Page 56 of The Au Pair Affair

The need to know more about what she loved was too pressing to deny, even though he had to battle through the imposter syndrome that came from being out with a girl this compelling and gorgeous. “Are you enjoying the graduate program so far?”

She made a wishy-washy sound. “Yes and no. I love learning and the information we’re being taught is necessary and valuable. For instance, today we learned about coastal law and policy. But going from exciting internships on four major research studies to... a classroom...”

“You like being in the field more.”

She wiped away a fake tear. “So much more.”

Burgess chuckled. “You, uh... never said what made you choose marine biology.”

When she stood up again, a gust of air carried across the water and sent her hair flying, so he angled his body to block the wind, grunting to himself when the dark strands settled back down around her shoulders. He assumed she wouldn’t notice, but she blinked at him, her eyes tracked upward from his chest to his face. “Did you just block the wind?”

He jerked a shoulder. “I’m a defenseman.”

“Uh-huh.” She continued to regard him thoughtfully with those incredible lips pressed together. “I grew up in a noisy house. I think that’s why marine biology appealed to me.”

Thank God they were off the topic of him defending heragainst the elements. Could he be any more obvious that he was crazy about her? “I don’t really see how one corresponds to the other.”

Tallulah looked out over the surface of the pond. “My parents love each other, but their mode of communication is bickering at the top of their lungs. My sister was always playing loud music. Like, I developed a spot-on impression of DJ Khaled, because he was just constantly dropping intros in our home. The house was just loud. So freaking loud.

“But in fourth grade, I took a field trip to the zoo. I wandered off from the rest of the class and ended up in the winter animal section of the park. There was one of those underground walkways that allowed me to see underwater as the polar bears swam.” She gestured with her hands, as if trying to portray the shape of the structure. “On the other side were the penguins, diving in and zooming by like little torpedoes. And it was so quiet. It was like that comfortable muffled sound when you go underwater in the bath, you know? Just a glacial hush. I always associated the cold with quiet after that. I wanted to be in the cold quiet.”

Burgess had asked the question with the intention of learning more about what made this woman tick, but he hadn’t expected to relate so hard. “I get that. Feeling more comfortable in the cold. I have that, too.”

“Oh. Yeah. I can see that.” A dimple appeared in her cheek. “This might be the first and last time I’ve ever had something in common with an athlete.”

“It can’t be the only thing we have in common.”

“Should we find out?”

He gave a firm nod.

She hummed. “I like trying new things.”

“I don’t.”

“I like making new friends.”

“Hard pass.”

“I could dance for hours.”

“Pure torture.”

Her laugh echoed over the surface of the pond, in direct contradiction to Burgess’s wince. “Still not getting along with the rookies, I assume?”

“Actually,” he drew out, relieved to have a reason to interrupt the list of things that made them incompatible. “I let the rookies talk to me at practice recently.”

“Youletthem talk to you?”

“Correct. I asked them for their thoughts on our strategy against the team we’re playing opening night and...” He shrugged, gave his beard a scratch. “Their opinions weren’t as piss-poor as I was expecting.”

After a short pause, she tilted her head. “Did you so graciously allow them to converse with you... because of what I said?”

He made a gruff sound that served as affirmation. “I guess you could say I’m a good listener. Do we have that in common?”

“I suppose . . .”

“I’m good at working on teams. How about that?”

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