Page 15 of Sit, Stay, Love
His frown of concentration relaxed. ‘Gee, thanks, Mum.’
‘Sorry, was I being condescending?’
‘No more than my actual mother.’
‘You two don’t get on?’
‘We get on fine. She just likes to tell me how disappointed she is that I haven’t got married and had kids. I tell her that when you’re working all the time, it’s hard to meet someone. And I have to be careful. I have to be sure they’re into me for who I am and not…’ He breathed out through his nose as he trailed off.
‘Because you’re an actor?’
‘Yeah that, and, not to sound like too much of an arsehole… the way I look.’
‘Does that happen a lot?’
‘It’s happened.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t be. It comes with the turf.’
Sera snuck a glance at him. His eyes were cast down, focused on the sand squeaking underfoot.
He was beautiful. It was bonkers how beautiful he was, and it was easy for that to be the only thing you saw, because it was kind of blinding. This tall, crazy pretty man with shockingly blue eyes and a jaw that could cut glass.
She was overwhelmed by a desire to make him feel okay, to make him see that some people wanted to look beneath his pretty wrapper, and she was one of them.
‘I hear ya,’ she said breezily. ‘My mum’s always nagging me about my lack of love life. She once asked me if I’m on Tinder!’
He laughed. ‘Seriously?’
‘Seriously.’
‘Are you?’
‘God, no. I have enough crushing self-doubt without having to worry about whether someone swiped right on me.’
‘I’m pretty sure you’d get plenty of right swipes,’ he said. ‘I’d definitely swipe right on you.’
Warmth spread up her neck and tingled in her cheeks. ‘Haha. Well, I guess that’s one.’ She winced at how awkward she sounded. ‘Have youtold your mum about your new movie?’ she asked, desperate to find her footing again.
‘Not yet. I wanted to enjoy the moment before she crushed it.’ He sighed. ‘She doesn’t care about that stuff. She likes to tell me I could be earning good money if I’d gone to uni and become a lawyer like my brother. I got discovered jogging on the beach straight out of high school – this beach, actually – and was cast inHome and Away. Then I got the Lord Jasper gig, and three sequels later, I’m doing okay. I try to tell her I earn a lot more money than Chris ever will, but she can’t or won’t listen. She’s very selective with her hearing. I’m hoping she’ll like this new movie, though. Rom-coms are more her speed. Maybe she’ll actually see this one and then, who knows? She might start to appreciate what I do.’ He jiggled his shoulders, as if shaking off everything he’d just revealed. ‘Sorry. I don’t know where that all came from.’ He laughed. ‘Kevin must have dragged it out of me.’
‘Don’t apologise. It’s actually kind of cathartic hearing I’m not the only one made to feel shitty about my decisions. On the surface my parents are pretty supportive, but I know my mum would prefer I sell up and go travelling or something. She thinks I’m wasting my life with Rose’s Rescue. She says that’s not why her mother left the property to me. I tell her I’m happy, but she finds it hard to see me as happy because I’m doing something she doesn’t understand. And of course, I’m not partnered up.’ She sighed. ‘I guess our mums aren’t that different.’
‘Do you want to be partnered up?’
They’d stopped walking and were face to face, barefoot on the sand, with the surf pounding against the shore. Kevin was beside them, busily digging a hole.
Sera hugged herself as a sprinkle of goosebumps erupted along her skin. After a long pause, she said, ‘I don’t know. The last couple of years, my focus has been on building the shelter. It’s been a steep learning curve, and I have so many plans. I want Rose’s to become an anchor for animal welfare in the community. Not just a rescue shelter, but a placepeople can bring their pets if they need support, for a day or a week. I have a million ideas. So, unless Mr Right came knocking on my door…’ Her eyes widened.
Ethan’s brows twitched.
A beat hung between them in the salt-laden air.
‘Anyway,’ she said with an embarrassed foot shuffle. ‘I keep telling my mum I’ve got time. I’m still young.’
‘How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking.’
