“Kira.”
“You were expecting someone else?”
Jin threw himself forward, crashing into her at full tilt.An oomph burst from her as he wrapped his arms around her hips and buried his face in her stomach.
The oshota guarding the door touched their synth armor where their en-blades were hidden.
Finn and Talon moved forward in unison to flank Kira protectively.Their faces hard as they eyed the oshota.
Dylan, the oshota Jin had appointed, appeared from the side to wave away the emperor’s people.
“Stand down, she’s not a threat.”The sidelong look he shot her contained a perceptiveness that Kira no longer found surprising.“To him, at least.”
Damn right.Not to Jin.
He was the one person who never need fear her.
Everyone else, on the other hand…
Of course, there were a few notable exceptions like Elena.
Ignoring their audience, Kira bent to hug Jin.“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Jin’s voice was muffled against her.“You too.”
It took several long minutes before he was willing to let go of her.When he stepped away, he swiped surreptitiously at his eyes.“It’s good you didn’t get yourself dead.I was worried since I wasn’t there to keep you from doing anything too stupid.”
“I’m not that reckless.”
“Say that again when you’re not fresh out of prison.”
Kira’s stare was flat.“One might argue that you’re a big part of why I was incarcerated.”
Jin’s dramatic gasp made Kira roll her eyes.
Same old Jin.
You could change the hardware, but the person inside remained as consistent as ever.
“You lie,” he declared with all the offended dignity of a seasoned soap actor.
“Do you really think I couldn’t have escaped if I wasn’t worried about you and your herky jerky act?”
Jin got a stubborn expression on his face.“You didn’t follow them over the balcony because you were doing damage control.I had nothing to do with it.”
“And how did you know what route Finn and Raider took to escape?”Kira asked pointedly.
His cheeks developed the slightest flush as his gaze wandered away from hers.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know—I think I can grow to like this version of you.It’s so much easier to tell when you’re lying,” Kira drawled.
Jin’s eyes flashed to hers.“No.”
“Yup.”
“Please tell me you’re joking.”
“I’m not.”Kira poked Jin in the forehead.“You may want to study facial expressions.Specifically, those related to lying.”
