“I heard that,” comes her reply.
Benji chuckles when I laugh, and it’s so beautiful that I have to look away. “Anyway, we were there for the inaugural competition. I must have been, what, nine, at the time? And every time they come back, we talk about going.”
“You grew up here, right?”
I nod. “Yeah, California born and raised. You?”
“Illinois. Family’s still out there.”
“What brought you out here?”
“I needed a change.”
He doesn’t say much more, and I remind myself it’s not nice to pry. One day, he’ll let me in—I can feel it.
“I’ve never been to Illinois, but the weather here is hard to beat.”
“And the company,” he says, and even though the intense rose oil is thick in the air, he bears it, leaning in until his nose grazes mine.
My lips part on a gasp, and he captures them with his own in a gentle kiss that sweeps the floor out from under me. He’s so capable, so guarded, that I never expected this much tenderness, but it pours into me with each press of his mouth and the slow drag of his hands through my hair.
It’s a new side of him, and I only want more.
Chapter Eleven
BENJI
NOW
“Uncle Benji!”
Two tiny bodies slam into me in unison, almost taking me off my feet. Isaac follows behind, his arms full, looking like a door-to-door backpack salesman.
“Hey, kiddos. The D Team in the flesh.” I kneel down so I can fist-bump them both.
Daphne giggles while Dominic adds extra explosion sounds.
“You’ll have to register your trademark soon. Then we can get started on training.”
“Actually, Uncle Benji?—”
Isaac’s dad mode kicks in. “Dom, remember what I said in the car.”
Dom gleefully ignores him. “We changed it. It’sDouble D now.” Said with all the authority an eight-year-old can muster. Which is surprisingly a lot.
“Jesus,” Isaac whispers under his breath because he knows this is the best thing I’ve ever heard.
My last three brain cells are running in overdrive to keep my expression clear in the face of this new information. It’s just too good.
“Did you now?”
The kids nod in unison, and Dom adds, “Dad hates it,” but he’s smiling like that fact makes it more appealing.
I look up at my older brother, who is freely staring daggers at me over the kids’ heads. Fuck, the urge to laugh might just kill me before I can make his life hell.
“Do you know what I think?” I ask them. “I think you should go find the presents I left in the spare room for you.”
Their curiosity activated, Daphne and Dom race each other down the hall to a combined cry of, “Presents!”
