Loving the CEO (Whitley Brothers #7)

Epilogue

One Year Later

Tory

"Can I open my eyes now?" I asked excitedly.

I'd been wanting to cheat ever since Leo helped me get out of the car, but every time I even attempted to open my eyes, he chastised me.

"Yes, you can."

Finally.

I blinked my eyes open.

"Oh, Leo... oh my goodness." He'd woken me up this morning to tell me that he’d found a perfect location for a B&B. He wasn’t kidding. "I think I'm in love."

He chuckled, putting an arm around my shoulders. "Wait until you see the inside. The neighborhood is up-and-coming, and I think you’ll like the price. But it's still close enough to all the major attractions in the city, so it should be a hit with tourists."

It was a historic home, exactly the kind I’d envisioned for a B&B. With three stories, it was rather narrow, but that was quite all right. In my mind, I was already calling it cozy, quaint. In a flash, I imagined how it would look with Christmas and Halloween decorations, and I knew without even seeing the inside that this was it. It was a Colonial-Revival style with a cream-colored facade. There was some sort of turret on the roof with a generous window. That could be a reading nook .

"I can't believe this is on the market," I whispered.

Leo and I had discussed extensively how things would work when I eventually opened the B&B. I wouldn’t sleep here at night but rather commute early in the morning so I could prepare for the day. I would make sure to have an employee on the premises overnight, though.

"I've hunted this one for a while," Leo said.

"Meaning?"

He grinned at me. "I knew the owners wanted to sell. They're friends of friends of friends, and I bided my time."

I immediately opened the door. The inside was just as quaint as the outside.

"No major renovations needed," he said as we walked through the ground floor. The floors were squeaky, but I didn't mind.

The kitchen area was separate from the huge living room, and upstairs there were two bedrooms on one level and three on the very last one. Five bedrooms was more than enough.

"I found something—a spot you might like," he said.

The turret I'd seen from the outside was actually on the corridor. He took my hand, leading me to the window, and said, "You know what this would be great for?"

"What?" I asked.

"Another telescope."

I grinned. "I’ll bring it here—"

"No, just another one."

Oh, this sexy man. He kept spoiling me all the time.

He turned to the window and pointed at the sky. "Venus should be visible right there later on, right?"

"Hey, you’re starting to learn things from me."

He grinned. "Of course, babe. I'm slow in some regards, but I always catch up. "

He kissed the side of my head, wrapping his arms around my shoulders from behind. Resting the tip of his nose in my hair, he inhaled deeply. I felt so safe and loved in his arms.

"Mom is going to be ecstatic about this."

Leo laughed softly. "I can't believe she warmed up to me."

"I think she feared that you’d be a ladies’ man forever and..."

She'd been to Boston a few times, and when she saw how Leo spoiled me, she mellowed. She also understood that I was building my life here and respected that I wanted to run my business on my own.

Mom was shocked when Walter's parents officially disowned him. Debbie had called me two months ago with the news, bursting about how they'd gone to great lengths to make it official. Took them long enough. I wasn't even the least bit sorry for that idiot. He deserved it.

I sighed, looking around. "I love this place. It's got such a great energy. I can see myself working here all day long."

"Babe, tell me you're not planning on doing everything by yourself."

"I will neither confirm nor deny that. We'll see how things go."

He growled in my ear. "We've talked about this."

"No, we haven’t. You simply said I need a team from the beginning, and I didn't reply at all."

Leo laughed, letting go of my shoulders and walking in front of me. "What a dirty negotiation tactic."

"I know," I said proudly, pointing at him. "I learned from the master. What's the price?" That would be the deal-breaker. But I was pleasantly surprised when he told me. "That’s within my budget. I calculated everything quite a few times."

"I know. That's why I showed it to you. Although...," he began.

"Don't say it."

"We could be partners."

I shook my head. "I love you, Leo, and I know you're offering because you also love me, but I want to do this on my own."

He kissed one corner of my mouth. "And I accept that. It would be hypocritical of me not to."

"How fast...?"

"Can it be yours?" He finished for me.

"Exactly."

I was too excited to fully form sentences, but my man could already finish them for me. That's how well he knew me.

"I think we can close in less than two weeks."

I jumped up and down with joy. Leo stepped back, giving me a wide berth. I grinned at him, clapping my hands.

"This is the best thing ever." I looked around wistfully. "I’d like to stay longer, but we should get going, right?"

"Yep. The celebration will be starting soon."

We were all gathering at Jeannie and Abe's house. We were celebrating Abe's birthday, and this was the first big family event that Jake and Natalie’s little munchkin was also attending. We'd taken turns visiting her parents after she was born, and now she was finally joining us too.

"You’re thinking about Halsey, aren't you?" he asked.

"I've missed her a bit. And I bought her some gifts."

Leo laughed. "Again? We were given specific instructions not to buy more toys."

"Yeah, about that. I don't plan to follow them. But let’s hurry."

"We can always come back later."

I didn't miss the twinkle in his eye.

"You've got dirty thoughts about this place, don't you?" I teased.

"So fucking dirty," he said .

A shiver went through me. I rose on my tiptoes, bringing my mouth to his ear. "That's fine because I've had some myself." Then I walked right past him.

I heard him growl when I was at the foot of the staircase. I looked over my shoulder. Even from this distance, I noticed that his eyes had gotten darker.

"Come on, sexy man. We don't want to be late."

But we were anyway.

As we walked up to the house, we noticed Nick parking as well. He opened his window and called, "Wait for me." Then he climbed out and grabbed something from the back seat

We stayed on the steps of the porch, and I burst out laughing when Nick headed our way. He was carrying a huge-ass box. By the pink colors on it, I knew it was a gift for Halsey.

"No one's going to pay attention to the no-gifts rule?" Leo asked as Nick approached.

Nick glanced at the small bag I was holding and grinned at me. "I don’t know about the rest, but I've never followed the rules, so I don't plan to start now."

"Yeah," I said, looking at Leo, "since when are we following the rules?"

He held his hands up. "Whatever. I’ll make sure Jake knows I had no part in this."

We didn't bother ringing the bell because Jeannie had told us they were leaving the door open, so we simply walked inside. There was a lot of commotion coming from the living room.

We all had our gifts for Abe delivered here directly at Jeannie's request. It was madness in the living room. Natalie was sitting down next to Jake. Spencer was holding little Halsey while his son was running around the room .

"Perfect. You three are here too," Abe said. "Welcome."

"Happy birthday!" I kissed his cheek and then glanced down at the gifts. "Sorry. This is for Halsey."

Abe grinned. He looked a lot like Leo when he did that. "She's upstaging me today, and I absolutely approve of it."

"Granddad, when are you ever going to start enjoying birthdays?" Leo asked.

"I haven’t so far, so I think that ship has sailed."

Jake laughed, looking at Nick, and then his eyes fell on the bag I was holding. Leo opened his mouth, but Jake waved his hand.

"Don't worry. Literally no one listened."

"Oh, but we've only got two great-grandkids to spoil," Jeannie said. "You can't expect self-restraint from us."

"That's fair," Jake said.

"Hell yeah. Now that I have a green light, I plan to buy even more stuff," I exclaimed.

I went straight to Natalie, sitting down next to her. "How are you feeling?"

"You're so adorable," Natalie said. "You don't have to check on me every day, but I feel great."

I shrugged. "I just want to make things as easy as possible for you."

After she'd given birth, we’d all rallied around them, bringing food and stuff. Of course, the Whitleys could afford to pay someone to cook, and Jake had done just that, but we also wanted to spoil them in those early days.

"When should we bring stuff from the kitchen?" Nick asked.

Jeannie stood proudly. "No need. The catering team is already in there."

Nick whistled. "Well, well, I never thought you'd announce that with a smile. "

"I like to adapt to the times. Besides, there's a huge benefit to someone else doing all the cooking. I can focus on the guests."

Everyone was sitting around the living room. I kept eyeing Spencer for signs that he planned to let go of Halsey, but he was still under her spell.

Abe cleared his throat. "I'd like to thank all of you for coming today. This isn't exactly a speech, but I wanted to say a few words. I'm very grateful to be surrounded by all of you. Nothing in this world matters to me and Jeannie more than our family. I'm proud of all of you, of how far you've come, of the great relationships you have with one another, and for finding a better half. I knew that eventually everyone would."

"Hey, I'm still the last man standing," Nick said.

"For now," Jeanie whispered, smiling at him.

I quickly looked around the room. Every single person was fighting laughter. Well, except Nick. His poker face was so obvious that I knew he was working hard to school his features.

"And even though I don't particularly love celebrating,” Abe continued, “I do like that it gives us an occasion to come around together. I thank you all. I love being in this room gathered with everyone. Now, let's dig in," he finished as the catering team brought in huge platters.

"Yes, let's," Nick said.

"Oh, not so fast, young man," Jeannie said, walking straight to him. "I’ve been meaning to tell you that a friend of mine, Christine, introduced me to her granddaughter."

"Oh, for God's sake," Leo whispered. "Gran will never give it a rest."

"This is so fun."

Nick clearly overheard me because he gave me the side-eye.

As the catering team came in with more food, everyone moved around to sit at the table .

Nick cleared his throat loudly. "Gran, I respect you and I adore you, but this is where I need to draw the line. I'm not meeting the granddaughter of this friend of yours. I know you have other ideas, but I don't intend to settle down. I want that to be clear, once and for all."

This time, no one was able to hold back their laughter. It resounded throughout the room.

Nick looked around, bewildered. His eyes fell on Maddox and Leo. They were laughing the hardest.

"Yeah, I should have seen this coming a mile away," he said. "Walked into it all by myself. But I’m serious."

Leo clapped his shoulder. "Brother, we know you are, but that doesn't mean it'll work out that way. Not at all."