equipped to make a man like him happy?
Even as the insecurities mounted, one fact continued to make itself known. He wasn’t giving her up. There was such overwhelming comfort in that, it cocooned her like a warm blanket. If he could see her in the throes of a full-blown panic attack, accept her jealousy, her faults, and still want her, maybe he truly meant it. He wasn’t giving her an avenue of escape. But would this be the first time ever she didn’t want an escape?
“Pancakes,” she muttered, crossing the street toward a Denny’s. At the curb, she pulled up short. Sitting beside the window inside the restaurant was Polly, all by herself, looking exhausted. Erin sauntered through the entrance, ignoring the hostess to take a seat across from her teammate.
“Come here often?” The mug paused halfway to Polly’s mouth, but she didn’t react otherwise. Erin studied her, wondering what she was doing up this early. Probably not an epic mental meltdown and a near breakup, unlike a certain someone.
Polly set her coffee down on the table with a plunk. “Being that I just moved here from Los Angeles, no. But the food isn’t shit and they leave me alone, so I might make it a habit.”
Erin studied her. Was that glitter on her neck? “Late night?”
That earned her a look that said back off. “I could ask you the same. I assume Connor didn’t object to the roommate situation?”
“Nope. But I blew him anyway just for good measure.”
Polly laughed, that girlish laugh that was unexpected every time. “And he didn’t even offer to make you breakfast?”
Erin signaled the waitress for coffee. “Morning afterglow isn’t really my thing.”
“Shocking.”
The waitress appeared with a menu and coffee. Erin waved it away and ordered a tall stack of chocolate chip pancakes. “So how does working with a computer land you in prison?”
“When you hack into the White House Twitter account.” She sipped her coffee. “And you tweet screenshots of email correspondence between the vice president and his mistress.”
“Hot damn.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “I was paid. I couldn’t give two shits who’s banging who. Just needed to pay my rent.”
Erin nodded once. “Did they go down, too?”
“Who? The vice president? You’ll have to ask his mistress.”
Her mouth curved into a smile. She’d thought company was the last thing she wanted this morning. She’d been looking for space. Room to think. But talking to Polly wasn’t half bad, either. Considering she didn’t have a single friend to speak of, nor had she ever wanted one, that realization was surprising. “No. The person who paid you. Did they do time?”
Polly shook her head. “Uh-uh. Just little ol’ me. Three cheers for our evil justice system.”
“I’ll drink to that. The evil part, anyway.” Erin took a healthy swallow of coffee, sighing in appreciation as it warmed a path all the way to her stomach. “The coffee isn’t shit, either.”
The other girl leaned forward. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you…how did you escape Dade Correctional? From what I’ve read, security in that place is tighter than a duck’s ass. But there’s no details about your method of escape anywhere.”
Erin felt a tingling in her spine. “How did you know I was in Dade?”
Polly stared into her coffee cup. “I collect information. It’s something I do without thinking.” She brushed her short black hair away from her face. “Sometimes I forget people see it as a violation.”
Erin wasn’t sure how to feel. It’s not as if she ever held back when someone asked her what she’d done to get prison time. Armed robbery. That one time she’d set a police car on fire. Most of her past was an open book. It was the other, more personal remnants of her past that weren’t open for discussion. Except maybe with the voices in her head. Things that weren’t part of public record. No, there was something else causing the tingling that had moved to the back of her neck. Other people taking an interest in her, asking questions because they were curious, not because they wanted to interrogate. That had seldom, if ever, happened in her life. Yet in the last forty-eight hours, two people had tried to get to know her better.
It made her feel…significant.
She picked up a spoon and ran the smooth metal down her cheek. “First time was a cakewalk. Dade staff wears these green scrubs, like a light olive color. Ugly as sin. Ours were white.” When Polly nodded with interest, Erin had the insane