Up in Smoke (Crossing the Line, #2)(83)

She still favored her combat boots and crop tops, but two weeks ago, his mother had taken her shopping and created a monster. She’d come home with dresses and high heels and painfully sexy underwear he seriously hoped his mother hadn’t picked out, trying on all of her purchases for him with an enthusiasm that had stolen his ability to speak. Watching her blossom within a friendship with his mother made him so goddam happy, he hadn’t found a way to put it into words just yet. Erin never had to be anything but her beautiful, unique self, and they’d found an unlikely kindred spirit in each other. They’d both encountered difficulties in their past to come out on the other side with their spirits intact.

When Erin started to move against him in that way that signaled the point of no return, he pressed their foreheads together and let her draw oxygen. “You look so innocent in this dress. It’s making me crazy.” Difficult as it was, he forced himself to draw back the desire she stoked in him. It only got stronger by the day. The minute. “We’ll have some fun with that later. Won’t we?”

“I might have my middle name changed to fun.”

Her excited response did nothing to help his cause. His imagination was already running wild with possibilities for when they got home. Erin had not only embraced his tastes in the bedroom, she’d inspired newer, better ones. Just yesterday, he’d come home from the store to find her gone. Before panic could set in, he’d heard a gentle rap on the door. When he pulled it open, Erin stood on their doormat, wringing her hands. My car broke down across the street. Can I use your phone to call a tow truck, mister? He was now convinced she’d missed her calling as an actress, because she’d kept up the ruse so long and so convincingly, he’d been ready to move heaven and earth to f*ck her when the time came. She’d ended up facedown on the kitchen floor with her ass in the air, still calling him “mister” as he pounded into her like a madman.

Dammit, if he kept thinking about it, they would have to leave. And he kept her to himself too often to drag her away once again.

Suppressing his growing need, he jerked his chin toward the backyard full of cops they’d just escaped from. “How are you doing with all the people?”

“Pretty well, I think.” She dragged her fingers lightly down his arm, making his muscles jump beneath her touch. “Anyway, if anyone tries to corner me, I’ll just hop the fence.”

He smiled, secure in the knowledge that she was joking. “How many steps to the street?”

“I have no idea,” she whispered, giving him the same answer she gave him every day now. “All I need to know is if I jump the fence, you’ll come with me.”

“Damn right.” Connor leaned in to kiss her again. How could he help it?

After a slow-burning kiss, she pulled back. “I have to tell you something.”

She looked nervous, so he smoothed a thumb between her eyebrows. Didn’t she know by now there was nothing she could say that could hurt them? “What is it, sweetheart?”

“You asked me a while ago what I wanted to do with the money. Well, I decided.” She wet her lips. “I kept thinking about the schoolteacher…the one you told me about? The one who smiled every day and the children loved her?”

Connor nodded, unable to speak. What was she saying?

“I asked Polly to look into your military file. Find out the name of the village you were in when…the incident happened.” She seemed to be searching his eyes for a reaction, but he couldn’t give her one yet. He was too stunned. “It was easy from that point on since there’s only one school in the village. She…Ashira…still teaches at the school. I sent her half the money and the rest to the school.”

So many feelings were at war inside him, he didn’t know which to address first. Gratitude, awe, love for this amazing girl. There was another part of him that wished he’d done a better job convincing her to keep some of the money for herself. Convincing her she deserved it, that it might come tainted but if it was hers, it could never remain that way.

“I don’t know what she’ll do with it,” she continued. “Maybe she’ll give it to her husband. Maybe she’ll leave and find a better life. But if you saw the good in her, then I know it’s there.”

In the end, all he could do was grasp her face between his hands and attempt to fight the emotion clogging his throat. “Erin, I don’t know what to say.”

“You gave me a place to feel safe. You made me feel safe. I just wanted to pass that feeling on to someone else.” She turned her head and kissed his hand. The hands that were the first to touch her without pain. Thank God. “Connor, you freed me.”

The weight of his love for her closed in around him until all he could see was her, the center of his universe. His breath. His sustenance. “No, Erin.” He buried his face in her hair and inhaled. “We freed each other.”



Austin settled back against the brick wall with his newspaper, pretending to peruse the finance section. He’d gone with the reliable hipster businessman look today, one of his favorites because it only required thick black-rimmed glasses, a fake beard, and a unique suit. The suit in question was camel-colored, with an eagle embroidered on the breast pocket. He’d picked it up years ago at a thrift shop in London, knowing it would come in handy, but also because it appealed to his sense of humor. The mannerisms for this particular character were easy enough to carry out. Look bored, pretend you don’t notice everyone eyeballing your silly throwback attire, turn the newspaper page with efficiency. Try to impress on everyone passing by that you are interesting. You are special. But you don’t feel like talking.