THE NIGHT OF the reunion, Quinn was behind the bar at Myer’s when Xander walked in looking like a freaking dream in dark dress pants and a crisp white shirt opened at the collar. Her heart tripped.
She’d missed him the past two days. She’d missed him so much.
The bastard.
He headed straight for her. She considered running away but the man was a SEAL.
If he wanted to find her, to catch her, he would.
And she wasn’t giving him the satisfaction of letting him know how much he’d hurt her. She’d slipped the other night. Had been raw and vulnerable but now she was stronger. Smarter.
“What’ll it be, sailor?” she asked, making sure her voice was a husky purr.
“We need to talk.”
Pouring two shots of tequila, she raised her eyebrows. “You know what? I’m all talked out. Oh, I know, you want to talk about me accompanying you to the reunion? Winning that dare?”
“It wasn’t a dare,” he said through his clenched teeth. Glad to see she wasn’t the only one getting irritated. “It was a challenge. And I don’t want to win it.” He leaned forward, lowered his voice, his gaze intense. “I want you.”
She wanted so badly to believe him.
Stupid, stupid girl.
“Well, you’ve already had me,” she said. “Let someone else have a turn.”
The guy at the end of the bar raised his hand. “Where do I sign up for this?”
Xander whirled around and glared, and the guy slunk down on his bar stool. “We’re talking,” he said, turning back to Quinn. “Now.”
“No, I’m working. And you are leaving.” She handed the shots to her customers, who were watching the little drama with huge eyes. “Now.”
She turned her back on him, and that was her mistake. Not that he couldn’t have easily taken her out but she made it too easy for him.
She wouldn’t make that mistake again.
So when he leaped over the bar—which she wished she could have seen—and bent down, tossing her over his shoulder, she didn’t hesitate. She fought. Kicking and punching the best she could. When Steve said something to Xander, tried to stop him, Xander growled and poor Steve backed up so fast, he knocked over a tower of glasses.
“Dianne is going to kill you,” Quinn said gleefully. If only her boss was there right now. “More damages to pay for.”
He stalked down the hallway as if he knew where he was going, turned right and stepped into the tiny closet Dianne called her office and shut the door, then set Quinn on her feet, holding on to her upper arms.
She shook her hair from her eyes. “Let me go.”
“Not until I’ve had my say.”
“What makes you think I care to hear what you have to say? What makes you think you deserve my time and attention?”
“Nothing,” he said simply. “But I’m hoping you’ll listen anyway.”
She didn’t want to. Told herself she couldn’t care less about what he had to say but she found herself crossing her arms and muttering, “Fine. Two minutes.”
“I’m sorry.”
She waited but that seemed to be the extent of it. “If I’d known you were going to be that succinct,” she said drily. “I would have given you two seconds.”
She tried to get by but he blocked her. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“I’m fine,” she said quickly.
“You were right. I did lie to you, but not about what you think. Not about my feelings for you. The only reason I accepted that challenge was because it gave me a reason to approach you. I knew Zane would try to win it no matter what, and I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing the two of you together.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does. I had a crush on you. In high school.”
Her eyes widened and she was surprised at the depth of pain his confession brought. “That’s what this whole thing was about?” she asked. “You living out some teenage fantasy?”
“Yes. No.” He shook his head. Stabbed his fingers through his hair. “I had a crush on you, but it wasn’t real. You’re real. The person you are now—Quinn, you’re amazing. Smart and strong and so beautiful. I don’t want to lose you. I’m falling in love with you.”
His words went right to her heart. Her breath caught and she stumbled back a step. “No. No, it’s too late. I’m not that girl. I told you that before. I’m not a princess. I’m just me.”
He nodded. “I know. You are who I want. Give me another chance. Trust me.”
“I can’t,” she whispered.
His mouth flattened. “You mean you won’t.”
“Does it matter?”
“It matters that you’re too afraid to take a chance. Stop playing it safe,” he said. “Stop living this half-life where you keep yourself so guarded and distant from everyone and everything. Take a chance on me.” He stepped forward and touched her cheek. “Take a chance on us. We can make it work.”
But she was too scared. She stepped back. “It’s too late.”
He stiffened. “You got what you wanted.”
“What do you mean?”
“This. You’ve been waiting for me to screw up, to catch me in a lie or to let you down in some way so you’d have an excuse to walk away from me. You got what you wanted,” he repeated softly. “I just hope it’s what you can live with.”
He opened the door and stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind him. Leaving her alone. She knew he was right. This was what she’d wanted. What she’d expected.
And she couldn’t live with it. Didn’t want to.
* * *
XANDER STOOD NEXT to the piano at the country club while “Fergalicious” played over the loudspeakers. People danced and talked, a few hanging around the buffet table, more hanging out at the bar. The room was filled with balloons, streamers and enough paper panthers to fill a damn jungle.
People kept their distance from him—probably because when anyone got too close, he glared at them until they scurried away. He wasn’t in the party mood. Had been paraded around—literally, and riding that panther float in the parade down Main Street had been the stuff of nightmares—enough. He just wanted tonight to be over.
Wanted another opportunity to talk to Quinn again. To convince her to forgive him. To give him another chance.
“Yo,” Zane said, coming up to Xander. “Great party, right?”
Xander nodded. Something was up with his twin. “You look like hell.”
“Thanks, man. Glad to know you’ve always got my back.”
“Always.”
The song changed to Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable,” and on the dance floor, Mrs. Marshall, their old algebra teacher, did a shimmy and shake against Mr. Bridges, the PE teacher.
Zane went white. “Oh, man.”
“So wrong.” But Xander couldn’t turn away. It was like a car wreck.
“We’re supposed to find Kyle,” Zane said.
“Right.” Xander sighed. “Challenge time, and all that.”
“Yeah. All that.” Zane frowned. “You okay?”
Great. Now he had Zane wondering what the hell was going on with him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Can I ask you something?”
As long as it wasn’t about him, Xander was game. Still, Zane didn’t come to him for advice. He followed his own path. “You want my advice? Did you bump your head?”
“Challenge time!”
Both he and Zane looked over as Kyle held his hand up.
Xander glanced at Zane and they both stood there, leaving Kyle’s bid for a high five unanswered.
Lenny slapped Kyle’s hand then turned to Xander and Zane. “So which one of you is here with Quinn? I’ve got twenty riding on this. If I can collect before the next song, I can snag a date for the rest of the party.”
Kyle shook his hand. Lenny always had been an aggressive slapper. “Who scored?”
Xander held his breath, letting it out only when Zane made a zero with his hand. “Not me.”
Xander shrugged. No way was he telling these guys about him and Quinn. “I’m here alone.”
He let their chatter, their gripes and complaints swirl around him. He didn’t give a shit what they thought, if they concluded he and Zane were losing their edge.
He never should have agreed to the challenge in the first place.
Kyle held up his hand to silence the group. “Okay, so neither of you could bring in the win. But we have to declare a winner. So who was closest to a date tonight?”
“Cupcake,” Lenny said. “Zane scored a cupcake.”
But when Xander glanced at his brother, expecting to see triumph on his face at winning, he was surprised. Zane didn’t look triumphant. He looked determined.
And he was staring at someone bringing in a cake.
He clapped Xander on the shoulder with enough force to have Xander catching his balance. “Gotta go,” he said. “I’ve got a lady to see about a cake.”
He took off, all of their friends watching him, but not Xander. He couldn’t. His gaze was glued to the entrance. And to Quinn, walking straight toward him.
* * *
THE DRESS HAD gotten here in time, Quinn thought as she walked through the crowded ballroom. It was a sea of school colors, filled with people she’d known her entire life. But there was only one person she wanted to talk to.
“You win,” she blurted when she reached Xander. “And you were right.”
He didn’t take her in his arms, which drove her crazy, but at least he wasn’t walking away from her. “What was I right about?”
She licked her lips, ignored his buddies standing around as they glanced at them and then away at whatever was going on in the center of the room. “About me. You were right. I did want you to screw up. I expected it and it made it easier for me to end things between us. That way I could blame you without taking responsibility for my own choices. For not...for not being brave enough to take a chance on life.”
He stilled. “What do I win?” he asked, his soft words somehow reaching her over the cheers and catcalls that suddenly filled the room.
She swallowed. “You win me,” she breathed. “Not that I’m any sort of prize.”
He finally stepped forward and pulled her slowly into his arms. “You’re the best prize. The only one I want.”
He kissed her, and when he lifted his head, he turned, and she followed his gaze to the reason everyone else was whooping and hollering. Zane, with his arms around Vivian, in the center of the room.
The brothers grinned at each other, then Xander turned back and kissed Quinn again.
“You in for an adventure?” he asked when he was done, his lips close to her ear.
She leaned back so she could meet his eyes. Touched his cheek. “I’m all in.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from OFF LIMITS MARINE by Kate Hoffmann.
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