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He just smiled – he could hardly tell her that he was already thinking about how to get her here permanently. And until he figured out when and how he should bring that up, he didn’t want his sister pushing things too far, too fast.
Willow shot him a knowing smile. “Okay, I know when I’ve outstayed my welcome. I’m out of here. I have plans tonight. Oh, but tomorrow, are you guys going to come out with everyone?”
Bentley raised an eyebrow at Alyssa. Reaves had brought it up earlier, but they hadn’t talked about it yet.
Alyssa laughed and looked at Willow. “I don’t know –” she jerked her head toward him. “ – Would he go if I wasn’t here?”
Willow laughed with her. “You know him that well already, then? Probably not. But you know what? He might have. Before he met you, he kept saying that he was going to try and get a life.”
Bentley scowled at her for that, but she just laughed and stuck her tongue out at him.
“I think you can probably help him with it. I hope you’ll come; it’d be fun, and everyone would love to meet you. But it’s up to you, of course.”
He loved the way that Alyssa looked to him, to check in with him. “I’d like to go, but is it the wisest move – before we talk to our parents?”
Bentley’s heart sank. He’d been so caught up in the thought of having her here that he’d managed to forget about that not-so-minor detail.
He nodded slowly. “Perhaps we should call them tomorrow.”
Willow laughed. “Or perhaps you should make the most of this weekend and have some fun before you face them. It’s not like anyone’s going to tell them, is it?”
Bentley wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Luckily, they didn’t have to decide until tomorrow.
Willow gave Alyssa another hug and waved at him over her shoulder as she left.
Chapter Sixteen
Alyssa’s eyes popped open, and she relaxed when she felt Bentley’s arm curled around her waist. They’d had a great evening. They’d stayed here, and just hung out. And she was glad that they had. It was easy to relax when it was just the two of them. And she loved seeing him relaxed and at ease in his own environment.
She smiled to herself. This really was his own environment. He hadn’t been joking when he called this his wing of the house. She thought maybe he’d have a bedroom with a sitting room as well as a bathroom. But oh no, it was way more than that. Yes, there was the bedroom – which was about as big as her entire apartment – with its own sitting room and a bathroom that was her idea of heaven with a huge soaking tub and a walk-in shower that was big enough to hold a party in. She bit down on her bottom lip to hold in a smile at the thought that she and Bentley had certainly partied in there last night.
His wing was made up of far more than that, though. There was also an office, which was so amazing she wondered why he would ever leave to go to work. If it were her, she’d want to spend her days in that room surrounded by wall-to-wall bookshelves, sitting at the magnificent mahogany desk, looking out at the beautiful view of the vineyards.
And then, there was the gym – there was no point calling it an exercise room, it was so much more than that. It had every piece of equipment she could imagine, and a few more that completely baffled her.
There was also a den with a big, comfy sectional sofa and a huge TV. A kitchen completed the wing. Bentley had told herthat he rarely ate here, it was just a place for him to be able to make himself a snack. That had made her laugh. To her, it was a dream kitchen.
As she lay there in the darkness, she had to wonder if all this was too good to be true. Bentley was so much more than just a hot guy. He was also the most decent, genuine guy she’d ever met. He was as into her as she was into him, and he made no secret about that. He didn’t leave her guessing about anything. Instead, he made it clear that they were on the same page. And even when it seemed that they might not be, he quickly worked to figure out what their differences were.
She pushed her hair out of her eyes and checked her watch. It was too early to get up. From the dead weight of his arm around her middle, and the way he was breathing so deeply, it was obvious that Bentley was still fast asleep. She’d love to join him. She could do with more rest. But there was nothing for it; she was going to have to pee before she could get back to sleep.
She groped her way to the bathroom in the dark and had to smile when she turned the light on. This had to be the best bathroom she’d ever seen. Not just the best bathroom she’d ever been in. It was even better than the ones she’d seen on those TV shows that gave you a peek into the homes of the rich and famous. That thought made her pause as she was washing her hands. His bathroom was like the ones on those shows because hewasone of the rich and famous.
It was hard to think of him that way. He was just Bentley to her. No, there was nojustabout it. He was Bentley. She was crazy about him. She blew out a sigh; was she just crazy? No matter how well they got along, no matter how good things were between them, he was still Bentley DuPont. He was the CEO of one of the biggest winemakers and distributors in the country.
She made a face at herself in the mirror. So what? It was like she’d said to him last night; that was just on paper. No way was she going to go trying to talk herself out of how good they were together. They might have things going against them. But those things only mattered on paper. Even the fact that he was almost her stepbrother was nothing more than an irrelevant detail when it came down to it. All that mattered was how they felt about each other.
He was still breathing deeply when she let herself out of the bathroom, and she decided to go in search of a drink of water. She didn’t know much about wine, only that she enjoyed it. She’dreallyenjoyed the cabernet sauvignon that he’d shared with her last night, but it had given her a horrible case of cottonmouth this morning.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked around at all the doors – the closed doors. The den, the gym, the kitchen, the office, they all had identical doors, and her sleep-fuddled brain couldn’t remember which was which. She opened the closest door and let out a short laugh when she saw the bookshelves. She walked down the hall a little way and pulled open another door.
Nope, wrong again. This one opened onto the corridor that led back to the main part of the house. She gripped the door handle tighter and held her breath when she saw a man coming out of a doorway a little farther down the hall. She knew that there were people who worked here – she’d met some of them last night and had been happy to see that Bentley treated them more like family than employees. But this guy didn’t give the impression that he was at work. He had a furtive air about him.
He quietly closed the door that he’d come out of and looked around. Alyssa sucked in a deep breath when he looked her way.She started to pull her door closed, hoping that she’d be able to lock it when she did.
She froze when she heard him laugh. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. You’re Alyssa, right?”
She nodded, not trusting her voice to work. Her heart was thundering in her chest and her hands were shaking as she gripped the door handle tight.
