“Now I wish I hadn’t asked.”
“I don’t feel trapped now,” she said, realizing she meant it. Not here, not with him. She stepped back and pulled the Tshirt over her head, leaving her standing before him in a bra and panties. His nostrils
flared,
muscular
chest
shuddering once. When his hands flexed at his sides, she thought he would touch her. She mentally begged him to, begged him to seek comfort in her. Instead, he dragged the dress over her head and fixed it over her curves in a series of jerky moves.
“Shoes?” He snatched up the ankle boots at the foot of the bed. She was forced to grab his shoulders for support as he placed them on her feet, one at a time. Task complete, he straightened and jerked his chin at her. “Before you insist on doing some girlie nonsense to your hair, it looks great. Let’s go.”
Bowen took her hand and pulled her from the room, barely giving her enough time to collect her purse off the counter.
Here she went again. “Not until you tell me where we’re going.”
He paused at the door, facing her slowly. “Do you trust me, Sera?”
His entire world seemed ready to crash and burn if she gave the wrong answer. That responsibility scared her.
If he placed this much importance on trust, her trust, what would happen when he inevitably found out her full identity as a police officer? What would happen when they had to go their separate ways?
Her throat started to close up, but she managed a nod. “Yes.”
Tension left his shoulders gradually.
“Try not to think about it so hard next time.”
“Try not to ask questions that require thought before I’ve had any coffee.”
He draped an arm around her shoulders, holding her close as he locked the apartment. “Fair enough. You like the beach?”
“Yes. I love it.” They walked side by side down the hall. “Is the beach kind of an escape for you, from being trapped?”
“Sometimes.” Bowen shrugged, the edginess returning. “Today it’s just a backdrop, though. You’re the escape, sweetheart.”
His words knocked the wind right out of her. The way he’d murmured it, almost as an afterthought, made it more meaningful. It proved it hadn’t been a line or a joke. Just pure, honest Bowen.
Not just the Bowen she wanted to save.
The Bowen she…wanted. Period. Oh, God, she’d fallen for him. The word “fallen” didn’t suit how she felt, though.
“Fallen” implied that she’d already landed, when her entire being still soared, gravitating toward him. Solid ground wasn’t even in her sight line. The practical part of her screamed bad news, but her heart only sped faster. After her investigation ended, could she walk away from him? Even thinking the words made her entire body rebel, hurting head to toe.
Bowen sent her a tentative smile as they reached the bottom of the staircase.
He squeezed her to his side so tightly, she could barely breathe. His eyes scanned the street as he hustled her to his car parked at the curb and opened the passenger-side door. The second she settled into the seat, he slammed the door closed behind her.
Obviously something had happened between last night and this morning that had him worried. He said he’d left the apartment to buy cigarettes. Had he run into trouble instead?
They drove along the parkway with the windows down, crisp morning air tunneling through the car in a wash of white noise. It wasn’t exactly beach weather, but she knew they weren’t going for the usual reasons. Would he tell her if she asked?
Who is the man I’m free-falling for?
The man who’d been so genuine with the offer to kill someone for her? Or the man who painted a halo over her head?
Bowen parked the car and they walked to a diner, ordering food to go.
They took their wrapped breakfast sandwiches and ate them on the boardwalk, looking out over the Atlantic. Seagulls called to one another; people passed behind them speaking mostly in Russian as the ocean crashed in soothing intervals. It occurred to Sera she’d seen and experienced more with Bowen in the last four days than she had in years. She didn’t know whether to be grateful or depressed by the thought.
“You’re thinking too hard again.”
Sera held up her paper cup of coffee in response.
He chuckled from his position on the railing. It didn’t escape her he had a view of anyone coming up behind her.
“When is the last time you were at the beach?”
She ate her last bite of sandwich as she dug through her memory. “When I was a senior in high school. Which is just sad, when you get right down to it.”
“Hmm. Who were you with?”
“A pack of nuns.”
He choked on a sip of coffee. “You make them sound like wolves.”
“Oh, you’ve met them?”
His crack of laughter drew the attention of some passing joggers. “That bad, huh?”
She collected their garbage and tossed it in the nearby garbage can. “Let’s just say, wearing a habit at the beach in ninety-degree
weather
doesn’t
put