Your Alluring Love (The Bennett Family 6)

“The beauty is in the uncertainty.” Daniel earns himself a stink eye from me in the rearview mirror. “But I’m with Alice. Our oldest brothers will behave, even Logan.”

Blake considers this. “True, Logan’s acting strange. We’ve been getting along too well lately. He never rides my ass anymore. It’s weird.”

I grin, shaking my head. Knowing Blake, he’ll provoke Logan over any tiny thing just to rile him up. It’s always fun to watch. That reminds me, I should thank Logan. He must have spoken to Daniel and gotten through to him, because Daniel shared with me that he’s thinking of focusing more on expanding his range of sport-related activities and dropping the extreme adventures part.

We talk about a soccer game for the rest of the trip, and I’m so engrossed in the conversation that I barely hear my phone when it chirps with an incoming message.

“What was that sound?” Blake asks. “The car begging you to drive faster?”

“You buffoon. It was my phone. Daniel, can you please take it out of my purse and read the message out loud? I don’t like to look at my phone while driving.”

Daniel rummages through my bag for a while until he finds my phone.

“It’s from Nate,” he informs me.

“What does it say?”

“Are you sure it’s safe to open it?” he asks.

“Huh?”

“He’s afraid he might stumble onto dirty talk,” Blake explains with a shit-eating grin. That actually makes me pause, because… um… well, Nate and I are fond of sexting. But he should be at work now, so we’re safe.

“We might be more laid-back than our older brothers,” Blake continues, “but we still don’t like to know about our sisters doing the nasty. It’s a brother thing.”

“I get it. The caveman gene is alive and well. Go ahead and read it, Daniel. If you’re squeamish, cover your eyes and look through your fingers. Pass the phone to Blake at the first sight of a dirty word.”

“Okay,” Daniel says. “Here’s what is says. ‘Hey, shooting finished earlier, so I’m already here. So is everyone else, except for you, Blake, and Daniel.’”

“He’s already there?” My throat dries up.

“Yes, not everyone drives like you,” Daniel deadpans.

Blake chuckles, muttering something that sounds like “Let the cornering begin.”

Sweat breaks out on my palms, despite my previous claims about having full faith in Nate. My oldest brothers have been known to scare off my dates before. Sure, I was young and those dates were wimps, but history is history.

Praying that my car doesn’t leave me in the lurch, I hit the gas pedal.

“Look who’s driving faster now,” Blake remarks.

***

Nate

The picnic with the Bennetts reminds me of the old days. The clan is as loud and nutty as I remember it, only now it’s even bigger. Having the picnic at their house was a great idea because their yard is huge, complete with a gazebo. It’s warm and sunny now, but in case the weather turns unpleasant, we can take the party inside.

“This is a lot of food. It’ll take a long time to grill everything.” I survey the mountains of meat and vegetables. Jenna Bennett surveys it too. I have the utmost respect for her and her husband, Richard. They always had an open door for me, and for any of their kids’ friends.

“Big group.” Jenna gives me precise instructions on how long to grill each type of vegetable. I listen even though I know this stuff backward, remembering Alice saying that sometimes she lets her mom give advice she’ll never use because it makes Jenna feel useful, and mothers need to be needed.

She only stops when one of Pippa’s girls is tugging at her skirt. Pippa stands a few feet behind, clapping her hands and cheering her daughter. Bending down, Jenna lifts her granddaughter in her arms.

“I’ll start with the grilling right away, Jenna. Clearly, Mia wants more of your attention.” It was a wild guess, and by the way Jenna chuckles, the wrong one.

“This is Elena.” She pushes Elena’s hair away from her face and the toddler laughs, grabbing Jenna’s sweater in her tiny fists and then a strand of Jenna’s hair, tugging with surprising force for such a little thing. “Let’s take you back to your mom and sister, shall we?”

“You’re getting a kick out of being a grandmother, aren’t you?”