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I know we both said that we’d be busy this week.
I know I was the one who said that we should give it a while.
Is this okay?
She did a little dance in her seat, loving that he asked. When she’d dated in the past, she always hated the early stages when she didn’t know what the protocol was supposed to be. She hated not knowing when or if she should expect a call – or how it would be received if she were the one to initiate.
Alyssa: This is great. I like it. I’m glad you got in touch.
Bentley: I am, too. Are you busy tonight?
I’m only asking because, if you’re not, I could call you
in a little while, if you like?
Alyssa: I’m not busy. I’d love to talk.
Bentley: Okay. Give me about half an hour?
Alyssa: That’ll be great.
~ ~ ~
Bentley couldn’t hide his smile as he shoved his phone into his pocket and called for the bartender to bring him the check.
Reaves chuckled beside him. “I take it that was her, and you’re going to abandon me now to go talk to her.”
Bentley laughed with him. “You take it right. And you’re not going to make me feel guilty about abandoning you. We both know you’re perfectly happy in a bar by yourself – and we both know that you won’t be by yourself for long.”
Reaves swaggered his shoulders and grinned happily. “We do. But don’t worry, I highly doubt that whatever’s gotten into you is contagious. I won’t be mooning over my phone by next weekend.”
Bentley rolled his eyes at him. “I’m not worried about that, in the least. No matter who you meet after I leave, you won’t even remember her name by tomorrow night.”
Reaves shrugged. “And that’s the way it should be. Ollie should be here any minute; he’ll tell you how it is. You know that we were both planning to train you in the ways of the single guy now that you’re the man in charge.”
Bentley nodded. It was true, the two pilots made the most of their single status, and they’d been joking with him for a while that he needed to do an apprenticeship with them. He’d been thinking about it, too, planning to have some fun. But his head wasn’t in that space anymore. Now, his head was constantly filled with thoughts of Alyssa.
It might not have been what he was planning, but he couldn’t deny that he was eager to see where things went. Right now, all he wanted to do was get back to his room and call her.
Reaves grinned at him. “Go on. I can see that I’ve already lost you. Go call your girl.”
As he rode the elevator back up to his room, Bentley couldn’t help smiling to himself. He liked the way that sounded, liked to think that maybe Alyssa could be his girl. Although, as he stepped out of the elevator, he had to push away the thought of her as his stepsister. That didn’t sit well.
Chapter Eleven
Alyssa ate her sandwich and drank her soda far too quickly. Then, she paced her apartment. It was silly, and she knew it, but she was excited. She was thrilled that Bentley had gotten in touch, and even more thrilled that he was going to call.
She went into the bathroom to check her reflection, and then laughed as she ran her fingers through her hair. It wasn’t as though he’d be able to see her. Then again – her heart beat faster at the thought – what if he was one of those people who wanted to Face Time? She hoped not, she wasn’t comfortable with that. Then again, she’d do it if he wanted to.
She wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of trying to hold her phone at the right angle so that he wasn’t looking up her nose, but the upside would be getting to see him. She added a swipe of lip gloss just in case.
Then, she panicked and wondered where she should sit. Pretty much everywhere in the apartment would have a backdrop of moving boxes. She sucked in a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Anyone who was planning to move at the weekend would have an apartment full of boxes. He was hardly likely to judge her for that. She doubted that he’d judge her anyway, he might be a big, important CEO, but he just wasn’t that kind of guy.
It was weird; she shouldn’t feel that she knew him so well after just a couple of days, but she did. She might not know everything about him – or even much about him in some ways – but she still felt as though she knew who he was, at his core.
She went back to the living room and turned her camera on, wandering around with it on selfie mode so that she could checkwhere might be the best place to position herself in case he did want to do a video call.
It had only been fifteen minutes since they texted, so she figured she still had plenty of time. It turned out that she didn’t. She startled badly and dropped the phone when it rang in her hand.
