Page 123 of Crossing the Line
But it didn’t bring a smile to his handsome face. Nor did the beautiful summer bouquet from Xavier’s family that waited for her on the pool house’s kitchen table.
She sank down on the couch and let Xavier fuss over a glass of water for her. She wasn’t about to admit it, but even walking short distances exhausted her. The doctors assured her it was temporary but also warned her to take it sloth-like easy for a while. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the couch cushion and listened to the blissful silence. No beeping monitors, no worried visitors, no vitals checks by the nurse.
Xavier set the glass down in front of her as well as a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup and then just stood there looking at her. Nerves jittered out of him. He looked gaunt, haunted. Like a man who hadn’t ate or slept in days.
She patted the cushion next to her, but he shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets.
Waverly knew something was wrong. A queasy anxiety rolled through her stomach. “Where is everyone?” she asked, breaking the silence.
“I told them to give you some time to settle in. You haven’t been alone in since… since before. I thought you’d like some time to yourself to get settled.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly. As distant as he was keeping himself, he still knew her. And knew she’d be suffocating under the constant watchfulness of others.
“So, I’m going to go,” he said, briskly. But he made no move toward the door.
She took a settling breath. “Okay, while I’m settling, why don’t we settle whatever’s made you turn into the Invisible Man? What’s going on?”
He must have been waiting for the question because the words rushed out of him.
“I almost got you killed.” He said it flatly as if he’d felt every emotion in the gamut and was now empty.God, she knew that feeling well.
“Xavier,” she said firmly. “You saved me.”
“You trusted me, and I failed you. I let you down,” he argued dispassionately. His mind was made up, but about what, she wasn’t sure.
“You shot and killed the man who was trying to execute me,” she said evenly.
Xavier unfroze from his spot and began to pace. “He never would have had the chance to get to you if I had been doing my job. But I wasn’t. I let my personal feelings get in the way, and I missed the trap. I walked you right into it.”
“You didn’t want me to go to the club in the first place. You were worried that something like that would happen.”
“And even expecting it, he still got past me.” There was feeling now. A simmering anger.
Waverly carefully pushed to her feet, but Xavier stepped away from her. She crossed her arms against the chill that was settling over her.
“You saved my life. I’m alive because of you.”
“Don’t you get it?” he snapped. “You wouldn’t have been in this situation if it weren’t for me. I almost cost you your life because I was so blinded by lust and anger—”
“So it’s lust now?” It was her turn for a cool, empty tone.
“You do things to me that I can’t handle. You make it so I can’t function,” he said.
“Make up your mind, X. Is it your fault or mine?”
He was reaching. She recognized the fear and wished she could make it go away for him. He glared at her floor, still avoiding looking directly at her.
“Xavier, how many cops were there in that club? How many FBI agents? Yet it’s your fault and your fault alone?” She reached for him, but he shrugged her off.
“You trusted me to keep you safe, and I failed.”
“I am trusting you not to walk away, X. We have something here. You are the only person in my entire life who ever made decisions based on my best interests, Xavier.”
“Don’t guilt me into staying,” he snapped. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe it’s time you start making your own decisions?”
She winced at the anger and truth behind his words. “I thought you understood.”
“I did. I do. But I’m not going to be your new jailer, the next person that you live your life for. When are you going to stand on your own two feet?”
