Chapter 31

Itold Serenity I'd have a car pick her up for our flight, but she didn't know I was waiting for her inside it. As the door opened, I grinned, holding out a single red rose and reaching for her hand. "Good morning."

Her entire face lit up with her smile when she saw me, quickly sliding into the car and slamming the door behind her before anyone had a chance to try and sneak a picture of me. She scooted across the seat until she was practically sitting in my lap, catching my face between her hands and kissing me.

"I love it," she murmured between kisses. "Good morning, Mr. St. Clair. This is a pleasant surprise."

I chuckled against her lips, groaning. I pressed my forehead to hers, ending the kiss but not wanting to let her go yet. I was already hard as hell though, and while I'd chosen the car with the darkest tint on the windows, it didn't have a privacy partition.

"I'm glad you like it," I said as she eased back and accepted the rose, bringing it to her nose and inhaling deeply. "How did you sleep?"

Glancing up at me through those long lashes, she shrugged, a coy smile on her lips. "I barely got an hour. I was too excited."

"Same." I chuckled, winding my fingers through hers, relieved that I'd used this particular car service for years.

Their drivers were extremely trustworthy and discreet, which meant I could hold her hand freely without having to worry about the story leaking in the next day's papers. As if she was thinking the same thing, she glanced at the driver and then at me, but I squeezed her hand and shook my head.

Nodding her understanding, she cuddled as close to my side as she could while still buckled up. "Full disclosure, the baker we're going to meet is an old friend of mine, but she's good. Great, actually. I'm confident that she's worth the trip."

"You're worth the trip," I said. "Sampling cakes is just an added bonus. An old friend though, huh? Jeez. How many of those do you have?"

She chuckled. "A few, but Molly is amazing. I hope you know I wouldn't be taking you out there if she wasn't."

"I trust you," I said without even having to think about it. "How long has she been in the game?"

"A few years," she replied, glancing up at me and smiling. "Before you ask, she's not formally trained. She grew up baking and learning how to cook with her grandmother, and then she went on to get a degree in marketing, but eventually, once she settled in Seattle after she got married, she decided to give it all up to open a bakery instead."

"I'm always impressed with people who have the balls to follow their dreams," I said. "There aren't enough of us who do. People like you, me, and Molly are a rare breed."

"How do you know I'm following my dreams?" she asked curiously, but she didn't deny it.

I looked deep into her eyes, shrugging as I studied the turquoise crystals within the blue. "I know you've turned down a variety of reality show offers to do this instead, which means being on TV wasn't your dream. You work at this day and night, and you take the losses personally but you celebrate the wins. Am I wrong? Are you not living your dream?"

She stared back at me for another beat before she nodded. "No, I am. You're right. Of course, you're right. I am living my dream. I'm just surprised you figured it out so well."

I didn't respond, simply lowering my head to the top of hers and listening as she told me all about Molly and how they'd met on the way to the airport. Once we arrived, we boarded the waiting jet quickly. The paparazzi were kept far away by security and the vast land the airstrip was situated on.

Breakfast was ready when we boarded, and Serenity gave me a surprised smile when she stepped onto the jet to be welcomed by the scent of bacon. "You asked for this?"

"Of course," I said, leaning in to press another chaste kiss to her lips once we were clear of the open door. "I wouldn't want you to go hungry on our first proper date."

"This is our first date?" she asked, trying and failing to hide yet another smile. "I like it, but it's weirdly elaborate and awesome at the same time. Also, technically, we're doing this for your mother's wedding, which adds another layer of weird to it."

"Weird is how we roll." I took her hand and led her over to one of the chairs surrounding a small table where we could dine once we were airborne. "Everything about our relationship so far has been weird and unexpected. Why stop now?"

"Fair enough," she agreed, sitting down and buckling up. "Weird and unexpected is pretty darn accurate for us."

Just after takeoff, we were served our breakfast, an array of fresh fruit, yogurt, bacon, and pancakes with all the trimmings, and the hostess left us alone once she'd set it down. I glanced at Serenity, wondering why she suddenly seemed uneasy.

Her gaze was fixed on the window as it had been all through taxi and takeoff, and she'd tugged her lower lip into her mouth. I frowned as I watched her, but she didn't even seem to notice.

"Is everything okay?" I asked. "You seem different all of a sudden."

She exhaled deeply through her nostrils before she finally moved her eyes back to mine. "I'm okay. It's just that talking about how weird and unexpected all of this has been got me thinking about what you said before about clients losing faith in me after so many missteps. It's just, uh, it's weird that so much has gone wrong already and yet we're doing better than ever."

"Ignore what I said." I leaned across the table and offered her my hand, relieved when she placed her palm in mine. "Look, the whole city is watching you with this one, but there haven't been as many missteps as you think. In fact, you're doing an amazing job."

"So your mother keeps saying, but it's like there's a new thing every week that goes wrong."

"And that's wedding planning for you," I said sincerely. "That is why both of us have jobs. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it themselves, but it's not. Shit happens, Serenity. You can't allow it to make you question yourself."

"That's easy for you to say, but people are waiting for me to fail, Dash. We may be weathering the same storm, but we're not in the same boat. I'm on a hunk of junk that could start taking on water at any given moment and you're on a brand-new luxury yacht."

"True, but I've been doing this for years. I know you have been too, but no one else knows that. My reputation came with time. Just give yourself that, and maybe a little bit of the grace you show others as well. Soon enough, they'll all be eating their words and they'll realize that you're awesome at this."

"Am I, though? Because it sure doesn't feel that way right now. I'm not fishing for compliments or anything. It's just that so many things have gone wrong."

"None of this has been your fault," I said firmly. "You didn't mess up, Serenity. Life happened. When I told you people would lose faith in you, I didn't mean it in a bad way. I meant it as a warning to let you know they were watching."

I was definitely going to have to start being more careful about what I said, though. Squeezing her hands, I looked right into her eyes as I tried to reassure her. "People put an insane amount of pressure on just one day to be perfect when it's their wedding day. The vendors feel that pressure and so does everyone else involved in the planning. I firmly believe that's why weddings take so much more effort to plan. That's why it often feels like so many more things are going wrong."

She was listening intently and at least now, she seemed to agree with what I was saying. All that was left for me to do was to make her believe that she truly was good at handling that pressure. "With this wedding, it's been so much worse because it's the first high-profile wedding you're planning. You're smart enough and self-aware enough to know that potential future clients will be watching how this turns out and I know that stunt Ethan pulled didn't help."

"It really didn't," she said softly.

I nodded, stroking my fingers along the length of hers. "Don't get in your head about it. You've got this. The wedding is going to be incredible, and everyone will be able to see that you were born to do this. In just a few more weeks, there won't be any more doubt and Ethan won't be able to take that away from you. Neither will I, for that matter."

"What if they think it was only a success because of you?"

"They won't," I said. "If anyone tries, I'll set them straight. All I've been is a representative of my family. I haven't touched the planning more than any other client would have—well, maybe with a bit more criticism, for which I feel bad now. Still, the planning has all been you and I'll make sure people know it."

She drew in a deep breath, but finally, she nodded and gave me a sweet smile. "Should we eat? It's probably all gone cold by now."

I chuckled. "Crispy bacon is good at any temperature."

We tucked in, chatting about lighter topics for the rest of our short flight. As soon as we landed, we went straight to Molly's bakery, walking in side by side but not holding hands. Why am I even noticing that? Do I want to be holding her hand?

Internally sighing, I watched as the girl behind the counter saw us. A big grin spread on her face as she opened her arms. "Serenity!"

"Hey, Mol." She smiled, breaking away from me to hug her friend. "Thanks for seeing us on such short notice."

"Anything for you," the other woman said, glancing at me over Serenity's shoulder. "This must be the infamous Dash St. Clair."

I smirked. "Infamous? Thanks. I'm going to take that as a compliment."

She laughed, unexpectedly pulling me into a hug as well. She was taller than Serenity and a bit rounder, with short blonde hair and a heart-shaped face. Something about her made me like her instantly. She had a warmth people just didn't have in LA.

Surprising myself, I hugged her back gently then let go, taking a step closer to Serenity once more. Molly glanced between us, giving Serenity a knowing look before she waved for us to follow her. "We've got you set up in the tasting room. Right this way."

Serenity flashed me a slightly nervous smile, then went after Molly. I fell into step behind them. The bakery was small, but the rooms were spacious, with high ceilings and little nooks she'd created with comfortable furniture for people to sit and have their coffee and treats.

The tasting room she led us to was tiny but intimate, and they'd laid out several plates with silverware for us in advance. Molly turned to smile at us once we were in the room. "Have a seat. I'll grab you some coffee and some water, and then we can jump right in."

The next hour was like I'd died and gone to decadent heaven. Molly brought out several flavors of cake for us to taste, as well as other desserts I knew my mom loved, like cheesecake, mousse, and baklava. Everything was delicious, and it wasn't because I was forcing myself to think so for Serenity's sake.

This woman really knew what she was doing in a kitchen. I grinned at both of them once we'd worked our way through it all. "That was amazing. I'm impressed."

Relief softened Serenity's features and she smiled. "I'm so happy right now."

Molly arched a sassy eyebrow at me. "Does that mean I'm hired?"

"Absolutely. I'll leave you guys alone to discuss the details." My role on behalf of the family had ended with the last bite I'd taken and now the wedding planner had to step in.

Serenity seemed surprised but nodded at me when I got up. I gave her a quick wink, then found an open seat near a window and had some more coffee while I waited for her. As soon as she came out, I swigged the last of it and took her arm, not giving a damn about being seen.

"I'm taking you to celebrate now," I said, leaning into her as we left. "I'm familiar with Fiona's work and she's good, but Molly is even better. You pulled off one hell of a save here, baby. You should be proud."

Again, I wasn't just saying it. I really meant it. She was going to be a fierce competitor in the industry with her out-of-the-box way of thinking and problem-solving. I didn't know if she knew that yet, but before we left this city, I would make sure she did. In fact, I was going to make it my personal mission to ensure that she knew exactly how good she really was—and how sorry I was feeling that I hadn't hired her for Mom's wedding myself.