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I laugh. “You have a ten-thousand-square-foot house. We could have relaxed anywhere inside.”
He leans closer, resting his chin on my shoulder. “But I wanted something special. For you.”
My heart constricts. This is a side of Bentley I normally only see the tiniest glimpses of and for brief moments. I think I could get used to the romantic buried deep beneath the grumpy, handsome man that most people see.
I wrap my arms around his neck and push up on my toes. “Am I softening the hard shell around your heart, Mr. Abbott?”
His forehead presses against mine. “I believe you are, Ms. Chase.”
Bentley gets out his phone, taps on the screen a few times, then sets it on a small table. A slow song comes on with a sweet melody that instantly makes my hip sway.
His hands grip my sides, and he pulls me closer. “Thank you for tonight and for not telling me to fuck off when I was being a dick before.”
I chuckle. “I wouldn’t thank me for that. I thought about it plenty of times, but fortunately for me, you’re really good in bed. I couldn’t resist coming back when your dick asked so nicely.”
He smiles down at me, and the action steals all the air around me while he twirls me around on the rooftop. I squeal and smile and feel my heart swelling.
The action is foreign for me. No man has ever taken my breath away or captured my attention like Bentley does. Even when he was infuriating me, I wanted him more than I believed I should.
One of his hands slides to my lower back, and the other takes one of mine into its grasp before resting against his chest. We stay silent, enjoying the soft hum of music, the stars above, and more importantly, each other.
I lean my head against his chest, and he presses me closer. My breathing evens, and I know right then that I could spend the rest of my days in this man’s strong arms. It’s a thought that terrifies me and excites me all at the same time.
When the song ends, he guides me to a lounge chair and lays down first before settling me in next to him. His arm holds me tightly to his side and I look up at his handsome face.
“Tell me something about you,” I say.
His brow furrows. “Like what?”
“What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?”
Bentley stares up at the sky before answering. “Fishing…I think.”
“You think? How do you not know?” I laugh softly.
He shrugs. “I don’t do much of anything besides work or volunteer, but I didn’t think you’d accept that as an answer. The last time I purposely went and did something that wasn’t either of those things was fishing.”
I tilt my head. “Why did you choose fishing when you could have done anything else?”
He frowns. “I’d never done it before. I used to ask my dad to take me when my other friends talked about going with theirs, but he always told me that smart men didn’t get their hands dirty like that.”
My blood boils on Bentley’s behalf. “Your dad is a fuckwad, and I’m glad you finally cut ties with them and went on to live your own life. My mom and I used to join my dad during the summers for fishing, but he stopped going after she died.”
His fingers squeeze tighter around me. “How did she die?”
I take a deep breath and stare up at the night sky. “When I was eleven, she got diagnosed with cancer. Stage four in both lungs. Caught us all off guard. We at least had time to say goodbye over the following couple months. I’m not sure it helped, but I like to think so. Maybe not for my dad. He struggled a lot the last several weeks, but once she was gone, he found his way back to me and kicked ass at being both Dad and Mom for the next seven years before I headed off to college.”
I’m smiling even though tears fill my eyes. I haven’t spoken of my mother’s death in a long time. At least, not out loud. Death isn’t something most people are comfortable talking about, but once you’ve experienced it, there’s no forgetting the helplessness you feel when it strikes.
Bentley wipes the stray tears from my cheek. “You’re one hell of a woman, you know that, McKenzie Chase?
I smirk. “I have to be to put up with you.”
He shakes his head. “Insufferable as well.”
I poke his ribs. “You wouldn’t have me any other way. Don’t try to pretend otherwise.”
He surprises me when he lifts me up and over his lap. I straddle his hips, and he smiles up at me. “Tell me something else about you.”
