She brought books and catalogs with all sorts of party items that I had to choose. Mostly, I didn’t care and let her be the expert. She’d ordered invitations, which I had my assistant send out. Serena recommended that I call people too since it was short notice, which I’d done the day before.
At noon, the caterer arrived with samples for us to try. I liked it all, but again, deferred to Serena for the final selection of food. When the caterer left with our order and my money, I knew it was time to make my move.
“I’m going to grab a glass of wine. Will you join me?”
“I should get home.”
“Just one glass. We got a lot done. I know my parents are going to have a great event. We should celebrate.”
She gave me that look that said she knew what I was doing, but she nodded. “One drink.”
I smiled, knowing it undid her a little bit when I did, and then got the wine.
“You know, this party isn’t that far from St. Patrick’s day and your family is Irish. I wonder if we shouldn’t have done that?” she said.
I shook my head. “My mom will like the elegance of the pearl theme. As long as we have real Irish whiskey on hand, my dad will be fine with anything.”
She sat on the couch in the sunroom as I handed her the glass of wine. I sat next to her, but gave her some space.
“How Irish are you?” she asked.
“About as Irish as you can be outside of Ireland. The ancestor that opened the Roarke in New York came from Ireland. The first Roarke restaurant was a little pub his father had opened in Dublin.”
“The Roarke was the first franchise,” she said.
I laughed. “I suppose. My mother was an O’Conner. All their ancestors were Irish too. I think they were mostly arranged marriages, especially after they built their wealth.”
“Hmm.” She looked at me funny, but I couldn’t decipher why. Maybe it had to do with her thinking my family wouldn’t think she was good enough.
“Do you still do the St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl?” I asked.
“No. Not since the time we did it.”
“Really? Why not?”
“School. Life. You know.” She sipped her drink and looked out over the ocean. I got the impression there was more to her answer but that she didn’t want to tell me about it.
I put my glass down. “It’s no secret here that I want you, Serena—”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I know.” I turned to her and rubbed one of her dark curls between my fingers. “But out here…there is no school or life. It’s just us.” I saw the flicker of interest in her eyes. “I’ve been respecting your space and I still will. Whatever is holding you back isn’t out here though.”
“It’s not good to indulge in this thing between us.”
“Why not?” I took a chance, moving closer and caressing her cheek with my finger. Her head tilted into it and her eyes closed as if she was savoring my touch.
“It just isn’t.”
“But you want to?” I leaned forward, kissing her neck.
“Yes.” She turned her head to look at me. I hated the war I saw in her eyes. Why couldn’t she just let go? “You’re like chocolate, Devin.”
“Oh?”
“Sweet. Sexy. And I can’t get enough.”
I grinned. “You can have as much of me as you want.” I wanted to push her back and take her, but I waited and waited, staring into her lovely blue eyes until finally, she pulled me over her and opened to me once again.