The Deputies: 3 Novella Box Set (35 page)

Her cheeks went hot and she didn’t even have to verbalize her answer. He could see it in her expression. “Fuck me, you did, didn’t you? Shit, were you planning to give me any say in our future, Tori? Was that what this was all about? Landing your childhood fantasy guy and living out your dream? Fuck, I was just along for the ride. I could have been anybody.”

“No!” Drake was moving past her but she caught his arm. “It’s not like that at all. Listen, I admit to being incredibly immature and building you into some kind of god that no one could live up to. I know it was stupid. But I wasn’t stalking you or anything. And this time it wasn’t even because of the past. When we decided to get to know one another, it was truly a fresh start for me. No more fantasies. No more hero worship. Honest, Drake.”

She looked up at him, her voice pleading but he seemed immune. His expression was closed and he shook off her hand. “I need some space to think about all this.”

Giving up trying to explain, she simply nodded, giving him the physical space he wanted. “I understand. Can we talk about this more tonight? I’ll cook dinner.”

He turned his back and she felt a shiver of cold at the action. It was over. He’d already judged her guilty. Space was simply a code for “get the hell away from me.”

“I need some time too, Tori. When you told me you had a crush, well, it was cute. But this is something else. I need to believe that what you feel is about me now. Not just about some perfect life you dreamed about when you were younger. Maybe that makes me selfish. I just need some time to think about all this.”

“Then you have it.” Tori was proud that her voice barely shook. “Take the time that you need. You know where I live and where I work.”

Drake strode toward her front door but she just couldn’t let him leave like this. Her heart was cracking in her chest and it had nothing to do with childhood fantasies.

“Drake!” she called before he could leave. “I’ve explained and I’ll even apologize if that’s what you want. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you at the picnic. I started to. I’m sorry I didn’t grow up sooner but I think leaving town actually stunted my maturity when it came to you. And I’m sorry you can’t believe me now when I say it’s you that I have feelings for. I’ve dated other men and I’ve never felt a fraction for them what I feel for you at this moment. A house, kids, and all that other crap isn’t important. You are important to me.”

For a moment she thought he might turn around but instead he grabbed his hat from the end table and shoved it on his head before opening the door and walking out. Tori’s legs could barely support her and she sat back down at the table, the tears starting to fall.

This was all her own miserable fault. There was no one else to blame. She’d fucked things up and there would be no fixing them.

“What’s wrong with Drake?” Ava Wright’s stage whisper was meant to be overheard and it was. Drake winced at the question, knowing he’d been a royal pain in everyone’s ass all week. Since the morning Tori had told him about her childhood crush which had gone on way too long, he’d been impatient and downright surly.

Just like the entire town, Drake, Logan, and Ava were all at the grand opening of Sweet Revenge. The crowd spilled onto the sidewalk but somehow Logan had managed a table off in the corner where Drake had an excellent view of Tori. She was currently chatting with a few people from the town council while her helpers kept bringing out trays of mouthwatering goodies. Drake had already downed two cannolis, a brownie with fudge icing, a beignet, a bite sized cheesecake, and a tiny espresso flavored cupcake. He kept shoving food in his mouth every time the urge to go to her became unbearable. At this rate, they’d have to roll him out of the front door.

“He’s pouting,” Logan stated with a grin in Drake’s direction. “Something’s gone wrong between him and Tori and he’s decided to make everyone’s life a misery. I’m told misery loves company. Not that I would know personally, of course.”

“Of course not,” Drake mocked. “You’re a ray of sunshine. And I have not been a royal pain.”

“Just because you deny it doesn’t make it not true,” Logan retorted.

Ava shook her fork at both of them. “That’s enough. Drake, what is going on with you and Tori? She seems like a nice girl. You could do much worse.”

Tori was a nice girl. But the past was all messed up with the present.

“She’s sweet. And smart. Funny, too.” Drake paused, not sure how to put his thoughts into words.

“Sweet, smart, and funny. Um, that sounds like a winner to me,” Ava said, clearly confused.

Drake sighed and rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t slept well the night before. Or the night before that. Every day for the past week his conviction that Tori wasn’t the right woman for him had grown weaker and weaker. When he’d stomped out of her apartment, he’d felt as if he was doing the absolute right thing. Now he wasn’t so damn sure.

“Ava, is it normal for teenage girls to fantasize about boys and marriage? You know, houses and kids? That sort of thing?”

Ava tilted her head as she considered his question. “Yes. Some of my friends would write their name over and over with the boy’s last name. You know, Mrs. Ava Wright? Some would talk about how they were going to have a big mansion and hold fancy dinner parties in long flowing gowns.”

Logan rubbed her cheek with the back of his knuckles and gave his wife an indulgent smile. “What did you fantasize about, good girl?”

Ava covered her mouth and giggled. “I dreamed about marrying a rich, handsome man who owned a newspaper. I would be a Pulitzer prizewinning journalist and own a horse.”

Logan frowned. “A horse? You never told me you wanted a horse, dammit. I can get you a horse.”

Drake hid a chuckle at his boss’s adoration for his wife. If Ava wanted a fucking horse or even a monkey Logan, by God, was going to get it for her.

“That’s what you got from that?” Ava was openly laughing at her husband but she lifted his hand and kissed the palm. “I love you for wanting to get me a horse but I changed my mind years ago. No horse, okay?”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be, right?” Drake asked. “You have girly dreams and then you outgrow them. You don’t keep pursuing them into adulthood.”

“Hmmm, that’s not always the case.” Ava took another bite of her brownie. “That’s pure bliss. But no, some dreams you never grow out of. I always knew I wanted to be a writer and I never stopped going after that dream. My sister always wanted to be a wife and start a family. She never gave up on that.”

“Maybe your sister isn’t the best example,” Logan muttered.

“Just because my sister hates my guts, and yours by extension, doesn’t mean she can’t make a good example of someone who mercilessly pursued her dream life.”

Drake knew that Ava was on the outs with her sister and father after she helped Logan bring the vigilante to justice.

“So what you’re saying,” Drake interrupted. “Is that it wouldn’t be strange if Tori had picked out a house for us, or say, named our children? That wouldn’t be creepy?”

“Only if she actually made you do them.” Ava grinned and took the last bite of her dessert. “If she forced you into doing things you didn’t want to do then it would be weird. Unless it was her wedding. Personally, I never did this, but I know women who have been planning their wedding since they were twelve. You don’t mess with that. Period.”

Tori had never forced him to do anything. At all. He was starting to feel pretty stupid and kind of like a jerk. For the second time in their short relationship, he’d walked out on her after sex. He might have waited around until morning this time but he’d still left her. She might not give him another chance. A third chance.

Son of a fucking bitch.

“Is that what she did? She creeped you out?” Ava asked. “Is that why you’ve been pretending not to look at her for the last hour?”

Drake flagged down a passing waitress with a tray of lemon squares. He had that urge to throw himself at Tori’s mercy this very minute.

“I guess so. She admitted she’d built me up into this godlike man with all these fantasies about our life together. It kind of freaked me out. Then I wondered if it was really about me at all or just about the image she really wanted.”

Logan almost snorted up his coffee. “You, a god? Holy shit, Drake, if you find a woman that thinks of you that way? God help her, you should grab her up.”

Ava elbowed Logan. “What Logan is trying to say is that when you live with someone you are exposed to all their flaws.” Ava shot her husband a narrow-eyed look. “The kind of flaws that make you crazy. But if you love and admire them in the beginning, it’s not so bad.”

“Still love me, baby?” Logan taunted. “Even if I snore?”

Tucking her hand into his elbow, Ava smiled serenely. “More and more every day. I couldn’t sleep without your special snore. Something would be missing.”

Logan turned to Drake triumphantly. “That’s why you should be glad she’s fantasized about you. I snore like a fucking buffalo but she loves me anyway. You can’t buy that, man. It’s a gift you have to earn.”

His boss had turned a shade of red, but Drake knew the words were true. Tori said she could see the man he was now but she still cared about him. If he could talk to her, maybe he could get her to accept his apology.

“Thanks. I really needed the advice.” Logan, who had turned back to a normal shade, nodded his acknowledgment. “Now I have to figure out how to grovel and get back in her good graces.”

Logan grinned. “Might as well just cowboy up and do it. You will eventually and every day you wait is probably making her madder. Nip it in the bud and say everything is all your fault. You might not sleep alone tonight.”

Drake looked around the packed bakery and knew this wasn’t the moment. He’d wait until everyone left and talk to her. He would be extra charming and hopefully she would see he truly was sorry. He never should have left that day.

His feelings for Tori were too strong to be ignored or denied. She was everything he’d dreamed and fantasized about, in one woman.

Chapter Ten

“I
’m exhausted,” Tori groaned, falling into a chair in the kitchen of the bakery. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she slumped in the chair and stretched out her legs, propping them on a shelf. “I can’t believe it’s almost midnight. It was like no one wanted to leave.”

Kasi tossed a towel onto the counter and rubbed her lower back. “Believe it. The little moochers weren’t leaving until they ate every single thing you’d baked. They all waddled out of here with smiles on their faces. It looks like you’ve turned the entire population of Corville into sugar addicts. And you’re their dealer.”

“Exclusively, I hope. Thanks for sticking around and helping me clean up. I wanted Teri and Alice to get some rest. They’d been up helping me since about four this morning.”

“So have you,” Kasi reminded her. “You have to be running on pure caffeine, sugar, and adrenaline at this point.”

That was what Tori had been running on the last week, if the truth be known. Since Drake had rejected her and walked out, she’d worked like a demon from sunup to sundown until she fell into bed too tired to think about the debacle that was her love life. Eventually she’d have to deal with it but for now? She’d pretend it never happened.

Except he’d shown up today. Trying to avoid him, she’d cheerily chatted with anyone and everyone. She couldn’t stop her gaze from straying over to him every now and then. He’d been deep in conversation with Logan and Ava Wright every time. It had looked to be a serious discussion and Tori couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about.

Perhaps Drake was telling them that she should seek counseling? He’d been pretty freaked out when he’d left, almost running out the door. She hadn’t expected him to be happy about hearing the details of her crush, but she hadn’t thought he would run either. At least not after the night they’d had.

She’d trusted him enough to do really kinky stuff with him and he’d walked out at the first sign of trouble. She was probably better off without him.

But she was still miserable.

“We’re closed tomorrow so I’ll get some sleep,” Tori replied, pulling herself back to the here and now. “Then the day after it will be twelve hour days. Just like New York.”