Page 34 of Some Kinda Romance

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.