Risking it All (Crossing the Line, #1)(27)

“Person. We prefer altar person.”

“Unbelievable.” He couldn’t stop himself from pulling her more securely against his side. For the first time since he could remember, he felt comfortable.

At ease. Even knowing she was only staying with him long enough to get the goods on Hogan didn’t matter. He let himself trust the gut feeling that she felt something, too. He chuckled when he noticed a woman in the second row craning her neck to get a look at him.

“You see that lady in the green jacket…

the one with white hair?”

Sera nodded. “The gawker?”

“Like recognizes like.” He just barely blocked her elbow from connecting with his stomach. “That’s Mrs. Cormac, my fifth-grade teacher.”

“No way.”

“Oh, way.” He began massaging her palm with his thumb. “There’s a reason she doesn’t look happy to see me. I once put a live chicken in her desk.”

She slapped a hand over her mouth, but not quickly enough. Her clear, tinkling laugh sailed past her lips, drawing everyone’s attention. None of them looked remotely happy about the interruption. While Sera hid behind the yellow program they’d picked up on the way in, all Bowen could do was shrug and give them all his most apologetic smile, teeth and everything. Apparently his apologetic smile was a little rusty, though, because it only seemed to piss them off more.

“She’s just so happy to be here,” he called, making Sera bend at the waist to hide her face between her knees.

“Please, continue.”

They managed to make it through the rest of the Mass without any more outbursts. Bowen found himself enjoying the hour-long service. Not that he listened to a word the priest said, but sitting there in the daylight, his arm draped

across

a

smiling

Sera’s

shoulders, he let himself imagine doing it every Sunday. Having that certainty, that routine. Knowing she would be there to sit with him, letting him hold her. Going home with him afterward without question, because it was her home, too. Not just a guest anymore. In his apartment or his life. Permanent.

Could he bring her into his world—to stay? If a miracle happened and she stuck around after the dust settled, could he rest a single second? Sera would be his vulnerability. A way to get to him.

Not safe. Never safe. No, he’d have to change for her. Change into what, though? He didn’t know how to be anyone else. Sera rested her head on his shoulder and his throat went tight. He could learn. He could learn to be someone else, do something else, if it meant keeping her. He’d do anything.

After it ended, they walked back to his apartment, only stopping to pick up bagels and coffee. He had business to deal with, but it could wait until tomorrow. Sera didn’t have to work tonight and although spending the remainder of the day with her alone in his apartment would be an incredible test of his will, not spending time with her sounded much worse.

As they climbed the stairs leading to his apartment, she squeezed his hand, drawing his attention. “Bowen?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you paint a halo over my head last night?”

He sighed. “Yeah.”

When he tried to keep walking, she pulled him to a stop just before they reached his door. She started to say something, but surprised him by going up on her tiptoes and kissing him instead. It started as a peck. But when he curled a hand around her wrist and felt her pulse racing out of control, his good intentions deserted him. Fisting her shirt, he tugged her close and let his tongue explore her perfect texture, slow and deep. A little whimper jumped from her mouth into his, making him hungry to hear it again.

Louder. God, her tempting body was rubbing against his, lighting him up like a pinball machine.

He needed to let her breathe, but wasn’t willing to let her go, so he released her mouth in favor of sucking at her neck. Her skin smelled like his soap and f*ck, he loved that. It made his cock swell in his pants, the realization the same object had touched both of their bodies. He wanted her walking around smelling like him all the time. Not just his soap. Him. All of him.

Sera’s fingers tugged at his hair, the hard points of her nipples visible against the material of her shirt. “Why did you take me to church just to turn me right back into a sinner?” He bent her back over his arm so he could rake his teeth over her covered nipple. “You could take me to Mass every day for the rest of my life and I’d still be the kind of guy who would finger you in the back row.”

“Bowen, take me inside. I want…”

He drew her upright and pressed their foreheads together, unable to resist the urge to bite and drag her plump bottom lip forward. “What do you want, Sera? I told you, no f*cking.”

“What we did last night.” She closed her eyes and he immediately missed them. “Can we do that again?”

Just like earlier when she asked him to take her to church, he only had the ability to say yes. He suspected that would be the case no matter what she asked.

Bowen, scale the Empire State Building.

Bowen, take me to Mars. Bowen, make me come. Yes, yes, yes.

“Come here, sweetheart.” He trailed his hands down her back to grasp the taut cheeks of her ass. With no more encouragement than that, she twined her legs around his waist, trailing kisses on his face as he walked them to the apartment door. Before he could open it, however, the door swung wide.