She sighed, releasing a small giggle. “You’re good at that,” she said.
He chuckled, reached for her hand, and linked his fingers through hers. “So are you. Too good,” he accused. “I’m glad you’re coming with me to see my family. I’ve been nervous about going, being the outsider and all.”
Justine trailed her fingers over his palm, up his wrist, and along his forearm, softly tickling as she went. “I bet they’re excited to welcome you into the family.”
That spark of fear, the one that surfaced as they kissed, revved up again. He hadn’t told her about his famous family. Just get it out there, Burke. And before he knew it, he was doing that very thing.
“Are you familiar with the Bentons from LA?” His heart skittered out of beat.
“The billionaires who run that show—what’s it called—The Lion’s Den?”
The TV show Justine referred to was one of the family’s platforms for conducting business. “Yes,” he said.
“I actually really like that show. It’s satisfying to see some of those businesses get rescued from ruin.”
Burke nodded, liking the fact that a woman like her—small town as she was—could appreciate such a show. “I agree.” Contestants on The Lion’s Den were big business owners about to lose it all. If the Bentons thought the business was worth saving, one of them might invest. If not, contestants were sent to seek another route.
“Wait,” Justine said. “That’s not…”
Burke’s heart skipped again. His limbs grew tight. “Actually,” he said, “it is. Jonathon Benton is my father.”
Justine gulped hard. “Oh.”
He went on to explain the complicated situation. His father had agreed not to contact him until he was eighteen. But he’d treated him—financially anyway—like one of his own at that point. Gifting him a sum of money, teaching him how to invest it, and then gifting another sum a year later.
“I remember when news of the plane crash came out,” Justine said, her voice heavy with sorrow.
Burke nodded. “Yes. It happened, as you know, before I had the chance to meet him. But I’d talked to him only the month before. We were planning to set something up, possibly at the family’s cabin, for me to meet everyone. He hoped to make me a part of the family somehow.”
“I’m so sorry you weren’t able to meet him in person,” she said softly.
He nodded. “Me too. Years later I discovered that he’d added me to his will, stipulating the funds be held until my twenty-third birthday, had I not surpassed the age. It felt…very good to know that he cared about me enough to do that, but I’d have given every dime to my name just to know him.”
“I can imagine.” Justine moved to his other hand and began the same, slow trickle along his palm as she had with the other, her fingertips gliding over his skin.
Burke let his eyes shut to enjoy the feel of it. Her touch soothed him. He breathed in a slow, deep breath, reveling in the fact that he’d gotten something very important off his chest.
“I can see what you mean now,” Justine said in a whisper. “About things being complicated where your family’s concerned. I don’t pay much attention to tabloids, but I know enough that the Bentons have dealt with some…unsavory gossip.”
He nodded. “It doesn’t help that Claudia and Jonathon kept their separation a secret. And with as young as the kids were, they didn’t know about it either.”
“So when your mom…got together with Jonathon Benton, he was separated from his wife?”
“Yes.” And as Burke went on to explain some of the details, answering questions along the way, a weight seemed to lift off his shoulders and chest. Justine was more curious than concerned, or so it seemed.
At last she nodded, as if weighing all the new data she’d received. "At least you had a good relationship with her,” she said. “Your mom, I mean. That’s good.”
“You’re right.” His thoughts turned to the lack of relationship she had with her own mother. The level of rejection she’d endured because of it. He was glad that Wilfred was such a kind and loving man. And that—for most of her life anyway—she’d had a caring mother figure as well.
“So, is the family worried that people will start spreading rumors when they first hear about you?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s the concern. Lorraine, she plans to do an interview on a morning show to let America know about me, giving people the truth before the rumors can start.”