Hot SEAL, Confirmed Bachelor- Cynthia D'Alba Page 0,44

ones with money on the table.”

“Speaking of money on the table, where are my winnings?” her mother asked. “I believe I had twenty on our boy Ben.”

Robert pulled five twenties from his shirt pocket and passed them down to his wife. “Would’ve been more if you’d had the foresight to bet double or nothing.”

Patricia tucked the money into her pocket. “No, this is fine.”

“I understand the betting, but where did you get the drinks?” Diana asked. “I know Blind Harry’s shooting galley doesn’t serve beer.”

“The guys from the precinct dragged us over to the Blue Line.”

The Blue Line was a bar owned by a group of San Diego cops and was a known cop hangout.

“Sorry for being late for dinner, Patricia,” Ben said. “But everyone kept buying us rounds.”

“It’s fine, Ben,” Patricia assured him.

“Mark had become an obnoxious braggard over his win,” Lawrence. “More than a few folks were glad to see him get taken down a notch.”

“Amen,” Patrick said.

Through the entire exchange with her family, Holly kept an eye on Ben, trying to gauge his reaction. He still wore that grin. The happiness on his face radiated. His laugh was hearty and loud, which fit right in with the other males in her family.

Good lord. Her brothers and dad liked him, and apparently, he liked them.

The ground beneath her fell away. They would not be happy when she sent him on his way after the wedding.

Oh well. It was only June. The wedding wasn’t until September, so she had plenty of time before she had to face that reality.

As she lifted her glass of water to take a sip, she noticed that Diana and Bethany had also set aside their wine in favor of water. Looked like the ladies were driving tonight. Speaking of which….

“How did you get here?” Holly asked. “Surely you didn’t drive.”

“Cop cars,” Ben said in a stage whisper. “Never been in back seat of one. Don’t want to do that again, so stay away from my truck, Danny.” He laughed, and Danny snorted.

Holly folded her arms over her chest. “Two cop cars pulling up in front of the house dropping off drunk Longs. I’m sure Mrs. Mercer’s eyes were popping out behind her curtain.”

The Long brothers started laughing.

“Get this,” Danny said. “Ben threw her a kiss.”

Holly groaned. “You didn’t. What did she do?”

“Those curtains snapped shut,” Lawrence said with a snort.

“I’m not the one who threatened to moon her,” Ben protested.

“Please tell me none of you mooned the poor lady,” her mother said.

“I wouldn’t let them,” her father assured her. “I have to live in this neighborhood.”

“The grapevine will be hot with gossip this week,” Holly said.

“Speaking of the grapevine and news,” Bethany said. She reached behind her and picked up a small stack of papers on the sideboard. “Here’s the list of all the wedding party activities for the summer.”

She handed each person a copy, including Lawrence and Ben. “I expect all of you to be at the couple events. Diana and Holly, I’ve noted our monthly bachelorette parties so you can get them on your calendars.”

“Um, I’ll put this on my calendar, but you realize I could be called on a mission at any time,” Ben said.

“Yeah, me, too,” Danny said. “Missions.” He snapped his fingers. “Might have to miss a party.”

“You will be at these parties Danny Long,” Bethany said, giving her a glare. “Ben is the only one who gets a pass for a mission. Got it?”

“Got it,” Danny said.

After dinner, Patricia plied the guys with coffee and fresh strawberry pie. As they sat around in the living room, Holly became uncomfortable because Ben and her sitting with her family eating pie and drinking coffee felt too comfortable, almost like they’d done this for years.

She knew one thing for sure. Her family was definitely buying the fake relationship thing. Now, she only had to keep reminding herself.

As the night wound down, and her family began collecting kids and keys to leave, she pulled Ben off to the side.

“Where did you leave your truck?”

“Blind Harry’s. Think you could drop me off to pick it up?”

“Um, no. I can give you a ride to your house. You can get it tomorrow, just like the rest of my family’s maniacs.”

He laughed.

“Did you have fun?” she asked. “Did they drive you too crazy?”

“Oh, babe,” he said, draping his arm over her shoulders. “You are so lucky and don’t even know it.”

Frowning, she asked, “What do you mean? Lucky? My brothers tortured me my entire life.”

He