Page 18 of Rescuing Erin

“Oh my God,” Erin muttered, but thankfully hadn’t sat up.

“Almost over. You’re doing great.”

Swerving left again, I hit the Taurus, harder this time, he didn’t have time to recover before he lost traction on the paved road and went up on two wheels before spinning out of control. Pulling close to the bumper of the semi in front of me I waited until the very last second before veering back into the right lane as the two semis closed the gap, driving side-by-side, leaving no room for the car following us to pass.

“You okay?” I asked.

“My ears hurt. Are they still behind us?”

“One is stuck behind two semis at the moment.”

“The other?”

“Non-issue.”

“I thought Zane was crazy for renting you a Charger, now I’m thankful he didn’t chintz out and rent you a Pinto.”

“Years of experience. Never get behind the wheel of a slow car while on an op.”

“Can I sit up yet?”

“Not yet.”

The exit for State Road 2670 was coming up, and I merged right, taking the small off-ramp keeping my speed above eighty.

“Jesus, Mario Andretti. Warn a girl next time.”

Erin’s body rocked before she steadied in her seat.

“You can sit up.”

The first thing Erin did was look over her shoulder and out the gaping hole where the rear window used to be.

“Holy shit. They shot at us,” she said unnecessarily. “I mean, I knew they did. But, shit.”

Erin’s trembling hand was still holding my gun. Even though I knew she’d been scared, she’d held it together. I was impressed. I’d witnessed both men and women break down over less.

“You can put the gun in the glovebox.” It took her a few tries to open the compartment, she was shaking so badly. With the gun secured, I grabbed her hand and placed it on my thigh and covered it with mine. “I’m proud of you, sunshine.”

“Proud of me? I didn’t do anything but keep my head down and silently freak out.”

“You trusted me. And I don’t believe you were freaking out. Hell, you offered to go all Lara Croft on the bad guys and shoot their tires out.”

I was trying to make light of the situation, but now that Erin was out of danger the thought of her going full on badass was sexy as hell. And knowing she actually would’ve done it if I’d asked had my dick throbbing to life.

“What about all of our stuff back at the house?”

“Fletch and Truck will do a sweep and make sure there’s nothing of importance left out.”

“But we don’t have anything with us. You said we’re going to California.”

“There’s a go-bag in the trunk. I have everything we need. And what we don’t have, we’ll buy along the way.”

“Okay.”

Erin rested her head on the seat back but made no move to pull her hand away. Just like that, she trusted I’d take care of her even after I’d been mostly an asshole to her since I’d met her. I’d never had another woman have so much faith in me. It was a feeling that made my gut tighten. I wondered if this was what Leo felt when he’d saved Olivia. From the moment she’d laid eyes on him, she’d handed over her safety to him. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was feeling toward Erin, but what I did know was I liked having her next to me.

Chapter 7