Manhattan Flame (A Bridge & Tunnel Romance Book 2) by Mira Gibson

live?”
    Taken aback, she stammered, “Like ten blocks south on Amsterdam,” wondering all the while if he expected her address.
    He seemed to do the math on the general proximity to his precinct and mentioned, “I don’t live far from there.”
    “Am I in danger?”
    His eyes snapped to meet hers, but whatever he was preparing to say wouldn’t come. After a long moment, he told her, “I’ll walk you home.”
    As they rose from their respective sides of the booth, Tasha thanked him for the beer under her breath, and he gestured she ought to go ahead of him.
    He stepped in behind her as she passed, his hand finding her lower back. His touch was delicate, almost airy, and as she walked along the aisle soon his hand wasn’t there.
    She held the door open for him, as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. A slight glance over her shoulder and their eyes met.
    They started down the street and he hugged in close, his hand at times brushing up against her lower back as if he were compelled to guide her along. And it wasn’t lost on Tasha that he was walking between her and the rush of cars—an old fashioned gesture meant to announce that she was his lady. Had he let her walk on the outside, closest to traffic, it would mean she was up for grabs.
    Her grandmother had taught her a lot before she’d died.
    “Where are you from?” she asked, as they paused for a light.
    His lip curled into a smile, as he glanced at her sideways. “Here... what do you mean?”
    “You were born and raised here?”
    “Not in Harlem, but on Staten Island. I come from a big family,” he explained, as he ushered her through the crosswalk.               A taxicab was chomping at the bit to cut them off, but Kevin held his palm up.
    When they safely reached the sidewalk, the cab whizzing by behind them, he went on, “I’ve got a brother over at the precinct in Morningside Heights, a couple firefighter brothers, all older, by the way. I’m the baby of the family. We’re all cops and firefighters, but we've got a priest in the mix so...” He shot her a smile when their eyes touched. “There’s some redemption in my future.”
    “Ah,” she said lightly. “Wish I could say the same.”
    “Hey now,” he cut in, again resting his hand at the small of her back as they came to another light—she liked that he was a fast walker like her. “If you don’t need redeeming, you don’t need a priest.”
    “What did you do that needs redeeming?” she asked, as they started across the street.
    He frowned, glancing across the avenue as if buying time to compose his response.
    “It’s this precinct I work in... maybe.”
    “Maybe?”
    He was shaking his head, as they came to her block.
    Naturally, and in many ways surprising herself for how casual she was acting around him—maybe Kevin was just easy to be with—she arched her hand up, meeting his chest with the back of her fingers and mentioning, “This is me.”
    He paused, turning towards her. “I don’t know why,” he continued and for a second, based on the way he was searching her eyes she thought he might say something bold about how he felt about her... She wasn’t sure she could handle that so soon, but was let off the hook when he finished his thought. “But these cops... they lose sight of the law after a while. What was once black and white turns gray...”
    “You’re referring to Reilly?”
    “I’m referring to a lot of them.” Again, he gazed off at the avenue, the cars speeding by, the flow of pedestrians breaking free from the subway stop a block off, spilling out onto the sidewalk at a hurried pace. He returned his eyes to her and asked, “Do you live alone?”
    She looked over her shoulder at the building she’d called home for longer than she could remember. “Yup,” she said softly, walking to the door and feeling him trail closely behind her.
    When she turned, facing him, Kevin was standing a breath away and tilting his head ever so slightly. It