Her Accidental Husband (17 page)

“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.

C
ruz 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

P
ayton 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.”

W
hat 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.”

C
ruz 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.

C
ruz 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.”