Page 70 of Against The Tide

“You don’t have to answer. I’m only curious because⁠—”

“Ask, Avery. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

Biting my lip, I gather the courage to pry into his life. I feel like we know each other, but at the same time there’s still so much under the surface that I haven’t explored. And I know I said I was going to tell him about my day, like I’ve been dying to since this afternoon, but I want something to put an upper on the conversation in case it nosedives.

“Avery.” Rhett grits out my name in a way that pulls me out of my thoughts. “It’s okay to ask questions. It’s what dates are for…to get to know each other. Better.”

“Well…” I hesitate but push forward anyway. “When we were out by the stream, you said that you didn’t tell Rowan about the lead-up to your divorce, but today when I was at their house, Callie said that he gives you a lot of crap over what happened.”

Rhett swallows as though I’ve asked something that makes him uncomfortable. I don’t like that I’ve made him feel that way. Not around me. Not when he’s constantly gone out of his way to make sure I’m all right.

“Rowan is straight down the line—it wouldn’t matter if I told him everything or not. He would probably dig me out more if he knew the entire story, and besides, it was too personal…for me and for Sarah.”

“Makes sense, about it being too personal, but I don’t think he would’ve thought any less of you because of the circumstances.” Tucking my legs beneath me so that I’m kneeling between his thighs, I pop a grape in my mouth before offering him one too. Rhett eats it straight from my fingers with a waggle of his brows. It’s obvious he’s trying really hard not to let my question sully the moment.

I feel lousy for blindsiding him with my question, but it’s something that I’ve wondered about.

“I heard back from my boss in DC,” I tell him, grabbing his undivided attention like I knew it would. “He’s allowing me to finish the project we’re currently working on from here with only a couple of on-site meetings in the next couple of months.”

“That’s great.”

“It gets better.”

“Yeah?” Rhett blows out a half-chuckled breath that fades into the lapping of the foaming waves against the boat.

“He’s a close acquaintance of the chair of the board for the Virginia aquarium, and apparently they’re looking to expand their touch tank.”

“What does that mean?”

“Potentially that I could be really busy. Touch tanks are one of the hardest exhibitions. There are so many factors to take into account. It’s ridiculously time-consuming, and after the project with DC, I wasn’t exactly inclined to go into something so big again.”

“Then don’t.” Combing my hair behind my ear, he adds, “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“I know.” I look down between us, and my hands tug at the hem of my dress. I’m nervous and excited at the same time. Hoping that he doesn’t think I’m reading too much into things with us and…

“Avery…”

“Iris loves the school, and we’re happy. I don’t want to give this up, Doc.” Brushing the lock of hair that falls in front of his eyes back into place, I hold his gaze. “This is where I want to be, and if it means that I have to take on this big project…I’ll do it.”

“For a moment I thought you were going to say something different.”

“No, no way.”

We fall silent as he fills a cup with some grape juice. When he hands it to me, I take a sip and put it back down beside us.

“No one has ever done anything for me the way you have. And while it’s not the dates I want to stay for entirely, I can’t part with your cheese.”

“Funny you should mention my fromage…” He pulls the lid off another Tupperware to showcase the different cheeses in it.

“I think you might be rubbing off on me,” I laugh, stopping when his jaw clenches.

“You’re killing me, sweetheart. First the fucking and now the rubbing…”

“Oh my God, you’re worse than Rowan.” I hide behind my hands so that my heated face doesn’t give away the mixture of abashment and need that hums through my veins, making my heart pound and my pulse hammer in my ears.

“Never.” Rhett pokes my side once. “Ever.” He pokes it once more. “Say that again.” Both of his hands grab my thighs, squeezing in a way that makes me squirm.

“Okay! Okay…”