Chapter 15

Iparked outside of Serenity's building at eight on the dot. Climbing out of the car, I straightened my jacket, strode up to her door, shook my hands out at my sides, and pressed the button for the penthouse apartment.

Asking her to dinner had been a spur of the moment decision, the type I didn't usually make, but I was glad now that I'd done it. Weirdly, I was quite looking forward to an evening with her.

I'd felt like an asshole after that comment I'd made about her ex, and it hadn't taken me long to realize I'd stuck my nose in somewhere it didn't belong. I'd also realized that I didn't really give a shit how Ethan felt about my involvement with his ex-wife.

They were divorced and they had been for some time now. What she did and who she saw was none of his concern. It hadn't even really been that bothering to me anyway.

After drawing in a breath to steady my nerves, I was about to press the buzzer again when the door suddenly swung open. Serenity appeared on the other side, looking dazzling in a skintight black dress that hung to the tops of her knees and showed off a generous amount of cleavage, but was still modest and elegant.

"Dash," she said, a slow smile spreading on her lips. "You're right on time."

My mouth dried up and I cleared my throat as I inclined my chin. "I always am. Time exists for a reason. If someone says they're going to be someplace at an appointed time, it's not a guideline as far as I'm concerned. It's a rule."

Amusement flashed in the depths of her blue eyes. "Figures. I should've known you'd see it that way. It's good to see you."

She gave me a fairly obvious onceover and I returned the favor, deliberately dragging my gaze from her eyes, to her mouth, and further down to every sweep of her curves under the soft fabric of that dress. It wasn't exactly friendly behavior, but true friends also didn't make out furiously in each other's offices. So clearly, we weren't quite friends.

"You look radiant," I said. "Absolutely breathtaking. Shall we?"

I offered her my arm and she took it, her eyebrows climbing on her forehead as she chuckled. "Aren't you gallant? Punctual and a real gentleman. You keep surprising me, Mr. St. Clair."

"I aim to please," I said, then shook my head. "Actually, that's not really true. In certain circumstances, sure, but not in general."

She laughed as I opened the passenger door for her, looking up at me once she was seated from underneath those long lashes that were only just barely dusted with mascara. "Either way, I appreciate your punctuality and your arm. You already know I'm clumsy, but heels always seem to exacerbate the problem. It was nice not having to worry about it."

I didn't respond, simply nodding before I closed her door and walked around the car to my own. Being with Serenity was proving to be easier than I'd expected. It had been a while since I'd eased into any kind of relationship with someone so naturally, but with her, it seemed I didn't even have to try.

The observation proved to be correct as I got into the car and we started talking, not about anything groundbreaking, but a simple, easily flowing conversation between two people who were barely more than strangers.

"So tell me, friend," she teased, placing emphasis on the word. "Why haven't I met your brothers yet? There are five of you, correct? Surely, you can't be the only one showing a real interest in your mother's wedding."

"Oh, I'm not. In fact, I was the holdout, but you don't want any of them anywhere near the planning process. Zachary would be alright, I suppose, but the rest of them would wreak havoc."

She chuckled. "I'm an only child. I always wished I had siblings, but so often, people speak about theirs in terms like havoc and chaos. It always makes me wonder if it's an exaggeration or if multiple-child households simply are chaotic."

"Wait, does that mean there are households with children in them that aren't chaotic?" I feigned surprise. "That's news to me. My younger brothers have always been like a hurricane. If they've been someplace, you know it because nothing is the way it's supposed to be. Zach—that's my oldest brother—is better, but he's also the most serious of us all, so he was permanently running after the others, trying to clean up their messes or getting them to take responsibility."

"He's the most serious of you all, huh?" She glanced at me with one eyebrow raised as I eased out of my parking spot. "I find it difficult to believe that anyone can be more serious than you were when we first met."

"Trust me, I'm a barrel of laughs in comparison to what he can be like."

She chuckled. "Sibling relationships are so intriguing."

As I drove, I knew I shouldn't, but I kept sneaking peeks at her anyway. I couldn't help it. She looked too damn beautiful in that dress, with her hair up but not in a severe hairdo. It was more like she'd simply clipped it all back so it wouldn't bother her.

Her smiles came easily and she didn't appear to be worried about what she looked like at all, throwing her head back as she laughed and even snorting on occasion when that laughter completely overtook her. I'd have thought it would be off-putting, but it wasn't. In fact, I found it rather endearing.

When we pulled up outside of the restaurant to find the paparazzi waiting to greet us and whoever else would be dining here this evening, however, both of our smiles faded. She sat up a little straighter and glanced at me.

"I spoke to Eli Manning. He knows we're not together. Since he was the first to speculate, I'm hoping that he'll also be the first to set the record straight. I asked him to and I gave him an impromptu interview. I haven't checked if he's published it yet, though."

"No matter," I said smoothly. "They're going to write what they write. Thank you for calling him, though. I cannot imagine being on such good terms with any member of the press that I'd simply pick up the phone and chat to them."

She chuckled. "They're not the enemy, Dash. They're annoying, sure, and they get stuff wrong more often than they get it right, but still, most of them aren't bad people."

I scoffed, but I still offered her my arm as we climbed out of the car. To hell with the pictures they would get or the speculation that would follow. She'd said she appreciated it before, and I wasn't going to let the vultures dictate the way I behaved.

She shot me a surprised smile but wrapped her fingers around the crook of my elbow. She wiggled the fingers of her free hand in a greeting to the paparazzi. Flashes went off, nearly blinding me as we walked, but I stoically ignored the whole scene, leaving her to make nice with them while I focused on getting us safely into the restaurant.

Once inside, a hostess scrambled over to us and grinned. "Ms. Halverson. Mr. St. Clair. Thank you for joining us this evening. If you'll follow me, I'll show you to your table. We made sure to place you away from the windows."

"Thank you," I said, leading Serenity to our table as we followed the hostess.

Once we were seated, I looked at her across the table, her face beautiful and relaxed. I remembered the expression on her face when I'd mentioned her ex-husband, and since she'd asked about my brothers, I wondered if I could ask about her. I rarely waited for permission in life, though. I preferred a more direct approach.

"I'm curious," I started honestly. "What happened between you and Ethan? If you don't mind talking about it, I mean. I saw your face earlier. It hurt you that I mentioned him. Why?"

She pulled in a breath so deep that her chest rose and stayed that way before she released it slowly. Eyes on mine, she nodded, and though she didn't look excited to talk about it, at least she didn't appear to be hurt anymore.

"Ethan is not who you think he is," she said quietly. "He's mean. More than mean, really. Mentally abusive or at least that was what my shrink called it."

"Mentally abusive?" I asked. "How?"

She shrugged, inhaling deeply again. "He made me feel stupid. He told me that I was so often that eventually I believed him. He was also controlling and possessive, and he broke me down to the point where I didn't know my own self-worth anymore. It was awful, the lengths he went to in order to make sure that I stayed with him."

She paused, lowering her voice even more. "Oh, and he cheated. Said it was because I wasn't giving it to him enough anymore and that for a man with an appetite like his, it was impossible to be satisfied with a wife like me. Apparently, he felt that he was entitled to get it elsewhere."

"God, that's terrible." I suddenly felt awful about defending him. "I didn't know about any of that."

"I asked my lawyer to keep it from becoming public knowledge if she could, and somehow, she managed to keep a lid on most of it. I still don't know how she did it, but I'm grateful. By the time I left him, I just wanted to put it all behind me and I didn't want to fuel the flames. I just wanted out."

"I get it," I replied sincerely. "I'm also impressed with your lawyer. It's not often that people manage to keep facts like that from leaking."

"I know." She smiled. "Everyone on my legal team is a superhero. Not only did they manage to keep my personal life private, but they also managed to get me everything I deserved. Things he'd never have given me if not for them."

"Like the company?" I guessed.

She nodded. "Among other things. What no one knew is that I was doing a lot of the planning anyway. Only via email or text since he didn't want anyone finding out I was involved. I did the marketing for the company. I got all those spreads and I worked day and night to grow it into what it is today. I didn't mind him taking the credit for it at the time, but it was my work. My company. He had the fancy office and he took the meetings, but I chose the employees he hired, and when he got home, he dumped it all on me."

"Wow." Surprise ricocheted off the core of my being. "I'm sorry, Serenity. I shouldn't have said what I did about him earlier."

She waved me off, but I could tell it made her feel better by how her posture changed now that it was properly out of the way. Leaning forward, her expression was soft and open. "Since we're getting personal tonight, why were you such an asshole to me at first?"

I chuckled. "Our first meeting was only about two days after I found out my mom was getting remarried and that she wouldn't be doing it at our venue. I didn't know any of those things you just told me about how much experience you already had, so it hit me like a bomb, you know? My mother was getting married, not at my father's venue, and having someone plan it who was completely new to the industry."

"Ah." She smothered a smile and nodded. "I think I'm starting to get it now. You were close to your dad, huh?"

"Yeah, I was," I said honestly. "I don't know about your parents, but mine weren't the rich, successful types who didn't spend any time with their kids or each other. They were desperately in love until the day he died, and he made a point of spending time with all of us together and separately."

Profound sadness clouded her eyes as she nodded. "My parents were the same way. It sucks that they're gone, huh?"

"Yep." I paused to order a bottle of wine when our waiter came. Then we spent a few moments studying the menu while he brought our drinks and took our order for appetizers. When I looked at her again, I breathed in deeply. "It's especially bad because they all passed so suddenly. Yours went in a helicopter crash if I remember correctly?"

She nodded. "They were on their way home from a fundraiser. The irony is that they never even got to find out that it had been the most money they'd raised in a single event yet, and I know how thrilled they would've been."

"What was it for?" I asked. "The fundraiser."

"Children in Africa," she replied quietly. "With the money they raised that night, three new clinics were built. Fifteen orphanages were renovated and over a hundred children were fed for a year. It was incredible, but they never knew about any of it."

"I'm sorry, Serenity," I said. "Strangely, I can relate. I'm organizing a fundraiser for underprivileged children myself at the moment and it's also a cause started by my father. Every year, I aim to raise more money than the last. He was so passionate about it that I just want to try to make him proud, you know?"

She nodded. "Sadly, I do know. I'm also still involved with all those events, and every time I'm planning one, I feel like I can feel them smiling down at me from heaven."

"I don't know if I believe in heaven, but I also can't believe that he just doesn't exist anywhere anymore, so I know what you mean."

While we drank our wine, she told me more about her parents and her childhood, and we bonded over many shared experiences growing up. It turned out that our families had enjoyed similar things, like board games and fairs. We also vacationed at many of the same spots, and I found myself wondering how our paths hadn't crossed earlier.

By the end of the night, we'd had a great time and I walked her to her penthouse door, grinning even though our time together had come to an end. "Thanks for agreeing to dinner, Serenity. I had a wonderful time."

"Same here," she said, also smiling. "I know what happened the other night was a one-time thing, but I appreciate you taking me out and not making it weird."

"It could be a one-time thing, but it doesn't have to be," I replied, my eyes locking on hers. "In fact, I happen to think that we really connected that night."

"Connected?" She tilted her head at me. "I thought guys like you didn't do connections."

I laughed softly. "Guys like me? I might have a reputation, but I'm not really like that. I've just never bothered arguing with the paparazzi about it."

We were standing really close together now, both of us having shuffled a couple steps forward while we spoke. I leaned forward, bringing my mouth to her ear and whispering to her as I reached for her hip. "I'd love to do it again."

She pulled back, presumably to respond, but instead, our lips landed on one another's. I wasn't quite sure who'd kissed whom, but I didn't care. I was so drawn to her that kissing was kissing and we were doing it, so the details didn't really matter.

The only thing that did was the sound of her door creaking open and the feeling I got when she wound her arms around my neck and pulled me inside.