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Bentley didn’t look impressed as he cocked an eyebrow at her.
She laughed. “Don’t look at me like that, I don’t have a problem. I’m just … I guess I’m impressed by your dad; that he was brave enough to follow his heart and be true to himself. And I’m impressed by your mom, too. That must’ve been so tough for her, and yet they’re still good friends, aren’t they?”
Bentley smiled. “They are. Anyway, how did we get onto the whole family history thing? I don’t even remember now.”
Alyssa smiled. “It was because I wanted to know what it was like growing up in a place like this.”
“Right. Well, like I said, it was good. My grandad tried to rule the family. He made my mom’s life hell, but she protected the rest of us from him. My mom and dad were good friends, a good team, but they weren’t a good couple in the conventional sense of the word. Willow, Tori, and I were all close. We still are – even though Tori’s hardly ever around. I think you’ll like her when you meet her. And we were lucky that we grew up as part of a whole gang of friends – the kids of all the other wine families.” He smiled. “I think you’ll like them, too. It’s up to you how much you want to do this weekend – if you want to go outand meet people, or just hang out here. But I’m looking forward to you getting to know them all. Especially Jacob and his fiancée, Becca. Jacob’s my closest friend, and Becca’s awesome.”
Alyssa looked up at him. “When you say Jacob, do you mean Jacob Jacobs?”
He narrowed his eyes and smiled through pursed lips. “I do. Why?”
She tried not to laugh. Jacob Jacobs was well known on the San Francisco social scene. He was one of those good-looking guys who was always being photographed with beautiful women. Some of the girls she used to work with at the firm had been crazy about him. They were always scheming up ways to engineer invites to events that he was attending.
Bentley stopped walking and put his hands on his hips as he towered over her. He was trying to look intimidating, but he wasn’t pulling it off. “Want to tell me how you know Jacob?”
She just laughed and slapped his arm. “I don’t know him. Well, only by reputation. Apparently, women find him appealing.”
Bentley was still trying to look stern, but he wasn’t managing to hide his smile. “And when you say women, are you including yourself in that?”
She laughed. “I won’t deny that he’s a good-looking guy, but he doesn’t do it for me. He’s not my type.” She rested her hands at his waist, grasping his shirt there as she drew him closer. “There’s only one guy who does it for me, and that’s you.”
When he closed his arms around her and claimed her mouth in one of his deep, lingering kisses, she felt herself melt against him.
When he lifted his head, he kept his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. “There’s only one girl who does it for me, and that’s you.” He pressed a peck to her lips. “And whatever else we do this weekend, whether we go out with everyone or whether we stay here and hide out, we need to tell our folks what’s going on.”
She clung tighter to him as she nodded.
“We both hate hiding it from them.” Bentley smiled. “And now, talking about Jacob like that, you’ve got me thinking that I want to be the guy getting photographed with a beautiful woman on his arm.” He brushed his fingers over her lips. “I mean with you. I want to take you out. I want to show you off to the world. And while Jacob was known as the guy who was out with a different woman every time, I want to be the guy who was never photographed until he met his lady, and after that was never photographed with anyone else.”
All her breath caught in her chest at his words. She loved the sound of what he was saying, and she loved even more the thought that he might never be with anyone else – for photographs or otherwise.
~ ~ ~
“Hey, Alyssa! I’m so glad you’re here!” Willow came straight to her and wrapped her in a hug.
Bentley shot his sister a grateful smile. He was glad that Willow already kind of knew Alyssa and had decided that she liked her. He loved his sister dearly, but ifhewas open and honest,shetook it a step further and always spoke her mind for good or bad. She’d been less than complimentary about – and on occasion to – women he dated in the past. He’d hate for her to be that way with Alyssa.
Willow stepped back. “This is awesome! I mean, obviously, the whole part with the parents isn’t ideal – yet. But you guys are going to tell them soon, aren’t you?”
Alyssa nodded rapidly. “We are. You must think I’m awful, that we’ve been sneaking around like this.” She frowned. “And I’m sorry; me being here this weekend like this is kind of putting you in a difficult position, isn’t it?”
Willow grinned at Bentley, and he couldn’t help smiling.
“He hasn’t told you what I’m like, then?” She laughed. “I don’t think you’re awful. I think you’re a sweetheart. And more than that, I think you’re absolutely amazing that you managed to catch this guy’s attention. Many women have tried and failed, but from the way he tells it, you didn’t even need to try. I’m excited for you guys. I’m not going to run my mouth too much about that because I know it’s early days. I’ll just say that I have high hopes for you.
“And it’s not as if you’re doing anything wrong, is it? Things just worked out this way. I’m about as brazen as it comes, and I don’t think even I would have admitted it to our parents yet if I’d been in your shoes. I’m sure it’ll all be fine. I think a decent enough amount of time has passed now that you can tell them without it raising their eyebrows.”
Bentley was pleased to see the way Alyssa relaxed as his sister talked. She could have been upset that Willow knew so much, but she wasn’t.
He went to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “And like we said earlier, once we tell them, we’re in the clear.”
Alyssa smiled up at him and nodded happily. “I can’t wait for that.”
“And once you’re in the clear, I hope you’ll be able to come out here more,” said Willow.
Bentley tightened his arm around Alyssa’s shoulders as she said, “I hope so too; we’ll work it out.”
