Chapter Fourteen
Rusty sighed happily as he sat down at the dinner table, exhausted after a long day of following Blake all over town and being shown all the sights.
Hope Springs had turned out to be exactly the quaint small town he’d thought it would be, but a lot more gay-friendly than he usually expected. It was nice to feel as though he fitted in here.
It’d been nice to hang out with Blake all day, too. Rusty hadn’t taken a lot of days off over the last few years. Taking a break was good for the soul.
“You look good,” Rusty murmured as Blake sat down beside him, wearing dark jeans and a wine-colored button-down. He was just a little more dressed up than he had been earlier, the shirt a close fit to his body, and it wasdefinitelya good look for him.
Blake blushed high on his cheeks. “Thanks,” he murmured. “You too.”
Rusty was amazed at himself for having the good sense to pack a few casual button-down shirts. He’d only expected to be here for a day or two, but he’d overpacked on purpose in case something slowed him down.
He was glad now that he had.
He was also glad that he’d been slowed down. Slowing down was exactly what he needed right now.
“I hope you’re all hungry,” Blake’s mother said as she started bringing food over. They were all crowded around what Rusty assumed was a hired trestle table in the kitchen, barely enough room for everyone, but it wasn’t a bad thing. It felt like one of the big family dinners he would have had at Christmas years ago.
They didn’t do that anymore, and while there were lots of reasons for that, Rusty missed this. Missed feeling like part of a family.
“So, Rusty,” John began, looking over at him. “You never told us what you do for a living.”
“Dad,” Blake said softly, obviously trying to protect Rusty from a second interrogation.
“Man’s got a right to know whether I can support you,” Rusty said, smiling. “I’m a property developer, actually.”
John’s eyes widened. “Really. That must be quite a job.”
“It is,” Rusty said as he helped himself to potatoes, figuring that if he didn’t get in soon he’d be left for dead.
It was alotlike the family dinners he’d been to before.
“So is that with one of the big companies, or…?” John prodded.
“I own my own company,” Rusty said. “Mostly Melbourne based. Well, Melbourne and surrounds, anyway. I’m building forty new units right now.”
John whistled lowly. “Wow. Sounds like Blake’s got quite a catch in you.”
“Ohcome on,” Blake’s sister interrupted. “Are we still pretending we believe Blake’s married to this guy? He’s clearly a paid actor or something.”
Rusty’s mouth fell open. He could barely believe what he was hearing.
Sure, they hadn’t exactly had a traditional marriage up to this point, but no one had any reason to think that. Especially not Blake’s sister, who’d barely exchanged two words with him before now.
“Excuse me?” Rusty asked.
“You can drop it,” Megan said. “We know, okay? Why the hell would someone like you marry someone like Blake? You’re lying about what you do and you’re not really married.”
Rusty got his phone out, pulling up the company website and navigating to where his picture was on theAbout Uspage. He reached across the table and set it down in front of Megan.
“You’re welcome to google me and see what turns up,” Rusty said. “And I can nip upstairs and grab our marriage certificate, if you like.”
Megan looked up at him, eyes narrowed suspiciously. Rusty doubted she’d make a scene and demand proof, but if she did, he did happen to have a copy of their marriage certificate, in the file Larry had given him. The real one, not the novelty one they’d been handed on the day.
“You’re family, so I’ll give you a little leeway here,” Rusty said. “But you do not talk about my husband like that. Ifanyonegot a good deal out of this marriage, it was me. I don’t deserve half the kindness and patience Blake shows me, but he does it anyway, because he’s a good man. He deserves a little respect.”
Beside him, Rusty could feel Blake tensing up. He wanted to rescue him from this situation, but he wasn’t sure how.
