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Alyssa looked from Bentley to Willow and back again. She was embarrassed. It was so good of them to set this whole thing up, and they kept insisting that they didn’t mind, but she was mad at her mum.
After she’d walked away from Willow with that Alvaro guy yesterday afternoon, they hadn’t seen her for more than a few minutes at a time. She’d sat at his table with him and his colleagues last night at the dinner.
Alyssa didn’t mind that so much; what she minded more was that if her mum was going to be off on her own like that, she would’ve rather spent the evening somewhere else with Bentley. Not to mention Willow – she no doubt could’ve found better ways to spend her evening.
As embarrassed as she felt now, it wasn’t as bad as when her mum and Alvaro had appeared at breakfast together this morning. It was totally obvious that they’d spent the night together. Willow had teased her, asking how she could be embarrassed about her mum when that was exactly the way that she and Bentley had first met.
She had a point, but still … They were talking about her mum!
Now, they were all sitting around the outside terrace of the hotel. Alvaro had assured them that he would have her mum back here to meet them by four. The plan was for them to fly back to San Francisco.
“Relax,” said Willow. “It’s all okay.”
Alyssa loved the way Bentley tapped her foot with his under the table. Willow was much louder and more outgoing than hewas, but he always managed to let her know in his own quiet way that he was there with her – for her.
“I just feel bad,” said Alyssa. “I know that Ollie and Reaves are going to be waiting for us at the airport.”
“They don’t mind,” said Bentley “Unfortunately for them, it goes with the job. There are plenty of times when we can’t get to the airport by the time that we’ve told them we will. They’re used to it.”
“Yes, but that’s business. I feel bad because they’re working on the weekend because of us, and my mum can’t even show up on time.”
“What’s the hurry, anyway?” asked Willow.
“It’s not so much that I’m in a hurry, just that I don’t like to tell people I’ll be somewhere and then not show up on time.”
Willow laughed. “You two really are a pair together. But that’s not what I meant. I mean what’s the hurry to get back to San Francisco?”
Alyssa thought about it for a moment. “Actually, now you come to mention it, I don’t know. It’s just that …” She looked up at Bentley. “I don’t know. The plan was for me to come here for the weekend. Then it looked like my mum had blown the plan. Then …” She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Bentley smiled at her and tapped her foot with his again. “I told you my sister is a genius.”
Alyssa smiled through pursed lips, deciding it was better not to snitch on him and tell Willow that his actual words had been evil genius.
“The marketing people pushed their meeting until Wednesday, didn’t they?”
She nodded.
“And there’s nothing else you need to go back for, is there?”
“No. Not really. It’s just … Well, I’ve got mum with me. I…”
He rested his hand on her thigh and gave it a squeeze. “There’s no reason you couldn’t stay another day or two, then?”
“I’d love to but … You know what? We could, couldn’t we? I really don’t want to bring Mum to your place, but we could stay here, couldn’t we?”
Bentley smiled, but before he could answer, her mum and Alvaro appeared. Alvaro had his arm around her shoulders, and they were chatting and laughing as they made their way to the table.
When Alyssa’s mum smiled at her, she looked different. She looked … Happy.
“I’m sorry we’re late.” Alyssa could only stare at her; she wasn’t one to apologize, normally.
Alvaro grinned around at them. “It’s my fault. All my fault.” He smiled at her mum. “This beautiful lady makes me lose all track of time.”
Alyssa closed her eyes to stop herself from rolling them. She was surprised not to hear Willow laughing. It was so corny.
Bentley got to his feet and shook hands with Alvaro before leaning in to peck her mum’s cheek. Wow! He really was a gentleman.
“It’s not a problem. There’s no rush,” he said.
