What?
“And when you didn’t show up, I had no reason not to be with other women.”
I swallowed hard as his gaze drifted from my eyes to my lips and then back again.
“What about you, Serena? Have you been celibate all these years?”
Yes. The word came into my head, but I didn’t say it.
“Is that why you’re so prickly? Do you need to get laid?”
Thank God he decided to be a dick, because I was precariously close to stripping off my clothes and begging him to fuck me.
I stepped back. “You’re more of a jerk than you were before.”
He turned and leaned his back against the wall. “You are too.”
The elevator reached the ground floor and I was through the doors before they finished opening. I pulled out my phone, opening the app to order a car.
“Doug will take you home,” Devin said opening the door of a dark sedan. “Don’t worry, I won’t ride with you.” He leaned down and peered at the driver. “Doug, please take Ms. Moore wherever she wants.”
“Yes sir.”
“I don’t need—” My words stopped when I saw the intense glare in his eyes.
“I’m not trying to get into your pants,” he bit out. “Just accept the ride, Serena.”
I nodded because I didn’t want to be ungrateful. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I slid into the back seat.
“Should I come back for you, Mr. Roarke?” Doug the driver asked.
“No, that’s okay. You can go home when you drop off Ms. Moore.”
It was then I realized he was using my last name. Was that just for his driver, or was it a sign that he’d given up on me? If so, that was a good thing, I reminded myself. I needed him to understand that we couldn’t have another go at what we started five years ago.
My stomach clenched at that idea. I wasn’t sure if it was from guilt at my deception or sadness that I wouldn’t have another chance to have the excitement I’d had five years ago. It didn’t really matter which one it was. What mattered was that Andrew stayed safe from the Roarke family.
I got home late, and normally I’d just go to my apartment and leave Andrew at my parents. But if I was going to meet Devin out at his Hampton house tomorrow by nine, I’d be up in a few hours and on the train heading to the beach community. I need to ask my parents if they could watch Andrew.
As I put my key into my parents’ apartment, my phone beeped.
BTW…Doug will pick you up tomorrow to bring you to the appointment.
I had to work to tell myself that Devin was likely just being helpful. It’s not a problem for me to take the train.
It was a few seconds before he replied. I imagined he was trying to talk himself into not thinking I was being bitchy.
You’ll be able to rest on the way out, and work on the way home if Doug drives.
He had a point.
Thank you.
A few seconds later he responded with, You’re welcome.
I checked on Andrew sleeping in the bedroom I grew up in, now decorated with airplanes. I gave him a quick kiss and then went to my parents’ room, gently knocking on the door.
“Everything all right?” my mother asked sleepily.
“Yes. I’m sorry to wake you, but I got an offer to do an anniversary. The meeting is tomorrow in the Hamptons. Can Andrew stay with you?”
“Of course, honey,” my mother sat up against her headboard.
“So this Gallagher shindig is already paying off for you, eh?” my father said reaching over to turn on his bedside lamp.
We all squinted as the bright light lit up the area.
“Yes.”
“Is it Mr. Roarke?” my mother asked with a hopeful tone.
I tried not to roll my eyes. “Yes. His parents' thirtieth anniversary is coming up.”
“He must have been impressed with your work that he’s asking you. Or did Nikita pass it on?” my father asked.
Actually, I wasn’t sure. Maybe he approached Nikita first. “He asked me before I left tonight.”
“I know you’ll blow his socks off,” my father said.
“Get a ring before socks come off,” my mother said with a wink.
That time I did roll my eyes. “Thank you. Now go back to sleep.”
Back in my own apartment, I tried to sleep but it was hard when I was going to spend time with Devin alone at the beach house. It was easy to resist him so far, but I was no idiot. I was no match for my hormones that came alive when he was around. I had to hope that I’d done an effective job at dissuading him, because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to continue to resist him.
6 Devin
I was a glutton for punishment. That was the only way to explain my continued interest in Serena. She not only had no interest in me, but clearly thought I was defective in some way. And yet, after sending her off with my driver, at nearly two in the morning, made arrangements to head out to the Hamptons right then to prepare for her visit. Schmuck.
Was I wanting what I couldn’t have or simply challenged by her resistance? I hoped it was the latter, because that suggested there wasn’t a real connection. If it was the former, I was fucked. Who wanted to go through life unfulfilled missing what I wanted?
Had I felt unfulfilled without her the last five years, I wondered when I finally hit the sack at the beach house just before four in the morning. My work in Europe was exciting. I’d been good at it, too, which was why I knew that I could not only take over from my father but also push the business further, to greater success.
But I supposed there was a part of me that was unfulfilled. Like I told Serena, I hadn’t lived like a monk, but I hadn’t connected with anyone like I had with her that short week we’d
