On Dry Land (Swimming Upstream #3) by Rebecca Barber

importantly, why the hell haven’t I seen them?”
    “Tyler, please,” Ava said, her voice muffled by the sweater.
    He didn’t wait for Ava to drop her hands before he swept her off her feet and tossed her on the bed amongst the pile of underwear. Surrounded by bras and panties and even a black garter belt, Ava looked up at him with hooded eyes.
    One by one, Tyler held the up the offending items and asked when, where, and why she had them. He wasn’t trying to be nosy and get in Ava’s business, but his mind was too busy dreaming up images of Ava wearing nothing but the underwear and a pair of sky high heels that the blood flow to his brain was somewhat limited. Momentarily he’d forgotten about Ava’s fears and her aversion to being put on the spot and just started dreaming away.
    The doorbell rang and shook them back to earth with a thud.
    “Who the fuck?” Tyler half snarled, rolling off her.
    “Dinner?”
    “Shit! Forgot about that. Well, come on, Short Stack, let’s eat. You can model this for me later.”
    With a final swat on her butt, Tyler leapt from the bed, pulled a shirt over his head, tucked a satin red g-string into his back pocket, and stomped grumpily from the room.
    “Keep dreaming!” Ava muttered under her breath.
    “Believe me, I am,” he retorted as he stuck his head back through the door and winked mischievously.
    Later, curled up on the couch in his oldest, most comfortable sweats, Tyler played with Ava’s hair absentmindedly. “So, you ready to tell me what took so long getting your stuff?”
    Sitting up, Ava put distance between them before turning to lock eyes with Tyler. Pulling himself upright, Tyler felt the distance, not just in physical sense. He saw the fear in her eyes and the shiver that went through her body.
    “I was writing.”
    “Writing?”
    “Yeah, I heard from the publisher last week and they’re chasing the follow up to Perfection .”
    “Ava! That’s great news. Why didn’t you tell me?”
    Tyler took both her hands in his and kissed her palm. He was happy for her. He was proud of her. But he couldn’t understand her hesitation to share the good news with him nor could he wrap his head around her obvious discomfort right now.
    “I…I don’t know. I guess I wasn’t ready.”
    “I don’t get it.”
    “Either do I.”
    Ava staggered to her feet and walked over to the closed, glass doors. Tyler watched as she wrestled with her truth. Even from his vantage point on the lounge he could tell she was struggling. Her whole body was shaking. Although he couldn’t hear the sobbing, Tyler was willing to bet that the tears were filling her eyes.
    “Hey! Talk to me, Short Stack.” Tyler’s voice was thick with desperation and sadness. He could hear it. He only hoped that Ava could too. “What exactly did the publishers say?”
    Ava hiccupped and it shot through her body. Turning her attention back to Tyler, Ava’s watery eyes settled on him. “They asked when the sequel would be ready.”
    “That’s not so bad, is it?”
    “Yes. No. Hell, I don’t know.”
    “Come. Sit. Talk to me. We’ll figure it out. No point you worrying your pretty little head about it for nothing.”
    As slowly as she possibly could, Ava shuffled towards Tyler before being yanked down into his lap. Tyler’s fingers smoothed back her hair from her face as he settled her in his arms.
    “So, talk to me. Please.”
    Ava’s eyes fell closed and a tear trickled over her cheek but it didn’t stay there for long before Tyler swept it away with his thumb. “A week ago I hadn’t even started writing it. I didn’t want to write it. I’d never planned on a sequel. Never given it any thought. And then, then they asked and I…I started thinking maybe. Maybe I could do this. Maybe there was more that needed to be said. Maybe there was something there that I could say.”
    “But?”
    “But then there’s you.”
    “Me?”
    “Yes, Tyler. You.” Tyler quirked his eyebrow and pressed a