The rest of the weekend passed in a blur. We didn't end up having sex because Ben said that he wanted to ease into things first.
“I like what we've been doing,” he said, lazily trailing his fingers over my skin. “There's no reason to rush things. I want to make sure that you're ready for this.”
“You've been taking things slow from the start, from even before you knew that I'm a virgin,” I accused him. “It took you ages to even kiss me. What gives?” Ben was silent for a long moment, but for once, I decided I wanted to push. “Did you, like, just get out of a serious relationship or something?”
Ben shook his head, breathing out a long and noisy breath. “No,” he said. “Nothing like that. But I was worried how you would react when I told you about my work and all of that. I didn't want to rush into things, get in over my head, and then have everything come crashing down.” He grimaced a little. “It's happened before.”
“How recently?” I asked curiously.
“The last girl that I was serious about was probably a year or so ago,” Ben said. “But that was still… It was serious enough to leave me a bit shaken up afterwards, I'm not going to lie.”
I shook my head. “You're so open with your feelings,” I told him. “I like that about you, but I also just...”
“I don't see any reason to hide them,” Ben said with a shrug, grinning down at me. “I think that good communication is the only way to maintain a healthy and successful relationship, so I try to be upfront right from the start.”
“I appreciate that,” I said simply.
It was sad to leave the cabin at the end of the weekend, even though Ben assured me that we could come back whenever I liked. In fact, he was already planning on bring me up here towards the end of the semester break, so that we could go snowshoeing and cross-country skiing—if we got enough snow that year, anyway.
“So when do I get to see you again?” I asked as we drove back into the city after an uneventful drive.
Ben glanced over at me, a wry smile on his face. “Well, now that you know what I do, I can at least be a lot more frank with you about that,” he said. “Things are starting to calm down at the vineyard now that we've finished up with the harvesting. We're still in some discussions, and I'm anticipating another trip to Europe before Christmas, although I don't know exactly when. But for the winter season, things are going to be a lot less hectic.”
“Which means what, exactly?” I asked.
“It means that I get to move back to my apartment, for one,” Ben said, sounding relieved at the prospect. “Don't get me wrong, I love being back at the villa, and the thing is big enough that it's not like I have to interact with anyone that I don't want to interact with. But at the same time, it's nice to just...have my own space again.”
“You have an apartment here in the city?” I asked, even though that probably should have been obvious. I shook my head. “Of course you do.”
“You're welcome to stay over sometimes,” Ben said, winking over at me.
I laughed. “Wish I could say the same for you,” I said. “But I'm never really sure when Alex is planning to come home or not… We probably wouldn't want to spoon in a twin-sized bed anyway.”
“Probably not,” Ben said. “I'm not sure you would fit.”
I stuck my tongue out at him but then broke down into laughing. “So we could...get brunch again next weekend?” I asked tentatively.
“We could,” Ben agreed. “I'd like to see you sooner than that, though—if that's okay with you.”
“Yeah,” I breathed. “Yeah, that would be nice.” If I was being honest with myself, I didn't really want to part with him right now. The past four days had been so perfect, and somehow, it had never felt strained or awkward, even when we were just sitting there in silence.
“I could meet you for lunch one day,” he suggested. “Or you could come to dinner with me at my parents' place on Thursday.”
I blinked over at him, surprised by the suggestion. “Dinner at your parents' place. With your parents?”
Ben laughed a little, although he sounded a bit nervous—and he was tapping his fingers against the edge of the steering wheel, a clear sign of nervousness. “Yes,” he said. “With my parents.” He shook his head. “You don't have to. I know it's fast. But I just… Well, I'd like to show you the vineyards, and I think my parents would like you. Plus, you could speak French with my dad, and...”
“Isn't it...a little soon?” I asked uncertainly. “I mean, we've only known each other for a couple months now, right? And to be honest, a lot of that time, you've been pretty distant.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ben said. He frowned and then shrugged. “But to be honest, I haven't really felt this way about a girl before. I'm not really sure what I'm doing either, not any more than you are. And I'm not saying that this is a forever commitment or anything—I'm not asking you to marry me. Just, I'd like you to know them. They and the business are such a big part of my life...”
And I had to admit that put like that, it kind of made sense.
“All right,” I found myself saying. “All right. Thursday night. Should I dress...nice?”
“Yeah,” Ben said, grimacing a little. “I'll be wearing a suit, to give you some idea of what my mother expects at family dinners. No tie, but definitely slacks and a jacket and a button-down shirt.”
I hummed a little in response, trying to think through my wardrobe and see if there was anything I already owned that I could wear. I was probably better off buying something new, though—so I'd have to figure out sometime to do that over the course of the week as well.
“You don't have to come,” Ben said again as he parked the car. “But I promise you, it won't be as bad as whatever you're thinking. My parents are great; they're really easy to get along with, and they always keep the dinner conversation going. Granted, you're probably going to learn more than you ever wanted to know about the life cycle of a grape because my da just doesn't know when to give up, but...”
“That sounds nice,” I said quietly.
“Good,” Ben said, and his dopey grin was enough for me to feel like I'd made the right decision in agreeing. I leaned over to kiss him one last time before I got out of the car.