Chapter 1 #2
Ben had never felt such a powerful attraction to a girl before.
He did not believe in love at first sight.
To him, that was a silly romantic notion made up to sell sappy movies to teenage girls and middle-aged women, never mind that he’d heard his mother tell the story of how she had fallen in love with his father the first time she laid eyes on him.
He did, however, believe in lust at first sight, and at that moment, Ben was knee deep in it.
He was under no illusion that he or any of his buddies would end up with some random girl they met in a diner in Napa forever.
But that was okay. He wasn’t looking for a relationship with anyone, not now or in the foreseeable future.
A little lust though was definitely on the menu.
And it looked like they had come to the right place for it.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Ella poured herself a glass of very cold water and drank it in one gulp.
She had never been so unnerved in her life.
Her experience with guys who looked like Ben was limited.
She had spent her teen years studying and working with her uncle Pedro in the fields.
She had such a singular focus on her future that there had been no time for dating.
Until she had gone to college, the only males she had regular contact with were either related to her or customers who were closer to her grandfather’s age than hers.
Ella was homeschooled through eighth grade.
She had tried the school her siblings attended, but she had been bored.
Her mother made the decision to pull her out in first grade.
Things might have been different if she had been able to go to a regular high school as had been the plan.
But Covid happened. Although she still switched over to Napa High School in the ninth grade, thanks to the school being closed due to the pandemic, she spent her two years of high school studying from home.
That was great because it allowed her to graduate high school at sixteen.
She had attended Cal Poly Tech remotely for the past three years.
Ella met lots of young men through her coursework, but none of them were interested in dating a sixteen-year-old.
They were all older and more experienced.
A few of the guys in her classes had befriended her, but none had gone so far as to ask her out.
Truthfully, no one she had ever met had ever sparked her interest the way the guy who saved her from busting it moments before did with one look.
If the guys at school had been anything like him, maybe Ella’s college experience would not have been so bland and boring.
After downing the water, Ella walked out of the kitchen, pretending to be way more cool, calm, and collected than she actually was. As she approached the guy’s table, she took a deep breath and let it out, pasting a fake smile on her face. “Okay, guys, what are we having today?”
Ben looked directly at Ella and flashed her another one of his way-too-sexy grins. Ella had to remind herself to breathe. Leaning his body over the table in a bid to get closer to her, Ben asked, “What do you suggest?”
Ella could hear just a smidge of a Southern accent in Ben’s voice.
She had become very good at placing accents because she had been serving tourists from all over the world for years.
Her instinct was to pull back from where Ben was leaning toward her.
She forced herself to remain steady and met his gaze, which was not easy.
Just looking at him made her pulse race.
She could literally feel excitement zigzagging through her.
For out of whack as she felt inside, she was proud of how normal her voice sounded when she replied, “If you like spicy food, the special is good.”
“Is that what you like?” Ben asked. “Do you like it spicy?”
Silence descended over the table as everyone turned and looked at Ben.
It was the perfect opening for one of his buddies to annihilate him.
Shockingly, no one ripped an inappropriate crack regarding Ben’s faux pas.
That was significant, given the level of his friends’ ability to destroy each other.
None of them said a word, most likely to keep from embarrassing the cute waitress who looked like she was about to pass out.
At Ben’s question, Ella’s eyebrows shot up. Before she could respond, Ben rushed to add, “Sorry. That came out wrong. What I meant to ask was, what do you like best here?”
Ben seemed as flustered and affected by Ella as she was by him. Interesting, she thought. Then she looked directly at him and replied, “I am a more traditional breakfast girl. Give me bacon and eggs every time.”
Turning to the group, she added, “I must tell you the best thing on the menu is the cinnamon rolls. My mom makes them fresh every morning. I highly recommend them. No matter what else you order, you don’t want to miss those.
” Ella was rambling and seemed unable to stop herself, which was crazy because she never rambled.
Not a day in her life. So much for trying to be cool.
Her heart was about to beat out of her chest. Getting a mental hold on herself, Ella gave the table a small smile and asked, “Who wants to go first?”
It only took a matter of minutes to get everyone’s order. Once the guys started ordering, Ella’s brain finally switched over to autopilot, and she was able to take it all down without making a total fool of herself.
All of the guys ordered cinnamon rolls, so Ella promised to bring a plate back for them to enjoy as they waited for the rest of their food.
Over the next twenty minutes, Ella found herself circling the guys’ table like a hawk.
The minute Ben would try to make eye contact though she would look away.
It was so weird. She could feel a pull between them.
She was almost convinced that he was feeling it too, but what if she was wrong?
Ella worried that she was acting worse than Lydia, her youngest sister, who was known to spend weeks mooning over a boy who did not even know she existed.
Ella had naively thought she was above such foolishness.
Now she was not so sure. She hoped her brothers and sisters did not notice how silly she was acting.
If they did, she was in for some merciless teasing later.
As the clock edged closer to 11:00, Ella knew she was going to have to hand the guys’ table off to her sister.
Signaling to Sophie she was leaving, Ella quickly collected her things and then headed toward the exit.
As she walked by the guys’ table, she stopped long enough to say, “I hope you enjoyed the cinnamon rolls. I have to leave now. My little sister Sophie will be taking care of you.” She was shocked at how normal she sounded when she felt like bubbles were about to start flowing out of her from the fuzzy feeling inside.
Ben immediately responded, “You’re leaving?” He had a strange look on his face as once again his eyes bored into hers. “Where are you going?”
Before Ella could answer, Madison blurted out, “Don’t leave us. We need you.”
Not to be outdone, Liam added, “Stay, we promise to give you a really big tip!”
Ella laughed, then shaking her head she said, “Sorry. I got to go. Work calls.”
As Ella turned to leave, Ben reached out and stopped her. “Just curious. Where do you work? I mean besides here?”
Giving Ben a shy smile, Ella replied softly, “On Saturdays, I help out at the Henley Winery. Why?”
Giving her a very mischievous smile, Ben replied, “Well, that might be information I might need.”
Smiling and looking directly at Ben, Ella said, “Well, the Henley is a well-kept Napa secret. If you are planning to go winery hopping, I am sure you would love it.”
Giving her a thumbs-up, Ben replied, “I am sure we would. Maybe we’ll see you there later.”
Smiling, Ella replied, “Hope so.” While she doubted she would ever see any of them again, a girl could dream.
As Ella walked away, she heard one of the guys at the table who hadn’t said much ask, “Hey, did you hear that? We just scored the babe that seated us. Remember I saw her first. She is all mine.”
Ella was not surprised the guy was fawning over her younger sister.
Sophie was only seventeen, but she looked every bit of twenty-two.
What Ella did not know at that moment was that while Ben’s buddies were jockeying for position to be the dude who snagged a date with the bombshell hostess Sophie, Ben was singularly focused on Ella.
One thing was for sure, he knew he would be eating at The Depot again sooner rather than later.
And if he could talk his buddies into it, they’d be dropping by the Henley Winery very soon as well.