Page 34 of Against The Tide

“You have guests, and I got some things to see to at the clinic.”

“Right…” Jo nods, waving at me as she ambles toward the kitchen. “Good night and goodbye, Rhett.”

Her tone is a mixture of disappointment and annoyance. Although it bothers me, I shake it off.

“Get your beauty sleep for tomorrow, Josie. You never know who you might meet at beach.” At my teasing remark, she turns and sticks her tongue out at me with a glare before indicating with her fingers that she’s watching me.

Of course she is. Jo watches everything and everyone.

“See you tomorrow, sunshine.”

“Good night,” Avery murmurs with a small wave.

Taking a few steps back, I look around the dimly lit porch and the drive. The ranch is secluded enough that it isn’t the easiest to find unless you know where you’re heading, but I don’t feel right leaving without making sure they’ve locked up for the night.

“I locked the back doors.”

“I saw.” She nods, rolling onto her tiptoes as she holds on to the doorframe.

Her towel is draped over one shoulder, and from the way it pulls the T-shirt taut to her chest, making her nipples poke through the worn white cotton, it’s obvious she’s not wearing a bra.

“Make sure you lock the door and bolt it, and you know what Jo is like with leaving the kitchen window by the cooker open.”

“Yeah.” Avery nods again, her tongue licking over her lips. “I’ll check.”

“Lock the door, Avery.”

“Yes, Doc.”

She doesn’t make a single move to close the door with her eyes flickering up and down my body to the deep rise and fall of her chest.

My staying-away spiel didn’t last two seconds, and it’s already backfiring with every step I take closer to her. Big eyes widen like saucers with every raspy breath.

Avery shudders at the lightest of touches as I urge her back inside the house so she can close the door. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to control myself with her standing in front of me with legs for days and her T-shirt leaving almost nothing to the imagination.

She’s so damn close that her breath warms through my shirt. The lure of her lightly tanned skin and the softness of her curves…

“You need to get inside.”

She nods. Yet neither of us takes a step back. Fuck, I know she wants something, but I can’t be the asshole that takes advantage of her. She’s been through enough as it is. She has Iris.

Avery’s still nodding when I force myself to pull away from her.

“It’s late and dark,” I groan at the loss of her closeness. At the magnitude of my need to be near her. “I want to hear that lock turn before I leave.”

“Yes.” She nods as I close the screen.

“Good night, sunshine.”

As they always do, her eyes widen, taking on a teary sheen at the endearment that I can’t seem to stop from rolling off my tongue. It’s her smile that tells me she likes it. It’s always there when I say it, more so than when I use her name. And I like that she prefers my endearment to her own name.

“Close the door.”

She does so with a light chuckle and shake of her head, and I don’t take a single step until the lock turns and I hear the bolt slide across.

CHAPTER 11

AVERY