The Playboy's Proposal (Sorensen Family)(18)

Something told him that this statement had been less for the young girls and more for whoever might be waiting for them in the other room.

"Henry, these are my two minions-I mean nieces, Jenna and Natalie," she added in a more conversational tone.

"I'm Natalie," the youngest and clearly most outspoken of the two said. She reminded him of someone 

"Hi, Natalie. It's nice to meet you, and please. Call me Henry," he said and held his hand out to the girl, who now seemed to be looking at him a little more  affectionately. She shook it with aplomb. He did the same with the older girl. Jenna took it, her face solemn although her eyes studied him with curiosity.   





 

"What your aunt isn't telling you is that she whacked me over the head with a golf club earlier and now feels guilty for nearly killing me."

Natalie covered her mouth with her other hand and giggled.

"One could wonder, however," Benny said and walked down the hall, with them following, "why a man who claims to be an expert would have let himself stand in the range of said club."

"I think I was so in awe of how truly atrocious your golf swing was that the club heading for my head took me completely off guard."

More giggles, and then they were in a bigger open room. To the left was a large kitchen with several people already working; to the right was a family room with a decent-size television and the aforementioned Twister game already spread out on the floor. Separating the two living spaces was a long dining table and French patio doors that led out onto a deck. The place felt airy and friendly.

The expressions of the people in the room were another question, and from the hush that followed he gathered they'd all been whispering just moments before.

"Hi, everyone. This is Henry Ellison," Benny said, repeating the introduction he knew everyone had already heard. "As I explained to Mom, he's going to be having dinner with us."

A petite woman with dark brown hair came over. "Hello, Henry. I'm Benny's mom, Elena," she said with a faint accent that told him she wasn't a native speaker. She smiled at him warmly, though, the same curious gleam in those brown eyes as her granddaughters had shown him. "We've heard a lot about you."

Of course they had. He wouldn't bet on it being particularly flattering. But he'd used his charm and sparkling wit to get out of tough spots before. This wasn't impossible. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Sorensen. Your home is lovely. And I appreciate your letting me crash your family dinner."

"Please, it's Elena. You are more than welcome in our home," she added and he was certain it wasn't necessarily meant just for him. "Let me make the introductions while Benny gets you two something to drink." Benny lifted her brows briefly and went into the kitchen, grabbing a couple of glasses from the cupboard.

Over by the sink, a tall redhead was watching him, suspicion in her gray eyes as she washed a bowl of tomatoes. The even taller hulk standing next to her with dark hair and blue eyes looked at him with less suspicion and more outright dislike as he gripped a butcher knife. From the cutting board and half tomato already diced, Henry assured himself the guy wasn't holding it to stab him.

"Henry, this is my son Dominic and his beautiful new wife, Kate." He recognized the couple from Benny's photograph.

"A pleasure," Henry said, offering his hand first to Kate, who quickly dried hers on a towel and took his firmly, smiling politely. He turned to Dominic.

"So you're the player next door to my little sister, huh? Partying at all times of the night like you're running a frat house." He hesitated but took Henry's hand, his shake solid and a great deal stronger than necessary.

"Yes, well, I'm a businessman, and often have clients over. We try to keep the toga parties reserved for special occasions, though."

Dominic didn't break into a smile. "Why were you giving my little sister golf lessons again?"

Tough crowd.

"Well, the truth is that it wasn't my idea. You see-"

"Henry, did you want beer, wine, water, or iced tea?" Benny interjected.

"Water is fine."

Benny handed a bottle to him and warned him with the flash of her blue eyes not to say another word.

"You haven't met my sister, Daisy, yet," she said and nodded toward the stunning brunette with dark eyes and long hair who was chopping at another counter.

"Hi, Henry," the woman said in a singsong voice and waved. "Nice to finally meet you. Benny, you didn't tell me you wanted to take up golf," Daisy added, not ready to let her sister off the hook.

"I didn't? It's not a big deal, I just thought it might be a good idea, you know, if, um  "

"Some of the doctors at her practice invited her to play next weekend, and rather than decline, she thought she'd take some lessons. Try to learn a few things."

"Learn a few things? We're just talking golf now, right?" Dominic challenged.

Henry didn't look away, steadily meeting the guy's gaze before breaking into a smile. "Yes. Just golf."

It was all rather cute the way they rallied to protect Benny like this. Didn't they know the woman could probably take them all on? One-handed?   





 

"Oh, knock it off, Dom," his wife said and laughed. "Lay off Mr. Ellison at least until after dinner."

Benny took Henry's hand and dragged him through the dining area to the open French doors. "Let's introduce you to the rest of the bunch."

A tall man with light blond hair who Henry knew was Benny's father manned the grill, a small boy of six or seven standing next to him. Another couple was seated and had stopped speaking at their arrival. Henry recognized the other brother, the oldest of the siblings, with his arm around a pretty reddish-blond woman. The honeymooners, if he wasn't mistaken.

"Everyone, this is my neighbor and friend, Henry Ellison," Benny said this time with emphasis on the "friend" part. "Henry, this is my dad, Petter Sorensen"-Henry took the older man's hand, blue eyes steady on him but not necessarily unfriendly, despite the lack of movement of his facial muscles-"and this is my nephew, Paul, my brother Cruz, and his wife, Payton."

Dutifully, Henry walked around and greeted them all, noticing that Cruz's handshake was no less forceful than his brother's. "Nice to meet you. Hope you don't mind me crashing your dinner."

Cruz, like his father, didn't say much, but Payton and Paul were more effusive in their greetings. Paul in particular, when he ran over and grabbed both of their hands, tugging them into the house. "Twister time!" he shouted.

"Buddy, why don't you and your sisters just play-" Benny started.

"Not a chance, Benny," Daisy said, hearing her trying to beg off. "You bought the game for them. I think the least you can do is play with them as well." She smiled like the Cheshire cat.

Now all three kids were jumping up and down, shouting to get started, and Benny gave him a helpless smile. "You up for it?"

"Twister? I'd love to. Just don't let your aunt get too close to me," he said to the kids. "I wouldn't want to risk the loss of a limb or another smack to the head."

"No promises," she said, but she was smiling.

At least until five minutes in, when Jenna, who'd decided to sit out the first round on the couch in between her aunts Payton and Kate, called out the next move.

Right hand to blue.

Which placed Benny Sorensen practically underneath him while he tried to balance precariously with his body contorted in ways he'd never known possible. Not just beneath him, but her backside pressed dangerously close to his left hip and her hand nearly on his own. Something he probably would have enjoyed any other time, with the woman's intoxicating warm vanilla smell surrounding him.

But not when her entire family was looking on. Her brothers still seemed like they were waiting for a reason to tackle him.

Benny raised her luminous eyes to his then, and for just a moment, he was able to block out the dozens of eyes trained on them. Enjoy the flush on her face that had it pink and bright, her lips parted as she took in their close proximity.

And he realized.

Benny Sorensen was the most beautiful woman who'd ever been under him. And it took every ounce of strength he had not to lean toward her and kiss those delectable lips.

Something flickered in her eyes, and whatever had been holding her up slipped and she was suddenly falling, upending his left hand, and bringing him tumbling down on top of her.

 

"  and Cruz stood there, not even flinching while two busboys trapped the man-size cockroach and swept it out the terrace doors," Payton was telling everyone over dinner, her voice filled with laughter that matched her exuberant expression. Glowing, naturally.

Benny and everyone glanced to her ever-stoic older brother, who sat stone-faced, but there was a gleam in his brown eyes as he watched his wife tell the tale, his adoration clear. "Someone had to retain some level of calmness. Payton was standing on her chair and shrieking like the place was on fire."

"I wouldn't say  shrieking. But when a cockroach big enough to physically carry me out the door nudges my foot, I think my reaction was absolutely reasonable." But she was laughing along with everyone else.

Benny sneaked a glance at Henry, who was chuckling, looking the picture of relaxation with his natural debonair charm and one of her nieces on each side of him-clearly besotted from the way they both fought to sit next to him. Despite the humiliating moment before dinner when she'd been pinned underneath him, the weight of his body on hers not entirely uncomfortable, Henry had taken everything in stride. Even her brothers' attempts to drill him on his sports facts, which she'd been surprised to find were remarkably keen, hadn't broken so much as a sweat on his too-handsome face.