Risking it All (Crossing the Line, #1)(39)

“To see if you’ll leave.” His hands clenched and unclenched on the rail.

“Once you know I’m just a trained attack dog.”

“Would you let me leave?”

“No.” Stormy gray eyes found hers.

“No.”

In her old line of work, the ER had been a place where income brackets and political differences didn’t matter.

Making people better, that’s what mattered. This need to care for Bowen went so far beyond a calling. It couldn’t be controlled or reasoned with. It was necessity. Sharing his aches wasn’t a burden, but a privilege. He’d just proven beyond a shadow of a doubt how vastly different their worlds had been growing up. How different they were still. She didn’t care anymore if her pity was unwanted, though. She needed to touch him.

At the exact moment she launched herself from the bench toward Bowen, he dropped from the railing and met her halfway, their bodies colliding. His arms banded across her back, crushing her to his chest. Her chin fit just right into the notch of his neck. They held each other and swayed for a while, ignoring the curious looks of people walking past. She could only hold tight and hope the simple act of her being there helped in some way.

Suddenly, Bowen’s body started shaking. It alarmed her at first until she realized he was laughing. “What?”

“You’re not even going to believe me.”

After everything he’d just told her?

“Try me.”

He gripped her shoulders and turned her around slowly. “Don’t gawk, Ladybug.”

“I don’t gaw—” She never finished her

sentence.

Walking

down

the

boardwalk,

looking

righteous

and

militant, was a pack of nuns. “No way.”

“Way.”

She dropped back onto the bench in a fit of laughter, Bowen watching her with an amused expression. Sera hid her face in her hands, hoping the nuns would pass by quickly, but somehow knew Bowen wouldn’t be able to let that happen. And she was right. As the nuns drew even with their bench, he let out a loud whistle.

“Sisters.” He leaned back on the railing like a lazy cat and threw them a wink. “You’re looking extra lovely today. Put in a good word with the big guy for me, would ya?”

As Sera buried her face back in her hands with a groan, she swore she heard one of them giggle.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN


I want to stay just like this forever.

With Sera leaning against the railing in front of Bowen, wind lifting her hair off her shoulders, carrying her scent up to his nose. If only he weren’t shielding her back with his body on the off chance someone decided to take a shot at her, it would be perfect. An ache sprang to life behind his eyes at the thought of her being hit, falling to the ground, while he stood there helpless. It was fast becoming his worst nightmare, one replaying itself over and over since this morning.

Connor hadn’t followed them, he’d made sure of it. But he still didn’t plan on taking any chances with Sera’s life.

What conclusions had the guy drawn from what he’d seen? If Bowen had judged Connor correctly, he didn’t miss a thing. His other judgment, that Connor wouldn’t do anything to harm Sera after she’d saved his life…he wasn’t so sure about that anymore. Working for a man like Hogan, hell, being related to him, would harden a man over time. To go from the military to street muscle meant he’d done something to fall far. Despite his good gut feeling about the guy, Bowen had never trusted him. He didn’t trust anybody. But now, after that look Connor had given him as he drove past, he’d graduated to a direct threat.

He’d been frantic to get her out of his neighborhood. Then as they drove down the parkway, he’d experienced the pressing urge to keep driving. Past Coney Island, out of Brooklyn. If he thought she wouldn’t object, he might have actually done it. After seeing Connor this morning, he’d almost called Troy back and begged him to come get Sera out. To put her in a safe house somewhere no one could find her; screw the precious ledger the commissioner wanted. Then he’d realized what that meant. It meant they’d take her away from him. Forever. When it came down to it, would he keep her in jeopardy just to keep her in Brooklyn a little longer?

God, he didn’t know. The thought of not having her within reach caused nausea to rise in his throat. She was heaven propped against his chest, such a contrast to the cold metal of the gun at the small of his back. Two sides of the same coin. Good and evil. Which was he?

When Bowen heard the food stands and amusement park rides open behind them, he took her hand and walked her toward a warehouse-size building in the center of the attractions. With the beach getting busier, he wanted to get her indoors.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“Yes.”

He squeezed her hand in thanks, trying not to think about what would happen to that trust when she found out he was keeping such a huge secret from her. As soon as the four walls of the massive video arcade surrounded them, a little bit of his tension faded. “How do you feel about air hockey?”

A mischievous smile played around her lips, making him want to kiss the breath out of her. “Oh, I feel pretty good about it.”