Boiling Point (Crossing the Line #3)(14)

“Consider yourself lucky.”

The waitress approached the table and refilled Polly’s tea mug with steaming water. Polly gave a grateful nod and refocused on Erin, who was silently mouthing pancakes at the server. “What are you doing out of bed this early?”

Erin shrugged. “I heard you leaving and wanted a short stack. Slipped out without waking up Connor.” Grinning, she rubbed her hands together. “He’s going to hate that.”

Polly lifted an eyebrow. “And that makes you gleeful?”

“No, I just like the reminder that I’ve still got it.”

“I don’t think your ability to escape undetected was ever in question,” Polly said, wishing she had another tea bag. Just another reason to want to punch Austin in the nut sack at the first opportunity. “Although I’m sure Connor wishes you were slightly less adept at sneaking out.”

“He understands. Most of the time.” The blonde’s forehead wrinkled. “Plus, when I give him the slip, he knows I’ll let him tie me up later to make up for it.”

“You know, that was far more information than I needed.”

Erin craned her neck to look at the kitchen, obviously searching for her pancakes. “You probably already hacked into his bank account and saw the multiple trips to Home Depot.” She produced a lighter from her pocket and flicked on the flame. “J’accuse.”

“Are we speaking French now?” Polly hid her laugh with a cough. “I suppose anything is better than Russian.”

The waitress set a plate full of pancakes in front of Erin, eyeballing the still-lit lighter as she did so. “Anything else?”

“Yes, please. A Lumberjack Slam to go. For my man.” Erin looked smug as she reached for the syrup. “Coincidentally, ‘lumberjack slam’ is the name of what he’s got planned for later, so don’t come a’ knockin’.”

“I’ll do my best to resist.”

They sat in silence while Erin took her first few bites of pancakes, until the blonde finally spoke, gesturing toward Polly with her syrupy fork. “You’re still wearing your fake eyelashes from last night.”

Polly didn’t so much as flinch. “Last night?”

Erin chuckled. “Okay, if that’s how you want to play it.” Another bite of pancake. Another long chew-filled pause. “I heard two sets of footsteps in the hallway last night and saw Austin carrying you inside. That’s the real reason I’m here so early. I was…worried. Not a good look for me, Banks.”

Every once in a while, Polly was reminded that Erin was far more astute than she allowed the world to believe. Usually, when Erin decided to drop that knowledge on someone, it amused Polly. Or gave her an odd sense of pride. But being on the receiving end of that perception sucked. It also made her wonder what else Erin knew. “Did you talk to him?”

A slim hesitation, before Erin started to sing under her breath. “Not last night, but the night before…twenty-four robbers came knocking at my door…”

“Erin, stop evading.”

She stabbed her fork into the pancakes, leaving it standing upright as she fell back against the leather booth. “This is why friendship is bullshit. I wish I’d never met you.”

“Fair enough. Just tell me what you know.”

“I didn’t mean that. It was the syrup talking.” Erin flipped the lighter over in her hand. “Austin made me set off your smoke alarm the other night. I don’t know why, so don’t quiz me. He said you were in trouble, so I did it. And it was fun, if you want to know the truth.”

Polly’s molars ground together until pain shot through her jaw. God, the embarrassment just kept on giving. After last night, how the hell hadn’t she put Austin at the scene of an unconscious Slim? Polly was bombarded with realizations, flying toward her from all corners. He’d been following her longer than one night. Did he really think she was in danger? How could he when no one was privy to Polly’s plans but herself? “What did he promise you in exchange?”

“A Ruger.” Erin pouted. “And thanks to my new, inconvenient conscience, I won’t be able to accept it. So thanks.”

“Forgive my lack of guilt.” Polly stuck her pinkie into the mug of tea, wishing it were hot enough to burn. “Next time you see an unknown man carrying my passed-out body down the hallway, alert the cavalry, will you?”

“It wasn’t an unknown man. It was Austin.”

“How did you know it was Austin? He was wearing a disguise.”

Erin ran her tongue across the front of her teeth. “The way he looked at you.”

Polly’s hand crept up to her throat before she forced it down into her lap. “How is tha— Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“Yes, you do.” Erin squished her lips together and wiggled them like a fish. “Remember prison?”

Discomfort invaded, but she squashed it back into her mental filing cabinet. “It’s hard to forget.”

“Iknowright?” Erin made a humming noise. “You know those days when other prisoners would get paroled? Everyone else has to stand in the yard and watch them get loaded onto the bus…on their way to freedom.”

“Yeah, I remember those days.”

Erin nodded as the waitress dropped off her to-go order. “That’s how Austin looks at you. Like maybe you are the freedom and he’s still stuck in the prison yard.”