A Hero Inside
Page 5
Five days. He’d be home in five days, three hours, and eighteen minutes. Not that she was counting. After the most perfect Thanksgiving weekend in the history of ever, Ethan had headed back to New York. Although they’d talked every day of the last three weeks, they’d both carefully avoided the subject of what happened next.
She knew he’d be home for Christmas, but after that, well, her heart hurt every time she thought he might head back to New York and it would be months before she saw him again. Or worse, what if he didn’t want to keep things going after Christmas? What if…
Nope, she wasn’t going to do it. She wasn’t going to “what if” herself to death. They would talk and go from there. Right now, she just wanted to hold on to the joy of seeing him again … in five days, three hours, and fifteen minutes.
The bell over the door jingled, and she looked up from the booth where she was filling salt shakers. A big grin lit her face when she saw her best friend.
“Becca! I was just getting ready to head over to the boutique. You didn’t close early, did you?”
“Nope, we’ll head to the boutique, but I have a surprise for you first. Aren’t you off yet?” Becca sidled up to the bar and grabbed a handful of peanuts out of the bowl, popping them into her mouth.
“I have ten minutes left.”
Becca rolled her eyes dramatically. “Seriously? Q is such a slave-driver.”
Tori had to bite back a laugh. Becca hadn’t seen that Q had come out of the kitchen and stood directly behind her. For a moment, his dark eyes lit with mirth, but then he replaced his smile with a look that would send the toughest person running for cover.
“Slave-driver, huh?” he said with a deep voice.
Becca whirled around so fast that she stumbled. She would have fallen had Q not reached out and grabbed her by the arms. The two stood for a moment staring at each other, their faces only inches apart. When the bell over the door jingled, Tori looked up to see Michael Grayson entering the bar.
“Hi, Detective.” She pulled her eyes away from the sexual tension that sizzled between Becca and Q to greet the detective. “Can I get you something?”
Gray nodded a greeting at Tori, and then quirked a brow. “I’m more interested at what’s going on over here.” He walked over to where Q stood, and they both looked Becca up and down.
Tori crossed her arms to watch. She didn’t see Becca blush very often, but she’d bet her friend was blushing down to her toes right now.
“Gray, can you believe this little one called me a slave-driver?” Q said. He still held Becca’s arms, which was probably a good thing since Tori thought her friend looked like she’d either run or collapse from embarrassment.
“A slave-driver?” Gray responded in that same deep tone. “Well, that could be considered slander, little lady.”
“B-but, I didn’t mean … I, uh—” Becca stammered.
Both men watched her, not trying to hide their amusement.
“Q, do you want to press charges?” Gray asked, cutting Becca off. “I could get this little one into a pair of handcuffs.”
Dang. Tori really wished she had popcorn. She’d give anything if she could have recorded the look on Becca’s face.
“H-handcuffs?” her friend choked out.
Both men’s eyes had gone hooded as they looked at Becca.
“That does sound tempting.” Q whispered the silky threat, and for a moment Tori was worried that Becca had stopped breathing.
When the bell above the door jingled again, laughter signaled the arrival of a group of women.
Q dropped his hands, and Becca immediately backed away from the men. She stared between Q and Gray, and Tori thought for once, Becca might be completely speechless.
“Tori, why don’t you go ahead and take off?” Q said without looking away from Becca.
“Are you sure? I can get this table.”
“No, I got it. You go ahead with Becca.” At that, Q turned away, and Gray sat at the bar, turning away from Becca, who stared after them both.
After Tori collected her coat, the women headed out. Becca still hadn’t spoken a word. Halfway to the boutique, Tori finally asked, “So what the hell was that, exactly?”
“What? I don’t know what you mean.” Becca didn’t meet her eyes.
Tori stopped walking and turned to look at her friend. “You know exactly what I mean. “What’s going on with you, Q, and Gray?”
“Nothing.” Rebecca squared her shoulders and gave Tori a look that said “end of discussion”.
She sighed. She’d drop it for now, but that was definitely a topic they were revisiting.
“So, what is this surprise you were talking about?” she asked.
Becca’s face lit up. Hooking her arm through Tori’s, she said, “Follow me.” They headed in the direction of Becca’s Boutique, but stopped two doors down. “Did you see that someone’s moving into the old café?”
Café Blanco had closed last summer, and the building had sat empty for months, but Becca was right. There was definitely something going on inside. She saw boxes and tables, and lights over the bar area.
“Do you know what’s moving in here?” she asked.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Becca opened the door, and walked in, holding it for Tori.
“Bec, you can’t just walk in. They’re obviously not open yet.” But Becca ignored her, reaching out to grab her hand and pull her inside.
“Don’t worry about it. I hear the owner is pretty cool.”
“So you know who the owner is?”
Becca didn’t answer, but her look told Tori that she knew something she wasn’t sharing. When Becca’s eyes shifted to something over Tori’s shoulder, she turned around to see the focus of her friend’s attention.
Ethan stood in front of her by the bar. He wore a gray suit and dark gray tie. He looked like a dream that had materialized right in front of her. Tori’s heart flipped at the sight of him. “Ethan,” she whispered in disbelief. Then the reality hit her. He was here!
“Ethan!” she screamed.
Running forward, she launched herself at him, and he caught her, laughing as he twirled her around.
“You’re here! You’re really here!” Tori spoke sporadically as she peppered his face with kisses. “I thought you weren’t coming until next week.”
“I wanted to surprise you, darlin’.” He sat her on her feet, and cupped her face with both hands. “Surprise!”
He lowered his head to brush his lips over hers, and her body immediately heated up. How could he do that with just one touch, one kiss? His eyes grew darker as he leaned in to capture her lips. Tori’s arms went around his neck as their tongues tangled. When he let her go, she was dizzy with intoxication. Drunk on Ethan. She almost giggled at the thought. But wait a second.
“Hold on. What are you doing here? At the old café, I mean? Do you know the new owner?”
His lips curled into a grin. “I do, actually. And so do you.”
“I do?”
Ethan walked behind the bar area and flipped a switch, lighting up a sign behind the bar. Tori’s mouth dropped open. “Price.” It was a sign for Ethan’s restaurant. That was the logo. Tori had seen pictures. But now, it was a big neon sign over the bar.
“Wha—I don’t understand.” Her head was spinning.
Ethan walked back to her and took her hands in his. “Tori, I told you how much I missed it here. How much I missed my family. I’d thought about moving back a hundred times, but it wasn’t until Thanksgiving when I knew that was the right decision. You’re the motivation I needed, darlin’. Being away from you the last three weeks has just about killed me. I can’t be away from you, Tori.”
He drew her close, pulling her to him. She felt tears prick the back of her eyes as she looked up at him.
“I love you, Tori,” he breathed.
“Ethan.” A tear spilled over, and he wiped it away with his thumb.
“Baby, please don’t cry.” A wor
ried look came over his face. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Upset me?” she asked in disbelief. “No, you’re not upsetting me. Ethan, I’m crying because I’m happy.”
“You are?” A look of relief lit his eyes. “Are you sure?”
Tori nodded vigorously. “Ethan, I love you. I love you so much.”
“You love me?” He picked her up and let out a whoop of joy as he twirled her around. He didn’t put her down this time, but held her so her face was above his.
She cupped his beautiful face as she looked into his eyes. “Ethan Price, you are so perfect.”
“No. We’re perfect. We’re perfect together, Tori.”
She leaned in to drop a kiss on his smiling lips. “I love you, Ethan. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, my love.”
The End…for now
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