Текст книги "Her Accidental Husband"

Автор книги: Ashlee Mallory

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

Chapter Eleven

It was just after noon when the taxi they’d taken from the airport—where they’d dropped off their rental car—pulled up to the front of the hotel. Cruz paid the driver and helped Payton climb out, a courtesy that came easily to him.

Not so easy was knowing he had to relinquish her arm, and let her go.

He had thought that when he reached this moment, as he handed off the duties of sole protector of Payton to her friend and his family, that he would be feeling overwhelming relief that she wasn’t his to worry about. Instead, there was a sense of sadness. Of loss. Of a chapter ending that had been—although unexpected—strangely fun and exciting.

He followed Payton inside and up to the check-in counter. Despite the hangover from hell that they both had been recovering from most of the morning—who knew those Bueno bars would be the prefect hangover cure?—he was unable to keep his eyes off her.

Her face makeup-free but bright and glowing, those green eyes that looked at him with a little bit of wonder and surprise the past few hours, she was beautiful. Just as beautiful now as when he danced with her under the moonlight in that dress, or later, when he’d held her in his arms naked and resplendent. When he’d thought she was and was going to remain…his wife.

At least, until morning came and the haze of alcohol was wiped away with sobriety. And needling doubt.

They passed a fountain and a bar where people were leaving with tall fruit-rimmed drinks. The hotel attendant was already checking in another couple, so they hung back and waited. The silence between them was now painful, and neither of them made eye contact with the other as they instead feigned interest in the hotel’s bright orange toned walls, the high-pitched ceilings, and the people passing through the lobby.

“We’re here at last,” Payton said brightly, but the words sounded forced. She was trying to fill the silence that had grown between them over the past couple hours as they arrived closer to their destination.

“Even made it in time for the lunch with half an hour to spare.” His own words sounded equally hollow.

The hotel clerk, a younger guy in his twenties with decent English skills, motioned them over. Cruz stood next to Payton, waiting patiently as she checked in first. News that their luggage had arrived the day before and was already up in their rooms brought a squeal of excitement from Payton, and she reached her hand out and squeezed his arm before stopping, almost uncertain, and then pulling away. “Sorry.”

Right. Payton and he were already falling back into their usual awkwardness.

The next words from the hotel agent froze them both to their spot. “It appears your mother also arrived a couple of hours ago, Ms. Vaughn. She wanted me to relay that you’re to call her immediately on arrival as she was hoping to, uh, stay in your room. Of course, under hotel policy, we couldn’t release the rooms to Mrs. Vaughn, regardless of your relationship.”

Cruz looked down to see how Payton was handling the news. Her fingernails almost dug into the surface of the desk where she’d been resting them.

“My mother is here.” But it was a statement rather than a question. “Of course she is.” She looked up at Cruz, her eyes imploring him now. “Cruz, can I have a moment alone with you?”

He nodded to the hotel clerk and they stepped away from the desk.

Her voice was low and laced with panic. “Under no circumstances can my mother know that we shared the same room last night—let alone…well, everything else. Even taking away the whole marriage thing,” she gulped and took a breath before starting again, “I couldn’t bare to have her go into a lengthy lecture of the impropriety of my lewd and immoral behavior. Sleeping with a man who wasn’t—in my mother’s eyes—my fiancé.”

“Of course, Payton. I’m not usually in the habit of parading the details of my private life to anyone,” he added, his voice cool. It sounded an awful lot like Payton was ashamed of being with a guy like him. That he was someone to be ashamed of. And it cut to the quick. “It will remain our secret.”

A family of four arrived in the lobby and started toward the desk. “Look. Why don’t we both get settled into our rooms, take a moment to relax, and remember why we’re here today. To watch the two people we care about really do this marriage thing the right way. We can talk later.”

She nodded but her eyes were already unfocused, and her shoulders seemed so tight and tense that he was afraid she’d shatter to the touch. But they stepped forward and continued with the registration. They were just getting their key cards handed to them when a familiar voice cried out for them across the lobby.

And like that, their crazy, unexpected trip, a trip that had brought him more adventure and excitement, the feeling that he was fully alive, came to an official end.

“Payton! Cruz! I’m so happy to see you,” Kate said, the relief palpable in her voice.

Payton turned to find her friend rushing toward them, her vibrant red hair hard to miss, as was the dark handsome fiancé who followed close behind. Kate pulled Payton into a hug that threatened to bruise a few ribs if she didn’t let up. It was another reminder of how much Dominic and his big-hearted family had worked miracles on Kate, who before knowing him, would have been more likely to pat Payton awkwardly on the back than give her such an effusive hug. Payton liked the change.

“Isn’t it bad luck for you two to see each other before the ceremony?” Cruz asked Dominic, who was similar in height and coloring to his older brother, but was freer with the disarming smiles. And whereas Dominic’s eyes twinkled blue in mischief, Cruz’s dark brown eyes were more sharp and astute, seeming to have the power to look inside your soul—or maybe that was just her.

Kate waved her hand. “Not a chance. We only have two weeks to be together without the pressing worry of trial dates and Dominic’s studies,” she said in reference to her fiancé’s recent return to the architecture program he’d abandoned a few years before to help out with the family business. “I’m not wasting even a minute holed up in a hotel room to honor some silly old superstition.”

Dominic’s hand was around Kate’s waist and he brought her up against him and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Nor would I run the risk leaving her alone in our opinionated aunties’ care. They’d only share more stories from when we were kids that would best be forgotten—for both our sakes.”

“Too late on that score,” Kate said and laughed, and turned to Payton to explain. “They used to come here every summer growing up, getting into their fair share of trouble. Once, the two of them, six and four at the time, broke into the town’s candy shop during siesta time, and then snuck back to their beds, almost undetected. They might have gotten away with it if they didn’t have melted chocolate plastered all over their faces. Who’d have thought I’d be marrying a known felon.”

The image of Cruz doing anything as undignified—and illegal—as breaking into a candy store at the tender age of six brought a reluctant smile to Payton’s lips. But it couldn’t quite quell her sudden anxiety at having her mother pounce on her before she’d had a chance to decompress for a few minutes.

Kate was studying her, and as if sensing her feelings, stepped forward and grabbed her hand. “I’m going to entrust my future husband in your hands for just a little while, Cruz, while I take my maid of honor up to her room to get settled. We have a few things to talk about.”

“Like the fact my mother is somewhere in this very hotel waiting to welcome me?”

In a conspiratorial voice, Kate said, “I have it on good authority that your mother is out at the pool drinking daiquiris waiting for your call. If we slip away now, we should have some time before she’s tipped off that you’re here, since I understand most of the hotel staff is hiding from her.”

Payton exhaled a tiny bit in relief. Kate pulled on her hand, but Payton felt a strange pang at the thought of leaving Cruz behind. She turned to him, hoping her face showed only relief and gratitude instead of the unsettling sadness that their time together was over. “Thanks again for making sure I got here in one piece. It’s definitely been an adventure.”

“That it has.” They studied each other a few heartbeats more before Kate pulled on Payton’s hand.

“Come on,” Payton heard Dominic saying to his older brother, “Let’s get you cleaned up. And mom wants to see you, make sure you’re actually in one piece.”

“The roads down here weren’t that bad.”

“I wasn’t talking about the roads,” she heard Dominic distinctly say, followed by their laughter.

“Okay, I’m guessing we have less than ten minutes before your mother starts pounding on that door demanding an audience with you,” Kate said a few minutes later as they stepped into Payton’s room and shut the door. “So you had better start talking.”

Payton dropped her purse on the desk. “Talk about what?”

“Oh, let’s see,” Kate said and tossed her long red hair over her shoulders before turning those laser-like gray eyes on her friend. “About the fact that two nights ago you were devastated to discover your fiancé was sleeping around and then last night, when I tried Cruz’s phone four times to reach you to see if you were okay, I only got voicemail. And then Cruz tells me this morning you got a late start and you couldn’t talk because you were in the shower.”

Payton raised her brow, feigning confusion. “And?”

“And you’re my best friend and I know when you’re avoiding talking to me. So I wondered, what on earth could you have done that would have you dodging my calls? What kind of trouble could you get into with a dark brooding guy whose picture, if I wasn’t happy and in love with Dominic, I would be pinning to my fridge?”

Payton laughed a little uneasily. “Kate, you know how Cruz and I are together. We can barely stand each other.”

“Some might call that mere…foreplay. Because I know that despite how much you and Cruz seemed to hate each other sight unseen, there was also a certain chemistry there from the moment you met. The first time,” Kate added, having heard the whole story that same night. “But since you were engaged to Brad the Bozo, I didn’t give it a second thought. Until…you weren’t engaged. And I thought, knowing my impetuous young friend who was reeling from a bad break-up and who might be looking for some payback, what would she do that might have her too embarrassed to talk to her old friend?” Kate crossed her arms in front of her, towering over Payton by a good six inches. “So spill. Don’t make me wrestle you to the bed and tickle it out of you.”

Payton wasn’t intimidated in the least by her friend. A friend who knew her so well that it was sometimes freaky how she could get into her head like she did. But Payton had resolved not to bend Kate’s ear any more than she already had with the tumultuous and disastrous twist her life had taken. This was Kate’s weekend. No—her wedding day. This wasn’t about Payton.

“Kate. I love you. You know that and I really appreciate your concern, but today is your big day. A day when you are about to commit to the man of your dreams for the rest of your lives.”

“You think that me wanting the salacious details of your life is going to ruin my day? Heck, Payton, I’m dying to know, and if you make me wait another minute, I’m seriously going to dial your mother’s cell right now and have her come up here pronto.”

From the determined gleam in her friend’s gray eyes, Payton knew Kate had her beat. In defeat, Payton flung herself onto the bed, her arm draped across her eyes. “Let’s just say that the night started with good intentions. But somewhere between my first and—oh, ninth?—shot of tequila, it appears I managed to kiss the best man, and later…” For a moment, Payton considered spilling everything to Kate. Like the fact that she’d said I do somewhere in the past twelve hours. But she couldn’t be that selfish, not on her best friend’s wedding day. She’d wait until the dust settled to come clean with everything. Instead, she took a deep breath and finished her sentence. “And ended up in bed with said best man.”

Kate’s mouth dropped open, but nothing came out. Instead, she blinked several times.

“Kate? This has got to be a first. I have actually stunned you speechless.” Her friend would be practically catatonic if she were to tell her the whole truth.

Kate sank on the mattress next to Payton, shaking her head, as if trying to understand something. “Okay. Wait. Let’s go back. You’re saying that all it took was one kiss from Cruz to get you two horizontal? Wow. That must have been some kiss.” There was a smile in her voice.

“Well, it was a kiss—a fantastic toe curling kiss—followed by some dancing, a little more kissing, and loads of tequila. But only because we had to keep up the charade we were in Mexico to get married.” She closed her eyes. “Man, if I’d known when I told that fib—you know, just to get under Cruz’s skin—to the busload of Texan square-dancers who ran us off the road that we’d be staying with those people for the rest of the night, I probably would have rethought it.”

This time Kate actually grabbed both sides of her head. “What? Okay. You really have to go back a few more steps. Start with the bus.”

It took Payton five minutes to relay the whole story, careful to keep out any details of the impromptu wedding ceremony. Which wasn’t hard since a lot of that was still blurry—although bits and pieces were coming back to her.

“I knew something was up when Cruz answered the phone this morning. I could sense it in his voice,” Kate said, shaking her head. She turned sideways to look at Payton. “And?”

“And what?”

“And what happened this morning? Did you guys talk about it?”

They certainly talked, talked about how the heck they were going to get out of their mess. But did they talk about all the emotions that had been building that led to that moment? That up until things got hazy thanks to the barrel of tequila she’d consumed, she’d been having strong feelings for the best man that had left her confused but also excited?

“No. Not really,” she answered truthfully. “We focused on getting here.”

Kate snorted. “That must have been some ride back. Well, now that you’ve had some time to process it all, how are you feeling? Do…do you like him?”

Man, she knew confiding as much as she had with Kate was going to be trouble. “Do I still think he’s a complete Neanderthal with no redeeming qualities other than his silence? Probably not.”

Kate laughed and pushed Payton’s shoulder. “Come on, tell me the truth. You like him. You did when you first saw him, no matter how much you talked yourself out of it. And now that you’ve dumped Brad and have nothing stopping you from getting to know him better…”

“Actually, I do have something stopping us. Or someone. You know this huge deal Cruz has been putting together? Did you know that it’s with Eastman Motors?”

Kate’s brows furrowed for a moment. “Eastman Motors? As in… Oh. But you’re not engaged to Brad anymore. I’m not sure if this is as big as you think it—”

“Did I tell you that Dick already had a nice chat with Cruz yesterday? About trying to bring me around to resolving things with Brad?”

“What a slimeball. But Cruz didn’t do it. He was upfront with you…” She trailed off when Payton shook her head.

“He wasn’t initially. But you’re right; he did own up to it and apologize when I caught onto him. But it just goes to show you how important this deal is to him. So whether I have any feelings for him or not, that isn’t what’s relevant here. Not when I can’t see Cruz running the risk of jeopardizing this deal by ticking off Dick Eastman. This is the only thing that that matters to him right now.”

Kate’s eyes softened. “So maybe you might have feelings for him?”

She was relentless. And Payton couldn’t help but laugh.

She took a deep breath in and thought about the man who she’d spent the past two days getting to know. Thought of that hard, stern face that sometimes looked like it didn’t know how to smile, those eyes that sometimes glared at her in exasperation and anger. “He’s definitely moody,” she started. “And he makes me crazy enough that I want to throw something at him or tease him until he stomps out of the room.”

But other moments were beginning to eclipse those more tense times, when his eyes softened as they looked at her, like warm, melted dark chocolate and his lips curled up into that sensuous smile that made her heart feel like it was going to pound right out of her chest. “Sometimes I think that’s just a front to hide his true emotions. He has a great smile if he’d relax once in a while and not worry himself to death.”

She remembered the easy way he’d guided her on the dance floor, the way he had wrapped her in his arms, bringing his lips to hers, watching her so intensely she was ready to melt. “When he does loosen up, he’s actually quite…charming.”

She covered her eyes with her hands as other images of Cruz played in her memory, a generous and sensuous Cruz who for all his stoicism and reserve…was actually an incredible lover. But she wasn’t going to share that just yet with Kate. He was going to be her brother-in-law after all.

“By the blush on your face I would bet there are a few more attributes about the man that are definitely on the plus side.”

Payton smiled. A few.

A few attributes that made her lose all sense of reason and sanity and throw caution to the wind and actually say…I do.

Attributes that made her think whether it was such a mistake after all.

Chapter Twelve

Cruz got off the phone with his assistant and stared straight ahead into the mirror above the dresser of his hotel room. Finding yourself married in a foreign country on a bright Saturday afternoon certainly posed challenges to finding any legal counsel available to offer some guidance. He’d told his assistant to keep trying, wanting to know as soon as possible what exactly he and Payton had gotten themselves into.

For a fraction of a second, he thought about asking Kate for her opinion. But sanity returned. That was not ever going to happen. He’d never hear the end of it from his brother or the rest of his family when they found out he, Cruz Sorensen, whose longest commitment to anyone was his hairstylist, had gone and tied the knot.

Best to keep it quiet, as he and Payton had agreed, and wait. First thing Monday, they’d find someone to get them out of this mess.

He glanced at his watch. Ten minutes before brunch. With a suitcase filled with actual clean and unworn clothes waiting for him, he was itching to get out of the pants he’d worn the past three days. He could squeeze in a shower and maybe even a quick shave.

Other emotions seemed to keep pushing up at him, wanting to battle him for attention, demanding to be analyzed, considered, pondered, but he pushed it all to the back of his mind. Today was his brother’s wedding day. Whatever other emotions he might be feeling would have to wait.

Fifteen minutes later, and with some help from the front desk, Cruz found the Garden Room where the pre-wedding lunch was scheduled. The room itself, though bright and airy thanks to the natural light that filtered through the full ocean-facing windows, wasn’t very big and he doubted at first he was in the right place. Then he heard the laughing and shouts from the open patio door and looked out to see several tables already filled with food and people.

The moment he stepped outside, his boisterous Mexican family, who he probably hadn’t seen for five years, besieged him, swarming him with kisses and hugs and demands as to when he was going to be the next Sorensen to walk down the aisle. His sisters sat back at the main table with their mother, wide satisfied smiles on their faces, probably having something to do with the fact he was now the center of the aunties’ attention instead of them. Even his Aunt Glenda, Kate’s neighbor, was smiling a little too smugly at the comments.

He was well aware that Payton wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Same with her mother, and he felt a pang of guilt at the battle of a different kind she was going through now.

Kate and Dominic sat together at another table, already packed full with their relatives. They had blissful and glowing looks on their faces as their hands twined together. But he saw a certain something in Kate’s eyes as she sipped her drink and stared at him a minute too long for his comfort before returning her attention to his Aunt Essie.

It was with relief that he sank into the chair next to his youngest sister, Benny.

“Glad you could finally make the show, bro,” she said and bit into a buttery-looking croissant. “If one more of our well-meaning aunties asked why I was here all by my lonesome and that they had several young men they’d be happy to make my introduction to if I was that hard up, I’d have drowned myself in the ocean. They didn’t seem to hear me explain that a pediatric residency at a premier children’s hospital doesn’t really allow for much of a social life—or that I’m not looking for one.”

He grabbed the bottled beer he’d had the forethought to snag from the refreshment table and took a long pull, enjoying the cool taste as it went down—a different experience from the almost burning tequila of last night. “Yeah, but it wouldn’t hurt you to occasionally put your toes in the water. Get out there once in a while.”

“Said the pot to the kettle. That’s rich coming from Mr. I-Don’t-Do-Commitment, working probably as much if not more hours a week than I do.”

Which was all true. Except for the part where less than twenty-four hours before he’d made the biggest commitment a man could make to another person. He looked across the table to his other sister, Daisy, who had a slight smile on her face as she watched her three kids run around with their cousins. She looked amazing for a woman who’d been through so much these past few months. Her weasel of a husband had taken off with their money and some girl half his age, leaving her to pick up the pieces.

Benny followed his gaze, dropping her tone to more of a conspiratorial whisper. “At least the aunts were a little kinder to her, mostly muttering curses at her waste of an ex-husband, intermixed with prayers that he get what’s coming to him. That got her actually laughing. I’m just glad he signed the divorce papers and didn’t fight her on custody of the kids.”

Him too. Not that anyone thought the weasel really wanted to be tied down to three kids—no matter how awesome his two nieces and nephew were. No, it was more the kind of thing Daisy’s ex would have done just to add a little salt to the wound. The guy was lucky he didn’t have two broken legs. Kate had swooped in and made sure that Daisy got what she was owed and then some. Something Cruz would be eternally grateful for.

A wisp of long dark hair flew across Daisy’s eyes and she brushed it back and caught them both staring at her. “You guys don’t have to look so tragic,” she said and laughed. “I’m doing great. Better than great. Did Benny tell you I was promoted at the bakery? Gina’s even giving me artistic license to create a few of my own recipes that we’re going to add to the daily specials.”

“Not even surprised, sis. When you set out to do something, you always kick ass.”

A hand slapped him on the shoulder. “Language,” his mother said before leaning over to give him a hug and kiss on the head.

He looked around for his dad, finding him in conversation with the uncles, the barest smile on his mouth. A big Nordic man with quick discerning blue eyes and blond hair slowly turning to gray, he carried authority despite his age and the heart condition that necessitated surgery a few months ago.

His mother took a seat next to Daisy and stared at him with her sly brown eyes that usually knew more than he liked. “Glad to see you survived your trip. I haven’t seen Kate’s friend though. I hope you didn’t leave her behind at a gas station or try to sell her to the gypsies.”

“Tempting, but no,” he said, a smile tugging at his mouth. The gypsy thing was an old joke his mother used to say when they were kids as a threat when they got out of line. Until he was eight, he’d actually expected they would arrive for him one day and take him away, since he and Dominic made being naughty an art. “We managed to get here just fine. You can even ask Dominic. He saw her. She’s probably cornered somewhere by that mother of hers.”

At this the women all visibly shuddered. “She’s definitely something to get used to,” Daisy said with some restraint.

“Get used to? I’d sooner have an enema every day than be subjected to that woman,” Benny said. “She’s only been here a couple of hours, but I’ve already seen the hotel staff run and hide, crossing themselves whenever they spot her. Kate at least managed to get her isolated out at the pool—under proper shade, she insisted—and out of the staff’s hair for a little while.”

“Yeah. I hear she’s a pill.” Cruz took another drink and considered the possibility of hunting down Payton himself. Just to make sure she was okay.

No. That wasn’t necessary. Payton was a grown woman. She had to decide what she did and didn’t want. If she didn’t want Brad, then she had to be strong enough to resist her mother’s threats. In fact, after the spirit and spunk Payton had shown the last few days, maybe it was her mother he should be worried about.

Then he thought about the restrictive diet the woman imposed on her already beautiful daughter. The way she’d manipulated Payton into giving up her dreams of practicing environmental law for a position as part-time party planner. How the woman thought Payton’s only value was in being the trophy wife to a dipshit like Brad Eastman.

He got to his feet, ignoring his sisters’ curious stares. Maybe he’d just make a quick appearance after all.

Payton knew from the quick rap on the door, insistent and terrifying, that her mother was on the other side. She smoothed invisible lines on the sundress she’d slipped on moments before, glad she’d had the chance to apply a minimal amount of makeup to meet her mother’s approval, and went and answered the door.

Her mother stood there in a knee-length apricot-colored skirt and matching jacket, her mouth turned down in that perpetual frown she’d perfected, as she stared at her daughter. She took a step closer and Payton got a good waft of her mother’s perfume, something she’d always thought heavy and overbearing. Perfect for her mother.

“Well I can see you didn’t listen to a word I said about applying sunblock and wearing hats. Your face is positively tanned and splotchy. We’ll need a good layer of foundation to cover those freckles along your cheeks,” she said and swept into the room, wheeling her carry-on behind her.

Payton shut the door, gritting her teeth before forcing a smile. Her mother left her luggage by the couch and walked around the suite, looking into the bedroom, the bathroom, and then joining her back in the living area. “It’s a little small but it should do.”

“Should do for what?” Payton asked slowly, already knowing the answer.

“A stage for the New York Rockettes. Really, Payton?” she said in her most exasperated tone. “For our stay here. What else?”

“I wasn’t under the impression this was our hotel suite. In fact, I’m not even sure why you thought it was necessary to come down here at all. But now that you’re here and can see I arrived in one piece and in relatively good health, save for a little tan, you might as well head home. I’m sure you can find a taxi to get you to the airport. I’ll see if the front desk can do that right now.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Payton. I’m not about to leave you in Mexico without a proper companion. No, when I leave, it will be with you. I already had my agent book the two of us on a flight tomorrow afternoon.”

Her mother went over to the sliding glass doors and tried to open it, struggling with the latch. “You’d think that Kate could have picked a hotel with more class, though. There was a perfectly lovely five diamond hotel just a little further north.”

“The hotel is fine. Actually, it’s beautiful. It’s a perfect place for Kate and Dominic to share the biggest day of their lives with all the people they care for. A five diamond hotel isn’t something that most people could realistically manage nor would Kate expect it.”

“Yes.” Her mother sniffed and finally thrust the door open. “I’ve met a number of that…brood.”

Payton didn’t want to hear her mother’s litany against Cruz’s family and turned the conversation back to the issue of the room. “Maybe you should contact that other hotel. I’m sure you’d be more comfortable in your own private room at a top resort. There’s only one bed here, and I know how much you hate squirmers,” Payton couldn’t help adding in a more patronizing voice.

When Payton was little and went through a phase of nightmares, no amount of begging her mother to let her sleep with her worked. Her mother claimed Payton just squirmed way too much for anyone to get any rest. It was also the reason she had offered when Payton asked why her father took a room down the hall from her mother’s—she couldn’t tolerate the squirming—although now Payton had her suspicions on the real reason for that arrangement.

Her mother sighed heavily. “I’m not looking forward to sharing a bed with you anymore than you are with me, but I’ve told you, I’m not leaving you to your own devices in a strange country. Not even for a night.” Her mother sat on the edge of a chair and crossed her legs. She stared at her daughter another moment, letting Payton know she was waiting for something.

Payton stared back.

“Oh fine,” her mother said finally. “You know, you haven’t asked me one detail about how things are coming along with the wedding planning. But despite that glaring lack of manners, I’ll share with you anyway. We’ve heard back from nearly everyone and you’ll be happy to know that we have nearly one hundred percent acceptance. I’ve also had a few very heavy-handed hints for invitations, but as I’ve explained, we’re already at capacity.”