“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.”