like her, walled off from the rest of the world. She’d never let anyone close, and somehow he fit next to her most intimate thoughts and hidden emotions. And she liked him there.
“Luck?” her mother’s raspy voice carried an anxious tone over the line.
“We’re good here. Better than. Your daughter is a damn genius. She found Popov.” A smile curved one side of his reddened mouth.
“How?” Cara Lee snapped like no ghost she’d ever heard.
“A conversation she overheard between Popov and Harlow yesterday in person in her condo,” Luck explained.
“How did that happen without you knowing?” she growled.
“Don’t yell at him.” Rin snapped the words with a force that silenced them all for a pile of seconds. Luck’s gaze narrowed, but amusement clung in his crooked grin. “He had no way to know I’d seen a text to Nate that made me suspicious enough to snoop after I should have left for work. Besides, I’m not his burden. I’m my own responsibility.”
His quiet delight vanished with his smile. “That’s not your call, Rin.”
“Mom, tell him I’m not his mission anymore,” Rin demanded.
“It’s not her call either,” Luck whispered. “I’m not protecting you for her.”
“Then who the hell are you doing it for?” her mother hollered.
“Me,” he said. “I’m protecting her because I want her…safe, cared for.”
Rin looked at her feet in total shock at the conviction in his timbre. Her grandparents had protected her as much as they could. They were family. They tried to make up for the absence of her mother. What did he have to gain from protecting her?
As if he’d heard her thoughts, his pointed finger pressed over her heart. He held it there until finally she met his gaze. Luck cupped her cheek. So much emotion channeled through his intense gaze and that simple touch. Rin molded her hand over his and held him close.
“I’ll take care of Popov,” her mother said. “You two stay put. Do you hear me?”
“Yes.” Luck’s thumb hovered over the end button.
“Damien Luck,” Cara Lee scolded, “you remember what I said to you.”
“Yep. You remember I said no promises.” With those words he ended the call. He tossed the phone into the open trunk and cradled her other cheek in his hand.
She noticed the lightest sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of his nose. Those tiny dots twisted her durable heart like a clown balloon, changing the unfeeling organ into a squeaking, fragile piece of plastic he could crush under his boot. And though she’d honed the instinct to run at the first hint of such a liability, she tilted her chin and lost herself in his clear eyes.
“No one…has ever stood up for me.” The small creases on his lips bunched. His jaw worked and he swallowed as though struggling for composure. “I haven’t needed it for a long time, but you…” His grip urged her forward. “You make me want things I’ve never needed. You make me weak and strong at the same time.”
His mouth lowered and brushed her cheek with tender reverence. Those soft lips kissed her chin, her brow, her nose, as though she were fragile. In his arms she was and at the same time, she was powerful too—just like he’d said.
The emotion had her shifting, dancing uncomfortably in her shoes. He released his hold and stepped back, a pained expression drawing his beautiful face.
“What didn’t you promise her?” Rin asked.
“You don’t really want to know the answer to that question,” he warned.
“Try me.”
He stood, broad chest only inches from hers, and smirked. His taste still lingered on her lips and he mocked her.
“I’m not a child,” she goaded. “You can’t be any older than me.”
“Street wise, I’m forty, shorty.”
“And real world?”
“You’ve got me by a year, old lady.”
“So, give,” she ordered.
“Fine. She warned me not to go after Nate and not to fall in love with you.”
The first part she could see, but the second jerked
“Luck?” her mother’s raspy voice carried an anxious tone over the line.
“We’re good here. Better than. Your daughter is a damn genius. She found Popov.” A smile curved one side of his reddened mouth.
“How?” Cara Lee snapped like no ghost she’d ever heard.
“A conversation she overheard between Popov and Harlow yesterday in person in her condo,” Luck explained.
“How did that happen without you knowing?” she growled.
“Don’t yell at him.” Rin snapped the words with a force that silenced them all for a pile of seconds. Luck’s gaze narrowed, but amusement clung in his crooked grin. “He had no way to know I’d seen a text to Nate that made me suspicious enough to snoop after I should have left for work. Besides, I’m not his burden. I’m my own responsibility.”
His quiet delight vanished with his smile. “That’s not your call, Rin.”
“Mom, tell him I’m not his mission anymore,” Rin demanded.
“It’s not her call either,” Luck whispered. “I’m not protecting you for her.”
“Then who the hell are you doing it for?” her mother hollered.
“Me,” he said. “I’m protecting her because I want her…safe, cared for.”
Rin looked at her feet in total shock at the conviction in his timbre. Her grandparents had protected her as much as they could. They were family. They tried to make up for the absence of her mother. What did he have to gain from protecting her?
As if he’d heard her thoughts, his pointed finger pressed over her heart. He held it there until finally she met his gaze. Luck cupped her cheek. So much emotion channeled through his intense gaze and that simple touch. Rin molded her hand over his and held him close.
“I’ll take care of Popov,” her mother said. “You two stay put. Do you hear me?”
“Yes.” Luck’s thumb hovered over the end button.
“Damien Luck,” Cara Lee scolded, “you remember what I said to you.”
“Yep. You remember I said no promises.” With those words he ended the call. He tossed the phone into the open trunk and cradled her other cheek in his hand.
She noticed the lightest sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of his nose. Those tiny dots twisted her durable heart like a clown balloon, changing the unfeeling organ into a squeaking, fragile piece of plastic he could crush under his boot. And though she’d honed the instinct to run at the first hint of such a liability, she tilted her chin and lost herself in his clear eyes.
“No one…has ever stood up for me.” The small creases on his lips bunched. His jaw worked and he swallowed as though struggling for composure. “I haven’t needed it for a long time, but you…” His grip urged her forward. “You make me want things I’ve never needed. You make me weak and strong at the same time.”
His mouth lowered and brushed her cheek with tender reverence. Those soft lips kissed her chin, her brow, her nose, as though she were fragile. In his arms she was and at the same time, she was powerful too—just like he’d said.
The emotion had her shifting, dancing uncomfortably in her shoes. He released his hold and stepped back, a pained expression drawing his beautiful face.
“What didn’t you promise her?” Rin asked.
“You don’t really want to know the answer to that question,” he warned.
“Try me.”
He stood, broad chest only inches from hers, and smirked. His taste still lingered on her lips and he mocked her.
“I’m not a child,” she goaded. “You can’t be any older than me.”
“Street wise, I’m forty, shorty.”
“And real world?”
“You’ve got me by a year, old lady.”
“So, give,” she ordered.
“Fine. She warned me not to go after Nate and not to fall in love with you.”
The first part she could see, but the second jerked
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