When he pulls away and looks down into my eyes, I know I trust him. This is the Bentley I’ve always known.
I can trust him. He would never hurt me. This is who I expected to find when I first got here.
I relax and hop into the pickup truck. Bentley closes the door and rounds the truck, tapping the hood as he passes by. I give him a big smile as he climbs behind the steering wheel.
He leans in and cups my face, then connects our lips. My stomach flips and butterflies come to life as he deepens the kiss and consumes me.
“Ready?” he asks as he pulls away and pecks my nose.
“Never been more ready in my life. Let’s see what you’ve got, Coswell.”
“You’ve got it, gorgeous. One birthday date coming up,” he croons.
I can’t stop smiling as he pulls off. I’m so excited. How did I get here with my longtime crush and neighbor?
I hope this isn’t a dream I’m going to wake up from. Bentley reaches over to place his hand on my thigh, causing my skin to tingle beneath his palm. This is the best birthday ever.
Bentley
“I needyou to do me a favor and wait here,” I say as I place the blindfold over Zah’s eyes.
“A blindfold, really?” she says.
“Yeah, I need to set up, and I want you to get the full effect during the reveal,” I say.
“Okay, fine.”
I kiss her lips quickly, then turn to drive the short distance to our final destination. My heart is racing as I pull out of the trees and onto the overlook. Leaning forward, I look out of the windshield. The sky still looks clear, but I’ll use that tent just in case.
It has a little viewing panel I can open up. I think Zah is going to love this. I glance at my watch and note I have enough time to set up before dinner arrives.
Looking to Zah before I hop out, I find her with a huge smile on her face, even as she sits with a blindfold on. I’m crazy about this girl. Her smile is infectious.
I turn on the radio, then hop out of the truck before I get sucked into her bubble. Quickly, I grab my stash from the back seat. Rounding the truck to the bed, I let down the gate and pull out the blow-up mattress and the pump.
As I wait for it to inflate, I work on the speaker system. When the mattress is done, I focus on getting a sheet on it.
“Great idea, Bent,” I groan as I take a breath and wipe my hand across my forehead. I’m sweating from all this work.
I should have thought this part through a little better. Once I’m done with the sheet, I toss a blanket and a few pillows in place. As I peek in at Zah through the back window, I find her singing and bobbing her head.
I shake my head. She’s a great swimmer and runner, but she needs some more singing lessons. I’ve always teased her about it. She loves to sing, but she sure as heck isn’t great at it.
I get back to work, setting up the projector screen and stringing up lights for a romantic vibe. Like clockwork, Jason and Corey pull up with dinner. My face breaks into a smile as I look over my work.
“This looks great,” Jason says. “I’m stealing this one next time I want to impress a chick.”
“Yeah, whatever,” I laugh. “Thanks, guys. Now get the heck out of here.”
“You see this? This is how he treats us?”
Corey looks at him and rolls his eyes. He then grabs the back of Jason’s shirt and drags him off. I laugh at them as I watch them climb back into Jason’s car.
Now that the food and snacks are here, I set up the little trays I got for us. Turning on the projector that has a screensaver that says,Happy Birthday, I nod to myself and go to get Zah out of the truck.
“All right, come on. Careful now,” I say as I help her out of the truck.
She releases the sweetest giggle as she tightens her hold on my hand. As I back up and guide her, I take her in. She looks gorgeous in the yellow dress. It’s perfect against her rich, dark-brown skin. She wobbles a little, causing me to look down at her shoes.
