Payton remembered the long night the two of them had spent getting a lot better acquainted. Kate giggled. “I can see that you’re still reliving some of those finer moments.” She looked around. “But where is the lucky guy? I don’t think I’ve seen him.”

Payton told her about the contract being finalized and the push up of the dates that had Cruz trying to take care of a few things. “He’ll probably be down in the next few minutes.”

“I haven’t seen your mother, either. Tell me you didn’t duct tape her to a chair and hide her in a closet.”

“Tempting, but no. I expect she’s packing right now and getting ready to head back home with Brad on the Eastman jet. I’ll tell you all about it later, but for now, I can see Dominic is looking for you. Go on, Mrs. Sorensen.”

It was strange to say the title, the same title that for a little while, she thought she’d shared. Payton Sorensen. Or Payton Sorensen-Vaughn—she shook her head. What was she saying? Putting the horse ahead of the cart, wasn’t she? They weren’t married anymore.

She was still waiting for her coffee refill a minute later and finally decided to get up and stretch her legs. Maybe call up to the room and see what was keeping Cruz.

She’d only made it to the lobby when she spotted Brad sitting on a chair, talking on the phone. At seeing her, he hung up and rushed over. “Glad I was able to catch you before I left. They just called. The jet’s been refueled and we should be leaving here in the next hour or so. Your mother, too, I’m afraid.”

Payton laughed, and for a moment, it was like before. They’d always joked about her mother’s intensity. It had been what first broke the ice between them when he’d returned all those years later and they caught up at that charity function. He’d likened her mother to a rabid French poodle.

“You’re obviously heading somewhere—and you look beautiful by the way—but I was wondering if you might take a last walk with me. Ten minutes at the longest.”

Payton looked around the lobby, no sign of Cruz. And Brad was taking her mother off her hands, which brought her immense relief “All right. But only because I hate to wait out here like a sitting duck for my mother.”

Out on the beach, the sun seemed to sink deep into her skin and she thought for a moment of the hat she’d left upstairs just as she tipped her head back and felt the sun gloriously on her face.

“You really are lovely,” he said almost softly. “I’m going to miss you.”

She looked over at the man who had been not just her lover but her ally in many ways these past couple years. Her friend. Which had been part of why his betrayal had burned her so bad. “Yeah. Me, too.”

They walked in silence to the end of the marked part of the beach indicating the end of the hotel property and turned back.

“You know what I’m not going to miss?” he asked, delivering her a sly smile. “Family dinners like the one at Christmas when my mother was trying to outmaneuver yours on the dinner menu.” She laughed. “And I’ll confess, I might have peeked into a few of the wedding gifts that had arrived at the house and can definitely assure you that we will be relieved to be able to return the gifts from your Aunt Gertie, my Nana Billick, and someone by the last name of Tiernan.” He pretended to shiver from the horror. “Think gargoyle, a few new age nude sculptures, and—” A high pierced ringing from his back pocket stopped him.

“Sounds like your father’s calling.”

He didn’t pull out the phone, only took the step up from the beach leading to the walkway back to the hotel. “His meeting is probably wrapped up and he’s wanting to pull my leash in.”

“Business meeting? He doesn’t give up even on a Sunday.”

“You know how it is. He can rest when he’s dead as he always says.”

They reached the lobby again, and Brad was looking at her with that sad, achy smile. “I guess I’ll go find your mother so we can get going. I’m sure we’ll touch base in the next few days. I have no idea what’s involved in calling off a wedding but I’m here if you need anything. And if you want to come to my place and get anything you left, give me a call and I can make myself scarce.”

She looked at him in surprise. He was being so accommodating. “Not that I’m complaining here, but I thought earlier you were set on fighting for me and proving to me that you can be better.”

“Yeah. And then I remembered that old saying. About letting something go. Seeing if it comes back to you. And I’m not giving up, Payton, I’m just…going to wait.”

He said it with such confidence that she felt the slightest bit sorry for him. “Sorry, Brad. But have a safe flight.” Tipping on her toes, she kissed his cheek, and let him give her a long hug before finally pulling back. “Now if you could only channel all that charm for good instead of evil,” she said and smiled.

“Where would the fun be in that?”

She watched him go, her heart sad but feeling a little lighter at knowing that he would be okay. Eventually. They both would be.

Turning around, she was more than stunned to find a set of dark eyes, watching her. A face set in a decided frown as he glanced between her and the parting back of her ex-fiancé.

But there was nothing for him to be worried about. The only thing she and Brad had exchanged was their first real good-bye.

She stepped toward the man she was choosing, ready to tell him that. When he turned on his heels and headed to the elevator.

Leaving her openmouthed and gaping.

Cruz was halfway down the hall when Payton called out to him, but he couldn’t speak to her just then. Not when it took every ounce of strength not to stride after Brad and belt him in that smug mouth. A mouth that he knew was smiling even now, as he wormed his way back into Payton’s arms.

Instead, Cruz made it onto the elevator just as the door was closing and he received some satisfaction as he pounded the button to the third floor.

He’d spent the better part of the last ten minutes looking for Payton after arriving at the restaurant and not finding her. Then he’d gone to the lobby to see if she’d left a message for him and found her in the arms of Brad Eastman.

Is it always going to be like this?

He made it to his room and began pacing, knowing she would arrive any moment and he still needed to get ahold of this unbridled anger and jealousy that had sprung at him so hard. Too soon, she was knocking on the door.

“Cruz. What on earth is going on with you?” she demanded and stormed in, slamming the door behind her. He almost blinked at the anger she was giving back to him, so used to seeing her smile and laugh her way out of most situations.

“I’m trying to work out what the hell I just saw down there. Between you and Brad? The guy who you said you were never going back to. It looked mighty chummy to me. Are you playing a game here? Payton? Trying to lead us both on, until you’re certain which guy you really want?”

Her head whipped back slightly, almost as if he’d slapped her. “I can’t believe you just said that.” He could hear the hurt and anger in her voice. “What you saw was Brad and I saying good-bye after I spent the last hour waiting for you. I thought you were just making one or two calls? Did you forget that your family—that I—was downstairs waiting for you?”

Cruz rubbed his jawline again, trying to steady his breathing. Why the hell was he going off like some half-cocked redneck because someone looked at his woman? She was right. He wasn’t being reasonable. He breathed a deep breath in and out. “You’re right. Maybe it was something that Eastman said that still rankled. That it was only a matter of time before you realized who you’re meant to be with. And he sure as hell didn’t mean me.”

“I don’t care about what he told you. You don’t have to worry about him anymore. He’s leaving and he’s going to be out of my life permanently.” She took a step toward him, placing her hand on his arm in reassurance and smiled. “Not only is he heading back in the next hour, he’s also taking my mother with him. It’s just going to be you and me. Alone. In a hotel room for a few more days.”