Page 79 of The Fine Line
I’m speechless, still processing.
“I have a lot to make up for in life,” Rhett murmurs. “And after today, that especially includes you. So whatever you need from me, I’m there. No questions asked.”
“And what would Blonde #9 think?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know?—”
“I’m not here to be your Blonde #10, Rhett?—”
“I know that. I would never want you to be.”
My lips press together. “If we did this, I’m not changing who I am.”
“I would never expect you to.”
“I can smile for the cameras when they’re around, but in private, nothing would change. And I’m not going to fawn all over you or follow you to every bar and nightclub you want as your arm candy.”
“Okay.”
“But you also can’t allow other women to do that either. Not if everyone thinks we’re married. I won’t let you embarrass me?—”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He glances away. “Not again.”
“It would need to be believable,” I say. “There would have to be rules. Boundaries. Trust.”
“I can do rules.”
He looks down at me. And as much as my brain is screaming at me to run, there’s something steady in his eyes that makes me pause. Makes me want to believe him.
The silence stretches—until my phone rings, slicing through it. I reach into my tote bag and pull it out.
“It’s Linda.”
“She’s early,” Rhett says.
I bite my bottom lip. “I know she wants an answer.”
“Do we have one?”
I lift my head, finding Rhett’s face closer than I expect. I zero in on his eyes again. Because I don’t have a choice. Because—somehow—they’re the only thing keeping me from unraveling.
“Do you really want to do this?” I ask.
“I want to do whatever you want to do.”
“I don’t want this.” My voice cracks, barely a whisper.
“I know.”
“I had a plan. I was so close.”
“I know,” he says again, softer.
A long beat passes. I stare at the screen, the phone still buzzing in my hand. My thumb hovers over the green button. I glance back up at Rhett.
“But I can’t just give up, can I?”
He doesn’t move. Just looks at me, open in a way I’m not used to.
