Tori watched Guy struggle to remain calm for her sake and melted. She closed the gap between them and slid her arms around his waist, hugging his unyielding body. “Told you I suck at this. Why the hell do you keep putting up with all my bullshit?”
Guy relaxed. “Simple. You’re more than worth it and I love you.”
“I can’t promise I’ll change.”
“I don’t want you to change. You’re perfect, bullshit and all.” He let her see his face so she knew he was sincere. “You make me so happy. You, exactly as you are. I’m the luckiest man in the world to have you love me.”
She blushed. “Okay. I get it. Enough already.”
“Nope. It’ll never be enough no matter how often I tell you that. I suggest you figure out a way to deal with it because I promise you’ll be hearing it constantly. I’ll try not to call you every four minutes while you’re working but I’m not promising the same about the nights.”
“You’re going to call and wake me?”
“Often.”
“Oh.” She suddenly looked very sad.
“Teasing, Tori. Don’t get upset with me again so soon.”
“I’m not. It’s just…”
“Just what? Tell me why you seem so unhappy.”
“Well, I, um, oh, damn.” She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I just assumed we’d be together at night or some of them anyway. I guess I’m stupid but I was disappointed when you said you’d be calling me.”
Guy stared for a long minute. Then he grinned. “Holy Christ, tiger. Here I am, still trying not to rush you until you’re ready so I don’t scare you away and I end up hurting your feelings instead. Hell yes, I want to spend my nights with you. All of them. Starting tonight. Say the word and I will round up some guys and be moved in before dark tomorrow.”
It was Tori’s turn to stare. “You mean that. You’d give up your apartment and come live with me just like that.”
“Absolutely. I do have to warn you. I fully intend to marry you and I won’t quit asking until you say yes but I’ll be more than happy to live with you while I’m convincing you.”
“Oh my God.”
“Now what? I never made any secret of wanting you permanently. I know I mentioned forever plenty of times. To me, that means marriage. Perhaps I should have been more specific.” Guy clasped her hand and got down on one knee. “Victoria Banks, I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?”
“Oh my God,” she gasped.
“That’s not an answer. Want some help?” He kissed her palm. “First, there’s my favorite choice, yes. Then, there’s the totally unacceptable choice, which I’m only including because I like to be thorough and not because I’d ever accept it, no. Or there’s the third choice which is not the best but one I’m willing to live with, yes at some point in the future when you’re completely comfortable with the idea.”
“Oh my God.”
“I thought I explained that that is not an appropriate response to my question. I’ll ask it again, just in case you forgot what it was. Tori, love of my life, will you please marry me?”
Tori began to tremble and frowned.
“Don’t forget choice number three. Want to hear it again?”
“No.”
“No, you don’t want me to repeat it or no, you won’t marry me?”
“No, I remember all the choices.”
“Good. How about I throw in a fourth one? Here, possible response number four, you prefer not to answer at this time and would like to put the question on hold until you have the opportunity to evaluate the outcome.”
“That’s nice of you but no thank you,” Tori could barely speak.
“Okay, now I’m confused.”
“Maybe this’ll clear things up.” Tori got to her knees in front of him and captured his other hand. “Guy Breauchard, I love you in a way I didn’t believe existed before I met you. Yes, I will marry you.”
“Yes?” Guy was stunned.
“Yes.” Tori wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry or do both.
Guy crushed her to his chest. He brought them to their feet and spun her around again, laughing the whole time. When he finally put her down, he held her tightly.
“Hey,” Tori whispered when she felt Guy shaking. “You okay? Loosen up, Guy.”
When he did Guy smiled down at her, not attempting to hide the tears on his cheeks. “This is one of the occasions when I’m not embarrassed to shed a few tears.”
“Guy.” Tori joined him. They held each other for a minute until Tori began to giggle. When Guy gave her a questioning look, she explained. “Sorry. I was just thinking about that movie I said they should make about us. This would make a great sappy ending.”
“It is a perfect ending,” he corrected her and covered her mouth in a kiss that drew on for endless minutes. “Christ.” Guy forced himself to break away. “We keep that up and we’ll be having a repeat performance.”
“Oh right, make it up to me to tell you to go for it or stop. That is so not fair.”
“It sure as hell is. You’re the one who got all bent out of shape the first time. I’m not taking any chances so soon after you agreed to marry me.”
Tori laughed so hard Guy had to hold her up. “You’re so cute,” she hesitated. “I, um, guess we can’t stay here forever.”
“We could but we’d have to call for supplies. So what’s it going to be? Head straight to the truck and call to say goodnight or stick our noses in the door and tell them we’re taking off?”
“They’d let us get away with that? I kind of thought we’d have to stay a little if we went in.”
“We would but I was going to blame it on them.”
She returned his grin. “So cute. Let’s go in. I don’t want them to start off hating me.”
“No one would hate you. They’d just assume that I couldn’t wait any longer and was dragging you off for sex.”
“So not helping.”
Guy was so pleased with her decision to say hello to his family that he caught her for a thorough kiss. “Much better.”
“What?” She didn’t resist as he urged her to leave their nook.
“You were starting to look a little pale. Your cheeks are nice and pink now.”
“Again, not helping.” She waited while he turned off the lights. “Hey, Guy? Can I be selfish and ask that you don’t announce that we’re getting married the instant we’re in the door? Not that I don’t want them to know. I do but I also want a few minutes to share the most wonderful secret ever with the most wonderful man ever.”
Guy kissed her again. “I like that. Why don’t we keep it all to ourselves tonight? We can tell them tomorrow when they help me move or don’t you want to mention that either? I can always enlist some of the guys on the force instead.”
“No, that part’s okay. I can’t explain it, so don’t ask me to try.”
“I think I understand.” Guy stopped just before they reached the door. “You know,” he slid his hands to her buttocks and palmed her cheeks, “I never did get around to showing you how good my cock will feel buried in your sweet ass.”
“Don’t bother getting any ideas, Detective, ‘cause that ain’t happening tonight either.”
“Aw, Tori,” Guy pouted. “I thought you wanted to experience that.”
“I do.” She reached for the doorknob. “And I will. Just as soon as we get a big, fat dildo that’s the same size as you are and I finish fucking your ass with it, mine will be ready and waiting.”
Without looking at him, Tori pulled open the door and stepped into the kitchen. She relaxed when she found Todd right inside. He had been sitting there all evening to prevent anyone from sneaking out to the garage.
“Your Dad’s guarding the front door,” Todd whispered as he hugged her. He glanced over her shoulder at Guy and froze. “This sure isn’t what I expected. Somehow, I pictured you to be the one looking flustered and Guy to have the big grin. Everything okay?”
“Yeah
, we’re good.” Tori snuggled against Guy’s side and wrapped her arms around his waist. “He was getting a little overconfident and I just took care of that.”
“Any more effective and I’d be curled up on the floor, cowering behind my mommy.”
Todd didn’t bother to hide his amusement as Terese joined them. “You managed to repair the damage I caused?”
“Yes.” Guy grinned as more of his family drifted to the kitchen. “I owe you a great big thanks for this one, Terese.”
“Not at all. I’ll never be able to repay Tori for what she did for us.” Terese sniffled.
Guy felt Tori shiver. “I don’t mean to be rude but could we please save this one for later? Like after I get to talk to Tori about it? We haven’t spent any real time together since before that night and I’m still feeling a little raw about the whole thing.”
“We understand, son.” His father glanced around the room, letting everyone know the subject was closed. “I assume, judging by the look on your face, that Tori will be coming back and there will be plenty of other opportunities to discuss this with her.”
“You assume correctly. In fact, I should tell you that I will be spending much of my time at Tori’s if you need to reach me. Apparently her house felt empty without me in it.”
Mark, Guy’s childhood friend who helped trick his sister, Brigit, into believing in trolls and who married her years later, spoke up. “May as well just move in if you’re going to be spending all that time there anyway.”
For a few seconds, no one moved. Tori broke the awkward silence by grinning. “He has a good point, Guy. Why don’t you move in? I mean, what’s the sense in paying for an apartment that I’m going to try not to let you stay in anyway?”
“Well, son of a bitch!” Todd exclaimed.
“You’re right. That doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Guy agreed. “So, Mark, since you brought it up, can I count on you to help me move tomorrow?”
In no time, they had a solid plan for the next day. At some point, Guy had lifted Tori to sit on the counter. He stood next to her, frequently stealing her attention with a kiss.
Guy’s sister, Sondra, had been staring at Tori with a slight frown the whole time. “Mom, do you still have that entertainment magazine I gave you a few weeks ago?”
“It’s on the bottom shelf of the coffee table,” she replied. “With the holidays, I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Why?”
Sondra went to find it without answering. She was flipping through it when she came back. “I thought you looked familiar,” she stated, joining Guy and Tori at the counter. “I couldn’t place your name right away but I knew I knew it from somewhere.” She held the open magazine so Tori could see it.
When Tori gasped, Guy snatched the magazine to see what had startled her. There was a photo of the outside of a shop with four people in front of it. Beneath it, after the list which identified those in it, the blurb read, “Missing from photo, daughter, Tori Banks.”
“That’s you, right?” Sondra questioned. “I can see the resemblance even though your sister is a lot older than you are.”
Tori continued to stare as she shook her head. “She’s not. Only two years.”
“Oh.” Sondra seemed embarrassed. “I’m sorry. Me and my big mouth. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Wait. It’s okay.” Tori reached out for her hand. “It’s not you. I never… I mean…this… I haven’t…” Tori gave up and buried her face against Guy’s shoulder.
“Sh,” he crooned softly. “Take a deep breath. I won’t let go.” He handed the magazine to Todd who showed his surprise with a whistle.
“What?” Sondra demanded as the rest waited for an explanation. “Is something wrong?”
“No, Sondra.” Guy cuddled Tori as he tipped her chin. “I love you, Tori,” he declared, not caring that they all heard him. “The people in this room are my family. They’re part of me. I promise you’re safe with each and every one of them. You can tell them anything. Okay? Trust me?”
She nodded and forced herself to meet Sondra’s concerned gaze. “Yes, that’s my family. And their salon. I haven’t seen any of them for six years, since my parents disowned me right after I graduated from high school. I was too much of a disaster to work with the clients so they decided I should take classes and learn how to handle the accounting part of the business. I didn’t want to and they thought they could make me do it anyway by giving me the choice of following orders or leaving for good, right then, taking whatever I could carry and knowing they would never let me come back.”
“You left?” Sondra looked horrified.
Tori nodded. “I got on the bus that was going the farthest and got off here.”
“You never called them?”
“No. They said I wouldn’t exist if I left.”
“But they didn’t mean it, not really.”
“Oh yes, they did.” She looked around the room. “Guy’s told me about all of you and what it was like growing up in this family. I believe him but I can’t really understand it because my family was completely different in all ways. I don’t know what that article says but my parents’ salon is very exclusive. They’ve been on top for years, much longer than the average in their world. They’ve stayed there because they worked very hard to. That place and the prestige that comes with it was the most important thing in their lives. It was their life. My brother and sister always felt the same but I never fitted in. Not at the salon or at home or with any of them. You are all part of a family and everything that stands for. I was a stranger living with a group of people who happened to share the same blood.”
“You don’t have to tell us this,” Sondra tried to interrupt because of how upset Tori was.
“Yes, I do. I need to so you don’t hate me when I hide from you. Before Guy, I never let anyone get at all close to me. I figured if I kept my distance no one would know me well enough to hurt me. If I pushed everyone away and didn’t let them in, it wouldn’t matter when they didn’t stay because I expected to be alone anyway. You heard Guy tell me I was safe with you and ask me to trust him. He did that because I don’t believe I’m ever safe with people and I don’t know how to let myself trust anyone.”
“Except Guy,” Sondra whispered.
“Yeah,” Tori agreed, turning briefly to cup Guy’s cheek. “Except Guy. He’s making me realize that not everyone is like the people I knew growing up. This group thing is all new to me and I’m sure I’ll screw up lots before I get the hang of it.” She glanced around again, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You probably doubted my sanity already because of the nightmares and now I’m telling you I’m an emotionally insecure wreck who, in all probability, will zone out and act like a total nutcase just because you’re being friendly to me. You’re probably wishing Terese hadn’t brought me here and that I would stay far away from Guy. But I’m not a bad person. I’m not easy to get to know and I get defensive when I get scared. I know I’ll offend all of you eventually if you even let me come back again and I’m very sorry that I don’t know how not to because I love Guy so much and I wish I could learn to fit in because that would make him happy. I have no right to ask for your help but I do want Guy to be happy and he won’t be if he has to keep us separate so, for him, do you think you could try to put up with me at least a little and ignore some of the stupid stuff I do?”
Guy’s sisters were all crying. Their husbands were holding on to some part of them. Guy’s parents were watching all of them. Guy hadn’t moved or spoken. He was depending on his family to prove the truth of his words. Todd was the only one there smiling.
In the end, it was Guy’s father who approached Tori first. “Last week, Guy and I were talking and he told me a little about you. He asked if I thought he was hurting you by continuing to see you. He was afraid his persistence would make you withdraw further into yourself instead of drawing you out as intended. He loved you enough that he was willing to let you go if that’s what was best for you.
&nb
sp; “Earlier, you heard me say that you were worth fighting for because you loved him enough to walk away so he wasn’t forced to choose between you and his family. That kind of love, the one you both feel for each other, is the thing truly strong, close families are based on.
“My wife and are have been extremely fortunate that our sons-in-law are good men who share our values and are willing to build solid relationships with our daughters. I’m proud to include the four of them in our family.
“Lately, I became concerned for Guy. He’s been looking for someone to share his life with that he could add to our family as his sisters did with their spouses. My son has waited a long time for you, Tori. From what little I know of you so far, I can already tell you were worth the wait. You are a very special lady and I’m thrilled to welcome you to the family. You are courageous and decent. You have a good, kind heart that should be shared. I suspect you don’t think much of yourself at the moment but I sure do and obviously my son and son-in-law do too. You say you don’t know how to fit in and might offend us. I say good for you. We need a little stirring up now and then and I’m looking forward to it. Hell, you already started, inviting Guy to move in with you in front of all of us and then telling us about your past. You’ve got spunk. I bet you’re full of surprises that will keep my boy hopping.”
He shooed Guy out of his way so he could embrace her. “We’re the ones who should be warning you, what with the chaos this bunch creates sometimes. You stick up for yourself and you’ll feel like one of the group in no time.”
“Thank you.” Tori sniffled. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, tiger.” Guy reclaimed her. After stopping kissing her, he looked around the room. “Uh-oh.”
Linked Page 34
