Loving the CEO (Whitley Brothers #7)

Chapter Twenty

Tory

On Friday evening, Meredith and Natalie arrived at seven. They were each carrying a box.

"Hey, you didn't have to bring anything," I said as I welcomed them inside. "I’ve got food and drinks covered.”

"These are housewarming gifts."

My jaw went slack. "What? Oh my God. I hope I didn’t imply—”

"Not at all. You didn't think we would show up empty-handed, right?"

"I'm happy you're here at all," I confessed. The gifts were in Amazon boxes. I was dying to know what they were. “Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable. Do you mind if I peek inside?”

"Of course not," Natalie said.

I looked inside the bigger box and gasped. It was a coffee maker.

"I've had this on my wish list!” I exclaimed.

Natalie smiled as she and Meredith exchanged a quick glance. "Happy I bought something you like. Besides, Leo said you're a coffee lover."

"Oh, I am. And he's brought me coffee every day this week," I started, then stopped because Meredith and Natalie were looking at each other again in a rather knowing way. "Anyway, I'm glad to have my own coffee machine now. "

The second box contained another item from my wish list—the waffle maker.

"Thanks so much. I’ve wanted one of these forever. Do you two want anything to drink?" I asked them just as the doorbell rang again.

"That will be the rest of the girls. They came in one car," Natalie said.

When I opened the door, Penny, Zoey, Diane, and Cami were standing in a group, all carrying boxes.

Oh, these girls! I never in a million years thought they'd come with gifts.

"Hi, everyone. Welcome. I was just about to make drinks.”

"We're all ready for that," Penny exclaimed. "Where can we put the gifts?"

"Here on the counter. Do you mind if I open them?”

"Of course not. I always say gifts should be opened right away instead of waiting until all the guests leave," Zoey said.

I smiled. "I quite agree."

Since all the girls were here, it became a bit obvious that my place was too tiny to have such a big party. But at least they could all sit down.

As I opened the rest of the gifts, my niggling suspicion turned out to be true. I’d gotten a flowerpot with an integrated water system, some TheraBands so I could do my Pilates, a set of towels, and another set of mugs—all of which were on my Amazon wish list.

The girls were looking at me eagerly.

I narrowed my eyes. "Did you somehow get wind of my Amazon wish list?" I asked them.

"How did you know what to buy?" Meredith asked, looking at Penny and Natalie.

"From the links Leo sent," Natalie replied.

My heart somersaulted .

Meredith groaned. "But Leo specifically said we should buy items similar to those so it wasn’t too obvious."

I was truly melting. I couldn't believe he'd done that. The reason those items were still on my wish list was because I didn't want to break the bank all at once.

Had he picked up on that? Probably. I hadn’t kept my financial worries a secret. Moving was definitely not cheap.

"You bought her the exact machine from the link," Natalie pointed out.

Meredith sighed, running her hand through her hair. "True, but only because it’s the best one.”

"Thanks so much, girls. I'm not even sure what to say." Oh my God, I was getting teary-eyed. No way. I looked at the counter for a few seconds, inspecting my fingers while widening my eyes, hoping the tears would somehow get reabsorbed before looking up at them. "I love all the gifts. I just wasn't expecting them."

Meredith winked. "That's the point of it."

"All right. So, drinks!"

"I'm going through a mojito phase,” Meredith said.

“I’ll have one too,” Natalie added.

Before long, all the girls decided we were going to drink the same thing.

Even though I wasn't big on making cocktails, a mojito was super easy to make. Thank God I had enough ice.

"This tastes good," I said after my first sip, sitting cross-legged on the floor since all the chairs were taken.

"So,” Cami said, “how come you decided to move out of Leo's house?"

I ran a hand through my hair, taking another sip. "It was time, you know? It was an interim solution anyway. I wasn't even sure that I wanted to stay in Boston. But after I went to New Orleans to break the lease on the house, I realized that starting over in a new city was exactly what I needed."

"One of these days, we can help you get revenge on your ex," Zoey added. "Just say the word and we'll make it happen. If I tell Colton we need someone to scare the shit out of the guy, he'll find someone to do the job."

I started to laugh, as did the rest of the girls. But I wasn't entirely sure Zoey was joking. Colton did seem like a take-charge kind of guy. But then again, all the Whitleys were.

"So," Penny said, "since it's just between us girls here, tell us. Do you want us to set you up with some guys to go on blind dates?"

I nearly spit out my drink.

Zoey nudged her. "Penny, you can't be that direct. I told you, we need to be stealthier."

"Sorry, I don't know a stealthy way to say that," Penny replied.

"It's not necessary." I shook my head, and the room spun a bit.

Huh. I shouldn't have drunk the first few sips so fast.

"So, you’re not looking to date yet?" Natalie asked with interest.

"I'm just doing things in my own time."

I wished Leo and I had spoken about what to tell the family. I felt bad outright lying. Maybe I could just maneuver my way out of this conversation.

"Are you hoping you'll get back together with your ex?" That came from Meredith. She'd already drunk half of her mojito, yet she seemed far more alert than me.

"Hell no. If I never see him again, I'm not going to be sorry about it. No, this isn't about wanting to get back with him. I just... You know, I've always dreamed about getting married, even as a little girl. I wanted to have three kids and a dog, yada, yada.” My hands flew about as I explained. “And now I'm having a bit of trouble accepting that it might never happen."

"Don't say that," Natalie whispered. "Look, we've all been through our share of heartbreak. If I'm honest, before we met the Whitley guys, we... well, I , at least, really didn't think happy relationships could exist. But the Whitley men are in a league of their own, aren't they?"

That was a very bizarre thing to ask me.

Meredith groaned. "Very sneaky, Natalie."

Natalie looked down at her glass. "Well, shit. That was anything but stealthy, wasn't it?"

"What’s going on?" I asked.

The girls went completely silent. I looked at each one, trying to gauge what they were all about. Was I overthinking this, or had she meant I’d have the same experience with Leo as they had with his brothers?

"You should have paced yourself, because you sort of blurted it out," Diane chastised.

"I could hear myself saying it, but I couldn't stop." Natalie pouted. "We ruined our strategy."

"Strategy for what?" I pushed.

Diane gave me a sheepish smile. "In our defense, this wasn't our idea. But when Jeannie caught wind that we were meeting with you, she sort of gave us a mission."

I started to laugh because it did sound like Jeannie Whitley.

"Yeah, we might as well fess up," Meredith said. "Did Leo tell you that his grandmother considers herself a great matchmaker?"

"He did. And as far as I can tell, she is, huh?" I said.

Cami nodded. "The woman has skills, I have to say, and also very good instincts. "

Meredith zeroed in on me. I felt as if she could see through my deepest secrets. “And her instinct tells her that you and Leo could be happy together."

Oh no, no, no . I didn't need that image in my mind. Yes, Leo and I were very happy right now, but the kind of happiness Meredith was talking about was different. It spoke of deep love and growing old together. I could never bring myself to think about that again. Especially not with Leo. I knew how he felt about that.

I wasn't sure how to tell the group without sounding rude, though. I decided for honesty, or at least the best I could lay it out.

"Look, I've known Leo for a long time. He and I have different ideas about what we would want in a potential partner. And I don't think that’s changed.”

“Hmm...,” Meredith said. “We’ll tell Jeannie to shift her focus. She keeps threatening Leo and Nick to introduce them to some of her friends’ daughters or granddaughters. I’ll tell her to do that.”

Then she said, “Actually, next time we have some sort of group event, I’ll tell her to invite Monica.”

Natalie added, “She could be a match for Leo.”

Zoey nodded. “I think so too.”

I felt all my blood pool to my feet. I was a little bit lightheaded. I wanted to stop them right here, right now.

I want Leo!

But I couldn't have him, could I?

Meredith took out her phone and said, "Look, I even have a picture of Monica."

To my dismay, she got up from her chair and came down to sit next to me on the floor. She held the phone so I could see it, and there was a gorgeous bombshell brunette on the screen. She looked like an A-list Hollywood actress .

"She's beautiful," I said. “Who is she?”

“Oh, she’s the granddaughter of one of Jeannie’s friends. Think Leo would like her too?"

"He won’t like being blindsided," I said, keeping my voice as even as possible.

Meredith lowered her phone. The look on her face was unmistakably one of triumph. "I thought you might say that," she whispered so only I could hear.

Huh? What was that about?

But Meredith didn’t elaborate. She simply returned to her seat.

"Leo said you'd like to know some people in the city, and we also know you're big on coffee. Would you like to join me at the bean tasting next month?" Diane asked.

"I'd love that!" I exclaimed.

God, I liked these girls so much.

"I’d love a second mojito!" Penny giggled.

"Right away."

I took the empty glass from her, and while I was mixing another cocktail, everyone started suggesting all sorts of activities we could do together.

"You don't need to babysit me or anything,” I said. “Although, I'm super thankful for everything."

"Don't be silly," Meredith said. "A friend of Leo’s is a friend of ours. And you’re pretty special to him, so we're going to take care of you."

She came over and gave me a drunken half hug that I completely returned.

** *

They stayed until well past midnight. The result the next day was that I woke up around noon. Honestly, I wasn't even sure how I was awake, as I felt like I could sleep for another half day. Then I realized it was because my phone was ringing.

I grabbed it from the nightstand and blinked at the screen. It was Leo. A bolt of energy coursed through me. I immediately sat upright and swayed a bit, then propped myself against the headboard and answered.

"Hi!" My voice was hoarse.

"Good morning," he said. "Or I should say good afternoon. I heard you had fun last night."

"Oh my God, we need to talk."

"That sounds ominous."

"No, it's not. I made mojitos, and I turned out to be a bit too good at it."

"Are you sick? Want me to come over?"

Butterflies roamed around in my belly. There was no use pretending I wasn't feeling them.

"No, I'm fine. I think I just need to drink some water, and I'll be good in a few hours."

"Fantastic. I gave you a night with the girls, but I want you all for me tonight."

Oh, yep, those butterflies were there again.

"Gave me a night with the girls," I teased because how could I not? "And how do you know I don't have other plans tonight?"

"You do?" He sounded caught off guard.

"No. Although, I will say that between all the Whitley women, I think my calendar's booked for, like, half a year."

"Well, tonight you're mine."

"It depends for what. "

"Let's just say that you’re going to be very happy with me."

"I am anyway," I said before I could stop myself.

"Really?" he asked, as if it surprised the hell out of him.

"Why would you doubt it?"

There was a pause, and then he said, "Can you be ready at seven?"

Way to change the subject. But I decided to let him off the hook.

"Yes, sir," I said.