Chapter 2 #3
“Oh, yeah, I remember that. Twins huh? Do they run in your family?” Ben was fumbling around, trying to keep the conversation going. There were so many things he wanted to ask her, but the fact that he was standing around asking about twins showed how much she affected him. He was so off his game.
“Yes, my mom had two sets of twins. Jorge and Sophie and Eli and Lydia. They are fourteen.”
“You have four younger brothers and sisters?” Ben’s tone showed he was shocked. He had two little sisters who had shown up when he was in high school. He had only had to deal with them for a couple of years. He loved them, but they were a lot of work.
“Actually,” replied Ella, “I have six younger brothers and sisters. Josie is fifteen, and Ollie is eleven.”
“Six? You have six brothers and sisters? That is craziness. I bet family dinners are a madhouse.”
Laughing, Ella said, “You have no idea.”
Looking around the diner and still scrambling for something to talk about, Ben asked, “Does all your family work here? Or just the older three of you?”
“This is a true family diner. We all pitch in and help in some way—even Ollie, though he has just started helping on a regular basis.”
“That is so cool,” replied Ben. At that moment, a lull in the conversation felt like a giant hole between them.
After a beat, Ella cleared her throat. “I am enjoying talking to you, but is there something you wanted? I really need to finish prepping for tomorrow.”
Snapping out of whatever trance Ben seemed to have fallen into that sapped his ability to flirt with this gorgeous girl, Ben pulled it together. “Like I said earlier, I came by to invite you to the house to hang out. We’ll have some music and wine. It should be fun.”
Shaking her head, Ella said, “I am not sure. I am not much of a party girl, and I have a lot of prep for tomorrow that I need to do here.”
Thinking the only reason she had declined was she had so much work to do, Ben quickly added, “How about I help? Together we can knock this out in no time.”
Ben looked so gorgeous Ella could not believe what he was offering. As much as she knew she should say no, she just couldn’t. She wanted every second she could get with him, even if it was just standing side by side filling salt shakers. Nodding her head, she softly said, “Okay.”
“Great! What do you want me to do?” Looking around and seeing the salt-and-pepper shakers in front of her, Ben asked, “Want me to take that over while you do something else?”
Ella considered Ben’s offer for a second and said, “Okay, you do the salt-and-pepper shakers. Then, move on to all of the condiment bottles. Under the counter, you will find large boxes of each. You just take off the top and turn the spout. They all need to be completely full. I will start wiping down tables.”
After Ben finished refilling the multitude of glass containers and condiment bottles, he asked, “Now what?”
“Could you put one of each on every table? All I have left is to unload the last load of clean dishes, and I will be done.”
Ben and Ella finished the last of their tasks just as Jorge came out of the back. “Everything is done in the kitchen. What do you need me to do up here?” he asked. He was shocked to see that Ben was still there.
Ella responded, “Nothing.” Giving Ben a smile, she said, “Thanks to Ben, we are all done.”
Jorge gave Ben a look but said nothing. If he was surprised that the guy had been helping, he did not show it. Rather, he smiled and seemed relieved they were done a little earlier than usual. “Good. Let’s get out of here. I have a date.”
It took them only a few minutes to gather up their things, turn off the lights, and exit the building. After locking the door, Jorge looked from his sister to Ben and asked, “You about to head home?”
Ben was trying to think of something to say to persuade Ella to come back to his house with him when she shocked him.
In response to Jorge’s question, she said, “No. Ben has invited me to a party. I think I will go for a little while. See you later at home.”
Giving Ella one of his mega-watt smiles that showed how happy her decision to come back to the house with him made him, Ben reached over and took Ella’s hand in his.
Ella only jumped slightly at Ben’s touch. Knowing her brother was watching them intently, she tried to school her reaction. She did not need to give Jorge any more reasons to dislike Ben or to try and keep her from going with him.
Looking down at where Ben and Ella’s hands were joined and then back up at their faces, Jorge sighed deeply. Giving his sister a hard look, he said, “Okay. Call me if you need me.” He followed up his words by giving Ben a death stare, then walking away.
Ella and Ben watched Jorge disappear around the corner. Letting out a long, low breath, Ben said, “Wow, he is one scary dude. I bet all your dates are terrified of him.”
Ella laughed, “The fact that I am going to a party with you probably threw him a bit.”
Holding Ella’s hand tightly as they walked, Ben said, “So tell me all about yourself.”
“What do you want to know?” asked Ella. Despite her Mensa IQ, she always felt ill-equipped for small talk.
“Everything,” replied Ben. “What you like. What you don’t like. What you want to be when you grow up. What it is like to grow up in Napa. What it is like to have six younger siblings. All of it. Absolutely everything you are willing to tell me. I want to know it all.”
“That is a lot. How about we trade off? I will tell you something about me, then you tell me something about you.” Ella figured that way she would not have to do all the talking.
Her cousin Julia had once told her that guys preferred talking about themselves to actually listening.
She was about to find out if that was the truth.
“That sounds fair,” said Ben, lifting Ella’s hand to his lips. Turning her wrist over carefully, he placed a soft kiss on the inside of it.
Ella was so startled by the gesture, she almost jerked her hand away, but Ben held it firmly.
Tingles rippled through her body. She was almost positive that if she opened her mouth, the tiny effervescent bubbles that she felt flowing up and down her spine whenever Ben was near would surely come floating out.
They walked the short distance from the diner to the guys’ rental house.
Ella could hear music coming from inside.
Keeping a tight grip on her hand, Ben said, “Stay close to me. I don’t want you getting lost or one of my crazy friends trying to swoop in and take your attention. Tonight, you are all mine.”
On some level, Ella knew she should probably resent Ben’s possessiveness toward her, but all she felt was excitement that he wanted her attention as much as she wanted his.
She almost laughed at his assumption that anyone else could even stand a chance at getting her attention when he was anywhere near.
As the pair walked into the foyer of the house, then through the great room to the kitchen, Ben spoke to his buddies as they passed.
Ella recognized all five of the guys she had seen earlier in the day.
She saw that two of them were snuggled up on the couch with gorgeous girls.
Two others appeared to be totally absorbed in an intense video game battle.
The other guy from this morning along with several people Ella had never seen before were dancing in the living room. The music was too loud for Ella.
Ben kept a tight grip on Ella’s hand as he guided her through to the kitchen.
There, he dropped her hand long enough to grab a bottle of wine, two glasses, and some cheese.
Handing it to her, he motioned for her to head out the kitchen door to the patio.
He grabbed a blanket from a recliner as they went out.
Once outside, Ella saw the backyard was beautifully landscaped, complete with a pool and hot tub. Both were currently empty, but she had no doubt they would be full before the night was over. Ella was impressed with the size of the backyard, which was huge for Napa. Land came at a premium here.
Ben guided Ella across the yard to a small gazebo at the back of the property. Once inside, Ben spread out the blanket and gestured for Ella to sit.
“The house was nice, but this backyard is unbelievable,” said Ella. “I have never seen one so large in Napa before.”
Nodding Ben replied, “Yeah, inside there is a brochure about the property. I guess another house was back here, but the current owners bought it and tore it down to have this massive outdoor space. Brooksie’s parents know the owners and use this house a lot.
I hope you don’t mind that I brought you out here.
I wanted the chance to talk to you privately without all that noise. Is that okay?”
“Yes,” replied Ella quietly. “I am not going to lie. That was a lot back there. I am not a party girl. In fact, this is the first party I have ever been to. The loud music and all the people were a bit much for me. How does anyone talk above all the blaring music?”
Ben laughed. “I get it. My buddies eat it up. I can hang with them for a little while, but it gets old. That is why I am always the designated driver. I am not a big drinker. Too much of a good thing is too much for me whether that is food, alcohol, or partying.”
“From the looks of it, that is not the case for your friends.”
“Yep, you are right. They can go hard all night. But enough about them. Let’s open this bottle of wine and get to know each other better.”