Chapter 17

Iwoke up the next morning with Serenity on my mind. I didn't know when it had happened, but I liked her and I had finally accepted it.

While it had taken me a few days to come to terms with it, I'd eventually reached the point where it was the only thing that made logical sense. When I was with her, I felt things I'd never felt before and the only reasonable explanation for those things was that I liked her.

It definitely wasn't a feeling I was familiar with, but I'd found that when I'd started leaning into it instead of continually fighting and searching for a better explanation, it had suddenly come quite naturally to me.

My father had taught me never to back down from a challenge and to try anything twice before deciding it wasn't for me. He and my mother had also modeled what a loving, healthy relationship looked like, and while I'd never thought it would happen for me, he'd also often told me that when it did, I would know it.

And that when I knew it, I had to go for it.

While that obviously didn't mean I was ready to do something crazy like ask the girl to marry me, it did mean that I was mature enough to have told her and to take the chance. Last night, I really hadn't wanted to leave her, but I also really needed to work.

Plus, I hadn't wanted to be seen leaving her house early this morning. Wherever she went, the paparazzi seemed to follow, and while they hadn't been around her place when we'd arrived back there after dinner, I had no doubt at least one photographer would be there this morning.

I didn't care about being seen with her, but I just didn't want to deal with the publicity at the moment. My mother really did deserve the spotlight for a bit and I had a feeling Serenity would also rather keep our relationship under wraps while she was responsible for planning the wedding.

People finding out that she dated clients would inevitably cause her reputation to take something of a hit, which was bullshit, but I knew she wouldn't want that to happen. Once I wasn't a client anymore, it would be a different story.

All through showering and getting dressed, I thought about her. About how she'd opened up to me about her marriage over dinner. About how she'd smiled at me as she'd led me to her bedroom. About the sounds she'd made and the way she'd moved.

I only managed to put her out of my mind when I arrived at the estate and jumped straight into the most urgent things I had to do that day. Mom and I had another meeting scheduled with Serenity later to finalize a few more things for the wedding, and at this rate, I was going to have to work for four months to catch up the two months I was basically missing while helping Mom.

My assistants and I blazed through as much as we could before Rick suddenly got up. "Right, everyone. The boss needs to get going. Let's go."

I blinked hard, surprised that the time had passed so quickly but not arguing with him. Instead, I smiled and shut my laptop. "I'll see you all later. Great job this morning, guys. We'll pick this up again tomorrow. In the meantime, you know what to do."

Rick's eyes went wide, and he wasn't the only one who seemed puzzled by my praise. I laughed as I got up, shaking my head at them. "Go on, then. Don't make me take it back."

They suddenly scrambled to get up, racing past me and dispersing, but not before they'd each shot me some more confused looks. Since I wasn't ready to share the news about Serenity with anyone, I let them wonder, perfectly content with the situation I was in.

As I was about to leave though, Lance strode into my office. My best friend worked for me in the legal division and I frowned when he shut the door behind him. "What's wrong?"

He sighed. "I checked your calendar and I know you blocked it out for the rest of the day, but I'm afraid whatever it is, you're going to have to postpone."

"Why?"

"David Davidson is here and he's insisting on meeting with someone who has their name associated with the company."

"David Davidson," I repeated after him, frowning. What the hell was he doing here? "Has something gone wrong with his daughter's wedding? Please don't tell me we've done something to piss off a federal judge and one of the biggest benefactors of the oceans' charity drive."

He chuckled. "I don't think we've pissed him off, so to speak, but he still wants to talk."

I sighed. "Yeah. Okay. He's too important to keep him waiting. Bring him in, but if he's suing us, I hope you have a backup career planned because there's no way you'll be able to stay in the law."

"I'm already in my backup career," he joked. "I'm a wedding planner now too, remember? Doing contracts for the company isn't exactly practicing law."

"Fair enough," I agreed. "Alright. Go fetch it. I'll call my mom."

"Your mom?"

I rolled my eyes. "Who did you think I blocked out my afternoon for?"

"Well, I was hoping it was for a girl," he said, laughing. "Just not the one who gave birth to you."

I groaned as I headed for the door. Once I was alone, I put in a quick call to tell my mom I wouldn't be able to make it. Thankfully, she didn't mind at all. She simply told me she'd handle this one and fill me in on what happened later.

While I was relieved that she wasn't guilt tripping me about it, I still had flowers sent to her and to Serenity before my door opened again. Lance walked in, followed closely by a man who was at least seven feet tall and probably about half as wide.

I'd met him before and I knew we were handling his daughter's wedding, but I'd never sat down with him about it. I stuck out my hand to shake with him as I strode forward. "What can I do for you, David? Is there a problem with the wedding?"

He shook with me, then heaved his bulk into a chair and exhaled heavily. "Why do people always think there's a problem when you want to see them? There's no problem, but there will be if anything goes wrong on my Elsie's big day."

Ah. Okay.I grinned at him, nodding at Rick who was hovering in the doorway to bring us some waters. "I understand. This is the obligatory father of the bride threatening speech, isn't it?"

He blinked rapidly, then burst out laughing and nodded. "Yes, I suppose it is. I just wanted to make sure you knew how important this day is to my daughter and my wife. If anything goes wrong, they'll make my life hell and I don't believe in going to hell alone, so I'll be dragging you there with me."

"Consider me warned," I said amiably. Rick brought in the waters and passed them around as I moved back behind my desk and sat down. "Nothing is going to go wrong. I can assure you that I've got my best team on this and I'm overseeing the arrangements myself. I'm copied into every email and our system keeps track of every phone call. Everything is on track."

Relief loosened the tight knit of his eyebrows as he stared back at me. "That's excellent news, but I want to know you have your own hands on this. Not just those of your best team, but yours, Dash. I'm not paying you only to oversee things. I want you handling this personally."

"I am," I said confidently. "My teams handle the grunt work. They also do the groundwork and they take the meetings to get the information we need. Ultimately, however, everything passes across my desk for final sign off. All the vendors my team uses have been personally vetted by me and nothing happens around here that I don't know about."

He held my gaze for another beat before he nodded. "You remind me of your daddy, son. Always so confident about everything with an answer to every question. In the years I knew him, those answers were always true, though. Every problem was always solved. I hope you take after him in that sense, too."

"I do," I said. "Thank you. That means a lot to me. I know you worked with him on the board of the Oceans Initiative and I hope Zach has done an alright job stepping into his shoes."

David chuckled. "Your brother's good, Dash. We're doing as well as ever, but we do miss your daddy and he definitely left a mark on us all."

"He was one of those people," I agreed, trying not to think about it too much. Speaking to his friends always hurt, and while comments like David's were meant to comfort, I often found myself too raw for them to serve the purpose for which they were intended. "If that's all, however, I really should get going."

"Of course," he said, pushing himself up and offering me his hand. "It was good to see you, son. We'll be in touch."

Rick and Lance ushered him out while I gathered my things. Now that David had been taken care of, I checked the time and realized that the meeting hadn't taken that long at all. I could still catch Mom and Serenity if I hurried up, so I decided to surprise them.

I would take them both to lunch and come back here after. I didn't really have time for that kind of thing, but I was making it anyway.

I couldn't have stopped myself even if I wanted to, which I didn't. I wanted to see Serenity and there was nothing anyone could do or say to stop me now that I'd realized I still had an opportunity to get what I wanted out of the day.