Page 107 of Some Kinda Romance

“Really? Even when we’re old, and saggy, and wrinkly? It may not be so sexy by then.”

“It’ll always be sexy,” he said confidently. “We’ll be old, saggy, and wrinkly together, so we won’t know any better because we’ll have forgotten what we look like now.”

I chuckled, but I couldn’t deny that I liked the sound of growing old with him. “I took so many mental pictures of today, I’m never going to forget even a single detail. You might forget it, though, which is fine. In fact, it may be better if you do. That way, you won’t be tempted to go find a young little plaything when you’re eighty.”

He scoffed. “You’re not the only one who took mental pictures, baby. I’ll still have mine when I’m eighty and those memories will give me the only young little plaything I’ll need. You.”

I cuddled into his side. “How is it that you always know exactly what to say to me? Even after a day like today when I should’ve been the one comforting you?”

“Why would I need to be comforted?” he asked, confused. “Because of the Ethan thing?”

I gave his stomach a playful smack. “Don’t be so modest. I’ve never had anyone stand up for me like that and I might not know what he said, but I’m sure it wasn’t pretty. It’s okay if you needed a little comfort after that.”

“Needing comfort is fine. I need comfort all the time. Especially if that’s how you’re going to comfort me.” He grinned. “That being said, I really am fine. Ethan is an asshole. I’m just sorry I didn’t believe you about him sooner.”

I frowned. “You only believe me now?”

“No, but I should’ve believed you from the minute I met you. Before that, even. I should’ve believed you when all those stories first broke during your divorce.”

“It’s okay, Dash. No one believed me then, except my lawyer, but she was paid to believe me. Oh, and Julie, but she was there, so that doesn’t count.”

“Still, we’re all idiots for believing that front he puts on instead.” He drew in a big breath, held it for a moment, and then blew it out slowly, but I still saw the anger flickering in his eyes. “Are you going to ask me what happened?”

I shrugged. “I want to know, but I didn’t want to push you. Like I said, no one has ever stood up for me like that. You definitely don’t owe me an explanation.”

A crease appeared between his eyebrows as he shook his head at me. “We’re going to work on that. If you ever want to know something from me, all you need to do is ask, Serenity. Fuck whether I owe you the answers or not. Just ask. I’m not him. You don’t need to wait until you think I owe you something before you ask what you want to know.”

I felt a small smile ghosting across my lips. “Fine. What exactly happened today?”

He grinned, leaning forward to press a kiss to my forehead. “Ethan was waiting for me at the office when I arrived. I think whoever recorded it started the video soon after he reached me, but he was trying to scare me. He warned me to stay away from you. As you saw, it didn’t work.”

I burrowed deeper into his side, holding him closer, and looked back up at him. “I’m sorry. All this trouble is because of⁠—”

“Ethan,” he said firmly. “It’s not your fault. He’s one of the worst kinds of people there is, Serenity. That’s not on you.”

As he held my gaze, I nodded, knowing he was right. Sometimes, it was difficult not to think of it as my fault. At least where Dash was concerned. I’d known all about how possessive Ethan was when I’d kissed Dash in my office that day. I’d also known that he wouldn’t take kindly to it if I entered into a new relationship.

Dash shook his head at me. “Not. Your. Fault.”

“Okay,” I said finally, taking a deep breath. “Okay. Thank you, though. I know how convincing he can be. It would’ve been easy for you to walk away from me instead.”

“Never,” he said intently. “It’s never going to be easier for me to walk away from you than it is to do anything else. I’m not going anywhere.”

Pushing up against his body, I brushed his hair off his forehead and kissed him again, so damn grateful to have him in my life that I couldn’t bring myself to stop. Eventually though, I had to. We were making out, but my stomach was about to start grumbling and I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“I’m starving,” I murmured against his lips. “I need food before we keep going, or I’m really going to embarrass myself.”

“Great minds think alike. We definitely need to refuel. I’m just glad you said it before I had to.” He chuckled as he rolled away to reach for his phone. “I’ll order some food for delivery. What are you in the mood for?”

“Nothing too rich,” I said quickly. “The cleaner and crisper, the better.”

He nodded. “Got it. Bacon cheeseburger and a chocolate shake.”

I laughed. “Guess again.”

He opened a delivery app and lay down, patting his arm for me to lie down on it again. “These are our options. Come take a look and stop me when you see something you’re up to eating.”

It took a while, but we settled on chicken salads, a variety of freshly baked breads, and some tapas before he finally placed the order. With that done, I turned to him again, settling in for the wait with my palm on his chest and my eyes on his profile.

“How is everything so easy with you? I’ve never had that before. It’s like I have to keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“You don’t,” he said, his voice strong and sure as he rolled over so he was facing me too. “I’ve never had this before either, but I suspect this is the way things should be. Besides, not everything has been easy.”

I rolled my eyes at him as I laughed. “You know what I mean. This. Me and you. When we’re alone and together like this, it’s easy.”

Dash waggled his eyebrows at me as he leaned in. “Let’s test your theory, shall we? We’ve got some time before the food gets here.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck once more and kissed him, surprised that he felt the same way I did. I knew he’d never been in a serious relationship, but I’d kind of thought that maybe he was just like this when he was hooking up with a girl.

Knowing that it was more than that for him too and that we really were in this together made me feel all warm inside. He was right about one thing though—this probably was how it was supposed to be. If that was true, then we would have one heck of a happily ever after ahead of us.