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Alex: Okay.
Declan: Miss you already.
Alex: Miss you too.
Once we knew Alex was home, we’d headed to the house and cleaned up. We moved some things that Alex left behind into Thomas’s room, like her toothbrush and a few of the pieces of clothing she refused to take, even though we knew she liked them.
“So, what do you think?” I asked Thomas at dinner.
He looked up from his plate. His expression of sadness likely mirrored my own. “I think I want to invite her to be our date for the charity gala.”
“What the fuck? Why didn’t you say that when she was here?”
“I honestly didn’t think about it until now. I mean, the thought crossed my mind when we were working on the menu, but it was too soon then to ask her.”
“Well, I guess it will give me an excuse to go visit her.” I grinned.
The crease in Thomas’ forehead deepened. “What do you mean?”
“There’s no way we can ask her over the phone. I’m going to go down there and ask.” I speared a green bean with my fork, biting into the crunchy vegetable.
He nodded. “Let’s see how our call with her goes, and then you can ask her tomorrow.”
“Fine,” I grumbled. He was right. We needed to make sure she still wanted us now that she was finally home and settled into her regular life.
We knew we didn’t want to let go of her, but we needed her to realize she felt the same way.
ALEX
The morning had been one visit after another. When people heard I’d made it back, they came in to either check in on me while not-so-subtly asking questions about the Kingstons or to schedule a fake visit for their pet to ask about the Kingstons.
With the town being on lockdown with the snow, there seemed to be a shortage of gossip.And King’s Ranch was always a topic everyone wanted to talk about.
The questions became more and more ridiculous as the day wore on.
“They were lovely hosts, Mrs. Philips. Thank you for asking.”
“No, they are not actual kings, Mrs. Brown.”
“No, there were no orgies I was aware of while I was there.” I couldn’t help but blush at that comment and hide my face behind my chart.
I couldn’t tell if the townspeople liked them or were just really curious about their lifestyle. No one has breathed a word to me about how there was one girl for every two guys. Maybe no one knew. The Kingstons and their employees didn’t advertise their relationships, but they didn’t hide them either. Yes, the multiple men relationships were rare around here but not unheard of. Hell, I’d read a few books with more than one lover in them over the past few days.
I hadn’t had the interrogation from my father yet, but I knew it was coming. He was very fond of the Kingstons, and now I knew why. They were very kind and caring men. Every time I had to go visit the ranch the place was well kept, the staff looked happy, and they were always very nice. Now that I had lived there for a short while, I knew all of that was true, and they were really amazing men. They worked alongside their staff and treated everyone with respect.
After Mrs. Johnson left, asking if the Kingstons had any girlfriends and if I would mention her daughter to one of them the next time I saw them, I wanted to bang my head against the wall.
At least no one had any clue what actually went on around there. Only the orgy comment was close, yet still way off. I laughed as I let myself into my office, ready for some solitude over my lunch break.
I opened the door to find Declan lounging in my chair, feet perched on the corner of my desk.I had no idea how he’d gotten past me. My heart leapt.
“Feet off my desk,” I said with a mock glare, then cringed. I’d said it louder than I’d intended to. Sticking my head out the door and glancing down the hallway, it didn’t seem as though anyone had heard. I shut the door behind me and locked it.
Declan’s deep chuckle sent a shiver down my spine.
“Of course, babydoll.” He placed his boots on the ground and leaned forward on the desk.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered, then remembered the door was shut. I cleared my throat and tried for a normal tone this time. “Why are you in my office?”
