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Willow, however, made her presence known anyway. She let out a short laugh. “Guys! Just give me a minute and I’ll get out of here and leave you in peace. But before I go, answer me one thing.”
They both looked up at her. “What?” asked Bentley.
She rolled her eyes at him before turning to Alyssa. “Didn’t you say that next week is quiet for you?”
Alyssa nodded.
“Didn’t you say that you’re going to be working from home until you hear back from the last couple of client visits you did?”
She nodded again.
Willow got to her feet and put her hands on her hips as she stared at them both. “And the accountant and the CEO can’t figure it out between them?”
Bentley had to laugh as realization dawned. He gave his sister a rueful smile. “Normally, I hate it when you make me feel dumb but, in this case, I’ll make an exception.” He turned to Alyssa and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Is there any chance that I can persuade you to stay?”
Her eyes seemed to light from within as she nodded. “Why yes, yes there’s a very good chance. Especially, if you let me work from your office.”
He had to laugh. He’d tell her later after Willow had gone, just how much he liked that idea.
He didn’t get the chance to answer before Willow spoke. “I get the impression that you like the idea of working from his office. But, as the COO of DuPont Wineries, I’d also like you to come into the company offices before you leave. We’ve talked and talked about you doing an audit, but the CEO seems to be failing in his duties. So, I’ll step up and at least get that meeting on the books, if you’re open to it?”
Bentley had to smile as Alyssa nodded eagerly. “That sounds good to me.”
Willow grinned at them. “Okay, I’m out of here. I’ll get with you tomorrow, Ms. Lloyd, and we can set something up.”
Alyssa smiled as she watched her go, but Bentley frowned to himself. He was happy that Willow was getting the ball rolling, but one thing that she’d said had struck him as odd. “Lloyd? That’s your dad’s name, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” said Alyssa. “Why?”
“I guess … Sorry. It just surprised me, that’s all. I hadn’t thought about it before, but if I had, I would have assumed that your last name would be the same as your mom’s – and her husband’s.”
Alyssa blew out a sigh. “It was when I was growing up. But after he died, and after I got to know my dad, I was so mad. I was hurt – hurt for me and hurt for Dad over everything that we both lost. Taking his name felt like something that I could give him; it doesn’t make up for all the time we lost, but I know it made him happy – it makes me happy, too.”
Bentley nodded. He could understand that. And he probably shouldn’t be thinking about it, he certainly shouldn’t be thinking about it yet, but he was already hoping that his mom wouldn’t kick up a fuss if Alyssa didn’t want to change her name. He knew that he was getting ahead of himself, but he already knew thathe wanted to ask her to marry him. But now that he knew the history behind her name, he wouldn’t ask her to change it – well, he’d be happy if she wanted to. But it felt more important to him to let her know that he didn’t expect her to.
Chapter Twenty
“Tell me that you walk to work every day?” Alyssa felt as though she was walking across the set of a movie.
The early morning sun lit up the vineyards and bathed the rolling hills in gentle golden light. It was just about the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. It sure as hell beat doing battle with traffic downtown to get to an office surrounded by other office buildings.
Bentley smiled at her. “I have to be honest; you’ve got me wondering why I don’t.” He looked at the beautiful landscape before them. “I think my days would go a lot better if I stopped to enjoy coming in this way. But honestly? I don’t remember the last time I did. You know how it is; you get caught up in doing, in the busyness of it all.”
“I do know what you mean. But I still think it’s a shame.”
He took hold of her hand as they walked side-by-side down the lane that ran alongside the runway before turning off to the offices. Alyssa was trying not to let her mind go anywhere near the fact that he lived on an estate – with his own wing in the house, his own runway on the property, and his own multimillion-dollar company also on the premises. If she let her mind go near any of that, she’d probably run away screaming. Instead, she was making herself focus on what a great guy he was – and that really wasn’t hard to do.
“I agree with you. It is a shame.” He smiled at her. “You know, if you stick around, you could make that right. We could walk every day and enjoy this view.”
She laughed. “If you’re trying to persuade me, you really don’t need to. I’d love to. It’s like we talked about over the weekend, I just need to wrap up what I have going on.” Her smile faded. “As much as I’d like to tell them all that I’ve taken on a big new contract, I really do feel that I should wait and see. The tech guys and the marketing company that I went to last week brought me in on the basis that if we agreed on my initial assessment, I’d be able to go in to do the work.”
She looked up at him. “You understand that, right?”
He drew her closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they walked. “Don’t look so worried. Of course, I understand. I respect it. On the one hand, I want to be selfish and say you haven’t made any commitments yet. But if I were in your shoes, I’d do the same thing. I can hope though – that if you are extended an offer, they might not need you straight away.”
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Could I tempt you away if I were to make you a better offer?”
She had laughed. “You already have. You’re the best offer I’ve ever had, and we both know I’m not talking about the audit. I’m talking about you.” She stopped walking and tapped two fingers in the middle of his chest. “You, Mr. Bentley DuPont, are amazing. I want to come here; I want to work with you – or for you – however we work that out. That part’s less important. What matters most to me, is being here with you.”
