Page 81 of Tailored for You

There was a breeze, making Serena’s hair and dress flow behind her. With the sun rising, she looked like an angel.

My phone rang once, then stopped. It rang again seconds later. Martina.

“Sí,” I said, ready for her to read me the riot act.

“Give the phone to Serena,” Martina ordered. “Rafael put you on speaker. I heard every word. Give the phone to her.”

“Serena,” I called out, walking to where she stood on the balcony. She turned and gave me a small smile.

I held the phone out. “It’s for you.”

Confusion twisted her face as she took the phone. “Me?” I nodded and pointed to the name.

“Oh boy,” she muttered and brought the phone to her ear. “Hello,” she said, wincing. Martina’s voice was loud enough that I could hear it from a foot away, though I couldn’t make out the words.

After a moment, she laughed, eyed me, and walked into the house. She paused in the kitchen, looking left and right, before turning left down the hall toward the small bathroom at the end.

I followed her, standing back to give her space as she walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

I tried not to worry about what Martina was saying to her. It was hard.

Martina was straightforward, never one to mince her words to save someone else’s feelings. She wasn’t cruel and was always there to offer a hand to help after you were able to digest her sometimes harsh delivery.

I walked to the door, ready to barge in, begging for another chance to do this day right, but stopped myself.

Serena needed space to process this. If the last time were anything to go by, she’d recover quickly. Hopefully, whatever Martina said didn’t make Serena reconsider being with me.

“No, I’m fine,” Serena said, her voice echoing. “I’m glad Harper’s okay, but it’s early, and I don’t want to wake her up.”

I should leave, give her privacy, but I needed to know what she was thinking. I braced my hands on the doorframe and leaned in. Thank god for tiled bathrooms and their acoustics.

“I had to hold a gun. That would freak anyone out,” Serena said, her voice getting louder. “No. Should it matter that I didn’t use it?”

Serena went silent. What was Martina saying? If only she had put her on speaker.

“I don’t blame him at all. It’s not like he asked to get attacked,” Serena said. I had rarely seen her get annoyed, only with her ex, but I could hear the annoyance in her tone now.

“Like I said, I’m not mad at him. I’m a little freaked out and tired,” Serena said. “No. I am not talking about that. But if you’re not going to leave it be, it was,” she trailed off and then laughed.

The twisting in my stomach eased. Laughing was a good thing.

“I’d never felt so cared for. He was,” she stuttered. “Yes, I want him. I’m not an idiot, but I’m also worried he’s doing all this extravagant stuff to win me over, and then what if, once he has me, he shows me who he really is?”

My head dropped as I took my first real breath since being woken up. She wanted more. Everything else was secondary. Trust took time to build. She’d been burned in the past. I was moving into familiar territory.

“He’s what?” she gasped. “Why would he think that?”

Listening to one side of the conversation was killing me. Martina seemed to be helping, but it was hard to know how much from Serena’s responses.

“What do I do, then?” She laughed, and it almost brought me to my knees. Her laugh was everything. “Yes, that’s where we are.”

I waited, seconds ticking by, but didn’t hear Serena speak again.

Standing there, I gripped the doorframe, trying to talk myself out of ripping the door off its hinges and begging her to talk to me.

It felt like half the day had gone by when the door opened again. Jumping back, I stared at her, preparing myself to go along with whatever she wanted, even if it ripped my heart out.

“I saw there was a hot tub outside,” she said, handing me the phone as the call with Martina ended. “Can we eat something while we’re in there? I’m a little hungry.”