Her Accidental Husband(72)

“We’ll go tell them soon. We can celebrate with them tonight. You’ll see.”

“You say that, but I know what’s going to happen, even if you don’t. Something will come up, some emergency that you can’t let anyone else handle. It has to be you. And I’ll be waiting downstairs alone. Again.”

“So what would you have me do? You want me to rip up this contact with Dick Eastman? You want me to thumb my nose at this deal, this deal that’s everything I could ever have wanted?”

All he ever could have wanted.

She turned to face him. “No, of course not.” She pinned a smile on her face. “This is what you’ve worked for. It’s just…I made a commitment to myself over the past few days. To not settle on being second best to anyone. I think that maybe, right now, you and I need some time. Some space to figure out who we are. What we want.”

She didn’t mean anything of the sort though, but it sounded really grown up and responsible. No, what she really wanted was for Cruz to crush her against him again, to say that space was the last thing they needed. That they’d figure this out and that he knew it would be hard, but he would work hard to make them a priority. That he wouldn’t let business take over his life.#p#分页标题#e#

To make some effort so she could believe him.

“Maybe you’re right.” His tone was different. Wooden. “You have a lot on your plate right now, a wedding to cancel, your whole future to figure out. And I have weeks and months to get this project off the ground. The last thing either of us needs is another commitment.”

His words were like ice to her heart, but she nodded, as if he made all the sense in the world, willing the tears not to spill. For him not to know her heart was breaking.

“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.



Cruz 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

Payton 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.