriella wants. She wants perfect."

"I'll make it as perfect as I can."

Troy nodded, "I know you will. Thanks. Turn in your receipts form the purchases, I'll make sure you get reimbursed."

Sharpay nodded as she walked around him and made her way out to her truck.

"There's coffee in the kitchen," Chad said coming from the back with a cup.

"I'll be on my way there in a moment," Troy said looking at the stairs in dismay.

He was just about to make his way to the back when he seen Gabriella walking up the front steps looking back at Sharpay getting into her truck.

"Um… where is she going?" there was a hint of panic in her voice.

Troy let out a sigh, "She was checking the condition of the stairs this morning and the bottom four steps need to be rebuilt. The wood just isn't salvageable."

"Oh no!" Gabriella let out a gasp as she eyed the mess behind him. "Not the beautiful, wide, ninetieth-century planks. New wood is going to look terrible."

"It's not going to look terrible," Troy said, using an encouraging voice he always used before when he was delivering bad news to homeowners. "We're going to use some reclaimed wood. After Sharpay's done, you won't be able to tell the difference."

"How long is this going to take?"

Troy shook his head, "I'm not sure. Once Sharpay gets the wood and plans out the work, I'll be able to give you a better time frame."

"Shit," Gabriella murmured as she walked deeper into the manor.

"We can do our best. But I can't promise you anything. There are a lot of things that factor in here."

"I know that," Gabriella turned to say him, "And stop talking to me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm your wife and not your project manager."

Troy rolled his eyes, "For your information, you're not getting special treatment here. If you were, do think I'd be telling you something you don't want to hear."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "I need to call Jason."

"Of course you do," Troy said with a low murmur. "You let me know what you guys decided to do."

Gabriella let out a long breath as Jason answered the phone. "We have a problem."

"Oh," his voice sounded disappointed. "Gabriella I-"

"It's the stairs, the bottom steps are completely useless. They're going to have to replace the wood. We're not even sure we can make the deadline."

"Oh," Jason's voice picked up. "The problems with Seymour Manor?"

Gabriella made a face for a moment unsure of the confusion, then she remember last night and faint blush covered her face. She'd almost forgotten about that. "I was hoping to get a more exact deadline than just this weekend?"

"Right," Jason voice had become all business at the flip of a switch and she almost envied the man for being able to do so. "Mr. Prescott is a busy man. We don't want him to pull out of the deal if he senses something is wrong. I'll get his schedule and see if I can buy us at least till Sunday. "

Gabriella nodded to herself as she looked back at the staircase. "Thank you Mr. Cross, I'll do everything I can to make sure we're ready by then."

The line when silent and Gabriella looked down at her phone to see that he'd hung up. No good bye, or words on encouragement. Just simply hung up.

"Hey," his voice came from behind her, he had just walked into the room as she'd hung up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong." She smiled at him, but it felt fake even to her. "Why would you assume something is wrong?"

He was smiling just a little and shaking his head. He stepped forward, easing her back into a small secluded room. "How many times do we have to have this conversation? I know you, remember? I know when something is wrong. You're all upset about disappointing you're boss by not having the work done when he wants it."

She frowned at him, fighting a warm sense of being known so well, so intimately, by this man. "If you already knew, why did you ask?"

"Because I wanted you to tell me."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Yes, it does. I want you to open up to me, be honest with me. That make perfect sense."

His face was very close to hers, and she was fighting a familiar swell of emotion, excitement, like everything in her like was pointed toward a moment that was almost here. She took a shaky breath.

"It's not your fault that the steps were bad," he murmured.

"I know that."

"Then why do you feel responsible?"

"Because I'm the one who is supposed to do this job."

"You're not the owner of the property. The original condition of the steps is on them not you."

"I know." She swallowed hard, her hands fisting a bit. She wanted to touch him, she wasn't sure why but being this close him made her want to reach out and touch him. Her whole body was trembling with the urge.

"But you still feel bad."

"They're going to be disappointed." Gabriella let out a sigh, "I hate disappointing people."

Troy almost smiled. "You don't seem to have a problem disappointing me."

"When have I disappointed you?"

"You disappoint me all the time, every time you almost give into your feelings but then remember we're supposed to be on this stupid break and pull away." His voice was hoarse, so incredibly appealing.

She sucked in a sharp breath, but it was from a growing need rather than indignation. "May I remind you that the feelings in which you are referring to are not appropriate for the work place?"

"We can play this game all you want." He stroked her cheek with his knuckles in that way that made her want to whimper. "You miss me."

She was panting now. Audibly. It was rather embarrassing, but she couldn't stop. "That's obnoxious and presumptuous."

"I'm obnoxious and presumptuous," he said with a little smile. "We can both agree to that. It doesn't mean I'm not right."

"It… doesn't …mean…" She had no idea what she was about to say or what she was trying to say. She couldn't look away from his, heated intense dark eyes.

"But your right," Troy back away from her pushing the door open behind him. "We should probably keep to those rules you like so damn much."

She looked up at Troy who had walked back into the living room in disbelief. He wrote something down on his clipboard and then turned to look back at her. "What did Cross say?"

"I got us until Sunday," she said with a small nod as she tried to smooth out the winkles in the top. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Troy looked down at his clipboard, his eyes quickly skimming over all the work and crew. "Sunday should be plenty of time if Sharpay finds the right wood by this afternoon."

Gabriella nodded again. "If there anything I can do, I-I'd be happy to help out."

Troy looked up at her again his eyes blank of expression. "You can make more coffee," he said before making his way out to the porch.

Gabriella let out a huff as she placed a hand on her temple. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. She rolled her eyes and made her way back to the kitchen.

Gabriella took the coffee pot over to the sink turning on the water and cleaning the pot. Her eyes looking out the tiny window over the sink into the yard where Troy just walked up to Chad with his clipboard.

"I can't do this without you Troy."

"You already have. Shit you moved out, took the girls and now you're working with Cross. Exactly what do need me for because from here, it looks like you've got everything covered?" Troy shifted on his side of the couch as he angry stared off into the distance.

Tracy Gold their counselor held up her hands. "Let's try using more "I" statements Troy."

Troy rolled his eyes as he looked back at the woman with a narrowed expression. "I think this is all bullshit."

"I understand what you're saying," Gabriella said slowly, working hard to keep her emotions under control. "But I can't do this without you. I know I act jealous and insecure. I know it wasn't fair of me to blame you for it. But it's one part of the whole picture for us. It's not something I can work through on my own. I can't fix this without you."

"Am I asking you to fix it on your own?" Troy's shoulders were stiff and his face was unraveling.

Tracy lifted her brown but before she could say anything, Troy let out a breath. "I don't understand why you think I've expected you to fix it on your own. I'm here twice a week to work through this with you."

Gabriella thought for a moment before responding. "I know you're here. I really appreciate it. I know you want to work through this as much as I do. But every time I try to explain how I feel or what wasn't working for me, I don't feel like you've really heard me."

Troy sat up straighter. "Of course I've heard you." His expression twisted slightly with impatience. "I've heard if over and over again for more than a year now. How many more times do I need to hear it?"

Tracy held her hand out, "Okay maybe you can explain to Gabriella what it is that you've heard from her about your marriage."

Troy took a ragged breath, "You left me because-"

"Remember you "I" statements."

Troy began again. "I understand that you left because you wanted more than what you had."

Gabriella shook her head. "I wanted?"

"You wanted to work. You wanted this job. You wanted me to spend more time with the girls. You wanted more independence. I get it. And I keep telling you that I'm okay with it."

"But your angry," she began. Then remembered her "I" statements. "I feel like you're angry about it, even now. Like you're just going to put up with me so you can have your wife back, but it's not really me you want."

Troy let out a low growl as he rubbed his face. "I don't care if you work. You never wanted to before we got married, but I don't care."

"I feel like you only see me as a wife and not as a whole person."

"What the hell?" Troy stood up. "I don't see how you can possibly say that after everything I've one for you."

Gabriella remained speechless as she stared up at him.

"I moved here because of you. You wanted to start a family and live in a family home with the stupid white picket fence. I've been dialing back on my career because of you. Losing money from my bottom line so that you can work this job with Jason. I have sacrificed everything because you wanted me to, because you didn't think you had enough. What else do you want me to give up for you? Exactly how much do you want me to suffer until you think I've suffered enough?"

That was there last session. Gabriella let out a long sigh as she watched the pot fill with coffee.

"There you are beautiful," Chad's voice made her straighten as she turned around and greeted him with a warm smile.

"Chad," she smiled. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine," Chad leaned on the door frame. "Troy said you were in here. Figured I'd ask you about those two beautiful girls of yours."

"There doing fine. They have school performance on Thursday if you and Piper want to come."

Chad smiled warmly at the mention of his own child. He'd just lost his wife in a car accident when she'd become pregnant with the girls, leaving him a widow and single father of a one year old. Of all her husband's workers she didn't mind Chad the most.

"Piper actually wanted to go on a trip to the book store soon. Would you mind if we took the girls?"

"Not at all," Gabriella poured herself a cup of coffee. "I'm sure they would love it."

"Alright well, I can pick them up around four and have the girls back by seven thirty?"

Gabriella nodded, "It's a plan, and in return. Next sleep over's at my place."

"Deal," he said with a nod.