Chapter 33

Waking up with my arms still around Serenity, I pulled her closer, burying my nose in her silky hair instead of getting out of bed. I couldn't tell if she was awake yet, but if she was, she seemed perfectly content to stay exactly where she was.

Which was where I wanted her to be.

We were due to leave Seattle this morning, but I truly wasn't ready to go back to LA, where we'd be followed and watched and where we'd have to go back into hiding. Sure, we hadn't gone out last night and we hadn't really taken advantage of our relative anonymity here, but even so, I wasn't ready to give up the idea of being able to have it either.

Unfortunately, even as I lay there holding her and looking out at the heavy gray clouds floating in the sky outside the window, I knew there could be no sticking around. I needed to get back to work and I was sure she did as well.

"Good morning," she murmured eventually, her voice still thick with sleep. I felt her press a soft kiss to my chest before she lifted her head to look into my eyes. "Have you been awake long? You didn't have to stay in bed. I sleep like a log. You wouldn't have woken me."

"Nah, I didn't want to move. Still don't," I said honestly. "We probably have to, though. Our flight plan says we're leaving in less than three hours."

She let out a soft groan, holding my gaze for another beat before she nodded. "Yeah. Okay. Do you want to shower first?"

"Only if you shower with me," I murmured without even thinking about it before I'd said it out loud. It was the truth, but I didn't think I'd ever sounded as needy in my life.

A slow smile spread on her lips as she lifted a hand to wag a finger at me. "I like the sound of that, but we're only showering. No funny business, or we'll miss our flight."

"Perks of owning the plane," I said, but I knew she was right. We couldn't get caught up in each other if we still wanted to get any work done today, so I let out a disappointed sigh but nodded my agreement. "Fine. No funny business. I promise."

Lazy laughter bubbled out of her before she finally rolled away from me, stretching once she was on her back. "Man, we should've planned to stay here for a couple days."

"Agreed, but we will, okay? Soon. Maybe after the wedding, we can get away somewhere together."

She turned her head to face me, her eyes alight with nervous excitement. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely," I said as I rolled out of bed. "Why wouldn't I be? We could go anywhere, but we can also come back here. Let's see what we feel like doing when the time comes."

I strode to the bathroom, smiling. A warm pair of arms slid around my hips when she fused her front to my back. "That sounds amazing. Are you sure, though?"

"I'm sure." I wrapped my fingers around her forearms, dragging in a deep breath and willing my cock not to react even though she was so soft and warm against me. "Let's shower before I change my mind about working today."

She chuckled but let go of me. "I wish we could stay too. If it helps."

I groaned. "It really doesn't."

Climbing into the shower cubicle, I adjusted the water temperature until it was perfect. I motioned for her to get in. Somehow, I managed to keep my hands off the stunning, naked girl in the shower with me, finding that I actually quite enjoyed the intimacy of simply washing myself with her doing the same thing.

It came as something of a shock to realize just how much I liked being this comfortable with her, and I smiled as I wrapped a towel around my hips when we were done. "That was nice."

She frowned, but as I watched, realization dawned in her eyes and she grinned as she came over to wind her arms around my shoulders. "I keep forgetting you've done this before. It was nice, though. We should do it again."

"Consider it a date," I said.

She laughed before she released me to stride back into the bedroom. "A shower date. I think I like that, but it's pretty weird."

"I thought we'd established that we were weird as a couple," I reminded her, once more enjoying the domesticity of getting dressed with her and readying ourselves for the day ahead together. It's no wonder so many people love being in relationships so much.This is surprisingly fun.

Once we'd checked out of the hotel, I held her hand as we walked to the car I'd ordered. Then I kissed her before she climbed in. She smiled against my lips. "Testing the waters, are we?"

"Hmm. I think I'm going to like being your partner."

"I think I'm going to like you being my partner." She slid her fingers into the short hair at my nape and slanted her lips over mine. Kissing me deeply, she pulled away to climb into the car, and I followed, insisting that we went by the bakery on our way to the airstrip.

"We can pick up some samples to take with us," I said after giving today's driver the address. "Mom would love it, and frankly, so would I."

She nodded. "Let's do it. I'll text Molly to pack a box for us."

Pulling her phone out of her purse, she fired off a quick message, and by the time we arrived at the bakery, Molly herself was waiting on the sidewalk to hand over our order. I paid, thanking her. Serenity said her goodbyes to her friend, promising to pay her a proper visit soon.

As we were getting back on the jet, my foot caught on the top step, and though I didn't fall, I dropped the damn box of cakes I'd been carrying. Serenity tried her best not to laugh as she arched an eyebrow at me, the barely restrained laughter sparkling in her eyes.

"Didn't you say I was the clumsy one?"

I grunted, but I also couldn't stop laughing at myself once I'd started. "It seems I caught it from you, so thanks for that."

She chuckled, picking up the box and opening it to inspect the inside before she shrugged. "They stuck a little bit, but we'll still be able to eat them."

We snacked on the most damaged ones during the flight, leaving the couple that had remained intact for my mother and Richard. Once we landed, I grimaced at Serenity. "We're home. I have a car waiting to take you to your office or wherever you want to go, but I figured we'd need to go separately instead of driving into the city in the same car."

She sighed before dragging in a deep breath through her nostrils. "I hate that you're right, but you are. You're also super thoughtful, though. Just in case I forget to say it out loud. You are, Dash. You're incredibly thoughtful and considerate, so thank you."

"So considerate that I'm going to kiss you goodbye now before someone with a telephoto lens catches us doing it on the runway." I reached for her, claiming her mouth for my own and having to force myself to stop before I kept her here all day.

Once we left the jet, we barely looked at one another again, climbing into the vehicles waiting for each of us and taking off as if we meant nothing to the other. It'd been annoying before to have to consider things like the press, but now, I detested it.

I knew it wasn't my call to make to go public with our relationship, but on my way back to the office, I dialed my mom. At least I could tell her the truth, and since she was one of the most important people in my life, I wanted her to know first in any event.

"Dash, honey!" she said enthusiastically as she picked up. "How was the trip? Is the baker any good?"

"She's amazing," I replied. "I brought you back some samples that I'm going to have my driver run over to you after he drops me off, but I've already booked her. Serenity was right about her being worth the trip. She's really something, Mom."

"Who?" she asked playfully. "Serenity or the baker?"

"Both," I said, deciding to use the comment to segue into the news I'd called to tell her, but at the last moment, I changed my mind. There was something else I needed to say first. "Look, Mom, I've been thinking about it and I want you to have whoever you want walking you down the aisle. You really don't have to ask me just because I've been helping with the wedding. I threw a temper tantrum the other day and I'm sorry. You should have who you want, not just the son who's gone to some meetings with you."

She paused for a moment, but I heard the smile when she spoke again. "I don't know what I did right with you, darling, but I sure am glad that I did it. I've thought about it again and I would like it if all my boys could walk me down the aisle. Would you be okay with that?"

"It's a great idea," I said, and I meant it. "I'm more than okay with it. Have you spoken to the others?"

"Not yet. I wanted to check with you first, but if you're onboard, I'm sure they will be too."

"Great. I'll let Serenity know her venue needs to expect six of us walking down the aisle on the day."

Mom laughed. "Gosh, I hope that'll work. Let me know what she says, okay?"

"I will, but I also know that it will work because Serenity will make it work," I said confidently. "I don't think there's anything that woman can't do."

"Really?" Mom asked, clearly surprised since her voice had gone up an octave or two. "Coming from you, that's high praise. What changed?"

"I was really impressed with the baker she chose," I said. "I mean, just for starters, I would've offered some other baker around here double what they were already getting paid just to get them to do your cake instead, but Serenity didn't even consider doing something like that. She just made a different plan. A far more honest one at that."

Mom hummed but didn't disagree, so I continued, finally coming out with the truth. "I like her, Mom. A lot."

"Oh, thank God you've realized it," she said happily. "Are you ready to admit that there's something going on between you yet?"

"Yep, there's definitely something going on between us, though to be fair, it's new. We've already hit a few bumps in the road, but I suspect our relationship might be serious."

She chuckled. "Good. Do whatever makes you happy, baby. I'm just glad you've finally found someone you like and that you can see yourself getting serious with. For the record though, I am happy that it's Serenity. I like her too, and what's more is that I like her for you. She's a ray of sunshine, that girl. Be good to her, darling. In fact, be extra good to her to make up for all the bad times she's been through."

I breathed out as I nodded. "Yeah, I will be. I'm trying to be."

"I know," she said softly. "Thanks for telling me, love. It goes without saying that no one will find out about it from me."

"Thanks, Mom. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

She agreed then hung up just as I pulled into my parking space at the estate. Lance had gone to lunch with clients, so I spent the afternoon working without talking to anyone else about Serenity, but that didn't mean that I'd stopped thinking about her.

In fact, she was still the only thing I could really focus on. I couldn't believe how well things had been going for us the last few days. I knew it hadn't been years, but it felt like it could become that, and the fact that the prospect didn't scare me spoke volumes.

I felt like a completely different person. Knowing her and trusting her had already changed me. For the better, in my opinion.

I was also glad that I'd told my mom, unable to believe how much it felt like things had changed in such a short amount of time. I pondered on it until I got a message from Serenity at the end of the day.

Serenity Halverson: Just got home. Hope you managed to be more productive than I was today! X

I smiled, a stupid, dopey smile like the one people in love often exchanged, and as soon as I realized it, I decided to go get her some flowers and surprise her. Mom had told me to be extra good to Serenity after all, and I remembered how happy she'd been whenever my father had unexpectedly brought home some flowers.

Feeling better about my life than I possibly ever had before, I packed up my stuff immediately and abandoned the idea I'd had about working late. I had a surprise date with my girl, and even though it'd only been a few hours since we'd last been together, I could hardly wait to see her.