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Tori ran her hand through his hair and yelped when Drew settled in the chair and shifted her into his lap again. He had the same need to touch her at all times as I did.
“Even though I’ve been in bed all day, mine at home is calling my name. This mattress is killing me. Princess, do you think you could kiss all my sore muscles when we get home?” I pouted. I’d do practically anything right now to have her hands on me.
“Aww, poor baby. Of course, I will.” She lifted from Drew’s lap and placed a soft kiss on my forehead.
I hadn’t questioned it until now, but now that I really looked at her, I found it odd that she was in scrubs. Not only did the outfit cover too much of her, but this was highly unlike her normal style. “Why are you wearing scrubs?”
Tori’s face turned the brightest shade of red I’d ever seen.
I grinned. Now I knew there was a story behind her attire, and I really wanted to know.
Drew peered at me and shrugged. Clearly, he didn’t know either.
I patted the mattress next to me. “We aren’t leaving here until you tell us.”
Tori let out a deep breath and dove right into her story. I was proud of her. I could tell this wasn’t the thing for her to share, but she trusted us to tell us everything. When she came to the part about dress shopping, she paused. She picked at the blanket and, after a moment of silence, she took a deep breath and continued. “When I heard you were hurt, I ran out of the bridal boutique and came right here. I was so scared.”
My mouth dropped open. She’d come to us in a damn wedding dress, and we never got to see it?
“Oh, princess. I’m sorry I scared you.” I tugged her beside me.
“Tell us about the dress,” Drew prompted.
She laid her hand on my chest and rubbed absentminded circles.
“Princess?” I asked, worried about her sudden silence.
“It was the only one I liked and the one I pictured wearing for you two,” she whispered in an exhale, her words practically running together.
My heart soared when she mentioned finding a dress she envisioned getting married to us in. Now I wanted nothing more than to make that happen. Drew was right. We were going to marry Tori. We just needed to find the perfect way to ask her.
Regardless of the discomfort, I held her close. “I love you.” It wasn’t the marriage proposal I wanted to give her, but I needed her to know how I felt.
“I love you too. Both of you.”
Drew came up to us and placed a kiss on top of Tori’s head. “I love you, Tori.”
We stayed in our little bubble, only speaking when we had to, until I was discharged from the hospital later that evening. I was not happy about the ordered bed rest for the next few days, even though it was nice to be home. Easier to relax here than at the hospital with doctors hovering and weird noises all around.
Tori was glued to my side for two days before I had to put my foot down. As much as I wanted her near me, I couldn’t take the constant hovering. I wanted to be the one taking care of her. The urge to take charge was overwhelming, and I didn’t want to rush into anything after just getting her back.
She finally gave in and admitted she did have some work to finish with the new contract for Thomas and Declan. She ventured to the main house and worked out of her office but made sure to come check on me every few hours. It warmed my heart knowing how much she cared. But her tenderness was almost too much. I’d let her do it for now, but I needed to remind her it wasn’t her job to take care of us. It was our job to take care of her.
She was tentative with us, like she was afraid if she did something wrong, we would get mad again, and we’d send her away. Something I’d have to remedy really quick.She needed to know she had a home with us.
VICTORIA
I’d been back for days, and neither of the guys had touched me. Sure, we’d cuddled and kissed, but that was it. We hadn’t been intimate, and I was devastated. My mind raced, wondering if maybe they didn’t actually want me anymore.
Caleb had an excuse because he was injured, but Andrew hadn’t touched me either.
I tried not to think about it while preparing for my last call with Crestview. I needed to wrap things up with them so we could get started on the switch. It was exciting that I had been able to contribute to the ranch. I was able to find them a system to use, negotiate a contract, and provide future marketing ideas for the ranch and riding team. If they continued what I had outlined for them, I had no doubt the Kingstons could grow this place even more than it already had.
I checked the clock on my computer and had only a few minutes before my video chat. I logged into the site and connected. I reiterated the details we’d agreed on. The meeting only took twenty minutes, and we had everything finalized and ready for install. Their team would fly out to install the software on Monday morning. Perfect. The new office had been finished while I was gone and was just waiting for inventory to be delivered and the new computer software to be installed in order to be fully up and running.
I hung up with the Crestview people and smiled to myself. I’d actually done it. It felt nice to accomplish something. This was my first big project since graduating, and it was close to home. I couldn’t mess something up that was this important to my best friends and my men.
I lost myself in thinking how perfect it would be staying here and helping out around the ranch. At least where I could. My other stays here hadn’t been long enough to really dive into the working part of ranch life. I cringed, imagining myself cleaning out the stalls. I was not a fan of the dirty jobs.Maybe I could learn to feed the horses or help exercise them as a way to contribute. I could continue to pick up other marketing jobs like I had before to build my resume, so I could find a permanent job that would let me work remotely.
