Wow, her mother had wasted no time sharing everything with Brad. She wondered why her mother had even bothered with the farce this morning of pretending Payton had been at an early breakfast since it seemed everyone knew where she’d been.
“And yet, knowing this,” Brad continued, “knowing that you’d spent the night with this guy whose motives, I have to tell you, seem less than stellar, I still got on that flight and came here. Look, Payton, I think these past few months of planning, we’ve both lost sight of what was important. Each other. I love you and want to be with you, and I am willing to look past this…thing you had with Cruz Sorensen,” he uttered the name with blatant contempt, “and hope you can find a way to forgive me and we can work this out.”
“I’m sorry, Brad. Really I am. It’s just not going to work. I’m sorry you came all this way—actually,” she paused and grinned, “no I’m not. It’s the least you could do after what you put me through.”
He returned her smile. “Yeah, I guess I can give you that. But if I’m going to have to bring your mother home with me, then we’ve got to call it even. You might even owe me.”
“Don’t push your luck.” She looked at the clock again. “What time are you planning on heading back?”
“I’ll give the pilot a call and see how soon he can get us the go ahead, but I’m hoping later this afternoon. No sense hanging around this beautiful paradise if I’m not with the person I want to share it with.”
He really was a charmer, and she could see how the two of them could lead an easy life. But it wouldn’t be anything as exhilarating as one with Cruz. “You’re free to hang around here, but you’ll have to excuse me, I need to go find Cruz.”
“Thanks.” He hesitated, “There’s one more thing I should tell you. I kind of already had a chat with Cruz earlier.”
She stopped at the door. “You spoke with Cruz?”
“After I left here. I had something my father wanted me to drop off. A business contract. And I might have mentioned to him that your marriage wasn’t real.”
“Why? Why would you think it was okay to interfere in my life like that?”
“I’m not proud. I guess I was just being a little childish. He’s getting you, right? I think I had a right to be…peevish.”
Here she was all this time chatting up Brad, trying to let him down easy, when Cruz was back at his room with God knew what kind of doubts running through his head. He knew they weren’t married. That they didn’t have anything that really kept them together anymore. They could walk away from—
She was being paranoid. Last night had been more than she could ever have hoped for. She’d never felt closer to anyone in her life. Not being married didn’t change that.
Still. “I’ve got to go.”
She headed down the hallway, trying to calm her anxiety. Brad had mentioned something about dropping off a contract.
He’s just distracted. It had nothing to do with them. Right? Maybe it was something to do with the deal with Dick?
For some reason, that possibility didn’t make her feel any better.
Outside his door, she knocked. After ten seconds, she was ready to knock again when he opened the door wearing loose khaki shorts and a white T-shirt that accented the natural depth of his warm, tanned skin. He’d showered, just like her, his hair still wet and slicked back, and from the dab of shaving cream under his ear, freshly shaven.
“Hey,” she said, suddenly nervous and tongue-tied.
“Hey,” he said just as carefully. He watched her warily, as they stood there in silence. Her instinct begged her to wrap her arms around him, to ask him to hold her as he had last night.
But fear gripped her. What if instead of sadness at hearing their marriage wasn’t real he felt…relief?
So she waited, the sound of her own breathing seeming unnaturally loud. He took a step back finally, opening the door wider. “Come on in. Guess it’s time we talked.”
She looked pretty and sexy as always in a white strappy sundress, the sides of her hair twisted and held back leaving her lovely face exposed. But she kept her gaze down, unable to meet his eyes, which sent an alarm through his system. He’d been sweating bullets since Brad left, wondering with every minute that ticked by and she wasn’t back, if she was having second thoughts.
Because maybe she’d just been making the best of a bad situation before. And now that there was nothing holding them together, she was seeing an out.
“I’m guessing you got my note?”
He shut the door, taking his time. “Note? No.”
She walked to the veranda where he’d left the French doors open earlier. “I left a note explaining that I was heading over to talk to my mother and to change.” She turned to face him. “I’ve spoken to my mother and—and to Brad. I gather he told you? About the marriage?”
His eyes met hers, solemn and maybe a little wary. “Yeah. He did.”
She smiled and finally met his gaze. “I guess in hindsight, it was kind of silly for us to think that we could get married so easily.”
“Maybe it was.”
“But…” she bit her lip, trying to decide something. “Nothing has changed for me. About you? About us? I still…I still want to be with you.”
A weight that had been pressing on his chest seemed to suddenly fly away and he could breathe again. He couldn’t stop the smile that slid across his face. He took a step toward her. “Yeah? And what exactly did your mother say to that?” He reached her and slid his arms around her waist. “Should I expect the firing squad to arrive any minute?”
“She’s putting a call in now.” Her eyes were so expressive, filled with hope. “Actually, I’m hoping she’s packing her suitcase and getting ready to head home with Brad. Giving us complete privacy and time to ourselves.”
“Well, save for the fifty-odd family members staying here with us. And the lunch downstairs in about…twenty minutes?” He slipped a finger to her lips, outlining their softness.
“Twenty? That should be enough time.”
“I have no idea what you mean.” He kissed her then, feeling her open to him completely, stretching up on her tiptoes so she could wrap her arms around his shoulders, deepening the kiss.
When they were together, like this, he could shut everything else out.
Pretend they were the only people who existed.
Except… “Payton?” he pulled back, tucking a stray strand of hair from her face. “Although there is nothing I’d love more than to figure out the ties on your dress and have it lying in a pool around your feet, I have just one call to make. Two tops. I have some good news.”
She looked up at him, curiosity lighting those green eyes. “Does this have something to do with the contract that Brad said he delivered?”
He couldn’t stop the grin that split his face. “It does. It’s mine. No—it’s ours. The contract with Eastman Motors. Dick Eastman signed it yesterday and, as of ten minutes ago, I added my own signature. Do you have any idea how much this deal is worth?”
Her eyes shone back with something akin to pride and she took her hand and wiped a smudge of shaving cream from above his ear. “Substantial, I take it. So we’re celebrating, then? Have you told your father?”
“Not yet. But there was a small hitch on the contract in that Dick has moved up the time table a full month, which means I need to call a couple of my subcontractors and get things rolling. I’ll meet you downstairs as soon as I’m done.”
She sighed and took a step back, still smiling but a little less brightly and nodded.
“I promise,” he said and took her hand to his heart, enjoying the feeling as he had that first time at the airport all those days ago. “And then you and I have a date. I’m seeing the two of us on the beach, you in the tiniest bikini you can find. On the other hand,” his smile turned a little more devilish, “maybe we should stay closer to the room.”