For hardly knowing one another, we looked like we’d spent years smiling at each other just like that.
The next photo was our kiss after being pronounced husband and wife.
Yeah, these photos were definitely far too intrusive right now. I clicked through until I’d arrived at the more formal photos of us in the grove. There were at least a dozen photos with various poses, but I closed the link and chose not to continue to look at them anymore.
Tori’s absence today felt like more than just work. She had told me the night before that I was a romantic. Perhaps I was. Was that such a bad thing? Didn’t most women love a romantic man? Not that I wanted Tori to love me.
Shit, I couldn’t go down this thought path. I finished my lunch in a hurry and headed back to the hotel.
The room was still empty, so I pulled out my laptop and got some work done, filling out reports and checking in with my accountant. I had just closed my laptop when the door opened and Tori walked in.
“Hey!” she said brightly, setting a backpack down on the desk. She looked clear-headed, a sharp contrast to how she’d looked the night before. “How was your day?” She pulled the baseball hat she’d been wearing off her head and came around the bed, collapsing onto it like she was spent. She wore shorts that showed off quite a bit of leg and a tank top with some kind of lacy girl thing peeking underneath.
“Uh…” I peeled my eyes away from her long, tanned legs and looked back at my laptop. “I just checked in with my accountant about my quarterly taxes.” I tucked the laptop into its case and zipped it up.
“Sounds riveting,” she said with a laugh. Rolling over onto her side to face me, she said, “Sorry for ducking out this morning. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, not at all. When did you leave?”
“Three. That’s when my classes for the day started. The business center here is pretty good.”
“That’s good.” I was thrown off by her happy, chatty demeanor. “Are you okay?” I asked when she smoothed her hand over the covers.
“Oh, yeah, I’m great.”
“You were quiet last night.” Did I have any right to bring this up? Would it be worth poking at?
Maybe I expected her to seem confused by that statement, so she could acknowledge the blip and excuse it away by claiming to be fatigued. But she closed her eyes and sighed so deeply that her entire body sank several inches into the plush comforter.
“I know. Sorry.” She opened her eyes, looking at me. “I think I got a little freaked out, to be honest. I don’t know. It’s stupid.”
“What’s stupid?”
“Look—I know we had a wedding and everything and it was great. I’m just worried about where this is going.” She waved her hand between us and gave me a pained smile. She really didn’t like talking about this. “I guess I thought we were just hanging out. Not anything serious.”
I let this sink in. She was right; there had been no conversations to discuss our intentions. It made absolute sense that she’d feel uneasy by the lack of communication. And I’d thrust her into this really weird, sad thing. I didn’t want her to feel like she had to spend time with me, out of pity or whatever else. “Okay,” I began, looking down at the pattern in the carpet. “I guess I didn’t have a plan, or any expectations one way or another. I appreciated you joining me at Will’s parents’ yesterday, but don’t feel obligated to join us. It’s a weird situation, isn’t it?”
“No, no. That’s not what I meant. See, I’m not good at this.”
“What’s ‘this’?”
“Explaining. I liked Will’s parents. They’re wonderful people. I can see why they mean so much to you.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I don’t feel obligated. Really.” She scooted across the bed, sitting up to face me so our knees touched. “I like you, Liam. And yeah, this situation is weird, but so is marrying a stranger.” She took my hands in hers. “I’m trying to say that I want to hang out with you still, but…” she licked her lips. “We don’t live in the same state. Eventually, I’ll go back home and you’ll stay here.”
“You’re right.”
“And I’m not ready to go home yet. I like you. I know, I said that already. But I want to join you for