Rory knocked. “I need to talk to you, Serenity.”
“Oh, he is such a pain,” she murmured and then laughed out loud when his mother and both grandmothers nodded.
“Go ahead and talk to him,” Nonna Albertini said, reaching for another bottle of champagne. “We’ll keep drinking, and then you need to come try on more dresses.”
Serenity paused as Heather hurried up to help her out of the dress. “I think I found the one.”
“Of course, you did,” her mother said. “But we’re not done drinking and having fun, so you’re going to try on more.”
Nonna scrutinized Anna and Tessa. “Hey, you two are serious with hunky men. Why don’t you try on some dresses?”
Both women paled and gulped, rapidly shaking their heads.
“Not ready,” Anna said.
“Me either,” Tessa agreed.
Nonna straightened on the sofa and smoothed down her black linen pants. “Huh. We’ll just have to see about that.”
Serenity hurriedly yanked on her jeans and flannel shirt. “I’ll be right back. Maybe you two should try on dresses while I’m gone. Or…?” She looked at Heather. “How about you?”
Heather blushed a very pretty peach. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to look.”
Nana clapped her hands. “Excellent. You need to try the first one on that rack over there.”
“This one?” the sales lady asked, bringing over a dress.
Heather sighed. “Oh, it’s beautiful.”
“Yep, that one.” Nonna took another pull off her champagne flute.
What in the world was Serenity getting into? She smiled as she hustled out of the room and into the vestibule. The shop was on the far end of Spokane and was a perfect boutique with, apparently, unlimited champagne.
“Hey.” Rory grasped her and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that had her mind disintegrating. She melted against him, returning the kiss and letting him pour fire inside her. How, she didn’t know. The guy had gifts.
Finally, he released her mouth.
She would’ve stumbled back if he didn’t have such a good hold of her arms. “You’re not supposed to be here when I’m dress shopping.”
“I’m not in the room with you,” he murmured, looking so handsome her chest ached. His blue eyes were lazily happy, and he’d neglected to shave that morning, which gave him a shadow across his hard jaw that she found intriguing. “Make sure you text Hana a picture of your dress once you pick one. She’s driving me nuts asking about it.”
Serenity grinned. Hana had flown to DC to sign retirement papers and was supposed to return to Silverville the following week. “I promise. What are you doing here, anyway?”
“I was over signing some documents at the Air Force base. I thought I’d swing by.”
“So, are you out?” She held her breath. Had he really left the agency?
He caressed her arm and took her hand. “Yeah, I’m officially out. Everything’s notarized. I have, believe it or not, retired.”
“You’re awfully young to be retired,” she said, smiling up at his rugged face. The bruises and cuts had faded from his fight with Hackson, yet even so, the hard planes and lines showed a deadly intensity that would probably always live on his skin. “Are you happy to be out?”
“I am. I’m excited to go in with my brothers, and like I promised you, you’ll know everything.” He tightened his hold on her hand. “Now tell me about the dress.”
She loved the feel of his broad palm over hers, keeping her safe. “No. You’ll have to wait and see it.” She chuckled. “Stop being a pain.”
“I can’t help it. I’m good at it.” That he was. Raucous laughter came from the other room, and his eyebrows rose. “Maybe I’ll stick around and make sure you all have a ride home.”
“We’re going to need it. I know Quint’s around here somewhere because he’s never far from Heather, and I believe Aiden is around, as well. So there are plenty who can drive us home. The champagne is flowing freely.”
