Page 20 of Breaking the Rules
“Here?” Xavier asked incredulously.
Kate popped her head between them from the back seat. “Trust us. Would we lead you astray?”
“Yes and have on multiple occasions. You’re just dragging me here to give me food poisoning and get rid of me,” he grumbled.
“Man up, Saint,” Waverly taunted him and slid off the seat. They chose a picnic table close to the outdoor fire pit that was covered with a blackened metal cage that held dozens of chicken breasts over open flame.
“How do we order?” Xavier grumbled next to Waverly.
Kate patiently explained the system. People sat, chicken barbecued, and then everyone ate the same thing at the same time.
Waverly enjoyed his discomfort. It put her back on slightly more even ground after letting him talk her into seeing her wounds… and then after. He’d held her, and as hard as she tried to resist relaxing into him, she’d done just that. Her body still recognized his as her mate. Just like his kiss from the day before, everything physical between them was still as devastating and confusing as it had always been. But the difference was she knew better this time around.
There couldn’t be a working trust when all they had was a physical attraction, even one as ruthless as what they still shared. She just needed to keep him at a safe distance until she could shake him loose back in L.A.Ifshe was ever recalled. Her phone had been painfully silent for days now. Nothing from Dante, nothing from Petra, and nothing from the studio. No answers, only questions. And no one to trust.
She knew Xavier was looking for his own answers. She’d heard his phone calls, seen him firing off messages. He was looking for Dante, and as much as she didn’t want Xavier to get involved, she needed those answers. She’d deal with the consequences of his involvement later.
Three paper plates laden with chicken, rice, and coleslaw magically appeared before them as did beers and waters. Waverly made a grab for one of the waters and slid her beer to Xavier.
He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I knew the party girl image was fake.”
She shot him a glare and focused on her plate, and for just this evening, the three of them pretended they were normal. No wounds. No worries. No painful pasts. Just three adults enjoying the best barbecued chicken that Belize had to offer.
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She watched the palm trees dance in the hot Belizean breeze from the balcony off her room and plotted.
Waverly had been strictly forbidden from contacting any resources typically used by the studio. And the lack of contact was starting to chafe. They claimed it was to help sell her cover, but Waverly was sure they were keeping her on ice for a different reason. It had been nine days since the incident. And as beautiful as Belize was, she needed to get back to work.
Tomorrow was her self-imposed deadline. Ten days without answers, without contact, without instructions meant she would be returning to L.A. on her own and quite possibly stepping onto an unknown battlefield.
She needed answers, and right now, the only one doing any digging was Xavier, and he wasn’t sharing. There was one other person she could call, but that would be sticky, very sticky.
For half the morning, she debated the merits versus the consequences of asking Xavier what he’d found. He couldn’t force information out of her—at least not legally. But maybe she could give him just enough to protect her secret life.
Waverly found him working at the peninsula in the kitchen with a direct line of sight to the stairs to her room.Always working, always watching, she thought.
She gave herself one more second to reconsider, but she was out of options. “I’m going for a walk on the beach. Want to come?” she asked.
Xavier’s brows shot up. “You’re willingly inviting me?”
“You’ll just follow me and creep me out and generally ruin the peace of a walk on the beach. So you might as well do it next to me instead of ten paces behind.”
He shut his laptop and stood. “I’m all yours.”
Waverly slid on sunglasses and ignored his veiled entendre.
She called out to Kate who was working on her room’s balcony as they left. Kate waved and looked only a little suspicious.
He looked sexy as usual. He wore a pair of navy blue shorts and a short sleeve button down worn open. She figured it was on purpose. Xavier was well aware that she had no willpower when it came to his chest and abs… and other parts. He was barefoot, and the stubble had turned into a full on beard that was impossibly hot. She wondered what it would feel like against the soft skin of her neck.
Get it together, girl,she warned herself. Wandering off into sexy daydreams about Xavier offered up nothing but trouble.
Waverly waited until they were out of sight from the house and plodding north on pearl white sands. “I need to know what you’ve found on Dante,” she said without preamble.
“I need to know how you got shot,” Xavier responded.
She’d expected it, the tit for tat, but it still irked her. “You first,” she offered.
