Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
And he couldn’t forget the look on her face when she’d given him her reason for going alone. Since we’re not a couple, this is something I need to do on my own.
So hurt. And so very brave, pretending everything in her world was okay. He ran a hand over his burning eyes and glanced around the crowded bar, watching people dance to music from an old-fashioned jukebox.
Time crept by slowly.
A glance at his watch told him he still had a good stretch before he expected Erin to call to meet her back at the house, so he was surprised when he heard her voice. Sure he was imagining things, he turned to see Erin walk up to him, her eyes blazing with determination—over what, he hadn’t a clue. She was followed closely by Mike and Cara.
Mike stepped around his sister. “Got a minute?” He spoke before she could.
Erin narrowed her gaze. “You were just my ride. I don’t need you opening your big mouth any further.”
Uh-oh. Looks like brother and sister had had an argument.
“Mike, let’s go dance.” Cara tugged at her husband’s arm.
“In a second.” Mike turned to Cole. “Look, what I said at the hospital after Erin was shot? And the way I’ve acted since? I was out of line. Everything going on is between you two. Whatever happens, I won’t get in the way.”
Cole narrowed his gaze, wondering what brought on the apology, other than maybe Erin’s wrath over her brother’s feelings about him. “I don’t blame you for looking out for her.”
“We were friends a long time ago. Maybe when things settle, we could . . . I don’t know. Have drinks?”
Cole wasn’t one to hold a grudge. Especially when the other man had a right to his feelings. “Sure.” He held out his hand and Mike shook it.
“One more thing before I go. We ran down the trail on the gun that was used in the shooting.”
“Yeah?” Cole sat up straighter in his seat. “What’d you find out?”
“The weapon was stolen from the legal owner and used in a robbery last year. Guy’s out on parole. Says he sold the gun to a guy named John Brass, a drug addict who’d do anything to get cash for a fix.”
“Did they find him?”
Mike nodded. “So high it didn’t take long for him to confess to the shooting. Says a brunette hired him. She didn’t say why and he didn’t ask. Idiot didn’t get a name, either. She just showed him a picture of Erin and told him where to find her.”
Erin’s eyes opened wide.
Sensing her distress, Cole acted without thinking. He snagged her hand and pulled her close. “Did your people get a look at the photograph?”
“Didn’t have it anymore.”
“Shit. Where’s this Brass guy now?” Cole asked.
“Detoxing in a Bronx jail cell. They’ll take another crack at him in a few days, but I have a feeling we got all we could from him.” Mike scowled, his frustration evident.
“So whoever this woman is, she’s still out there.” Erin shivered.
Cole slid his hand up her shirt, along the soft skin of her back. From where she stood, with her back to her brother, nobody could see the private touch, which eased her trembling and pleased him. When she didn’t pull away, he was even more thrilled.
“We’ll get her. I promise you that,” Mike swore to his sister.
Erin nodded. “I believe you.”
Whatever problems the siblings had been having, it was obvious Erin trusted her brother. A part of him wished for that same faith, even as he knew he’d never deserve it.
“You okay for me to go?” Mike asked.
“I’m with Cole. I’ll be fine.” She glanced back at him, her eyes startling in their certainty.
Mike hesitated, as if he wanted to add something, when Cara stepped in. “I’m stealing my husband now.” She grabbed Mike’s hand and led him to the dance floor.
Erin waited a beat before turning to face Cole.
“So what brings you here? I thought you were having dinner with your family?” he asked.
When she’d bolted out of her parents’ house, she hadn’t had a plan. She only knew she needed to see him. Now she was here—and she still didn’t have one, so she fell back on her old standby.
Honesty. “I didn’t like how we left things earlier and I wanted to see you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You broke up a family gathering for me?”
A hint of . . . vulnerability mixed with pleasure flashed across his handsome face.
No more dancing around the issue. Erin drew a deep breath and nodded. “I did.”
He beckoned with a crook of his finger. “Come here.”
She stepped into the V of his legs, and without caring who was looking, she looped her arms around his neck.
His eyes opened wide. “What are you—”
“Shut up,” Erin said, and she leaned in close and kissed him full on the lips.