UP IN SMOKE (Chapter Three)

CHAPTER THREE

Connor tossed his oversized duffel bag onto the hardwood floor and looked around his new apartment. The police department had rented two units on the top floor of a building in Logan Square where they would live rent-free as long as they were cooperating with the undercover squad. Apparently since Bowen and Sera had already set up home base independently, Derek had anticipated Polly and Erin sharing one remaining apartment, while he and Austin shared the other. The girls had seemed indifferent about the arrangement, quickly gathering their things and heading home to check out the new digs.

He and Austin had been a different story altogether. Neither one of them had cottoned to the idea of sharing space with a virtual stranger they knew next to nothing about, protesting rather loudly when Derek dropped the news. After his little stunt, Austin had turned out to be outspoken as hell, so Connor had just sat back and waited. Derek, needed at another meeting, had basically told them both to fuck off and live in a Dumpster for all he cared. Austin claimed he already had a place to crash, so Connor had taken the apartment for himself.

Not bad. Back in Brooklyn, he'd split time between a run-down one bedroom and his mother's dilapidated house in the Bronx when she felt too sick to be alone. He'd never lived in this much sunlight. It streamed in from several windows, even a skylight located just above the eat-in kitchen. The furniture they'd provided was functional, which was all he needed. Nothing flashy, just four white walls and a place to lay his head. Each bedroom was about the same size, so he took the one with a view of the street. That way, he could see anyone coming or going.

On cue, he saw Erin and Polly walking up the sidewalk. The giant cup of coffee in Polly's hand explained how he'd beaten them to the building. Erin stooped down and picked up a short fallen tree branch and lit the end on fire with a lighter produced from her pocket, holding it up like an Olympic torch and jogging in a circle. Without flinching, Polly reached over and doused the flame with coffee.

Connor shook his head. Jesus, how had he forgotten in the space of an hour the effect that Erin had on him? She was a hundred yards away and yet his body reacted like she was naked and straddling him.

Fuck. He shouldn't have thought of that.

Five stories down, Erin caught sight of him standing in the window and blew him a kiss.

Jesus. She'd be living right across the hall from him. Maybe he should have taken a page from Austin's book and looked for other accommodations. How would he concentrate with her so close? He'd made only the barest contact with her body and still he knew what she'd feel like. All flexible angles and smooth, supple skin. He'd seen right where he wanted to be that afternoon. Just beneath that patch of denim. He wanted to shove her legs open and bite her there. Make her sorry she ever flashed her sweet spot at him. Make her grateful she had.

Everything in between.

Connor stepped away from the window, wishing he weren't

the kind of man who hated the idea of two women carrying their own suitcases up the stairs. If he weren't, he'd step into the shower and jerk his cock to the fantasy he'd been harboring since leaving the station. Erin on her hands and knees on the conference room table once again. Only this time, she'd be facing the other direction as he fucked her silly from behind. He'd never heard her speak in anything but that throaty purr, but her satisfied screams somehow already rang in his head.