Page 53 of Bourbon and Bluebells

Coming from someone else, that might’ve sounded arrogant. But Alyssa already had Antonio figured out. He was just one of those big, over-the-top, confident guys, who loved everyone and didn’t see why anyone wouldn’t love him right back.

That impression was confirmed when his wife, MaryEllen, came to stand beside him and gave him a stern look.

“Would you leave them alone?” She smiled at them. “This is Alyssa’s first visit here. We don’t want to scare her off by making her think that Bentley has overbearing friends.”

Antonio gave her a sad, puppy dog look. “But bella, did you just call me overbearing?”

“I did not. I’m just saying …”

Alyssa laughed when Antonio wrapped MaryEllen up in his arms and proceeded to pepper her face and neck with kisses.

Bentley laughed beside her and shook his head. “I don’t know how MaryEllen puts up with him.”

They all turned when the door flew open, and Willow came hurrying in. “Hey, guys! I thought you were going to be at Muse by now.”

“We were supposed to be,” said Cameron’s wife, Piper.

Willow smiled when she spotted Alyssa and Bentley. “Are you guys coming?”

Bentley looked down at Alyssa. “We were just deciding that.”

The door opened again, and Alyssa couldn’t help but stare at the guy who walked in. It was the guy from this morning. The one who’d been sneaking around Bentley’s house. She’d completely forgotten about him after she’d gone back to bed.

Oh! It all made more sense to her when Willow turned and spotted the guy. A shiver ran down Alyssa’s spine. The electricity that arced between Willow and the mystery guy was palpable, even from this distance.

They stood there, staring at each other for a moment. Alyssa wasn’t sure that anyone else even noticed the tension between the two of them. And then the moment was broken when Jacob called, “Hey, Slade! I’m glad you made it. Are you coming to Muse?”

The guy – Slade, apparently – nodded and made his way over to where Jacob was standing with them. He didn’t say a word to Willow as he passed, but Alyssa was fairly certain that the air between them crackled.

When he reached them, he shot her a look before he answered Jacob. “I was thinking about it. Are you guys going? Are you up for it, Becca?”

The way Becca looked up at Jacob, made Alyssa smile. Jacob was older than Becca – she’d guess by quite a lot. It’d be easy to make the mistake of thinking that he was the one in charge in their relationship, and that Becca did as he said. But even over the course of just one evening, it had been easy to figure out that, in fact, the opposite was true. Jacob might betheJacob Jacobs,but when it came to Becca, it was obvious that he would do anything to make her happy.

He cocked an eyebrow at Becca now. “Do you want to go?”

“Are you guys coming?” she asked Alyssa.

Slade stepped forward and grasped Bentley’s shoulder. “Don’t put the poor guy under pressure; I’m sure that he and Alyssa want to go home, don’t you?”

He winked at Alyssa, and it almost made her want to demand an explanation. But she didn’t because when Bentley turned to smile at him, it was obvious that they were friends. If Slade and Willow wanted to hide their relationship from her brother, she could hardly say anything. She and Bentley were hiding their own relationship, after all.

Bentley tightened his arm around her waist. “It’s up to my lady.”

She smiled around at them all. “Honestly, I’m pooped. I’d love to come out with you, but perhaps next time.”

She knew she’d given the right answer when Bentley’s arm tightened around her, and he laughed as he called good night to the rest of them, who were already making their way outside. It seemed that he was eager to get home, and she was hardly going to complain about that.

Chapter Seventeen

“What does next week hold for you?” asked Bentley.

They were sitting out on the terrace overlooking the gardens, drinking coffee after having eaten a huge breakfast that Simon, the chef, had made for them. He was enjoying every moment of having Alyssa here and dreading when she’d have to leave. The last thing he wanted to think about was what she’d be doing after she left, but he had to ask because he was trying to figure out when she might be able to come back or when he could go to San Francisco to see her.

She was so damn beautiful with the morning sun shining behind her. She took his breath away.

“It’s a quieter week for me. I’m waiting to hear back from the tech company I was with for the last couple of weeks. And in the meantime, I have a few potential client visits. I have meetings on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The tech guys have said that they will be in touch on or before Friday. If they want to go ahead with the full audit, we’ll discuss my start date then.”

Bentley smiled through pursed lips. “Of course I hope you get the job, but at the same time …”

---