With that, Sean turned his back on her professor and took Serena’s hand in his. “Ready to get that pizza?”
Somehow, even when everything was a mess, he always knew how to make her smile. And to forget everything but him, even the really bad stuff. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Hand in hand, they walked nearly the entire length of Palm Drive into downtown Palo Alto in silence. It was the same route they’d taken the day the photographer had snapped the shots of them just starting to get to know—and fall for—one another. But Sean wasn’t thinking about paparazzi now. Frankly, he didn’t give a shit about any of that anymore.
All that mattered was Serena.
“I should have been there with you.”
The second he’d seen her face, he’d known something bad must have happened in class. She hadn’t been crumbling—on the contrary, she’d looked determined and disgusted—but he’d learned to read her expressions so well that he’d been afraid every bad feeling he had about her professor had come true.
“I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t wish you were there, too, but—” She surprised him with a smile. One that made his heart race the way it had from the very first time she’d ever smiled at him. “I stood up to him, Sean. And even though it means he’s going to flunk me and I’ll be done here, I couldn’t have done anything else.” She squared her shoulders, “It felt good to tell him that I knew what he was trying to do and that I wasn’t going to let him do it. I honestly wasn’t totally sure that I had it in me.”
“I knew you did.”
Serena reminded him of his mother in the way her inner core of strength lay just beneath the surface of her beauty. His sisters had not only inherited that quality from their mom, but they’d also been taught to respect themselves and their inner strength. Whereas Serena...well, he wasn’t exactly sure what Genevieve Britten had thought she was teaching her daughter.
All he knew was that Serena continually blew his mind.
“If that douche bag even thinks of flunking you, I’ll rain hell down on him so hard—”
“My presentation was really bad, Sean. I mean, I know he probably would have wanted to give me a bad grade for not sleeping with him, but in this case, the grade is going to be warranted. It was when I asked if there was a chance that I could redo it that he made me an offer I had to refuse.”
“I don’t get it. You were ready to ace this presentation.” He stopped them in the middle of the sidewalk. They were almost at Pizza My Heart, but he needed to know, “What happened between my leaving you at your room and your class?”
Her blue eyes were so bright, so striking as she looked at him, her emotion so pure and beautiful on her face, that Sean understood exactly why every photographer—and now the biggest movie star in the world—wanted her in front of the camera. If it had been what Serena also wanted, he would have supported her in any way he could, even if it meant changing his own life to fit with hers.
But she didn’t want that career, or that life. No, what Serena wanted most of all was to be holed up in a big library with her books, surrounded by people who loved them just as much as she did.Somehow, some way, he needed to figure out how to help her get that.
“Another tabloid story came out with pictures of us from yesterday when we were leaving my dorm, but I was actually dealing with that pretty well. At least until Smith Sullivan called.”
“What did he say?” He couldn’t keep the undertone of anger out of his voice.
“Don’t blame Smith. It’s not his fault that he thinks my schedule is free and clear so that I can start filming in Seattle next week.”
“How could he think that when you’re right in the middle of the quarter?”
She lowered her gaze to the sidewalk and said softly, “You know how.”
Sean fought to hold back his rising fury. Regardless of how he felt about Genevieve Britten, she was still Serena’s mother. They might have a supremely screwed-up relationship, but he’d seen for himself the day before just how strong a hold her mother had over her. Simply because Serena wanted so badly to be loved.
More than ever, he wished his mother were still alive so that she could meet Serena. Lisa Morrison would have known exactly what to say. She would have known what to do. She would have known how to make everything better.
Of course, Serena saw right through him, could always see everything he tried to keep hidden as she went up onto her tippy-toes to press a soft kiss against his lips. “Let’s try to stop worrying about everything for a few minutes and go have the best pizza in the world.”
This time she was the one leading them inside and ordering slices with everything. And by the time she’d handed him a bottle of Coke and they sat down at what he now thought of as their table by the window, he knew what he needed to do.
His mother might be gone, but before she passed away, she’d left each of her children a special note just for them. She’d promised that she would always be there watching over all of them and, finally, he realized that it was true. Because her final note hadn’t just been meant for him.
It had been meant for Serena, too.
* * *
Ever since Genevieve had surprised them by showing up in Serena’s dorm room the day before, Sean had been vibrating with emotion. Anger at her mother. Frustration at the way the pressures of Serena’s career had leaped back to the forefront. And then love—so much love—for her. Love he’d shown her last night in the sweetest, sexiest way possible. Only to be slammed by fear when he’d thought her professor had hurt her this afternoon.
Serena wanted to soothe him, wanted to see him smile again, wanted to tell him that everything was going to be okay. Only, how could she when she was still so confused? Not about being in love with Sean, or about standing up to her predatory professor, but about how to deal with the rest of the mess of her life.
What, she desperately wanted to know, was the right choice to make?
Sean had been quiet for most of their walk from her classroom to the restaurant, and she’d been glad for the space and the chance to process her thoughts a little before she brought him up to speed on everything that had happened since that morning. But now as they ate their slices in silence, he looked serious, and a little sad. But also like he’d made an important decision. A big one.