“That’s awful sweet of you, Cruz,” Payton said. “I was just heading to the front desk to get directions. But maybe you can escort me yourself.”
“Why don’t I grab my purse and I can join—” Payton’s mother started.
“Mother, I know you’re tired from your long trip and weren’t you just telling me you wanted to rest before joining everyone this evening for the ceremony? As you can see, I’ll be in good hands. You don’t need to tag along.”
Mrs. Vaughn looked like she wanted to argue for a moment but instead pursed her lips together in disapproval. Probably realizing that she’d make more of a scene if she insisted.
“Very well. I’ll just do a little unpacking, maybe order up a light lunch. But for heaven’s sake, Payton, please take a hat with you. The bright Mexican sun is destroying your complexion.”
Payton sighed and walked to the bedroom, returning after a minute with a wide-brimmed hat.
“We’d better go. I’ll see you later,” she said to her mother.
He opened the door and turned one last time to say good-bye but the woman had already left the room. In the hallway, Payton groaned. “Sorry about that. Please don’t take offense. She’s like that with most people.”
“Really? And here I was thinking she might actually like me.”
Payton snorted in a very unlady-like way and led the way down the hall. Leaving him to admire the way her hair fell soft and shining over her shoulders, how her ankle-skimming dress—a soft blue—clung to her curves in a tantalizing way, reminding him of the way her body fit against his, perfect and lovely.
He imagined for a moment what it would be like to actually call her his wife. To announce to everyone the commitment they made to each other and intended on honoring…all the days of their lives. Or, at least until she woke up and realized he wasn’t enough for her. That she needed more. More of what Brad Eastman and the millions of dollars at his fingertips could offer her.
No. Best not to let his imagination get away from him. Payton would never be happy with someone like him.
They reached the elevator and pushed the call button. “I reached my assistant earlier,” he said, hoping to ease her mind. “She’s looking into finding an attorney for us to speak to. But with it being the weekend, it might have to wait until we get home on Monday. What time is your flight home?”
She didn’t look at him, keeping her eyes on the doors that were still shut. “I’m actually leaving tomorrow. My mother booked us both return tickets home. Something I would have argued with if I hadn’t realized that if I didn’t go along with it, I’d be stuck with her as my roommate another night.”
She was leaving tomorrow. He didn’t know why, but the thought of her getting on a plane, leaving him behind, filled him with an unsettling feeling in his chest. “I’m sure news that your mother will be gone by tomorrow will give the hotel staff some relief.”
“I’ll bet.” But she was smiling. The elevator opened, empty and waiting, and they stepped inside. “Um, I should probably warn you. Kate and I had a little bit of a heart to heart. Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her about us being married, but I did mention something about the high volume of tequila we consumed and how we managed to…uh, get Biblical last night.”
He grinned. “Biblical? Honey, I don’t think any of those moves we did last night were sanctioned by the good book.”
She raised those green impish eyes to his, smiling back. Neither of them looked away as the eight floors passed above them as the elevator slowly descended. Then they weren’t smiling, and Payton’s mouth had dropped the barest amount. Just as it had last night when he’d been about to kiss her. Her face was flushed, and from the way her chest was rising and falling, she was having as hard of a time finding her breath as he was.
The lurching of the elevator as they came to a stop broke their eye contact. He glanced up to see they were only on the second floor. An older couple, in matching yellow floral shirts got on. “Looks like you might have room for two more?” the older man asked.
One damn floor. They couldn’t take the stairs for one floor? Cruz had been that close to…
He glanced again at Payton. She was biting her lip, as if trying to stop herself from laughing. The old couple turned and looked at them with suspicion, knowing they’d interrupted something more scintillating than just a kiss, before turning back around.
A few seconds later, the doors opened and they all got off, but he wasn’t in a hurry to join the rest, and slowed his pace as they crossed the lobby. Payton didn’t seem to mind, either, her hand at her side. Close enough for him to reach over and place in his. The urge was almost overwhelming.
But before he could actually act on that foolish notion, they reached the Garden Room and dozens of interested eyes settled on them when they stepped out onto the patio.
And he thought facing Emily Vaughn had been a challenge.
She had nothing on the wide and mischievous smiles of his aunts when they saw them, undoubtedly ready to sharpen their matchmaking skills on the two of them.
He would have warned Payton about them, but he didn’t have time before she was enveloped in the generous bosom of his Aunt Essie.
Chapter Thirteen
Payton had never been as mauled by so many women in her life as when Cruz introduced her to his family, their names and faces becoming a blur. And even though physical contact wasn’t something she was used to from her own family, let alone strangers, she was oddly comfortable.
Fifteen minutes later, she finally snuck away from two particularly nosy but well meaning aunts and sank into an empty chair next to one of his two sisters. Over the rim of the glass of iced water, she tried not to sneak peeks at Cruz, who had left her side to check a message he’d received and, even now, was sitting two tables over, his face still buried in his phone.
She knew why he did it, worked himself to death in the name of business. Cruz, as much as he tried to pretend he was a cold and levelheaded businessman first, did everything for his family. To secure their future as much as his own. And here, sitting in the loud but loving grasp of his family, who were teasing each other, cursing at each other, and all connected by this bond called family, no matter how tenuous the connection, she could see why the success of their business might be so important to him. And she could see why Kate thrived under the affection, since she’d never had that kind of thing herself, which made Payton beyond ecstatic for her friend. Even if a little sad.
She thought about the fancy engagement party her mother had forced on her last December. A stuffy affair with people who she barely knew and who didn’t care about her even half as much as these people cared for Kate. Heck, to be honest, her own family of aunts and uncles and cousins were prickly and cold, more inclined to a careful peck on the cheek than the full-bosomed hugs and embraces that Payton had already received today from a dozen strangers.
For a moment she thought about what her mother would do if Cruz’s Aunt Essie, with the wide smile and generous bosom, had tried to pull her into a hug and she almost giggled at the prospect. Her mother’s head would probably explode, or she’d bust off one of her ridiculously expensive veneers while gritting her teeth.
“What has you so amused?” Kate asked, taking a seat across from her. She burst into laughter when Payton explained, catching Benny’s attention.
The youngest of the siblings, Benny was also the one giving her the most discomforting glances. Like she knew something was up and was going to wrestle someone to the ground to get the information. And although she was a smaller-framed woman, close to Payton’s size, Payton wouldn’t put it past the woman to be able to pin Cruz down based on her guts and cunning alone.
“Wait until later tonight,” Benny said. “After the wedding, the real celebration begins. You might want to warn your mother that alcohol and dancing always sends this family into planet crazy-pants.”