“Okay…” I said, finally, still watching the tank. “Yeah. I think I’d like to see it.” I glanced back at him, suddenly a little nervous again. “I mean—not like deciding yet,” I added quickly. “Just to look at it. Like you said.”
“Of course,” Tobias replied smoothly, something in his expression—something quiet and satisfied—that made it feel like the answer mattered more than I’d meant it to.
Tobias’s lips twitched up minutely, as though something had just settled into place exactly where he expected it to.
“When would be convenient for you?”
The question caught me off guard a little.
“Oh, um. I mean… probably one of my days off? I’m scheduled through the weekend, but I’ve got Monday free.”
“Monday would be acceptable.”
Acceptable.
Notgood. Notworks for me. Just—acceptable.
Something about that made my stomach do another weird little twist.
“I can arrange transportation,” he added.
“Oh no, that’s okay,” I assured him. “I can just take the train or something.”
“I would prefer that you didn’t,” he said sternly.
“Oh,” I said again, because apparently my vocabulary around Tobias had permanently shrunk to about six usable responses.Fuck my life.“You don’t have to do that.”
“I don’t mind.”
That was the end of the discussion as far as he was concerned.
He said it the same way he said everything else—calm, final, already decided.
“Okay…” I said after a second.
“Good. It will also allow us to discuss the position in more detail.”
Right.
The position.
Not the aquarium.
Not his house.
The job.
That helped.
A little.
“Yeah,” I said. “That makes sense.”
His gaze moved briefly back to the conch again, which had progressed maybe half an inch since we started talking.
“You’ve been considering alternatives,” he observed.
I blinked. “What?”
