Her sister's mouth hung open. "Seriously?"
"I stand by my judgment. She was about eleven feet tall and weighed ninety pounds soaking wet. And those teeth could seriously kill a man. I have no idea what he saw in her, except breasts done by the best surgeon England has to offer."
"You sound jealous," Piper pointed out.
Tori sipped her tea, hoping the cup hid her grimace. God, she needed to keep her mouth shut. Piper was both astute and happy, so if her sister knew how deep her feelings for her bosses ran, she wouldn't hesitate to play matchmaker. And if Piper learned how far she'd gone to keep herself "safe" from the Thurston-Hughes brothers, she would gasp in horror. Her sister wasn't big on lies, even for the greater good.
"I'm simply pointing out that while Rory is an amazing man, he's got issues, just like his brothers, that I don't want to deal with," Tori murmured.
"Even the soccer player? Excuse me, the football god."
She sometimes forgot that what she'd called soccer all her life was football over here. And Callum Thurston-Hughes had been one of the best-Manchester United's star player until a career-killing injury had taken him out the year before. But Tori gave him credit. Rather than being bitter, Callum treated every new day like a gift to be used to its fullest. It sometimes made him reckless, dangerous. "You must have heard that I'm dealing with a paternity case for him. It's all over the press."
"All right. That headline was hard to miss," Piper conceded. "Hey, at least they're keeping you busy."
Tori scoffed. "I just love the phone ringing at three in the morning with some new Thurston-Hughes surprise that ruins my night of sleep."
"Well, if you won't consider your very hot bosses as potential mates, Dane has hired a couple of new guards who are smart and funny. I think you'll find them attractive. My husbands also have some cousins who would love to meet you. I have to warn you, though. There are five of them and they're very traditional."
Tori felt her jaw drop. Had her sister lost her damn mind? "Five? I don't know where you put three."
"Oh, that's easy," Piper began. "One in-"
"Stop." Sometimes her sister overshared, and Tori didn't need to hear more of this. "I don't want to know. I would like to keep my ears as virginal as the rest of me."
Piper froze. "You're kidding. Still?"
"You were a virgin until you got married. I don't understand the shock."
"After Dad died, I had you to raise, so I didn't date. What's holding you back?"
How did she explain her choices to a sister who had been swept off her feet and made a queen literally? "I watched a couple of friends get their hearts seriously broken by guys who used them for sex. I don't want to end up like them.
Tori refused to give up that piece of herself to someone who didn't value her. Her friend Brooke had once had a one-night stand. Nine months later, it turned into a battle for child support fought by two parents who couldn't stand each other. But it wasn't simply pregnancy or single motherhood that worried Tori.
"You have to take a chance at some point." Piper sat back, her eyes soft with empathy as she looked her sister over. "You can't hide away all of your life. Mom and Dad had a great marriage."
Of course Piper had to bring up the one subject guaranteed to send her into a tailspin. Unfortunately, not even that kept her from thinking about the Thurston-Hughes brothers-all three of them.
"Yes, until Mom died and Daddy turned into a shell of himself." Tori took a long breath. Her chest tightened, as it always did when she thought about her parents. For most of her life they'd been blissfully happy. Then her mother's long fight with cancer had ended. Afterward, her father had faded away until a car accident had stolen what had been left of his life. "Do you ever wonder?"
Piper sniffled, her eyes glazing over with a sheen of tears. She didn't pretend to misunderstand. "If he let it happen because he wanted to end his suffering? All the time. He knew those roads like the back of his hand."
Had their father driven off that road so he didn't have to live without his beloved anymore? "The thought of a love like that scares me, Piper."
"Sweetie, life is basically meaningless if you don't love like that," Piper argued. "Dad wouldn't have taken back the years he had with Mom, even if he'd known how they would end. He wouldn't have chosen to spend his life with anyone else. We don't know what happened the night he died, Mindy, but he was a good father. Shouldn't we give him the benefit of the doubt?"