Loving the CEO (Whitley Brothers #7)

Chapter Nine

Leo

My brothers had done a fantastic job with the hotel. I was damn proud of them. They both had a lot going on with their other respective businesses, and yet they’d completed this on time and already had solid bookings starting next week.

A doorman opened the front door as we approached.

"Mr. Whitley, everyone else is already in the restaurant." He pointed to the other end of the hallway.

"Thank you." I intended to head straight there. but Tory was looking around in wonder, a small smile on her face.

"This space is beautiful, and the view outside is perfect!”

"They designed it as a nature getaway."

She rolled her shoulders, glancing at me. "Do they know details about why I'm here?"

"I told Nick, but I haven't shared it yet with the rest of the family. Don't worry, I'll keep them from being too nosy."

She laughed and playfully shoved her shoulder into my chest. "Oh, Leo, you could never keep your family in check. You’re good at bossing other people to do what you want, but usually that doesn’t work with your brothers."

I put a hand at the small of her back. "I'd like to contradict you, but it’s true. ”

She held her chin high. "It doesn't matter. I'm not ashamed of anything. It’s not my fault for having to cancel the wedding."

“Damn right."

She smiled again, but it felt a bit forced.

We headed straight to the restaurant. Everyone was gathered on one side of the room. A few seconds later, I realized they were at the buffet.

Gran noticed us first.

"Hello, dears," she exclaimed. “Tory girl, so good to see you again. Although, I wish it was under better circumstances."

Tory froze. I zeroed in on Nick.

"I notified the family that you were coming and... filled them in on some of the details," he explained sheepishly.

Tory just nodded at him.

"That was my fault,” I admitted. “I didn’t tell him to keep his big mouth shut.”

“How are you feeling? You can tell me everything, if you want to," Gran offered. “I’m a good listener.”

To my astonishment, Tory teared up. "I'd rather we talk about anything else."

"Fair enough." Gran turned to the family and said loudly, "You heard the girl. No intrusive questions!" Then she turned around and opened her arms. "May I give you a hug?"

"Of course!"

Gran wrapped her arms gently around Tory, but she hugged Gran back hard. Tory clearly needed it.

When Gran finally let her go, Granddad shook her hand. "It's nice to see you again, Tory.”

“You, too, Abe. I have to say, you both look wonderful."

"We're glad we're not dead," Gran said conversationally .

Tory gasped lightly and then started to laugh. Gran had done it on purpose, and I would be eternally grateful to her for lightening the situation, albeit in an unusual way.

"We have a lot of introductions to get out of the way," Maddox said, walking over with Cami.

“I already gave her the who’s who," I said.

Tory grimaced. "I completely forgot who is who. Can we do a big introduction round?"

"Sure!"

As I started to give her the rundown, I had a déjà vu moment. This happened every time my brothers first brought their better halves to meet the family. Everyone would introduce themselves one by one.

She's not your girlfriend, Leo. She's your friend who ran away from her own wedding. Get a grip.

"As I told you, Maddox has moved with Cami to Essex," I told her.

Cami smiled brilliantly.

"She put him through the ringer beforehand," I continued with a wink.

"How come?" Tory asked.

"He was a bit too full of himself when he tried to buy my property," Cami explained.

Tory laughed. "That does sound like Maddox. Actually, it sounds a lot like these three guys."

"What about us?" Gabe asked. "We can be pretty full of ourselves." He pointed at himself, then waved to the rest of his group, which contained Colton, Jake, Cade, Spencer, and their respective partners.

Tory's lips curled up in a smile. "I see the competitive streak is still going strong.”

“Very strong," Gabe informed her. “This is Diane.”

"Nice to meet you, Tory," Diane greeted with a smile .

“Leo told me you have a tour guide agency,” Tory said.

“Yes.” She completely lit up.

Tory had that effect on people. She always knew the right thing to say.

“I’ll book one any day now. It's been a while since I've been in Boston, and I'd love to do some touristy things that I didn't have money for when I was in college."

"I’ll give you my number so you can call me directly,” Diane told her. “You don't have to book online or anything."

“Thank you. That's so kind of you.”

Jake introduced Natalie next, and then came Colton and Zoey.

“This is Meredith,” I said once the others stepped to the side.

Tory narrowed her eyes. “Spencer’s girl?”

Cade bristled, coming closer to Meredith. “No, she's mine.”

Tory smiled.

"I'm with Penny and Ben," Spencer said.

Tory's eyes bulged as she zeroed in on my nephew. Then she turned to me. “You didn't tell me Spencer has a baby.”

“I was getting to that part.”

“Really, dude? You went through everyone and left me last?” Spencer teased.

“I felt like your story deserved more of an explanation.”

He laughed. “I'll say that.”

Ben's mom literally dropped him off to live with Spencer out of the blue. He hadn't even known she was pregnant. She didn't tell him because she thought the baby was someone else's. But my brother stepped up to the plate. Then he had the insane luck of Penny moving next door to him, and the rest was history.

"What's that I'm hearing?" Colton said. "You mentioned me and Zoey ahead of Spencer? I thought I was the least- favorite brother."

Everyone started to laugh, me included. Fuck, it was good to be able to laugh about something like this. If anyone would have told me years ago that all eight of us would attend events and not be at one another’s throats, I wouldn't have believed it. But now we were regularly getting together, celebrating one another’s successes, and lifting one another up when we had failures.

"It's not a favorites game," I countered. "I was just saving the best for last."

"Right...," Spencer said. "Why don't we all actually go get our food and start to eat? That's what we’re here for."

"Yes, we are," Gran said.

I focused on Tory. She looked thoroughly relaxed. I was glad I brought her here even though I’d have to face a million questions from the family.

Speaking of, as everyone went along with Tory to the buffet, Gran made a beeline straight to me.

“Darling, Nick tried to fill us in, but you’ll forgive your old gran if she needs some more details.”

"Sure, Gran, fire away."

“It's not because I'm nosy, you see. I just want to know the full story. How exactly did this happen? And what was your involvement?”

“Why do you think I was involved? What does everyone think I was doing? That I went to New Orleans to put my hand up when the officiant asked if anyone had something against the marriage? Then snatched her up and walked away with her over my shoulder?”

“You would have been a great scriptwriter. I would have loved something like that. So, what really happened?” Gran asked.

“She discovered some unfortunate news. Her bastard ex was cheating. She didn’t want to go through with the wedding. ”

Gran looked over her shoulder at Tory. “She's a fighter. Most people wouldn't have had the balls—sorry for being so graphic—to pull out of their wedding. They would have been too ashamed and just carried through. But Tory has always been strong.” She turned to me. “That's why you like her so much.”

"Gran...," I began.

“I know what you’ll say.”

“I doubt it.”

“You’ll tell me to not even think about matchmaking you and Tory.”

"Gran," I said carefully, "if I want Tory, I won’t need anyone matchmaking us."

She simply smiled as if I’d just told her that Christmas was tomorrow. “You did well bringing her here.”

“I think so too. Now, let’s hit the buffet.”

“Sure.”

Gran went straight to the rest of the group, but I looked around for Gabe and Maddox first. The two of them were already at a table. Judging by the looks of intense concentration on their faces, they were talking shop.

I walked up to them and said, "Well, I've been congratulating you ever since you bought the property, but this turned out really well. I'm proud of both of you."

"Thanks, Leo," Maddox said. "Now, on to more important things. Why the fuck didn't we know about Tory?"

I stared at them, then started to laugh. “Wait. That’s a serious question?”

“Yes. Nick blindsided us with this information. How come he knew and we didn’t?”

"He called me this morning to ask what time I’d be here. I explained why I returned from New Orleans earlier than planned. ”

Maddox flashed a shit-eating grin. “So, out of all the options you could have offered, you conveniently told Tory to move in with you, huh?”

Gabe chuckled.

"If I tell you to drop this, will you?" I asked.

"No chance in hell," Gabe informed me.

Cami walked up next to us. "What's happening?"

“These two are giving me a hard time,” I groused.

"About you and Tory?" she asked.

I stilled. "Wait. Why did you phrase it like that?"

She looked at Maddox. "Well, he might have clued me in that you've been friends. And I've got to tell you, you don't look at her the way a friend should."

Fuck my life. It was obvious to Cami? She didn't even know me very well.

This time, both Maddox and Gabe started laughing. I joined them, too, then leaned closer to Cami. "I might need some coaching on how to fake it, then."

"I think that's going to be a bit difficult," she said.

I turned to look at Tory. She was fucking gorgeous.

Cami was wrong. It wasn't difficult. It was fucking impossible.

A few seconds later, Tory joined us. Meredith was right on her heels, as was Natalie.

"I have an idea," Meredith said. "And you can say no, of course. No pressure. But what about having a girls' night? Get to know each other a bit better?"

Tory smiled brilliantly. "I would love that. If that's not too much trouble?"

"Of course not," Meredith said. "Just holler whenever you're ready. You probably have a million things to do with all the... "

I stared at Meredith, silently warning her not to bring up the wedding.

She pressed her lips together. "Well, with everything going on."

Tory nodded. "Thanks. I'll take you up on that."

"Perfect."

I smiled at the two of them. I’d actually intended to ask Meredith to get in touch with Tory, but this wasn't the first time I’d had the impression that she could read my thoughts.

As the day went by, all of the women in the group rallied around Tory, though not all at once. They didn't overwhelm her, and I was grateful for that.

I caught up with everyone as we enjoyed brunch, and then Maddox and Gabe gave us a tour of the hotel.

It was very late in the evening by the time we left Essex. Tory was silent on the drive back.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked.

She smiled. "My mom and I always dreamed about opening a B&B together."

Her words jogged a memory.

"I remember you talking about that in college, but I figured that since you're working in journalism now, you’d changed your mind about that."

"No, but we never really found the right property.” She hesitated before adding, "And over the years, our relationship deteriorated. Not even sure if I could do it with her anymore."

I looked at her sideways. "Just say the word and I can find you the best place for a B&B in Boston.”

She giggled. "You're something, you know that?"

"I mean it. Just keep it in mind."

"Why are you being so good to me?"

I took her hand, interlacing our fingers and squeezing them. "I care about you, Tory."

My mind was already racing. Would she want to open a place here? There were plenty of neighborhoods in Boston with historic homes that would make perfect B&Bs.

I was still lost in my thoughts when we got home. She yawned the second she took off her shoes.

"I'm going straight to bed," she announced.

"It’s late," I agreed as we walked up the stairs.

She was in front of me, and I once again tried keeping my eyes off her ass, which was becoming progressively more difficult.

"I hope you enjoyed today," I said when we reached the second floor.

We headed straight to her room. I followed her because I wasn't quite ready to say good night yet.

She turned to face me while standing in her doorway. "I loved it. Thanks a lot for taking me with you."

"Of course. Anytime.”

“I loved meeting all the ladies who have joined the family. And seeing you close with your half brothers as well.”

“I'm glad we're getting along. They’re all great guys," I admitted, putting a hand above her head on the doorframe.

"You all grew up to be very sexy men. No wonder everyone's taken. Well, except you and Nick. I'd forgotten how handsome he was." She was smiling wryly. She enjoyed teasing me. Did she know what the mention of my brother's name did to me?

"Did he flirt with you?" I asked abruptly.

"Why would you think that?" she asked.

"Because you're fucking gorgeous!”

She sucked in a breath .

Damn it. She'd only been living here for two days, and I already had trouble keeping a filter in place.

"I’ll warn him off," I went on.

"You don't need to do that, Leo. I just like to rile you up. You have an interesting reaction." She tilted her head, and I zeroed in on her lips. Catching myself, I made eye contact again. She widened her eyes.

Damn! I needed to leave, or else I was going to give myself away, and that wouldn't do. We had a good friendship—the kind couples only wished they had—and I didn’t want to mess that up.

She swallowed hard. "Really, I was just m-messing around," she stammered. "I'm not looking to date anyone."

Now that was music to my ears.

"Great."

"So even if someone would, like, hit on me..."

"I'd fight them off for you. Don't you worry."

Tory started to laugh. "I could actually see you doing that."

"Fuck yes, I would. I'd be very efficient at cockblocking any bastard trying to make a pass at you."

"You're my own personal bodyguard."

I nodded sternly. "That's right. I am."

She swallowed hard and hesitated before taking a step back. "Good night, Leo."

My brain screamed for me to find a reason to linger. To get her to invite me inside.

Fucking hell, what was I thinking?

"Good night, Tory." I took my hands from her doorway and shoved them in my pockets.

She smiled as she closed the door.

I didn't move right away. Instead, I listened intently, though for what, I had no idea .

I heard her exhale audibly, and then her steps moved through the room.

I stayed put until they faded away completely, then headed to my own bedroom.

I am definitely screwed.