Текст книги "Her Accidental Husband"

Автор книги: Ashlee Mallory

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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

Chapter Fifteen

Cruz heard someone knocking at the door but it took him a full minute to finally open his eyes and realize where he was. He reached for the bed next to him, where he’d last seen Payton, naked and smiling before he fell asleep. Empty.

He sat up.

The pounding on the door returned.

Had she left for something and gotten locked out? He grabbed his pants from the floor and slipped them on, aware that the bathroom door was open and it was dark inside. She wasn’t in there. Or the main room, as he looked around, before finally throwing the door open.

Brad’s familiar too-cocky face met him. What the—?

“Cruz Sorensen. Been a long time. What’s it been? Since high school?” The guy stood there with that same air of confidence and entitlement he’d always had, a few bottled waters tucked under his arm.

But Cruz wasn’t intimidated by his demeanor. Not anymore. He knew he was just as good as Brad, that over the years he’d come into his own, built Sorensen to what it was now through his own hard work and determination—not his daddy’s work or his family’s name. And then there was Payton. Who’d chosen him.

Cruz ran his hand through his hair, a lazy grin on his face. “Something like that.”

He looked up and down the hallway, curious as to where Payton had gone. Probably to go battle the dragon lady. Did she know Brad was here?

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here. Don’t worry, I’m not here to punch it out with you. Payton’s mother has given me some idea what’s been going on over the past few days between you two. Can’t exactly say I blame Payton for wanting to exact a little revenge. Tit for tat. And seeing her sneak back to her room a few minutes ago, it doesn’t take a genius to realize what you two have been up to. God knows if the opportunity landed in my lap like that, a beautiful, vulnerable woman like Payton, that I wouldn’t have done the same as you.”

“You and I aren’t anything alike, Brad.” Thank God.

“You say that like it’s a relief. There’s no need for hostility. I’m not here as an outraged fiancé ready to sucker punch you—not that I wouldn’t be within my rights. But, no. I’m here in more of an official capacity. As one business representative to another. Can I come in?”

He may as well hear whatever it is Brad had to say and get it over with. Nodding, Cruz stepped aside and let the guy in. He wondered how Payton was faring, if she’d gone to confront her mother. He wished she’d at least waited for him. He would have made sure the woman didn’t bully Payton, let her know they both were in this together, their eyes wide open. Well, as soon as he got Brad out of here, he’d go and rescue her.

Brad set the water down on the coffee table and reached inside his jacket, pulling out a thick white envelope. He dropped it to the surface. “That’s the contract. Some of the dates have been moved up since dad is anxious to see that shopping center ready by the Christmas season. But other than that, it’s all signed and ready to go. Just needs your signature on the dotted line.”

Cruz narrowed his eyes. What was this? “Just like that. You and Dick have decided to finally move this forward. And no hard feelings?” His tone was suspicious, justifiably so. He was waiting for the catch. There always was one.

“None on my part. The figures are sound; you’ve shown your company is more than qualified to pull it off. Besides,” Brad smiled smugly,“this thing with Payton? I know it’s only temporary. I know that in due time, she’ll come to her senses. Realize who the person she’s more compatible with is.”

“Is that right?” Cruz went to the table and picked up the envelope and pulled the papers out. He glanced through it, spotting Dick Eastman’s signature on the bottom. He also saw they wanted to break ground one month ahead of schedule. “You think Payton is going to want you? After you cheated on her? Good luck, pal.”

“It’s not luck. It’s just the way of things, Cruz. Payton and I are the same. We come from the same cloth, the same backgrounds. We understand things that you have no idea about. It’s that bond that brought us together the first time, and that same bond is going to bring us back together. Look, I know you probably think what you and Payton have is something special. Unique. You’ve had some fun the past few days. Easy to do when you’re both away from the daily grinds of your lives. But eventually you’ll both go back home. And all the problems that you two have been avoiding are going to be waiting for you. Have you even met her father?”

“Can’t say as I’ve had the pleasure yet. But from what I hear, it’s not really like the man’s in his daughter’s life much anyhow.”

“That’s just it. He’s not there, but with that absence, his footprint in her life is even stronger. He’s never going to approve of you in her life. And no matter how much Payton denies it, she desperately needs his approval. It will throw a wrench in whatever it is you think you have.”

“What I don’t understand, Brad, is why you’re even here, telling me all this, if you’re so certain she’s coming back to you.”

“Maybe because I know that you have Payton’s interests in mind. And to hope that you’ll step aside when the time comes. I know I messed up, and I feel horrible for the shit I caused her. But I love her. I’m going to make sure she knows this and that I’ll do anything to win her back.”

“Yeah. Well good luck with that. You’re going to find that Payton’s not the same woman she was when she left home. She knows what she wants now, and she’s willing to stand up to anyone who tells her otherwise. There’s also one other little detail you may not know about. Something that tells me that whatever you may think, Payton’s moved on and is ready to make a commitment with me. Payton and I are married.”

This time Brad’s face scrunched up into a smile. He laughed, two short brays that were almost as obnoxious as the guy’s smug grin.

“It’s true. I’m sure Payton will show you the certificate if you have any doubts. Maybe let you take a peek at a few photos too.”

“Man, I kind of feel bad for what I’m about to tell you. But it’s probably best to make it quick so you don’t continue humiliating yourself like this. This so called marriage of yours? It’s not real, dude. You’ve got to know that. And I’m not just saying it’s completely incredible, but because you can’t just up and marry anyone you want in Mexico. You’d think you would know that. Aren’t you part Mexican or something?”

“Here,” Brad pulled out a folded piece paper from his back pocket and handed it to Cruz who took it but didn’t make any attempt to open it. “When Payton’s mother called me last night to tell me about what was going on, I printed this off the internet from some destination wedding place here. It tells you what you need to have an actual legal marriage.”

The guy was really starting to piss Cruz off. Not just because the words he was saying, if true, were something that he’d need a moment to consider the implications of, but because the damn cocky way the son of a bitch delivered the news and still stood there smug as ever. Cruz really was beginning to despise him.

“I’ll take a look at this. Don’t worry. But whether we’re really hitched or not doesn’t change the fact that Payton was here last night, spending the night with me. That she has chosen me. She may not be married to me now, but that’s just temporary. She’s never going to want to marry you.”

There was a flash of annoyance and anger in Brad’s eyes, but it was gone as fast as it appeared. “If you say so. Guess only time will tell. Anyhow, the contract is ready for your signature. Can’t wait to do business with you.”

Cruz nodded, not daring to say anything else that he would later regret, and watched as Brad Eastman crossed the room, stopping at the door for a parting shot. “What was the name of that girl again?”

“What girl?”

“That girlfriend of yours, the one with the big doe eyes and the rack that could put Pamela Anderson to shame? You know the one.”

Cruz clenched his fist. He would not let this prick get to him. “Angelina,” he managed to say between clenched teeth.

“Ah. That’s right. You do have good taste in women. But they always seem to know who the better man is in the end.”

With an obnoxious salute, Brad let himself out.

The paper was still in Cruz’s hand and as much as he wanted to rip it up and drop it in the garbage can, he couldn’t, not without reading it first. He opened it and scanned the words. It was as Brad said. Paperwork and birth certificates and application fees had to be filed before they could say I do. Followed by a civil ceremony to make it official.

He crumbled the paper and tossed it in the garbage. It didn’t change anything. Not for him and he was almost as certain not for Payton. But…he’d be lying if he wasn’t sweating just a little at what the prick had said. About Payton and her issues with her dad and trying to please him and that sour-faced mother until she was wrapped up like a pretzel with trying to please everyone but herself.

There were other things that Brad said that rankled too. Things that had occurred to Cruz many times over the course of the past few days. How different he was from Payton, who grew up with wealth and social connections, parties and charity events. As much as she said she was tired of it all, wanted a different life, how much did she mean it? She had said the same thing when she came home from college, before being sucked back into that life of high society parties, canapés by the pool, ritzy vacations to Cabo with Brad and Lord knew where else.

Damn. This was stupid.

He was letting Brad shake him, shake his confidence in Payton.

It wasn’t going to work. He trusted Payton.

He trusted them.

“I am sorry, Brad. But I know that this is for the best. For us both.”

She’d spent the past fifteen minutes explaining why it wasn’t going to work, listening to his apology, his claim that she was who he wanted and he’d just been so scared about the commitment they were going to make that he’d screwed up. Big time.

And she wondered, for a moment, if Cruz hadn’t come into her life, shown her what real happiness was, whether she’d have accepted his apology. Maybe grieved a little longer, make him grovel, show real contrition, and eventually…taken him back.

It was a sad truth to know it was a distinct possibility. That she had thought so little of herself, of the possibility of real happiness, that she would have accepted being just okay. Content even.

Until she saw all the possibilities that were open to her, thanks to Cruz. And herself. Now, she was impatient to get this thing over with Brad so she could find Cruz. Tell him that although their marriage may not be legally binding, it didn’t change anything for her. She still wanted to give them a chance. Maybe even consummate that choice a time or two before they went downstairs to the brunch that was planned with his family.

She glanced over to the clock on the wall. Almost ten. Was Cruz still asleep? She’d hoped he would have come looking for her by now.

Brad was still studying her, really studying her maybe for the first time. “You actually think this Cruz guy is going to make you happy?”

She sighed. “You’ve heard about us then?”

“Your mother was pretty keen on getting me out here, thought I should know about this guy that you went and got yourself married to so that I could come down here and talk sense into you.”

“Is that why you’re here? Because you were jealous?” For a minute there she had thought that Brad had shown up here because he needed to apologize.

“I am here because I knew that I made a mistake and I needed to tell you. Besides, as your mother has probably already told you, your marriage wasn’t real.”

Wow, her mother had wasted no time sharing everything with Brad. She wondered why her mother had even bothered with the farce this morning of pretending Payton had been at an early breakfast since it seemed everyone knew where she’d been.

“And yet, knowing this,” Brad continued, “knowing that you’d spent the night with this guy whose motives, I have to tell you, seem less than stellar, I still got on that flight and came here. Look, Payton, I think these past few months of planning, we’ve both lost sight of what was important. Each other. I love you and want to be with you, and I am willing to look past this…thing you had with Cruz Sorensen,” he uttered the name with blatant contempt, “and hope you can find a way to forgive me and we can work this out.”

“I’m sorry, Brad. Really I am. It’s just not going to work. I’m sorry you came all this way—actually,” she paused and grinned, “no I’m not. It’s the least you could do after what you put me through.”

He returned her smile. “Yeah, I guess I can give you that. But if I’m going to have to bring your mother home with me, then we’ve got to call it even. You might even owe me.”

“Don’t push your luck.” She looked at the clock again. “What time are you planning on heading back?”

“I’ll give the pilot a call and see how soon he can get us the go ahead, but I’m hoping later this afternoon. No sense hanging around this beautiful paradise if I’m not with the person I want to share it with.”

He really was a charmer, and she could see how the two of them could lead an easy life. But it wouldn’t be anything as exhilarating as one with Cruz. “You’re free to hang around here, but you’ll have to excuse me, I need to go find Cruz.”

“Thanks.” He hesitated, “There’s one more thing I should tell you. I kind of already had a chat with Cruz earlier.”

She stopped at the door. “You spoke with Cruz?”

“After I left here. I had something my father wanted me to drop off. A business contract. And I might have mentioned to him that your marriage wasn’t real.”

“Why? Why would you think it was okay to interfere in my life like that?”

“I’m not proud. I guess I was just being a little childish. He’s getting you, right? I think I had a right to be…peevish.”

Here she was all this time chatting up Brad, trying to let him down easy, when Cruz was back at his room with God knew what kind of doubts running through his head. He knew they weren’t married. That they didn’t have anything that really kept them together anymore. They could walk away from—

She was being paranoid. Last night had been more than she could ever have hoped for. She’d never felt closer to anyone in her life. Not being married didn’t change that.

Still. “I’ve got to go.”

She headed down the hallway, trying to calm her anxiety. Brad had mentioned something about dropping off a contract.

He’s just distracted. It had nothing to do with them. Right? Maybe it was something to do with the deal with Dick?

For some reason, that possibility didn’t make her feel any better.

Outside his door, she knocked. After ten seconds, she was ready to knock again when he opened the door wearing loose khaki shorts and a white T-shirt that accented the natural depth of his warm, tanned skin. He’d showered, just like her, his hair still wet and slicked back, and from the dab of shaving cream under his ear, freshly shaven.

“Hey,” she said, suddenly nervous and tongue-tied.

“Hey,” he said just as carefully. He watched her warily, as they stood there in silence. Her instinct begged her to wrap her arms around him, to ask him to hold her as he had last night.

But fear gripped her. What if instead of sadness at hearing their marriage wasn’t real he felt…relief?

So she waited, the sound of her own breathing seeming unnaturally loud. He took a step back finally, opening the door wider. “Come on in. Guess it’s time we talked.”

She looked pretty and sexy as always in a white strappy sundress, the sides of her hair twisted and held back leaving her lovely face exposed. But she kept her gaze down, unable to meet his eyes, which sent an alarm through his system. He’d been sweating bullets since Brad left, wondering with every minute that ticked by and she wasn’t back, if she was having second thoughts.

Because maybe she’d just been making the best of a bad situation before. And now that there was nothing holding them together, she was seeing an out.

“I’m guessing you got my note?”

He shut the door, taking his time. “Note? No.”

She walked to the veranda where he’d left the French doors open earlier. “I left a note explaining that I was heading over to talk to my mother and to change.” She turned to face him. “I’ve spoken to my mother and—and to Brad. I gather he told you? About the marriage?”

His eyes met hers, solemn and maybe a little wary. “Yeah. He did.”

She smiled and finally met his gaze. “I guess in hindsight, it was kind of silly for us to think that we could get married so easily.”

“Maybe it was.”

“But…” she bit her lip, trying to decide something. “Nothing has changed for me. About you? About us? I still…I still want to be with you.”

A weight that had been pressing on his chest seemed to suddenly fly away and he could breathe again. He couldn’t stop the smile that slid across his face. He took a step toward her. “Yeah? And what exactly did your mother say to that?” He reached her and slid his arms around her waist. “Should I expect the firing squad to arrive any minute?”

“She’s putting a call in now.” Her eyes were so expressive, filled with hope. “Actually, I’m hoping she’s packing her suitcase and getting ready to head home with Brad. Giving us complete privacy and time to ourselves.”

“Well, save for the fifty-odd family members staying here with us. And the lunch downstairs in about…twenty minutes?” He slipped a finger to her lips, outlining their softness.

“Twenty? That should be enough time.”

“I have no idea what you mean.” He kissed her then, feeling her open to him completely, stretching up on her tiptoes so she could wrap her arms around his shoulders, deepening the kiss.

When they were together, like this, he could shut everything else out.

Pretend they were the only people who existed.

Except… “Payton?” he pulled back, tucking a stray strand of hair from her face. “Although there is nothing I’d love more than to figure out the ties on your dress and have it lying in a pool around your feet, I have just one call to make. Two tops. I have some good news.”

She looked up at him, curiosity lighting those green eyes. “Does this have something to do with the contract that Brad said he delivered?”

He couldn’t stop the grin that split his face. “It does. It’s mine. No—it’s ours. The contract with Eastman Motors. Dick Eastman signed it yesterday and, as of ten minutes ago, I added my own signature. Do you have any idea how much this deal is worth?”

Her eyes shone back with something akin to pride and she took her hand and wiped a smudge of shaving cream from above his ear. “Substantial, I take it. So we’re celebrating, then? Have you told your father?”

“Not yet. But there was a small hitch on the contract in that Dick has moved up the time table a full month, which means I need to call a couple of my subcontractors and get things rolling. I’ll meet you downstairs as soon as I’m done.”

She sighed and took a step back, still smiling but a little less brightly and nodded.

“I promise,” he said and took her hand to his heart, enjoying the feeling as he had that first time at the airport all those days ago. “And then you and I have a date. I’m seeing the two of us on the beach, you in the tiniest bikini you can find. On the other hand,” his smile turned a little more devilish, “maybe we should stay closer to the room.”

“Okay, I guess I should at least go see my mother off anyhow. But you had better hurry. I don’t think our escape last night went entirely unnoticed and I can just imagine the questions those sisters of yours are going to ask me.”

“Just look at it as baptism by fire.” He leaned down and placed one more peck on her lips.

He’d been worried for nothing.

For a brief moment, he considered just bagging his plans to get in touch with his subcontractors. In just enjoying this moment and calling Payton back so they could fully appreciate what they had in each other. It could wait until tomorrow.

But it was just twenty minutes. It was only fair to give everyone a head’s up. Then there was the matter of the press release that was ready to be sent to the news outlets tomorrow morning. The new employees and subcontractors he’d need to hire to get started on the new projects in the coming months.

Payton understood how important this deal was to him, to the future of his company, and ultimately, to both of them. He’d be downstairs and at her side soon enough.