Page 18 of Crossing the Line
Glancing down, she saw that she had a death grip on his jacket.
“Sorry.” The word came out a hoarse whisper. She forced her fingers to unwind themselves, and then he was shutting the door, separating her from the chaos outside. In the seconds it took him to walk around to the driver’s side, she tried to get her breathing under control. She didn’t need Xavier to know how freaked she’d been.
Still, she felt steadier when he slid into the driver’s seat and eased away from the curb. She even managed a wave through the glass as they pulled away.
“You okay?” he asked, his tone mild.
“Yeah. I just ate too much. I feel like I’m going to burst.”
“You were lying your ass off to Phil in there, and now you’re lying to me,” Xavier said, accelerating smoothly down La Cienega. There was no recrimination in his tone. He was simply stating facts.
Waverly watched as the designer furniture store her mother had used to redecorate the pool house slid past her window. She was tired. Bone tired. The constant battle of what she wanted versus what others wanted for her was an ebb and flow of disappointment and hope. Every time she lied about what she wanted, another spark of hope died. She worried that by denying it, she was slowly killing her dreams.
“What makes you say that?” she sighed, feigning disinterest.
“You hold your breath right before you tell a lie and when you’re really trying to sell it you get this smile that never makes it to your eyes. Plus, you blink twice as often as you usually do.”
Crap. He was even more observant than she’d given him credit for. He was entirely too tuned in to her, and that was dangerous.
“You’ve got walls,” he continued conversationally. “I get that. How could you not given your situation? But we’re on the same team here, and I need to know you.”
She felt a surge of anger and welcomed it over the exhaustion. “Technically, X, you’re on my parents’ team. They hired you. They sign your paycheck. That has nothing to do with me.”
“I’m protectingyou,” he pointed out. “And in order to do that to the best of my abilities, I need to know you.”
“Why?” She held back the tears that suddenly clogged her throat. “What does it matter?”
Xavier slowed the SUV and pulled over under a streetlight. He put the vehicle in park and shifted in his seat to face her. “I’m not the bad guy here, Waverly.”
Her name on his lips gave her a little, unwelcome thrill. How could she have a crush on a man she didn’t like? She needed therapy… or a vacation.
She leaned in across the console. “I don’t trust you, X, any more than I trust Phil, my mother’s parakeet.”
He moved in until he was barely inches from her face and took off her sunglasses, tossing them on the console. “You will. If you tell me why you were scared leaving the restaurant, I can make it better for you. We can avoid situations that—”
Her laugh was short, sharp. “X, there is no ‘avoiding situations.’ I am required to make appearances and behave in certain ways. It’s like the saying ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ Except in my case there’s very little power. There’s only responsibility. I owe people things. I owe my parents for providing this life for me. I owe my fans for supporting me movie after movie. I owe my staff a living because they have given their time and loyalty to help me build this world. And that means that I go places I don’t want to go, sometimes talk to people I don’t want to talk to, and occasionally make movies I don’t want to make.”
“Penance.”
“Maintenance,” she corrected him.
“You trust Mari and Louie. You trust Kate. You’re going to have to trust me.” His mouth was so close now, and Waverly couldn’t stop staring at his firm lips. Her world had narrowed to just his face. There was a line of stubble on his jaw and it made him look even more irresistible.
“That’s different. They’re family.”
“You don’t trust your parents.”
“Biology doesn’t buy loyalty these days.” She said it before she thought better then sighed. She’d said too much. Given him too much of a window into her. It was safer to keep Xavier at a distance.
He took her chin in his hand, held it steady so she had to look him in the eye. “Whether or not you trust me, I’ll still be here.”
Others had promised the same. Empty promises and Waverly didn’t put stock in those words anymore. She could count on herself, and that’s what she did. It was the price to pay for admission into this world, and she was willing to pay it.
“I’m not taking applications for a BFF. You work for my parents, and I tolerate you. That’s the extent of our relationship.”
He held her chin for a second longer, stared deep into her. Those amber eyes were searching for something, and she worried that he could see down into her very soul. Whatever it was he was looking for, she made sure he didn’t find it in her gaze. She kept her eyes cool, and when he released her, she pulled back quickly. “Take me home, X.”
“You got it, boss.”He was amused, she thought, as if he was dealing with a kid’s temper tantrum. But he hadn’t seen anything yet. She’d shake him loose and wouldn’t even miss that face, those strong shoulders, that broad chest…
