Love Entwined (8 page)

“Yes, you should try the flavored creamer,” I responded with a playful wink.

“You’re cute when you’re trying to be sassy, but that wasn’t my idea.”

“No? Well at least you still think I’m cute after a night of drinking and a five-minute shower. But, if hazelnut cappuccino isn’t in the plans then let’s hear your crazy idea.”

“You know what, never mind. It’s really too crazy,” he said, shaking his head.

“Would you seriously just tell me!”

“Nope,” he answered, making sure to pop the “p.”

“Fine, I suppose it’s time for me to get going anyways,” I said, placing my feet on the floor and sliding over in the booth.

“Wait. Always did know how to get what you wanted, didn’t you?”

“Maybe,” I paused, waiting for him to spill it. “So, are you actually going to tell me this crazy idea of yours, or do I need a lid to take this latte to go?” I said, pointing at my Styrofoam cup.

“My mom’s having knee replacement surgery on Monday and I’m leaving for Tennessee this weekend—just for a few days. I know it’s probably too soon, but I was wondering if you’d like to go with me. I thought maybe instead of getting a hotel, we could stay at the cabin.”

My eyes widened and I put my hand to my mouth. Bentley was right. This was definitely too soon. This was certainly a crazy idea. But, why if it was so crazy, did I actually want to go?

“Never mind. I told you it was insane. Just forget I even asked. Time to change the subject—tell me more about your job,” Bentley rambled.

“Yes,” I said, even surprising myself.

“Yes? Yes, you’ll go with me?”

There was nothing but pure excitement radiating from his eyes. I couldn’t change my mind now. I was all in. Just twenty-four hours ago, Bentley was still only a part of my past, but now all I wanted was a future with him. In just twenty-four short hours, this man had destroyed everything I’d ever believed about love and relationships.

I blew out a breath of air and rested my head back to look up at the ceiling. I’d forgotten I wasn’t alone until I heard Bentley ask me once again, “Ireland, are you OK? Did you really just say that you’d go with me? Or, am I imagining things?”

I raised my head and looked into his deep brown eyes once again, “No, you aren’t imagining things. I will go with you. What about Tanner? Will he be going with us?”

I don’t know why that idea petrified me even more. If I wanted to be a part of Bentley’s life then I would need to be a part of Tanner’s life, too. I dealt with teenagers on a daily basis at work, and got along well with many of them, but Tanner was different. His opinions of me would have an effect on my future—my future with Bentley. Of course I wanted to spend time with Tanner and get to know him, I just wasn’t sure if I was ready to do it quite so soon. After all, I was still just getting reacquainted with his father.

“No, school is out for a few more weeks and he wants to stay here with his friends. He’ll be staying here with Staci. I do hope you can meet him soon though.”

I gave him a weak smile, hoping he wouldn’t sense my fear. “I’d like that.”

Sensing my apprehension, Bentley leaned into me and grabbed my hand in his. Our eyes locked and he whispered, “Don’t worry, Shamrock. He’ll love you, you’ll see. After all, you aren’t very difficult to love.”

I was relieved when an incoming text on my phone took me away from our conversation. I didn’t really want to delve any further into what Bentley was telling me right now.

Katie: We just landed in Los Angeles. We’re here for two hours and then we’re off to Tahiti. With any luck we’ll get to Bora Bora before we’re both eighty. Why didn’t you tell me this flight would suck donkey balls? P.S. How’d it go with Jamie, or is it Bentley? And, did he Sham-ROCK your world?!?!?!

I chuckled at Katie’s way with words.

Ireland: OK! Safe travels! We’ll talk next week! Love your face!

I was hoping she would take my curt response as a sign that I was still busy with Bentley and would let it go. My phone vibrated on the table once more.
Wishful thinking
.

Katie: OK, I knew I was going to have to pry it out of you, but I thought you would give me a little more of a tease than that . . . Wait a minute! Are you still with him?!?!?!

Ireland: I am not! Now go and enjoy your honeymoon!

Katie: You so are! You know you’re a terrible liar! I can tell you’re lying to me over text!

There was really no use arguing with her. Just when I was about to reply, I saw Bentley’s phone light up on the table.

“Let me guess—it’s Greg,” I said.

“Actually, I think it’s Katie using Greg’s phone. It’s not like Greg to ask me how my date went,” he laughed.

“She’s never going to hear the end of this from me,” I sighed.

“Maybe I should get you home so you can call her before she drives you crazy.”

“Sadly I think you’re right,” I said, scooting out of the booth.

“I’m going to be busy the next few days finishing up a project, but will you have dinner with me on Wednesday,” Bentley asked, as we pulled up next to my car. “We can talk more about next weekend then.”

“Dinner sounds good, but let me cook you something at my place.”

“Are you sure? I’d be happy to take you out.”

“I know, but I figured we’d have more privacy at my place and I’d love to cook for you. Hard to believe, but I’m actually pretty good at it. I took a few culinary classes as extracurricular back in college. Greg and Katie can’t cook to save their lives, so I figured someone needed to learn. And, please, don’t tell her I told you that,” I chuckled.

“Your secret is safe with me. Truth-be-told, I always suspected that was the case since I’ve worked with the guy for over ten years and I’ve never once been invited to dinner at their place. But, dinner at your place sounds perfect. I’ll text you tomorrow and we’ll figure out the details,” he said, leaning over to peck me on the nose

Although the sun was already beginning to set, I didn’t want my time with Bentley to end. I couldn’t believe I’d spent the entire day with him. It felt so natural—so easy. Like we’d spent every day together for the past eighteen years.

As if reading my mind, Bentley leaned into me once again. “I’ve missed you, Ireland.”

I didn’t have time to respond before Bentley captured my lips with his. He didn’t start slowly like he had yesterday on the dance floor. Today his lips were punishing mine, and I was enjoying every minute of it. He consumed me. It was raw—carnal even. After what seemed like several minutes, we both pulled away gasping for air. I wasn’t sure if the stars I saw were from the kiss, or from lack of oxygen to the brain. It took everything I had not to strip naked in the front seat and let him violate me in his car.

As if he could sense my desires, “You need to get into your car and leave before I throw you into the backseat. And, I’d rather our first time not be a quickie in my Rover.”

I blushed—either from his ability to read my mind, or from his mention of our first time. Instead of speaking, I put my hand on the door, struggling to find the handle.

“I don’t know how you do it, but you’re cute when you’re flustered,” Bentley said, pulling me back to steal one more kiss. This one was sweeter, but still left me heated and aching for more.

“I’ll see you on Wednesday?” I asked, stepping out of the SUV.

“You better believe you will. I’ll text you tomorrow with a time. Drive safe, Shamrock.”

I shut the door and slid into my car hoping that Bentley would drive off. No such luck. He certainly was a perfect gentleman and had no intention of leaving me there alone. I put my keys in the ignition and waved at Bentley before driving off. Luckily he didn’t follow me home and I was able to pull over about a block away in order to gather my thoughts.

I put my car in park as I banged my head against the steering wheel, wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into. Were we dating? Bentley had called it a date earlier. I don’t date. Do I want to date? Are we just friends? Am I OK with being just friends? My mind was swarming with questions until fists knocking on my window scared me senseless. Looking up, I saw two young boys staring back at me. I started my engine and rolled my window down a bit.

“Miss are you OK? Your horn has been blasting for five minutes. We were over a block playing street hockey and we decided to come and investigate. We saw you slumped over and were afraid you’d passed out.”

So lost in my own thoughts, I hadn’t even heard my horn. I hoped the people whose house I’d stopped in front of were out for the evening, or they had probably already called the police on me.

“I’m fine. Must have just fallen asleep for a minute,” I lied. “Just a long day. Thank you for checking on me, boys.”

They nodded and were on their way. I, too, decided to head for home where I would, hopefully, work this all out before I was supposed to see Bentley again.

A
rriving for work on Monday morning, I was surprised to see a dozen red roses on my desk. Assuming they were from Katie and Greg, probably thanking me for my help over the weekend, I was even more stunned when I saw they were actually from Bentley.

Shamrock,

I’m so glad life brought us back together this weekend. It was great catching up with you yesterday. I can’t wait to see your beautiful face on Wednesday.

Love,

The Hopeless Romantic

He really wasn’t taking the standard “seventy-two hour” rule very seriously. He’d even texted me shortly after I’d returned home from our coffee date to make sure I’d arrived safely. I sat with my phone in hand for several seconds before typing out a response—deleting it—and retyping another.

That process went on for about five minutes before I finally settled on telling him that I’d indeed made it home safely, was heading to bed and would talk to him in the next few days. I was actually a little surprised—and maybe even a little disappointed—that I hadn’t heard from him again. I should’ve known he wasn’t going to let it go that easily.

Since I’d gotten little sleep the night of the wedding, I decided on going to bed early, but for the second night in a row, I tossed and turned with images of Bentley floating in my dreams. It was nearly impossible to drag myself out of bed this morning, but I knew I had two new cases coming in today and couldn’t just pass off my responsibilities on my co-workers because my head was in the clouds over Bentley. Seriously, I was starting to sound like some love-struck teenager.

Just as I was typing out a text message to thank Bentley for the flowers, Susan, my boss at the center, walked into my office.

“Good morning, Ireland. Just so you know, on top of the two cases we were already expecting, we have teenage twins—both girls—coming in as well. Their mom and dad were both killed in a traffic accident over the weekend and they don’t have any immediate family. We’ll have to work quickly to place them with a foster family. It’d be best if we didn’t have to separate them.”

Her words took me back to the crash that had taken everyone I’d ever loved. Bentley may not have died with them that day, but he’d been taken away just the same. The thought of losing him all over again was too much to bear. In that moment, I felt myself beginning to patch that wall around my heart that Bentley had manage to crack in just a few short days.