My father sits up a little straighter. “I didn’t think things were that serious with the Sim’s girl.” He then turns to my mother. “And sweetheart, I thought we talked about you giving the boys privacy.”
My mother waves him off flippantly. “That was when they were sixteen, and in my defense, Gwen sent me up there to tell him breakfast would be ready. Maybe, you should speak to Liam about having the boundaries chat with her.”
“Oh, Gwen knows her boundaries, I just think she gets a kick out of putting me in embarrassing situations and enjoys watching me squirm—she’s twisted that way,” I add.
“Can you blame her? You and Kai would prank that poor girl all the time,” my mother defends.
My father lets out a laugh. “Oh, I don’t think Gwen was all that innocent. She actually pulled me into helping her with some of the stuff she would pull on these boys.” He gives his head a soft shake recalling some of Gwen’s best moments of victory over Kai and me, then continues, “Anyway, who’s the young lady?”
I give my father a smile. “Ati. We’ve been spending time together lately over the past couple of weeks. Things are going really good with us...really good.”
He lets out a slow breath, and by that, I know where this is going. “Son, you need to stay focused here. You have a lot on your plate, and I’m guessing that Matilda is not going to be one of your flies by night conquests.”
My mother just shakes her head and looks down at her coffee mug. She never liked that my brothers and I would sleep around. Liam and Kai were always better about keeping her in the dark about it than I was. As for Ewan, well, he never really had much game, so it wasn’t an issue with him; although, he’ll say different.
“Dad, it’s all good, I promise. She’s busy with her residency, and I’m busy with the new builds. We both realize we have hectic schedules, and we’re okay with it. We make time for one another when we can.”
“It sounds like the two of you are getting serious,” my mother says.
I nod. “We are. We’re taking it slow, though. Even so, the feelings from before that got buried over time, are coming up pretty fast. I think we both want this to go in the same direction, but we’re just enjoying our time together right now…without having to worry that Gwen is going to catch us kissing.”
My father laughs. “I don’t know about that; you may still want to keep Gwen in the dark. She’s fiercely protective when it comes to Matilda even though she’s a fully-grown woman.”
“The perfect mother hen,” my mother beams. “I knew I nabbed our son a winner with her.”
My father and I let out a chuckle, but we both know it’s true. If it wasn’t for my mother, Liam would probably still be getting his hair trimmed every two weeks just so he could see Gwen. Actually, now that I think about it, she’s kind of been the matchmaker for all of my siblings—Damn, it’s my mother that has game.
“Honestly, I’m really just happy with how things are going…we both are. As of yet, neither of us is in a hurry to make any changes or plans for the future. Like I said, we’re just taking it slow.”
“Well, don’t take it too slow. I’m not getting any younger, and I want to be alive for grandkids,” my mother says.
I look to her with a smile. “You have twelve with the birth of Sawyer, and I’m pretty sure sixty-three is not considered old; you still have a few good years ahead of you.”
“Maybe so, but you don’t want to have one foot in the grave when you have kids. It’s best to have them now when you're young, that way you can keep up with them,” she adds.
I let out a chuckle. “Noted. I will keep that in mind, Mom.”
I stand from the table, leaning down to give my mother a kiss. “I should head out. I just stopped by to say hi.”
“You have a good day, son,” my dad says.
Before I turn to leave, my mother stops me. “I almost forgot. I booked you an eye appointment with Dr. Greer for this coming Thursday at three.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“You know, I wouldn't have to be your personal assistant if you got married.” I smile at her and pull out my phone, and she asks, “What are you doing?”
I finish adding in the info I needed then look up to my parents. “I added in a memo that I should hire a personal assistant.”
My father bursts out laughing, and my mother only shakes her head with a less than amused look—she has the best expressions.
I give a final farewell to my parent’s then head out to start my day. Ati is working tonight, and I won’t see her now for a few days, so it will have to be video chats and text messaging to get me by.
As I jump in my car, my phone rings with a text message. I thumb to open the screen and see that it’s from Alex.
‘What are you up to tonight?’ she asks.
‘Hey, nice to hear from you. Not much. Why, what were you thinking?’
‘O’Fallon’s. I need to mingle, and you promised to be my wingman sometime,”
I let out a laugh. ‘That I did. Okay, count me in. How does eight o’clock work?’
Alex replies with a smiley face emoji and a ‘see you there.’
‘See you there.’
As yet another smile today crosses my face, I tuck my phone back in my pocket and make my way to work. I can’t help but think things seem to be coming together for me.
***
As I’m sitting at O’Fallon’s waiting for Alex, I send Ati a quick text to say hi and let her know I’m thinking about her
“Hey, there stranger,” Elise Matthews greets as she approaches my table. “I haven’t seen you in here the past couple of times when your brothers have been in.”
It’s funny, I grew up with Elise after she came to live with her grandfather. We were in the same classes all through high school, but no matter how hard she tried, she never fit in, or maybe it was that we never really gave her a chance. Ewan dated Elise for a while, but for him, it was always Grace that he was going to end up with. But he gave Elise a chance, and to this day, Ewan and Grace are good friends with Elise. She actually babysits for them once and a while so they can have a date night.
I give her a smile. “Hey, Elise. Yeah, I’ve been kind of busy.”
“So I’ve heard. Congrats on you and Ati finally coming to your senses.”
“Let me guess, my brothers told you?”
Elise lets out a chuckle. “In all fairness, they are not the best at keeping secrets after a few beers. All I had to do was ask where you were, and it was like a Tsunami of information.”
I give my head a shake and take a mental note to filter what I share with them.
“Can I get you something, or are you waiting for Ati?”
“Actually, I’m waiting for Alex Sims. We’re meeting up for drinks.”
Elise raises her brow. “Um, okay.”
“What? Why do you say it like that?”
“It's nothing—none of my business,” she replies.
I let out a breath. “Elise, out with it.”
She looks to me for a moment, then pulls out a chair and takes a seat across from me. “Well, I mean, I don’t quite know what you have with Ati, but I didn’t think she was the type for an open relationship.”
“What! No. We don’t have an open relationship. Why would you think that?”
Elise sits back in her chair, looking me over once again. “So, you’re telling me, Ati is okay with you going out for drinks with another woman? A woman you have dated might I add.” I remain silent just looking at her with no reply, then she continues. “Ah, so she doesn’t know that you’re about to meet Miss Alex Sims, the tall leggy brunette with a killer body for drinks.”
“Look—,” I start to reply, but she cuts me off.
“No, don’t try and explain; save yourself the embarrassment. Let me leave you with this. How would you feel if Ati were to meet up with an ex for drinks, at night, all alone—just the two of them?” My eyes widen at the thought of Ati and some random guy sitting in a dark cor
ner at a table of some dive bar. Of course, Elise notices my reaction instantly. “That’s what I thought.”
I can feel my breaths start to become harder. “Well, what the hell do I do now? She’s on her way here. I can’t just cancel.”
Elise gives me a shrug and stands from the table. “Your guess is as good as mine. I’m thirty-two and still single—not really the best person as a go-to for advice.”
I shoot a glare. “Gee, thanks.”
Elise crinkles her nose. “I’m guessing that was sarcastic, so I'll just leave you to drown in your own self-inflicted demise.”
Groaning, I add, “And here I was actually starting to think of you as a friend, Elise.”
“Just keepin’ it real, Benny,” she replies with a laugh. “I’ll be back when your date arrives to take your orders.”
“It’s not a date,” I try to defend, but it’s too late, Elise has already started off to the other side of the bar.
Crap, I never thought of how Ati may look at this whole situation—Alex and me out for drinks. But after Elise pointing it out, and I think about it, it looks bad. Do I call Alex and cancel? Or do I call Ati and explain? No. Why am I even trying to figure this out? The answer is simple. I need to cancel.
Just as I pull my phone from my suit jacket to call Alex, she walks through the door—so much for that idea. As I hesitantly stand to greet her, I can see Elise shaking her head from the other side of the bar. Great help she was.
“Hey, sorry I’m late. I was on a call with my parents updating them on the progress of the house,” Alex mentions as she takes a seat.
I smile and move to the chair across from her. “No problem.”
“Have you been waiting long?”
“Nope. Beer?”
She looks to me curiously. “Ben, is everything okay? You seem off.”
“Yeah, sure. Everything’s fine.” I raise my hand, signaling Elise that we would like to order, or at least I would.
“Yeah, no. What’s up, Ben. You look like a teenage boy that’s about to be caught by his mother for sneaking a girl into his room. Start talking.”
Elise, having made her way over, caught Alex’s inquiry, and so graciously chimed in. “He’s shitting puppies because he never told Ati that he was meeting up with you for drinks, and actually didn’t think that there was anything wrong with it until I pointed it out.”
Alex looks to me wide-eyed. “Ben, why on earth didn’t you tell Ati?”
Panic and dread rush through me, but as I look up to Alex, her reaction catches me off guard—she’s laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“You should see the look on your face,” she replies.
Still not sure where this is going, I ask again what is so funny, and that’s when I see Grace and Ginny walk over to the table.
“What’s going on?” I ask a little confused.
As Ginny and Grace take a seat at the table, Alex explains. “Well, see, when I had texted earlier, I had actually text Ati first to see if she was in town. She had mentioned that she was on nights at the hospital. I told her I wanted to get out of the house for a bit, and she said that you weren’t probably up to anything and to give you a shout, that’s when I text you. But then Gin and Grace called and asked if I wanted to get out for a bit, so I just told them to meet us here.”
“So, Ati knows?” I let out with a sigh of relief.
Alex nods. “Yes, she knows.”
I let out another breath, “It’s going to take some getting used to the do’s and don’ts of being in a relationship again.”
Ginny lets out a laugh. “Especially when you’re dating Gwen’s little sister. One false move, and its lights out, Benny boy.”
Grace and Alex join Ginny in a roar of laughter, I let out a chuckle as well but knowing very well that there is some truth to what she’s saying.
Dating rule number one: if in doubt, clear it with the woman in my family first.
Chapter Seventeen
-Matilda-
It’s a weird feeling to miss someone. I mean, sure, I missed my sister, Liam, and the kids when I was away at school, and Grace and Thea as well. But this—this is different. I just saw Ben three days ago, but it feels like it’s been an eternity. Every moment I have that, I’m not looking after patients or jetting around the hospital to run tests and gather results; I’m left with an emptiness. All I can think about is how much I miss Ben and can’t wait to see him. I actually don’t like it. I feel vulnerable. Like at any moment, my life could fall apart all because I gave one person too much control over my emotions. I told myself after the last time Ben and I went our own ways, leaving me broken, that I would never let that happen again. Sure, I was still going to let people in, I wanted to let people in. I just didn’t want to lose that control again. However, my attempts to keep those walls up this time with Ben were futile. I have no control when it comes to him, and to be honest, that scares the crap out of me.
There’s a knock at my bedroom door, which pulls me from my thoughts.
“Come in.”
Pushing open the door, Quinn leans himself up against the entry. “Your escort for the day has arrived, and may I add, he looks hot.”
I look to him through the mirror in the corner of my bedroom and shake my head. “First of all, you have a hot man of your own, so stop window shopping, and second, please don’t tell him that. His head is big enough; the last thing Brock needs is another ego boost.”
Quinn lets out a laugh. “I got that when he walked in and told me to tell you that the answer to all your prayers had arrived.”
After one last quick glance in the mirror, I turn to Quinn. “Now you see what I’m dealing with. And I also have to endure a two-hour car ride with him talking himself up. Are you sure you can’t come with us now, and Abe can join us later?”
“As fun as that sounds, I’m going to pass. Truthfully, Abe and I just want a little us time before we join the masses,” Quinn says.
“You see each other every day. He’s your boss.”
He rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean. It’s not quality time. Abe’s very adamant that we keep work and our personal life very separate. He’s so strict about it, he won’t even let me sneak a kiss.”
“Good Lord, that is a little much. I mean, I’ve seen those lips; completely kissable. However do you manage to keep your inner animal at bay?”
“It’s a challenge, but why are you checking out my boyfriend’s lips?” Quinn questions with feigned accusation.
I walk by, patting him on the shoulder. “Haven’t you ever heard the saying, ‘what’s good for the goose is good for the gander?’ Yeah, well, don’t think I miss when you check out Ben’s ass every time he passes you in the hall or kitchen.”
Quinn throws his hands up. “Hey, in my defense, Abe checks it out too. Actually, we’re just examining the goods. We want to make sure our queen isn’t settling for second best.”
I let out a laugh. “Well, since you put it that way, I guess it’s okay. Wait! Abe checks it out too?”
Quinn waves me off. “That’s for another time. Now get going. When I left Brock, I’m pretty sure he was heading to the kitchen to raid our fridge, and I just restocked the good cheese.”
I let out another chuckle and wave Quinn a farewell and head to the living room to collect Brock.
“Are you ready to head out?” I ask as I catch him popping something into his mouth.
“Yep. That cheese is delicious. I’ll have to remind myself to get some of it when I get back to Florida.”
“I hope you left some for Quinn—the man lives for that cheese.”
Brock walks toward me, reaching for the front door handle. “I’m not a savage; I left him a nibble. Besides, he’ll be fine with it—he digs me. I saw him checking me out when I first came in.”
I walk past Brock into the hall and head toward the elevator. “He was trying to determine if you were an imminent threat.”
Brock shuts the door behind
him and meets me at the elevator. “You mean because he was worried, he would fall for me.”
“Do you ever tire yourself out?”
“Nope. How could I ever get tired of all this awesomeness,” he says, running a hand down his stomach.
The doors to the elevator open, and stepping in with Brock in tow, I stare straight ahead, and reply, “Tape yourself talking and play it back—It’ll be a reality check you never expected.”
“Yeah, that’s right—Wait! Huh?”
I let out a chuckle as he snickers. “You know, you won’t be able to deny it forever.”
“Deny what?”
“Our bond.”
I turn facing him, looking directly in his eyes. “And what pray tell, would that bond be?”
He wiggles his brow and beams me with his famous broad smile. “We’re soulmates.”
I pause momentarily, before turning back to face the doors. “You’re delusional.”
“Nope. It’s true,” he replies but doesn't elaborate. Of course, because the whole curiosity killed the cat thing never really registered with me, it has me wanting to ask why he would think that.
“I’m listening—explain.”
Brock’s eyes light up like a child on Christmas morning. “Okay, think about it. Who do you call when you need advice?”
“My sister.”
Brock takes that in, then shoots back. “Okay, well, obviously. But after your sister?”
“Thea or Grace.”
He lets out a groan of frustration. “Ati, come on.”
I let out a sigh. “Fine. On occasion, I have turned to you for advice, but against my better judgment, and only out of desperation.”
“Desperation? Really? You know as well as I do that you have come to me many a time when you have required some guidance.”
“I would hardly call what little advice you’ve offered, guidance. It was more a list of do’s and don'ts. That, may I add, weighed heavily on the don’ts side, because apparently, you have lived a very questionable existence.”
I can see by his reflection in the elevator doors that he is looking up in frustration, and to be truthful, it kind of makes me giggle.
Ben & Matilda- Infinite Promise Page 15
