Oath of Honor

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

• 211 •

RADCLYfFE

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—”

• 212 •

Oath Of hOnOr

“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