Page 28 of Laying it Bare Backstage

Giggling, she knocked into my shoulder. “Don’t hold your breath.”

Plopping down onto the sand, Serenity and I gazed out at the waves rolling along the ocean.

“I don’t want to stress our relaxing time here, but I’m surprised I didn’t hear from Simon about my car. I can’t imagine he wants it cluttering up his property.”

Well, I guess I didn’t have to bring up the topic. “I talked to him while you were napping and asked him to take care of any repairs it needed and let me know what he determined.” I paused for a moment and braced myself. Now was the perfect time to come clean. “I also asked him to give you a discount and that I would pay the rest.”

She stared at me for a beat before she narrowed her eyes and her lips pulled into a scowl. “Why didn’t you talk to me about this first instead of taking it upon yourself to pay for me? I don’t know that I like that. Why do you think I can’t take care of myself financially?”

Well shit. That wasn’t it at all and I hated that she thought that way.

Seven

~ Serenity ~

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Every time I turnedaround he was taking care of me. But why did I find that so awful? He had neveroncebeen patronizing about it. He wasn’t anything like Mick and it was so unfair of me to compare the two. Looking at his crestfallen expression made me even madder at myself. Thank God, I had managed to get control of my tongue because I had been mere seconds away from blurting his being a rock star and making tons more money than me did not give him that right.

“I’m so sorry for blasting you like that. I know you’re just trying to help.” I dropped my eyes to my lap. He didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of my exasperation.

“Hey.” Wrapping his arms around my waist, he lifted me up onto his lap. “It’s okay. Maybe I am overstepping boundaries. I’m new at this. And I just want to take care of you.”

“I’m just so frustrated.” I tugged a hand through my windblown hair. “Two days ago, I had to have two new tires put on my car and there was the towing expense then too. And you also helped me pay for that. I appreciate it and I’m sorry it doesn’t sound like I do, but I want to take care of these things like I’ve always done. I feel like I don’t have control over anything in my life anymore and it’s driving me insane.”

“I’m so sorry you feel like your life is turbulent right now. I wish I could fix that. But I can be here for you in whatever capacity you need. You don’t have to worry about things on your own anymore. We’re a team now. Think about this; you wouldn’t feel this way or argue with me about helping you pay your car bills if we were married.”

My jaw dropped open and since my face was right in front of his, I was sure he got a perfect view of my eyes widening as my eyebrows shot up to my hairline. “You didn’t bring me here tonight for that, did you? Because while I love being with you and am in love with you, with this shit going on I can’t think about that right now.” Oh God. I wouldn’t be able to deal with that question right now. My breathing sped up and my heart thundered against my chest. I would be so torn because I didn’t want to hurt him, but I just wasn’t ready for all that entailed. I needed to get my life put back together first. Even though I had no doubt about my feelings for him. It was everything else.

Cupping my cheeks in his palms, he pressed a gentle kiss to my lips. “No. That’s not part of tonight’s plans. Rest assured; you can calm down. You know, my ego would be badly bruised if I didn’t agree with you about onlyoneminor detail. At this time, it wouldn’t be fair to ask you to make that formal commitment. But I can’t deny that’s where this is headed. I won’t pretend you’re not it for me. I don’t need the spoken words from your mouth saying ‘yes’. I love you and when the time is right, I’m going to make you mine in every way possible. Iwillbe making you my wife. But for now, you are mine to love, treasure, and take care of. I don’t need a marriage license for that ...for now. However, down the line, we will be making it official.”

My mouth curled into a content smile, despite the anxieties pounding me from every angle and trying to suffocate me. “You love me?” I had his love so everything else would find a way to work out. It had to. I just needed a good night’s sleep. Today had been too much. And I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. I couldn’t figure out how the accident could be connected to the other incidents, but I was growing weary of the entire situation.

“I do. So incredibly much.”

“I love you too. I promise to try not to snap at you. That wasn’t fair to you. And I’m not making excuses, but today’s accident really rattled me. I’ve never been in one before for starters. And with everything else that’s going on; I need a break from all of this shit.”

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