Page 53 of A Matter of Fact

“Do you feel like he’s interested in you when he’s not spending money? Like, does he demonstrate that in other ways, or does he just throw money at you and let the bills do the talking?”

“He’s interested,” Beckett said quickly. “And he’s respectful of how uncomfortable the money makes me feel. I gave him a budget for our last date, and now he’s saying it’s fair to throw the budget out the window.”

“It is,” she said, simply.

“How do you figure?”

“He did it your way, now you do it his. Bex, relationships are not a one-way street. There’s two of you and it can’t just always beyourway.”

Beckett sighed and finished off what was left in his drink. Audra offered to go get him another one, but it was clear she wanted to leave him with all of his new and complicated thoughts. Which, he had many.

He knew that what she said was true. Even though Rhys’s lifestyle made him uncomfortable, it wasn’t fair to try and force Rhys so far out of his comfort zone without being willing to leave his. Rhys had gone above and beyond on their last date, and even though he’d had that little freak out after they had sex, Rhys walked it back. Beckett didn’t know everything about the man, but he knew that had to have taken a lot. And Rhys had managed it.

For him.

He’d done it for Beckett.

Now it was Beckett’s turn to do something for Rhys. But he needed to find a way to do two things at once. He wanted to let Rhys know he respected the way he lived, but he also needed to be sure that Rhys was aware Beckett was in it for more than that. He could try to find a way to let the money not be a thing, as long he worked extra hard to make sure Rhys knew he wasn’t focused on it.

Audra set another drink in front of him, this time a whole pint glass full of clear and bubbling liquid.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” he asked with a laugh, noting the upgrade had some with an actual drinking straw, not a stirrer.

“I’m just trying to get you thinking,” she said. “And I told the bartender we were in the industry so he hooked it up.”

“What you’ve said makes a lot of sense,” he begrudgingly admitted, squeezing all of the limes into his drink so the gin didn’t strip the lining of his throat away. “I need to be more understanding of his comfort level. But it’s important that he knows I’m not a gold-digger.”

Audra hummed a couple beats of that song and smiled. “And now he wants you to plan the next date with money being no object.”

“Right.”

“Well, I think he knows you’re not going to ask him to charter a private jet to fly you to some foreign destination for food or something.”

He rolled his eyes. “Agreed.”

“So, what’s local? Or local adjacent? What kind of thing would you want to do if you could afford it?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “None of the things I would spend my own money on are really romantic.”

“Let’s hear it anyway,” she said.

“Like, I would want to take some cooking classes,” he offered. “I’m good in the kitchen, but I want to get better.”

“Couples cooking classes are adorable,” Audra cooed.

“No.” Beckett slashed his hand through the air. “An absolute nightmare, no thank you.”

“Is that why you wouldn’t let me in the kitchen last week?”

“Precisely.”

“Honestly, Bex. I know you say that you don’t want him to spend money, but there’s some great Michelin restaurants just out of town.” She gestured vaguely toward the bathroom, and he smirked. “Let him take you on some fine dining adventure, complete with wine pairings and dessert.”

“It’s so much,” he whined.

“Not to him,” she interrupted.

“Can’t I just let him plan something then?” Even though he’d already promised himself that he would try to understand and would work to meet Rhys toward the middle, the idea of asking Rhys to spend any amount of money made him want to crawl out of his skin.