Serena's Choice - Coastal Romance Series (23 page)

That last time that Steven was
away, just a few days ago, Jeff watched Serena sitting at the bar. So
lonely and pretty. He wanted to feel her close to him. He didn’t
care about Steven or if she was in love with him. He needed to feel
Serena’s curvy body next to his. He was surprised when she accepted
his offer to dance.

Her body was so voluptuous
against his. He wanted to take her right there on the dance floor
while Joe was singing. And when it was over, she agreed to come
upstairs and she offered herself to him. There was no turning back
then. He loved Serena. He wanted her.

Everything was so complicated. He
knew that Serena wanted him too, but she still wanted Steven. Even
after she had been devastated by Steven’s deception, he knew that
she still loved Steven somehow. It would take her a while to get over
that, and he had to be very careful. He couldn’t take advantage of
her vulnerability.

He picked up his phone and texted
Serena. “Are you okay? I’m here if you need to talk.” She
didn’t text him back.

Chapter
Fifteen—Elena

Elena sat on the couch with
Rosita watching television. She loved that little cat. Serena had
gone up to her bedroom and Elena was concerned about her. She knew
that things were over with Steven, and she couldn’t say she was
unhappy about that. But her granddaughter looked shell-shocked. There
was something more to the story that Serena wasn’t telling her.

Was it wrong of her to want
Serena to be with Jeff? Elena loved Jeff. She loved everything about
him and thought he was the best match for Serena. Not only did he
have Italian blood in him, he was very kind. And funny. But it wasn’t
fair of Elena to want Serena to be with Jeff just because she liked
him the best. Steven seemed like a decent person, too. But that was
over, so Serena said. Elena’s life experience told her that things
that seemed over, often weren’t really over. She felt there was
more to come with the story of Steven and Serena.

It both delighted and pained her
to see the way Jeff looked at Serena. It was clear that he was in
love with her, but Serena gave her attention to Steven.

Serena had been a shy child.
Elena understood that. Adrianna had been such a scene-stealer her
entire life, and that didn’t change when she had Serena. It didn’t
change when her husband had been killed. Adrianna carried herself in
a certain way that Elena could only think of as dignity. Adrianna had
a power over people, male and female. Serena had grown up in her
mother’s shadow, and Elena realized now that it had shaped the
person Serena became.

Adrianna’s death, as tragic as
it was, had freed Serena in some ways. It had cracked her hard
exterior and allowed her to start feeling. It was terrible that
Serena was suffering now, with the breakup with Steven, but she was
feeling. That was important.

And now, Serena was upstairs in
her room, suffering. There wasn’t a thing that Elena could do about
that. The women in their family had suffered with loss, and now
Serena was following suit. Elena prayed that Serena would come out
the other side to find happiness. It was time for a female member of
the family to find everlasting love.

“
Come on, Rosita,” Elena said
to the cat. “It’s time for bed.” She carried Rosie up to her
bedroom and put her on the bed. She put on her gown and got under the
covers. Rosie curled up against her waist and they both fell asleep.

Chapter
Sixteen—Serena and Jeff and Steven

The sun streamed through Serena’s
bedroom window, finally waking her up. She checked the clock. Eleven
thirty-three. It had been a rough night, going over everything about
Steven. She didn’t feel refreshed at all or prepared for the
workday ahead. When she went downstairs, she realized that Nonna had
already left for the diner. There was a plate of sausage and biscuits
covered with aluminum foil on the table. Serena poured a cup of
lukewarm coffee and zapped it in the microwave.

Rosie came into the kitchen and
sat on the floor beside the table, looking up at her. Serena took a
bit of the sausage and biscuit and then pinched off pieces of the
sausage and put them in Rosie’s mouth. The sausage probably was too
rich for her, but Rosie didn’t know that. She ate it hungrily.

Serena picked up her phone and
saw the text message from Steven. “It’s not how it seems,” he
texted. To Serena, it seemed exactly how it seemed. Steven was
married and he had kept that from her. He had lied about it. She
blocked any future texts and calls from Steven.

Jeff had also sent her a text
checking on her. She texted him back that she was okay and would be
in to work in the afternoon. She couldn’t deny that Jeff had been
there for her. When her mother died, and now, when her world had
fallen apart. He made love to her sweetly and with love. She wanted
him, too.

She thought about Steven, of
course. But every time she did she reminded herself that their
relationship had been based on lies. She was still struggling with
the new world order where Steven was married and where Steven had
lied to her. She couldn’t dwell on their love or lovemaking now.
Because it was all a lie.

When Nonna came home around two
thirty, Elena watched a movie with her. When it was over, Serena got
ready for work. She would have to put one foot in front of the other.
Keep moving. Get going. Work.

“
I guess I need to take Rosie
with me,” Serena said, leaning over to pick up the cat.

“
Oh, Jeff texted me and asked
if I want to keep her a little longer. I said yes, of course. I think
he worries about me being here alone while you’re at work.”

Serena said a silent thank you to
Jeff. He knew what her grandmother needed better than she did, it
seemed. She would thank him later.

Jimmy and Olive were in the
kitchen preparing the pastas and baked dishes for the night. Brittany
was at the bread station taking out her last loaf of the day. Looking
at the girl, so intent on her bread, Serena realized that Brittany
could use some help in the bread department. There were a lot of
things around Rossetti’s that needed attention. Attention that
Serena had not been giving since her consuming involvement with
Steven. She was going to change that.

She walked over to Brittany and
told her they needed a bread-making assistant. “Our bread has
become a signature for Rossetti’s again, and that’s all because
of your efforts, Brittany. But I think you need some help.”

Brittany looked at Serena
gratefully. “I guess I could use some help. Do you have anyone in
mind?”

“
Not yet. Maybe you could put
it on your Facebook page. It would be a part-time job, at least at
first till we see how it goes.” She and Brittany discussed the job
and what was needed. They decided on four hours a day, from ten to
two. Serena was putting Brittany mostly in charge of the hire. Serena
had learned a lot from working at Bridgewater’s about employees
feeling a sense of value and a sense of personal power. That brought
loyalty to the company.

Serena spent most of the evening
in the office doing the books, dealing with receipts, writing checks.
It was a slow night because it was a Wednesday—which was usually
slower—and because it was the day after a major storm. When dinner
shut down, she went out to the bar. Jeff was there and he brought her
a cocktail.

He set the drink on the bar. “How
are you doing?” he asked.

She looked into his blue eyes.
They were kind and caring. “I’m, “ she said, faltering, wanting
to choose the right word. “I’m recovering,” she said.

She looked around the room.
“Where’s Angela?” she asked.

“
She’s not coming back,”
Jeff said. “She decided to stay in Montgomery.”

“
Oh?” Serena said. “That’s
pretty sudden, isn’t it? She didn’t even give us a notice.”

Jeff decided to be completely
honest with Serena, even if she was in a vulnerable state of mind.
“She said that she knew I was in love with you and she didn’t
want to come back. She didn’t see a future with us.”

There it was again. Jeff was in
love with her. She was so confused about Steven, but she accepted
that she had deep feelings for Jeff, too. Feelings that she had been
acting on. Feelings that wouldn’t go away, Steven or not. Feelings
that caused her to sleep with Jeff and hold onto to him through the
night.

Serena clearly didn’t want to
talk about Steven or her feelings for him, so Jeff moved away down
the bar. Cindy was working and it looked like she would be taking
Angela’s place. Joe was at the piano, running his fingers over the
keys, singing.

It was a sparse crowd that night,
and by eleven, they decided to start closing down.

Jeff walked down the bar to
Serena, bringing her a last cocktail. Joe was about to close the
piano, when Serena walked over to him and asked him to play one more
song. Joe was happy to oblige. She went back to the bar and asked
Jeff if she could have the last dance with him.

Jeff wanted to dance with Serena
more than anything. He was being careful of her state of mind. But
Serena had asked him to dance, not the other way around. He couldn’t
turn her down.

Everyone else had left Rossetti’s
when Jeff and Serena made it out to the dance floor.

“
Don’t know why, there’s no
sun up in the sky,” Joe sang in his smooth voice. “Stormy
weather.” Could he have chosen a more perfect song to go with the
hurricane weather and Serena’s stormy heart. Joe knew her pretty
well.

She held tightly to Jeff and they
moved around the dance floor. Midway through the song, he dipped her
so far that her wavy brown hair nearly touched the floor. She started
laughing. The first laugh since her world with Steven had fallen
apart. She could still laugh! Jeff pulled her back up to him, and he
was laughing too. When the song was over, Joe pulled the cover down
over the keys and got ready to leave.

“
Thank you for playing that,
Joe,” Serena said.

“
It was Adrianna’s favorite,”
he said. “I was happy to hear it again.”

Joe left, and Serena and Jeff
still stood there, on the dance floor. They were alone in Rossetti’s.
Jeff still held her loosely from the dance.

“
Can we go upstairs?” Serena
said, looking into his eyes.

That’s all Jeff wanted, but he
couldn’t take advantage of Serena.

“
Are you sure that’s what you
want?” he asked.

“
I’m sure,” Serena said,
pressing against Jeff. “I’m sure.”

Jeff wasn’t at all sure that
Serena was sure. She was suffering.

“
I don’t know,” he said. “I
don’t want to take advantage of you right now.”

“
You aren’t taking advantage
of me,” she said with a scoffing tone. “I want to go upstairs.
Don’t you want me to?” Serena was sure that Jeff wanted her to go
upstairs. He was in love with her.

“
Of course I want you to,” he
said. “I guess I just want you to because you want to be with me.”
He looked at her and she wanted him. “Me,” he said.

Serena stood on her tiptoes and
kissed Jeff. “I want to be with you,” she said. She did want to
be with Jeff. He comforted her. She loved to feel him next to her.
She loved him.

And that’s when Serena knew
that she loved Jeff. She dropped all of her defenses against that.
She did love him.

Jeff knew that it probably wasn’t
the best idea in the long run. Serena was in recovery mode from what
had happened with Steven. She was not in her most sane mind at that
moment. But he couldn’t resist her. He loved her. He wanted her. He
would have her whichever way she would let him. He would deal with it
all in the morning.

He took Serena’s petite hand
and guided her to his bedroom. He lit the candle and turned on the
radio low. She fell back on the bed and he lay beside her, kissing
her. As he was making love to her, she said, “I just want to be
with you, Jeff. Just you.”

He wanted so much to believe her.

But in the early hours of the
morning, when they had both woken up, he said, “Serena, I know you
have a lot of things to work out about Steven.” He didn’t want to
have to bring it up, but he did have to bring it up. Serena needed to
come to him, free and clear of Steven. It wouldn’t work otherwise.

“
It was a shock,” she said.
“Finding out the truth about everything. I knew something wasn’t
right. I knew that, and that’s why I was with you. I let myself be
with you because it wasn’t right with Steven.”

Jeff kissed her neck, then her
mouth. It was true, he reasoned, that she had been with him while she
was still supposedly with Steven. But why? He needed to be sure about
Serena’s feelings, but he didn’t know how to be sure.

“
Okay,” he said.

“
Don’t you want me?” she
said.

“
Of course I want you. I love
you. I’ve been in love with you for a while now. I just want you to
be sure of your feelings.”

She kissed him and drew him to
her, closer. Closer. He couldn’t resist her, no matter what the
circumstances. He simply could not resist Serena.