Page 101 of Some Kinda Romance

She sighed. “He got so angry, he left me in Bangkok. I caught a flight home a few days later. Once I was feeling better.”

My eyebrows shot up. “He just left you there?”

She nodded. “Oh yeah. He was furious, but I wasn’t alone. He hired a bodyguard to watch me.”

Disbelief ricocheted through me, followed shortly by violent anger, but I didn’t let it show. Instead, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, dropping a kiss on top of her head. “Well, from now on, you won’t have to fend for yourself when you’re sick. I’ll wait on you hand and foot. I can’t believe he left you in another fucking country. What about when you just had the flu or something?”

She grimaced. “I didn’t see him until it was over.”

We got into the car and I held her closer then. Once we were seated on the jet, I held her again. The way home wasn’t quite like the last flight home from Seattle. Serenity was really tired but she stayed glued to me, which I didn’t hate at all.

I kept my arms around her, wishing I could travel back in time to protect her from ever having met that asshole. Grappling with all the different ways in which he’d abused her and let her down, I was quiet while she slept. When we got home, I even carried her to the car waiting on the runway.

I thought she was asleep, but a few minutes later, she suddenly looked up at me. “It was great to be able to go on such a spontaneous trip with you. We should do it again and next time, I’ll stay away from cold cuts and seafood.”

I groaned. “It wasn’t your fault, Serenity, but we will do it again. I enjoyed it.”

“A whole night on the bathroom floor together. How romantic,” she teased weakly, then fell silent again. I realized just how much trauma she was still carrying from that relationship. She carried it well, but it was there, right under the surface.

More determined than ever to be there for her, I went back to her apartment with her, helping her get her bags up and to make sure that she was okay. As always, we were met by cameras and both of us largely ignored them until one reporter called out a question I couldn’t just let go unanswered.

“Are you guys getting serious?”

Serenity didn’t say anything, still tucked under my arm.

I replied. “Yes, we care about each other and we’re seeing where things go, but as far as I’m concerned, I’m off the market.”

We went inside, but once again, Serenity kissed me passionately as soon as the elevators doors shut behind us. “I can’t believe you told them that, but I feel the same way.”

She whispered it between kisses and I pulled away from her to look into her eyes. “Does that mean you’re ready to make this official?”

“Yes,” she said, kissing me again all the way up to her floor. I walked her into her apartment and she slid her arms around my neck once more after I’d dropped her things in her bedroom. “Thanks again for taking such great care of me and for planning such an amazing trip.”

“I hate to have to leave you right now, but I promised Lance I’d be in the office this afternoon and I’ve been out so often lately that I really can’t leave him for another whole day.”

“I understand,” she said softly, toying with the ends of my hair. “Say hi to him for me.”

“I will. I’ll talk to you later, okay? If you want, I can always come back when I’m done, but I’ll let you get some rest and tell me what you want to do once you’re awake.”

She nodded. “Thanks, Dash.”

“Anytime.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead, desperately wishing I didn’t have to leave but doing it anyway and heading straight to the office from her place.

On the drive over, I thought about how great it’d been to get away with her even if she had been sick. I also thought about how I’d never been off the market before and even I knew a person wasn’t supposed to leave their significant other by themselves when they were sick. It was preposterous, especially since he’d managed to convince her it was always her fault.

With my head still spinning about everything, I was about to walk into the building when Ethan suddenly appeared. He came out of the foyer and walked right to me, not looking like he was planning on stopping at all.

I turned to face him, mentally bracing myself for the showdown I knew was coming. Ethan was sure to be pissed after that big public statement I’d made the other night, but I was pretty pissed at him too and I definitely wasn’t about to stay out of it this time.