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He lowered his head, and she lifted her lips to meet his. He hadn’t felt it would be right to kiss her out at the hangar or on the front steps where anyone might see them. But he couldn’t wait any longer.
The way she kissed him just felt … right. She felt right. And having her here felt more right than he’d imagined. He didn’t want to get ahead of himself and so he got lost in that kiss. They needed to talk to their parents before he could let his mind go anywhere near how having her here might become something permanent.
~ ~ ~
If Alyssa had thought that the trip here was a lot to take in, actually being here was something else! When they left the kitchen, Bentley had pointed down a long corridor and explained that was hiswingof the house was down there. When they’d gone a little further, he’d pointed down another hallwayand said that was his mom’swing. She didn’t think that she’d ever been in a house that had wings before – well, except on that tour that her class had gone on in primary school.
She was still wondering what it must be like to live in a place like that as Bentley led her out into the back garden. Again, it was more like something that people went on a tour to visit than a place she could see herself sitting out with her book.
Bentley squeezed her hand as they walked. “Are you okay?”
“I am.” She looked around the gardens again. “What was it like growing up here? I had a garden that wasn’t even the size of that little parking area when I was little.” She pointed to where three SUVs and a BMW were sitting.
He smiled. “We had a good childhood. Mom worked hard, but she always made sure she had time for us. And Dad …” He smiled. “Dad was always there for us too. He played with us more than Mom did. You’ve met her; I’m sure you can imagine …”
“She’s lovely. I really do like your mum.” Alyssa understood what he meant. Ria was a lovely lady, but it was hard to imagine her playing with kids.
Bentley chuckled as he led her out through a gate in the hedge that surrounded the garden. “She is an amazing lady. And I know you weren’t really asking about her, you were asking about this place, the house, the grounds.” He gestured with his arm toward the rows and rows of grapevines on this side of the hedge. “I loved growing up here. I didn’t spend much time on the other side of this hedge – in the garden. As far back as I can remember all I ever wanted to do was come out here.”
She loved the way he smiled as he looked out at the vines.
“I just wanted to learn all about them. I wanted to know how to care for them, how to make them better, how to make wine.” His cool blue eyes were serious when he turned back to her. “My grandad was a powerful man. He wasn’t a very nice man. He … Mom was his only child, and he wanted her to be a boy. He raised her as a boy – raised her to manage and grow the empire. As the first grandchild, and as a boy, he saw me as his next hope. But like I said, he wasn’t a nice man. He was always mean to Mom, and I adored Mom, so I wasn’t inclined to like him much. He wanted to groom me to take over from her, but all I wanted to do was to support her.
“She’s a strong lady, and I know she comes across as indestructible. But there were plenty of times when I was small that I heard her crying because of him.”
Alyssa reached out and rubbed his arm as he stared out over the rolling hills.
He gave her a small smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever really examined it before. But now that I’m thinking about it, I think I felt like I had to be the one to take care of her.”
“I don’t mean to be nosy, but do you mind if I ask …? What about your dad?” She could see that Bentley did take care of his mom, but she was curious where his dad had been in all of it.
She could tell by the smile on his face that there were no horror stories coming.
“Dad’s an amazing guy. He did his best to be there for Mom in the ways that he could. But they … They’re very different people. My dad…” He frowned. “Do you even know about my dad?”
Alyssa shook her head slowly, not sure what he meant. “I don’t think so. I guessed that they’ve been divorced for a long time. Dad’s mentioned him.” She smiled. “I know the day that Dad and your mom got engaged you had him there on a videocall.” She laughed. “And I have to say now that I’m very happy about that.”
Bentley gave her a puzzled look. “Why’s that?”
She laughed again. “Because that was the only way I could be there that day, too. Tino had me on a video call so that I could kind of be there when Dad proposed. Afterward, Tino took me around so that I could say hi to everyone. That’s how I sort of met your sisters, Willow and Tori. He mentioned you a couple of times, but he never managed to introduce us because you were busy taking your phone around so that your dad could say hi to people, too.”
She shuddered when she thought about it. “If Tino had brought me over to say hi to you that day, we wouldn’t be here right now.”
His eyes were a deeper shade of blue when he frowned at her. “Damn! You’ve got a point there. If we’d already met, even if it was only over a video call, we wouldn’t have … When we passed on the stairs like that, I would have said hi to Russ’s daughter.”
She laughed. “Yes. And I would have been kicking myself wondering why the hottest guy I ever met had to be my future stepbrother.”
He laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they started walking along the row of vines. “I think I’ll be forever grateful to Dad that it worked out that way.”
She curled her arm around his waist as they walked. “Me too. But sorry, I took us off on a tangent. You asked if I know about your dad; what did you mean?”
“He and Mom divorced because he met someone else. He didn’t cheat on her or anything like that, but he knew thathe couldn’t stay married to Mom and be true to himself. That wouldn’t have been fair to either of them.”
Alyssa looked up at him, wondering what the rest of the story might be but not sure that she should ask.
Bentley smiled. “I don’t mind telling you that it took some getting used to, but I’m happy for both of them that it worked out the way it did. Dad and his husband, Gabriel, have been married for years now. And since Mom met your dad, she’s happier than I’ve ever known her.”
“Wow!”
