Up in Smoke (Crossing the Line, #2)(75)

Austin and Polly both burst out laughing. He and Bowen exchanged a speculative glance.

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose and cursed. “What the hell, Bannon?”

Fuck if he knew. But he would support Erin. She’d proven herself to be a valuable member of this group and he’d damn well have her back if she’d made a call that would help Sera. Even if it went against basic orders not to be seen while they were undercover. He hated the fact that she might have just thrown herself into a dangerous situation, but he felt marginally better knowing Sera, a damn good police officer, was there with her.

“This…is who you’re meeting for lunch?” Stark’s voice. There was no mistaking the blatant heat in his tone. He sounded almost gleeful. “When you said you were seeing someone, I assumed—”

“I’d be a man?” Erin was closer to Sera and her wire now. “We get that a lot.”

Polly slow-clapped. “Well played, O’Dea. You are so getting that recorder planted today, Captain. Can we say distracted?”

Derek started to reply, but was cut off by the unmistakable sound of a kiss. Erin and Sera had kissed? Connor and Bowen exchanged a distinctly uncomfortable look.

Austin let out a hoot. “This shit is finally getting interesting.”

“Shut up,” Connor and Bowen shouted at the Brit.

“Lunch sounds great,” Erin said with a smile in her voice, silencing the van once more. “Where are you taking us, Mr. Treasurer?”



All right, so she wasn’t completely cured. That kiss with Sera had stung like a son of a bitch, but she’d managed to disguise her shock as arousal, which had probably worked in their favor. To be perfectly honest, she kind of liked knowing Connor was the only person it didn’t hurt to touch, to kiss, to allow access to her body. The wickedly sexual side of her he’d woken, this side of her that liked being dominated, wanted to give him that honor. For a man like him it would be the ultimate high, knowing his woman could stand only his touch. Maybe it was wrong or f*cked up that she’d found a way to be happy about her affliction, but it made her feel secure somehow. She didn’t have to be cured completely. There was no pressure. She could still be Erin, but she’d been given an extraordinary gift to go along with all her screwy qualities. Connor. His hands, mouth…heart.

Right now, she needed to focus on the task at hand, though. That day at the courthouse, when she’d witnessed the wedding between Bowen and Sera, she’d fallen in love with them both. Not in the way she loved Connor. Nowhere close to that consuming or life-changing. But she couldn’t discount the feeling that these two new people in her life had given her hope, possibly even helped her heal. They’d proven that being dealt a shitty hand didn’t prevent you from folding and finding a new game. They had all done it, but Bowen and Sera had found their pot of gold at the end of a shit rainbow. No way could she sit by and let Sera go into something on her own. Let Bowen go insane with worry. These people had the unfortunate luck of being her friends now, which meant she would go to the wall for them.

Joining Sera undercover hadn’t been as spontaneous a decision as she’d made it seem. Okay, the timing was a little abrupt, but she’d already been planning on lighting a fire under this investigation. When things took too long, she got antsy. That morning, she’d come to the conclusion that Connor would pay a visit to her stepfather that night. Her plan had been to plead with Bowen to go with him and make sure he didn’t do anything crazy, so she could get Sera alone and plot without the men around to cramp their style. Honestly, they took protectiveness to another level. Did she like Connor wanting to keep her safe? Yes. Would she always try to find a way around it? Also yes.

Okay, maybe her plan wasn’t foolproof. Bowen being sent along to play the level head? Funny ha ha. But she hadn’t seen another choice. When this opportunity to help Sera had come along, doubling as a distraction for Connor? She’d jumped on it. Tomorrow she’d come up with another idea. If it meant signing over the money to Luther, she would do it to keep Connor out of it.

Sera sat in the front seat of Maxwell Stark’s car laughing politely at his lame-ass jokes. The guy was good-looking, she could admit to that, but it was in a weekly eyebrow wax appointment kind of way. Too pretty. Nothing like the rugged ex-SEAL she would have to deal with later. Damn. The idea of dealing with a perturbed Connor didn’t exactly seem like a hardship. Maybe he would—

Focus.

Erin draped her arms across the back of Sera’s seat and played with the ends of her friend’s hair. “You still haven’t said where we’re going. Is it a surprise?”

Stark barely managed to stop at a red light in time, his eyes were so focused on Erin’s fingers. “I, uh, thought we could head to my house. I’m always being hounded by photographers downtown…figured this would be a nice break.”

Break. Right. Erin smiled. “Sounds…intimate.”

Sera smiled at her in the rearview, embracing the act. But there was tightness at the corners of her mouth, probably because the team, including Bowen, could hear everything being said. She hoped Sera realized they would have to separate at some point so one of them could search the house for the elusive Mr. May. Ever since she and Connor had brainstormed that theory yesterday, she hadn’t been able to get it out of her head. If he wasn’t there, they would plant the listening device, make an excuse and leave. If he was there? She’d play it by ear. And trust that Derek would have Chicago PD descending on the house if trouble presented itself.