him on out to my car.
It wasn’t an easy feat. The man was at least a good ten inches taller than me, and mostly muscle it felt like. The body of a laborer, and the hands of one too. I still remember how rough his hands were as he gripped my arm that first time, holding on tight. It felt good to have his hands on me, and I had all sorts of crazy heat runnin’ through me.
I took Bentley home and managed to put him into bed when he started mumbling a whole bunch of stuff that didn’t make much sense. Stuff about me bein’ the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in real life. I was sure it was the alcohol talkin’ so I just gave him a glass of water and a Tylenol chaser and left him bee.
But the next day he showed up at my door with my favorite coffee in hand, looking like he was on his way to church to repent. He sat down and apologized for bein’ a dick the night before, and it was the first time we’d ever just talked.
It didn’t last too long though, because the next thing I knew, sparks were flying every which way and Bentley and I had started something we couldn’t stop. The passion was all consuming. A raging inferno of desire that had swallowed me whole. And even though I suspected I had every chance of getting burned, I dove head first into it anyway.
Now here we were two years later with a whole lot of heartbreak on my part, and Bentley lookin’ like a nervous wreck. And I didn’t know how to fix any of it. I didn’t know how to just be Bentley’s friend, or even if I could. The lines were already starting to blur, and I didn’t think I could pull back now. No matter how hard I dug in my heels, Bentley Daniels was going to pull me under his spell.
We pulled up to his house and he helped me out of the cab of his truck, bein’ the short ass I was. Then he took me inside, and I realized why he was so damn nervous.
The dinner table was set for two, a soft candle flickering in the center. There was a bottle of my favorite wine on ice, and two plates under silver trays.
Bentley looked embarrassed as he walked across the room and blew the candle out.
“She wasn’t supposed to do that,” he said, his eyes looking everywhere but at me. “I just asked her to set the table while we were away.”
“Your mama?” I asked, unable to help the teasing smile that came to my face.
“Yes.” He sighed. “She has her own agenda I guess. But I just wanted a chance to talk to you Rox, if you’ll let me.”
I knew it was long overdue, and from the looks of it, Bentley had gone to a lot of trouble for this. I couldn’t have shot him down now if I wanted to.
“Okay, Bentley.”
He looked like he’d just had a piano lifted off his back as he took in my words, and then tugged me along to the table before I could change my mind.
I sat down and he went to pour me a drink when I stopped him.
“I don’t want to drink in front of you.”
“It’s okay,” he said, pouring me a glass. “It doesn’t bother me, Rox. It was never the smell of it or anything like that. I know everyone thinks that if I even see alcohol now I’m gonna’ jump all over it, but that ain’t the case.”
I nodded and waited for him to sit down. He lifted the lids up to reveal a perfectly cooked piece of steak and a side of mashed potatoes.
“This looks really nice, Bentley,” I said, tucking in. I was starving.
He started eating too, and for a while it was quiet. But once we’d finished, he slid the plates aside and clasped my hands in his.
“Rox, the reason I told you about Jake the other day, was because I wanted you to know why I started drinkin’ in the first place. It’s important to me that you know it had nothin’ to do with Annabeth, although, I guess that did kind of make things worse. But truthfully, I never felt for her the way I feel about you, and I need you to know that.”
I shifted in my chair, staring at the table cloth, not really knowing what to say to that. I mean, honestly I was glad that
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