Текст книги "Her Accidental Husband"
Автор книги: Ashlee Mallory
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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 16 страниц)
Chapter Sixteen
Kate and Dominic were, not surprisingly, ten minutes late to their scheduled brunch, arriving with the same flush and glow of excitement and happiness they’d been exuding for the past twenty-four hours. What had surprised—and more than a little disappointed—Payton was that Cruz had still not arrived.
Nor had he arrived by the time she’d finished her fruit and morning coffee and successfully headed off any questions from Benny or Daisy about how her night had gone. They very well knew where she’d been and what she’d been doing, but other than a few wide grins, they’d managed not to pester her for the finer details. Which was no small relief.
She’d just asked for a second cup when Kate slipped in the seat next to her.
“I’m going to need sunglasses to look at you if you don’t stop beaming like that, Kate.”
Kate looked her over carefully and smiled. “I might have to say the same thing. I’ve heard a few…hints that maybe you and Cruz had a busy night yourself.”
“Good grief. You’re kidding. Was it Benny?”
“Actually, it was his Aunt Glenda. I dare say they’re already estimating how long it will be before wedding bells are ringing again. But in all seriousness, contrary to everyone’s belief that Dominic and I were only gazing into each other’s eyes all night, I did see you and Cruz together and I can honestly say, I’ve never seen either of you look happier.”
Payton remembered the long night the two of them had spent getting a lot better acquainted. Kate giggled. “I can see that you’re still reliving some of those finer moments.” She looked around. “But where is the lucky guy? I don’t think I’ve seen him.”
Payton told her about the contract being finalized and the push up of the dates that had Cruz trying to take care of a few things. “He’ll probably be down in the next few minutes.”
“I haven’t seen your mother, either. Tell me you didn’t duct tape her to a chair and hide her in a closet.”
“Tempting, but no. I expect she’s packing right now and getting ready to head back home with Brad on the Eastman jet. I’ll tell you all about it later, but for now, I can see Dominic is looking for you. Go on, Mrs. Sorensen.”
It was strange to say the title, the same title that for a little while, she thought she’d shared. Payton Sorensen. Or Payton Sorensen-Vaughn—she shook her head. What was she saying? Putting the horse ahead of the cart, wasn’t she? They weren’t married anymore.
She was still waiting for her coffee refill a minute later and finally decided to get up and stretch her legs. Maybe call up to the room and see what was keeping Cruz.
She’d only made it to the lobby when she spotted Brad sitting on a chair, talking on the phone. At seeing her, he hung up and rushed over. “Glad I was able to catch you before I left. They just called. The jet’s been refueled and we should be leaving here in the next hour or so. Your mother, too, I’m afraid.”
Payton laughed, and for a moment, it was like before. They’d always joked about her mother’s intensity. It had been what first broke the ice between them when he’d returned all those years later and they caught up at that charity function. He’d likened her mother to a rabid French poodle.
“You’re obviously heading somewhere—and you look beautiful by the way—but I was wondering if you might take a last walk with me. Ten minutes at the longest.”
Payton looked around the lobby, no sign of Cruz. And Brad was taking her mother off her hands, which brought her immense relief “All right. But only because I hate to wait out here like a sitting duck for my mother.”
Out on the beach, the sun seemed to sink deep into her skin and she thought for a moment of the hat she’d left upstairs just as she tipped her head back and felt the sun gloriously on her face.
“You really are lovely,” he said almost softly. “I’m going to miss you.”
She looked over at the man who had been not just her lover but her ally in many ways these past couple years. Her friend. Which had been part of why his betrayal had burned her so bad. “Yeah. Me, too.”
They walked in silence to the end of the marked part of the beach indicating the end of the hotel property and turned back.
“You know what I’m not going to miss?” he asked, delivering her a sly smile. “Family dinners like the one at Christmas when my mother was trying to outmaneuver yours on the dinner menu.” She laughed. “And I’ll confess, I might have peeked into a few of the wedding gifts that had arrived at the house and can definitely assure you that we will be relieved to be able to return the gifts from your Aunt Gertie, my Nana Billick, and someone by the last name of Tiernan.” He pretended to shiver from the horror. “Think gargoyle, a few new age nude sculptures, and—” A high pierced ringing from his back pocket stopped him.
“Sounds like your father’s calling.”
He didn’t pull out the phone, only took the step up from the beach leading to the walkway back to the hotel. “His meeting is probably wrapped up and he’s wanting to pull my leash in.”
“Business meeting? He doesn’t give up even on a Sunday.”
“You know how it is. He can rest when he’s dead as he always says.”
They reached the lobby again, and Brad was looking at her with that sad, achy smile. “I guess I’ll go find your mother so we can get going. I’m sure we’ll touch base in the next few days. I have no idea what’s involved in calling off a wedding but I’m here if you need anything. And if you want to come to my place and get anything you left, give me a call and I can make myself scarce.”
She looked at him in surprise. He was being so accommodating. “Not that I’m complaining here, but I thought earlier you were set on fighting for me and proving to me that you can be better.”
“Yeah. And then I remembered that old saying. About letting something go. Seeing if it comes back to you. And I’m not giving up, Payton, I’m just…going to wait.”
He said it with such confidence that she felt the slightest bit sorry for him. “Sorry, Brad. But have a safe flight.” Tipping on her toes, she kissed his cheek, and let him give her a long hug before finally pulling back. “Now if you could only channel all that charm for good instead of evil,” she said and smiled.
“Where would the fun be in that?”
She watched him go, her heart sad but feeling a little lighter at knowing that he would be okay. Eventually. They both would be.
Turning around, she was more than stunned to find a set of dark eyes, watching her. A face set in a decided frown as he glanced between her and the parting back of her ex-fiancé.
But there was nothing for him to be worried about. The only thing she and Brad had exchanged was their first real good-bye.
She stepped toward the man she was choosing, ready to tell him that. When he turned on his heels and headed to the elevator.
Leaving her openmouthed and gaping.
Cruz was halfway down the hall when Payton called out to him, but he couldn’t speak to her just then. Not when it took every ounce of strength not to stride after Brad and belt him in that smug mouth. A mouth that he knew was smiling even now, as he wormed his way back into Payton’s arms.
Instead, Cruz made it onto the elevator just as the door was closing and he received some satisfaction as he pounded the button to the third floor.
He’d spent the better part of the last ten minutes looking for Payton after arriving at the restaurant and not finding her. Then he’d gone to the lobby to see if she’d left a message for him and found her in the arms of Brad Eastman.
Is it always going to be like this?
He made it to his room and began pacing, knowing she would arrive any moment and he still needed to get ahold of this unbridled anger and jealousy that had sprung at him so hard. Too soon, she was knocking on the door.
“Cruz. What on earth is going on with you?” she demanded and stormed in, slamming the door behind her. He almost blinked at the anger she was giving back to him, so used to seeing her smile and laugh her way out of most situations.
“I’m trying to work out what the hell I just saw down there. Between you and Brad? The guy who you said you were never going back to. It looked mighty chummy to me. Are you playing a game here? Payton? Trying to lead us both on, until you’re certain which guy you really want?”
Her head whipped back slightly, almost as if he’d slapped her. “I can’t believe you just said that.” He could hear the hurt and anger in her voice. “What you saw was Brad and I saying good-bye after I spent the last hour waiting for you. I thought you were just making one or two calls? Did you forget that your family—that I—was downstairs waiting for you?”
Cruz rubbed his jawline again, trying to steady his breathing. Why the hell was he going off like some half-cocked redneck because someone looked at his woman? She was right. He wasn’t being reasonable. He breathed a deep breath in and out. “You’re right. Maybe it was something that Eastman said that still rankled. That it was only a matter of time before you realized who you’re meant to be with. And he sure as hell didn’t mean me.”
“I don’t care about what he told you. You don’t have to worry about him anymore. He’s leaving and he’s going to be out of my life permanently.” She took a step toward him, placing her hand on his arm in reassurance and smiled. “Not only is he heading back in the next hour, he’s also taking my mother with him. It’s just going to be you and me. Alone. In a hotel room for a few more days.”
Shit. He still had to break it to her. Why he’d been up there for so long. “I’m sorry, Payton. I have a bit of bad news. I know we’d hoped to stick around here for a few more days. Just you and me…but it looks like moving the timeframe up a month has made everything a hundred times more complicated. There are building permits we need to get started on, subcontractors to hire, and I’m going to need to get back home to begin orchestrating it all. Tomorrow.”
She pulled her hand back. She looked like he’d said there would be no Christmas, the disappointment was so stark on her face.
“Hey, listen. I’ll make it up to you. I just need to get things rolling, but it won’t be forever.”
She turned away quickly, looking out at the terrace instead of him.
“So we’ll go back home, and you’ll go back to work,” she said, her voice dangerously quiet and unemotional. “Will I be able to see you for dinner tomorrow?”
“Of course. I mean, it’s going to be crazy, but I have to eat. You can come by the office. I’d love to see you there, introduce you to everyone. And we’ll get away together, soon. Just us.”
“Right. This is just temporary. When do you think things will get back to normal again? I mean this project. It’s pretty big. When do you expect to be caught up enough that you and I might have some time for each other?”
The truth was, he didn’t really know. Ideally, he’d like to hire someone to be his right hand man, someone who could help with the day-to-day scheduling, the planning and organizing. Eventually. But if he were honest, he’d worked too hard to risk someone messing it up. He’d get there eventually, but not yet.
“You’ll see, Payton. It’s going to be tough at first, but it will all be worth it. And I’ll be able to give you the kind of life you’re used to. One you deserve.”
Payton looked out at the deep almost turquoise-colored ocean that had filled her with such hope just hours earlier, and now only reminded her of how naive she really was. Thinking she could have it all.
“The only life I want is one with a man who I can share it with. Share the little moments, the joys, the sadness.” She blinked back tears. For a short moment in time, she thought she was going to have it all. She thought she was going to have someone who got her, who saw who she was and wanted only her.
“I don’t begrudge you this success, Cruz. I’m thrilled and excited for this opportunity, even if I have my own reservations about your business partner. But I was downstairs and ready to toast to that success with you, with your family who want only the best for you and would have been happy to be part of that celebration. But you never came down.”
He couldn’t take the minute to celebrate the moment with her, too focused on the big picture. Not enjoying the moment. Just as her mother has warned her. He was more like her father than she’d ever wanted to admit.
“We’ll go tell them soon. We can celebrate with them tonight. You’ll see.”
“You say that, but I know what’s going to happen, even if you don’t. Something will come up, some emergency that you can’t let anyone else handle. It has to be you. And I’ll be waiting downstairs alone. Again.”
“So what would you have me do? You want me to rip up this contact with Dick Eastman? You want me to thumb my nose at this deal, this deal that’s everything I could ever have wanted?”
All he ever could have wanted.
She turned to face him. “No, of course not.” She pinned a smile on her face. “This is what you’ve worked for. It’s just…I made a commitment to myself over the past few days. To not settle on being second best to anyone. I think that maybe, right now, you and I need some time. Some space to figure out who we are. What we want.”
She didn’t mean anything of the sort though, but it sounded really grown up and responsible. No, what she really wanted was for Cruz to crush her against him again, to say that space was the last thing they needed. That they’d figure this out and that he knew it would be hard, but he would work hard to make them a priority. That he wouldn’t let business take over his life.
To make some effort so she could believe him.
“Maybe you’re right.” His tone was different. Wooden. “You have a lot on your plate right now, a wedding to cancel, your whole future to figure out. And I have weeks and months to get this project off the ground. The last thing either of us needs is another commitment.”
His words were like ice to her heart, but she nodded, as if he made all the sense in the world, willing the tears not to spill. For him not to know her heart was breaking.
“Then maybe if it’s not too late, I might see about hitching a ride back with Brad. No sense just hanging around another day by myself. Kate’s going to be a little preoccupied.”
Ask me to stay.
“Sure. That makes sense. You should head out. I won’t have to worry about you passing out in the airport or getting in an argument with the airport staff and being hauled away to jail.” He smiled, but his eyes didn’t hold the same smile. “Maybe we can even have dinner sometime, when I get back.”
She nodded again. “That sounds great. Well, I better get going otherwise I might miss my ride.”
With one last long look, staring at that strong, handsome face, the lips that could look so stern and hard but soften and feel so heavenly on hers. She memorized it all, creating another memory that wouldn’t be in any album.
Then with a little wave, she walked past him and out the door.
Hoping he’d stop her.
Cruz knew he needed to stop her. He wanted to stop her. Wanted to tell her that no matter how much this deal meant to him, meant to his business, he’d never let it become more important than her. That he’d always make room for her.
But then she’d dropped the announcement she was going to get a ride back on the Eastman jet. A privilege only available to her because of her connection to the formidable Eastmans. A privilege and convenience he couldn’t offer her.
Not yet.
She wanted time and space. He could give that to her. If she really wanted him, really was ready to make this commitment to him, what were a few more months? He’d get this deal going, would reap the rewards, including the recognition he’d long sought for Sorensen Construction. Recognition his father’s company was deserving of.
If Payton Vaughn and he were really meant to be, then there would still be tomorrow. There would still be the future to show her that he could be everything she wanted.
That he was worthy of her love.
Chapter Seventeen
Payton typed in the three-number security code from the back of her credit card and stared at the screen in front of her.
“Come on, do it. Or I’ll push it myself,” Brad said from behind her, pretending to reach over to press the enter button on her computer.
She pushed his hand away and took a breath before hitting the button, registering herself for the U’s LSAT prep course. The first step to getting admitted into law school again. Unfortunately, as she’d found out over the past week since returning from Mexico, her previous LSAT score, taken six years before, was no longer valid, and she had to retake it to be considered for admission anywhere.
It was probably for the best as it gave her time to prepare, and not just for the LSAT she’d take in June, but for her law school applications. She shut her laptop and sat back on her couch.
“That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?” Brad asked next to her.
“Easier than I thought. I can’t believe I’m doing it. Finally.” In the time since coming back from the ill-fated trip, she’d had a lot to think about. About what she wanted, where her life was going, and if she was going to sit around and let choices be made for her or finally do something for herself.
Discovering that she still wanted to focus on environmental law and reading up on all the recent progress in that area had been so invigorating and exciting. She felt hopeful.
Even if she’d lost a big part of her heart and didn’t know if she’d ever feel whole again. But it was done. She knew that, finally, because her mother had gloated over the details of the deal that had been picked up by several media outlets and, as Brad had confirmed, some big contractor magazine was going to feature Cruz as a mover and shaker next month.
At least he was getting what he wanted.
And soon, she’d be on the road to feeling a lot better about herself. Maybe not getting everything she wanted, but close. She’d even told Camille to go ahead with canceling the wedding, much to her mother’s horror. But she was leading her life her way now.
“Should we celebrate?” Brad asked and leaped up from the couch, heading over to her open kitchen.
“Maybe after I get my LSAT score. I’m a little rusty when it comes to test taking. I might crash and burn.”
“I insist,” he said and pulled a bottle of red wine from the shelf. “It’s not Champagne but it will do. This is a momentous step, Payton. You have to be proud of yourself for taking control of your life again. And can you imagine the look on your mother’s face when you tell her you’re going to law school and dropping out of the social circuit?”
“Yeah,” she said and set her laptop on the coffee table in front of her and tucked her legs underneath her. “That will be epic. She’s entirely too satisfied with how things progressed last weekend. When I stepped on that plane with you, I thought she was going to actually crack some semblance of a full-faced smile, she was that happy with herself.”
He pulled the cork from the bottle and poured two glasses before rejoining her. “Yeah, I think she even considered throwing me a high five for a minute there.”
Payton smiled and sipped her wine. It was surprising how understanding Brad had been about the whole thing with Cruz. And for the first time in a while, she felt they were both being honest with each other, with what they wanted, their plans for themselves. Something they’d never really done before, always holding a little back from each other. Yes, he might have destroyed her trust in him when he cheated on and lied to her, but she had to be honest that over the past week, he’d done a lot to repair that trust.
He held his glass up. “To both of us making better choices and telling our parents where to jump.” His eyes twinkled, and she realized that he had some news of his own.
She paused before taking a drink. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Only that last night I received an offer from the New York marketing company I’ve been working closely with for Eastman Motors. They want me to join their department. Not because I’m an Eastman and not because of anything my father arranged. But because they saw the work I did and loved it and thought I’d make a great addition to their team. I’m joining them in two weeks.”
“Shut up,” she said in disbelief and then let out a squeal before hugging him, sending her wine precariously close to spilling.
“Watch that wine. You wouldn’t want stains on this eggshell fabric,” he said in a tone that mimicked her mother.
“Then I’ll dye it cranberry. I’m so happy for you, Brad. Really.” She held her glass up and tipped it against his. “To telling our parents where to jump.”
The wine was warm and comforting as it went down, and she felt a similar sense of warmth and comfort in his presence. His face changed, growing more serious, and he set his glass down. His fingers were almost cold as he took her hands in his and she looked up in surprise. What was coming over him?
“Come with me.”
“Come with you? Where, to New York? Are you crazy?”
“Far from it. We can turn a whole new page. You can study for the LSAT there. And hell, you’ll have your pick of top law schools in New York. Columbia? NYU? Even Yale is only ninety minutes away. We can start fresh without our families watching our every step, plotting our entire lives. We can do what we should have done from the start. Make it about just you and me.”
Last week, she’d have leaped at the chance. Now, though…there was another person she wanted. Another person who had her heart. Now and maybe forever. Even if he didn’t feel the same way.
Starting over with someone else, someone she cared about and who cared about her…it could maybe help her heart heal. But…
“It sounds so tempting,” she said honestly. “But I can’t do it, Brad. It wouldn’t be fair to you or me. I don’t say this to hurt you, but what I had with…Cruz, even so brief…well, I don’t think I could feel that same way about you.”
“Good,” he said, not looking the least bit upset. Only earnest. “Because whatever you might have felt or still feel for that guy wasn’t anything to build a foundation on. It might have felt different, earth shaking even, but eventually that would have dissipated and you two would have been left with nothing but those old memories. You turned to him when you were hurting and in pain, and I don’t believe you ever would have looked at him twice if I hadn’t done what I did. I blame myself. But you and I, we’re alike. We both have meddlesome, overbearing parents, similar backgrounds, education, interests. Everything to build a solid foundation for a long-term relationship. Even a marriage.”
What is he doing? Is he asking me to marry him all over again?
Payton remembered the stomach-clenching pain she’d felt in those minutes after she left Cruz. Returning to her room, packing up, and then…she had waited for him. Hoped and feared that he’d knock on that door and try again. Make her see his way, anything. Just fight for her.
But he didn’t.
She’d boarded that flight, the pain excruciating, wondering how she’d ever feel anything again. Those hours on the plane had felt like the longest in her life.
Monday came and then Tuesday and Wednesday and she’d lay in bed watching her favorite romcoms and eating her weight in chocolate-covered cherries in between going through boxes of tissues for the constant flow of tears. She’d almost made it out once, to go pick up a new cell phone.
Then she thought about all the long hours that she’d spend staring at it. Willing it to ring. Willing Cruz to call and tell her he’d been an idiot and he’d move heaven and earth to be with her—she’d clearly been watching too many romcoms.
And when he didn’t, it would crush her all over again, that is if there were anything left to crush.
So she decided she liked her ignorant bliss. Of shutting out the world and hiding under the comfort of her duvet. Wondering if only she hadn’t put such a condition on Cruz, they might be together now. If she’d been more flexible. Then she put on one of her favorite Sandra Bullock flicks for the eighth time and cried some more.
Until Thursday came. And she realized she was done with changing anything in her life for anyone but herself. She needed to find out what exactly she wanted. Live for herself. No one else.
Even though she now woke up every day, her chest feeling almost ripped open again as the memories flooded back to her, she resolved to move on.
To forget.
She had to admit, what Brad was offering was tempting. New life. New memories. New adventures in a new city. And what he said made sense. About having the basic foundation of building something together—even if trust was still going to be a long time coming.
It would be so easy to say yes. Things would be fun and comfortable with Brad. But she’d be running away. Hiding herself in something that was only…second best. She could see that, and as tempting as that might be, it wouldn’t be right.
Sadly, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Brad. I just can’t.”
Cruz sat in his car another minute, unable to tear his gaze from the scene. Payton and Brad sitting on her couch, laughing together. Talking. Enjoying a celebratory glass of wine.
Obviously together.
It was like someone had dropped a load of bricks on him then sucker punched him just for the hell of it. He’d expected this, hadn’t he? So why was he so surprised?
Monday had been tough, arriving in Salt Lake alone and trying to get back to work. There’d been tons to do, people to talk to, and he’d been able to completely fill his day, barely having time to collapse into bed and repeat it all the next day. And the day after that. Until nearly a week had whizzed by and he’d barely had any time to think about what he left behind. The life he thought he was going to have.
Only tonight, he’d found himself aimlessly driving and before he knew it, he was outside her place, excited and terrified when he first saw her sitting alone on the couch through her open blinds. Something he’d been thinking he needed to warn her about, since she didn’t know the number of pervs out there.
Then Brad had joined her.
Cruz still didn’t know why he’d come here tonight, what he’d hoped for. He only knew that this past week he’d missed Payton with such savage intensity that he had needed to see her. See if maybe she still wanted to give this thing a shot. To tell her he’d been an idiot to let her get on that flight back home without him. For even letting her out the damn door.
Only, he hadn’t expected to see she had company.
Brad Eastman of all people.
Maybe this was good, him seeing her like this. Happy. Not pining away for him. It was the kick in the ass he needed to get his head back in the game.
Because he had to admit, these past few days, his head had been anywhere but at work. He was going to blow the whole thing and everything he’d given up would be for nothing.
It’s done then.
He didn’t have to worry that he let her down. He didn’t have to think about her at all.
He only hoped he could live with his feeling, this deep sense of loss, that he’d let the best thing he’d ever had get away from him.
Cruz arrived at his parent’s house the next night for the usual Sunday dinner, something that he’d missed last week in Mexico, when he couldn’t face anyone and had holed up in his hotel room until his flight the next day.
He’d imagined his family downstairs waiting in the restaurant, passing grins and knowing glances at what might have his attention upstairs enough to miss their Sunday dinner. It was better to let them think that than to come down and face them with the real truth.
That Payton had hopped on a jet with her ex-fiancé and mother, deciding to move on with her life. Without him.
But Payton would have been a distraction, one he couldn’t afford. Which was why he’d first instilled his rule of no serious relationships. They consumed too much time and worry. And time was in short supply.
It threw him for a minute when he walked in to his parent’s kitchen to see everyone gathered around the table, his parents, and Daisy and Benny. Dominic was still on his honeymoon for a few days or he and Kate would probably be there too. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out who they were talking about since the room went awkwardly silent when he entered.
He pretended not to notice and went to the stove, lifting a pot and smelling the savory goodness inside. “Smells great. Sorry I’m late. I was at the office running a few numbers. I think we can get the first crew started on that demolition by Wednesday,” he said to his dad.
Petter Sorensen sat with his usual stoicism at the head of the table, his arms folded in front of him. He nodded. “I am sure you have it all handled.”
The women all gave each other meaningful glances and he waited to see who would take the lead. His bets were on Benny, the youngest and most fearless.
“Heard anything from Payton?” Yep. Predictable.
“No, Benny. I haven’t. Nor would I expect to.” He poured a glass of water and watched them from over the rim as he drank.
“Seriously? You don’t think everyone noticed the way you two looked at each other, spent the whole night staring into each other’s eyes, and then quietly disappeared together?”
He pretended to mull her words over. “Payton is a beautiful woman. Can you blame me for wanting to enjoy her company? I would think you’d be congratulating me for getting up and dancing instead of brooding in a corner.”
This time Daisy intervened. And not on his behalf. “Yes, but coming from the guy who thinks even a hug is too much of a public display of affection—from your mother—your turn into a regular Don Juan was a little surprising.”
This was exactly the reason he’d been hiding from everyone for the past week. They never let up. He sighed heavily. “Payton had just broke up with her fiancé,” he said with emphasis, “a guy she’s known for years and was about to spend the rest of her life with. She wasn’t looking for anything serious, just a good time. Same with me.”
“That’s not what it looked like to me, dear brother,” Benny said again.
“Look guys. This deal, with Eastman Motors, it’s huge. And it’s going to take every minute of my time for the next year, at least, to get all the projects green-lighted and crew hired, not to mention speaking with Dominic about designing us a new headquarters for Sorensen Construction. I don’t have time for anything else right now.”
