Radclyffe - Oath of Honor

was and what she wanted. Now she wasn’t so sure.

“That too, sometimes.”

“This is crazy, you know that, right?” Wes murmured.

“Maybe. Probably. I told Tom you were right for the job and field

ready.”

“Did you.” Wes slid her hands into her pockets, crossed her

anklesEvyn swallowed. “Mmm. Last night.”

“So I guess I’m not a squid anymore.”

“Nope.” Evyn laughed.

“No more sims?”

“’Fraid not.”

Wes smiled. “I’m not.”

“No—I imagine you’ll be glad to be done with our daily dates.”

“You too, I imagine.”

“Not so much,” Evyn murmured.

Wes knew exactly what she should do to extinguish the possibilities

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that seemed to be growing without any intention on her part. She knew

what to say, but she’d never been a coward. “I’m meeting friends of

mine”—she glanced at her watch—“in an hour. You like jazz?”

“Sure,” Evyn said, her gaze fixed on Wes’s face.

“When are you going to be done?”

“My push is due in half an hour—” Evyn laughed, shook her head.

“Are you inviting me to go out with you?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing, but I like being with you. Pretending

I don’t when we’re going to see each other every day isn’t going to

work.”

“I’ll come find you when Gary shows up,” Evyn said. “I’m usually

pretty good at pretending, but not so much with you.”

Wes warmed inside. “Tonight…just so we’re clear, it’s just—”

“I know,” Evyn said quickly. “Just friends. I know. That’s good.”

Wes nodded, grabbed her coffee, and left before she said anything

they wouldn’t be able to take back, or live with. She was halfway to her

office before she recognized the ache in her middle was gone.

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chapter twenty-six

So,” Emory said, leaning across Dana at the table and grasping

Wes’s arm, “how did you meet Evyn?”

“We work together.”

“I remember her,” Dana said. “She was at the wedding. One of

the agents.”

“That’s right,” Wes answered while watching Evyn thread her

way through the crowd toward the back of the bar. She looked great

tonight, in plain dark trousers and a white shirt. More than a few people

watched her pass, and Wes struggled between possessiveness and pride.

Both sensations were foreign.

“She’s very nice,” Emory said.

“Yes,” Wes said. The band was good, and the bar was packed.

There hadn’t been much opportunity for conversation, for which she

was grateful. Emory wasn’t as relentless as her mother or Denny when

she wanted to know something, but she didn’t let up. Her curiosity

had been apparent from the instant Wes had introduced Evyn, and

understandably so. Evyn was great company—sociable, funny, at ease

in any situation. Wes doubted she would be as comfortable meeting

any of Evyn’s friends, but then she wasn’t particularly comfortable

in social gatherings to begin with. She hadn’t had much practice.

Evyn undoubtedly had, and thinking about her in a bar, comfortable,

charming, connecting with other women, the twinge of possessiveness

swelled to a surge of jealousy. She promptly extinguished it. She didn’t

have any claim on Evyn, by her own choice.

“Sexy too.” Emory plucked a handful of peanuts from the bowl

on the table.

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“Yes,” Wes said.

“When did you lose your powers of speech?” Emory asked with

exaggerated politeness.

Dana cautiously eased her chair back from the table, clearing the

space between Emory and Wes.

“I could use a break here, Em,” Wes said quietly.

“I can see that—you’re out with a great-looking, sexy, charming

woman and you’ve been trying to pretend all evening that she wasn’t

there.”“That’s not true.” Wes could hear the testy tone in her voice and

tried to dial it back. Emory was her friend. “It’s complicated.”

Emory laughed. “Of that, I have no doubt. Neither of you strikes

me as simple. Although sometimes, I think you’re kind of simple-

minded.”

Dana stood up, the loud scraping of her chair audible even over

the music. “I’m gonna go get refills. Another drink, Wes?”

Wes eyed her half-finished beer. She’d had her hand clasped

around the bottle for most of the last set, and the beer was warm. She’d

feared if she let go, her hand would end up on Evyn’s thigh, the hard,

sleek thigh that had somehow come to rest against hers soon after

they’d all sat down. The entire length of her leg tingled, as if Evyn had

been sending a low pulse of energy into her for the past hour. “I’ll have

another Pilgrim.”

“Coming up.”

“So what’s really going on?” Emory asked as soon as they were

alone.“I don’t know, Em,” Wes said, weary of pretending everything

was fine and exactly the way she wanted it. “I’m still trying to sort

things out.”

“But there’s something going on between you. That’s pretty

obvious. She’s been watching you the entire night.”

Wes stiffened. She’d been hyperaware of Evyn since the moment

they’d left the White House and driven to the club in Evyn’s car. They

hadn’t talked much, but the silence hadn’t been uncomfortable. All the

same, every time she looked at Evyn, she’d known the silence was

masking what they both wanted to say. Even the noisy bar and the

diversion offered by Emory and Dana’s company hadn’t diminished her

awareness of Evyn next to her. Her brain registered the music, followed

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along in the conversations, and prompted her to answer when spoken to,

but all she really noticed was Evyn—the heat of her body, the sound of

her voice, the space she occupied at the table. Watching Evyn’s fingers

curl around her glass, all Wes could think of was the sensation of those

fingers gently clasping her breast, stroking her, turning her blood to fire

and her mind to a sea of pleasure.

“You’re attracted to her,” Emory said, making it a statement, not

a question.

“Yes.”

“Which one of you is throwing up walls?”

Wes laughed. “What makes you think we are?”

“Oh, come on. You’re both acting as if it would be a crime to

touch each other.” She shook her head. “The two of you actually go

out of your way not to touch when it would be perfectly natural to do

so—it’s so obvious. So who shot who down?”

“No one,” Wes said, at a loss as to how to make sense of everything.

“It’s mutual—we decided not to go that route.”

“What route?”

“Intimacy.”

“You mean sex?”

“Come on, Emory,” Wes said. “Don’t make this any harder for me.

You know what I mean.”

“Honest, I don’t. Is she married?”

“What? No.”

“I know you’re not.”

Wes shook her head. “Can we not—”

“She’s straight?”

“No,” Wes said definitely. Her stomach twisted, remembering

the way Evyn made love to her, so confidently, so perceptively, so

powerfully. “Definitely, no.”

“And I know you’re not.” Emory raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”

“No,” Wes said, laughing despite her discomfort.

“So what’s the problem? You’re both available, you’re both gay,

and you both obviously have the major hots for each other.”

“We work closely together—a personal relationship could

seriously disrupt the team.”

“May I say, major bullshit?”

“You don’t understand—”

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“More bullshit.” Emory spoke without the slightest bit of heat,

just calm certainty. “I know you, and I’m betting any woman you’re

attracted to would be pretty similar as far as this is concerned. Nothing

compromises your work. I bet Evyn is the same way.”

“I’m what way?” Evyn pulled out her chair and sat back down

next to Wes. Her arm brushed Wes’s and the tingling spread from

Wes’s leg into her stomach, making it hard for her to focus on Emory’s

inquisition.

“Totally serious and uncompromising about work,” Emory said.

Evyn gave Wes a what-did-I-miss look, then shifted in her chair

and regarded Emory. “Yes, I’d say that’s true. Why?”

“How well do you know Wes?” Emory asked.

Wes snapped back to the conversation. She wasn’t going to

discuss her personal relationship with Evyn while Evyn sat an inch

away. “Never mind. Emory and I were just catching up.”

Evyn glanced from Emory to Wes. “I have obviously missed

something pretty important here. Maybe you should catch me up.”

“Emory is my oldest friend—she thinks that gives her certain

privileges.”

“It does,” Emory said.

Evyn laughed. “What is it you want to know?”

“Do you really think there’s anything that could make Wesley

compromise her professional obligations?”

“No,” Evyn said slowly. “I don’t.”

“That’s not how you felt a few weeks ago,” Wes said.

“You’re right. But I know a lot more about you now than I did

then.”“My point exactly,” Emory said. “Experience sometimes runs

counter to expectations—and proves there are exceptions to every

rule.”“And sometimes,” Evyn said softly, her gaze returning to Wes,

“rules are just convenient shields.”

Wes had the urge to get up and run, and she’d never run from

anything in her life. What could be so frightening about a woman

wanting to be close to her? Not just any woman. Evyn. Evyn, who

had provided quiet strength, and tender comfort, and fierce passion.

Evyn—who refused to be pushed away.

“Sometimes reshaping boundaries is slow work.”

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Evyn grinned. “I’m patient.”

Wes threw back her head, laughing quietly. “How is it I’ve never

noticed?”

“Never?” Evyn murmured.

Wes’s breath caught. Evyn had been endlessly patient the night

they’d made love—letting Wes lead, despite her inexperience, letting

her satisfy her need to touch and taste and savor. “I remember.”

“Good.”

“Well,” Emory said, as Dana returned, “before Wesley tells me it’s

none of my business, I’ll butt out.” She cleared a space on the table for

the drinks and leaned to kiss Dana as she sat down. “But for the record,

I think you two are smoking hot together.”

Wes groaned and Evyn grinned.

Emory lifted a shoulder. “Just my scientific observation.”

v

Russo walked out onto the back deck of his mountain cabin. His

last two public appearances and the benefit dinners that followed had

been great successes. His supporters had been enthusiastic, and even his

wife had managed to do her part. Now he planned to celebrate properly

with Nora, who should arrive any moment. Despite the frigid air, he felt

totally comfortable. The sky was clear, the stars bright points of light,