Page 102 of Breaking the Rules
“Travers here isn’t my only buddy in law enforcement,” Micah said, taking a sip of his soda. “Let me make some calls.”
“Dial fast,” Xavier warned him. “We’re almost out of time.
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Roz had a four-course Italian dinner sent over to the house that evening, and they all gathered around the massive dining table. Ten of them around the table laughing and talking as if lives didn’t hang in the balance. They told stories of childhoods and movies and missions and life over bottles of wine and plates of lasagna.
They felt like a team to Waverly, almost like family. All these people coming together for her. She’d spent almost her entire life feeling alone, facing obstacles by herself. And to have all these men and women who were willing to go head-to-head with an enemy for her? It hit her in the heart. The lives and livelihoods of so many people were riding on her getting this right. The responsibility weighed heavily on her. She owed them all so much more than she’d ever be able to repay. But she vowed she’d find a way.
Kate winked at her across the table, reading Waverly’s mind as she’d always been able to. The woman always had her back, and Waverly decided that as soon as this mess was done, she was sending her on an all-expenses paid vacation to wherever Kate wanted to go.
After dinner, Malachi decided not to spend the night so he could stay close to anything that went down in the field office. When she watched him leave, Waverly closed her eyes for a moment.
She tried to zone out with Kate, Petra, and Dante while they watched reruns ofGilmore Girls, but her mind kept running through the plan.
When Xavier came up behind her and nuzzled her ear, it was a very welcome distraction. “Come with me,” he whispered. “We’re going to go have some fun.”
“Now?” She followed him upstairs to their bedroom. When he only studied her outfit rather than stripping her out of it, she looked down, too. She wore jeans and a fitted black sweater in the softest cashmere.
“What?”
“Just making sure you can move. Go find some shoes that you can walk in.”
“I take it your version of ‘fun’ doesn’t involve sex?” she asked, slipping on a pair of sneakers.
“Consider the first part of our date foreplay. Bring your gun,” he told her.
Well this was going to be interesting foreplay, she decided.
They took the Escalade, and before they’d left the driveway, Xavier was reaching for her hand. She looked down at their linked hands. How quickly things had changed between them. It had taken Xavier a matter of days to reawaken feelings she thought were long dead. Waverly knew the truth now. She’d loved him then and had never stopped. For better or horrible, her heart belonged to Xavier Saint.
“So what’s with the sudden craving for fun?” she finally asked. “Shouldn’t we be hunkered down with the rest of the team preparing for tomorrow? This isn’t exactly your style.”
“I can be fun!” Xavier said with a fierce frown.
“Can you?” She was mostly teasing. Though Xavier was many things—invincible, brave, gorgeous, powerful, dark—fun just wasn’t what came to mind first. It wasn’t even in the top ten. “Don’t be mad, X. You can’t possibly be everything, can you?”
“I’ll let you be the judge of that,” he said, still looking vaguely annoyed.
Twenty-five minutes later, she was still turning it over in her head when Xavier pulled the Escalade into the parking lot of a long, squat building the same color as the desert that surrounded it on all sides.
“Harry’s Guns and Shooting Range?” Waverly asked, reading the sign. “You’re taking me shooting?”
“Gotta make sure you can handle your piece,” he winked.
“I handle your piece just fine,” she said dryly.
“Angel, there’s nothing ‘just fine’ about the way you handle my piece.” He slid out of the driver’s seat, and Waverly followed him to the back of the SUV. When he lifted the hatch, she just stared.
“Did you bring an entire arsenal?” she asked, taking in the dozen neatly stacked cases packed in the back.
“Angel, you haven’t seen anything yet,” he said with a steamy look.
She felt the warm glow spread from her belly. Would she ever get used to the way he looked at her? She hoped not.
Together they carried the cases to the darkened storefront. Xavier, his hands full, kicked lightly at the door. Almost instantly, a light turned on in the back. Waverly could just make out a shadowy figure shuffling toward the door. The shadow jingled keys in the lock and pushed the door open.
“Evening, Xavier.”
