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He glanced at her, tipping his dark head slightly when their gazes met. “You okay, sweetheart?” he asked, as if he hadn’t just thrown her for a major loop.
“I, uh . . . What are you doing here?” she blurted out, then realizing just how rude that sounded, she rephrased her question. “I mean, how did you know to find me at this restaurant?”
“You know I have my ways,” he said with a slow, sexy wink that caused flutters to take flight in the depths of her belly. “Remember that selfie you took with your parents right outside this restaurant about forty minutes ago? You posted the picture on your Facebook page with the name of the place, so instead of calling you ahead of time, I thought I’d drive here from the hotel I just checked into and surprise you instead.”
Smart, resourceful man, she thought, but Peyton still didn’t know what all this meant. Was he here just for the one night? Or did he intend to spend the next week with her until her cousin’s wedding? She didn’t know what the plan was because they hadn’t talked about it, so for now, she just had to go with the flow.
Her father resumed finishing his meal. “So, I take it you were able to work around your business obligations to get some time off?” he asked Leo.
“Yes.” Leo casually picked up Peyton’s hand and held it for her parents to see, as if he’d done it a hundred times before. “I have some meetings set up with potential clients a few of the days while I’m here in San Diego,” he said, utilizing that part of the discussion they’d had the previous evening. “But at night, I’m all Peyton’s.”
He glanced back at her, and holding her gaze, he brought the back of her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, acting the sweet, attentive boyfriend.
Her mother sighed softly. “I have to tell you, Leo, I was beginning to think that you were all a figment of Peyton’s imagination,” she said with a teasing laugh, though Peyton suspected there was a kernel of truth to her mother’s comment.
“As you can see, I’m definitely real.” He grinned. “I wanted to do whatever I could to be here for Peyton, and of course, to finally meet the two of you. Peyton has told me so much about you both, and I know how important this trip was to her.”
Dear Lord, the man was a natural, and so convincing she believed him.
They spent the next half hour finishing dinner while Leo conversed with her parents as if the two of them really were a couple—about his business, the things they did in New York together, and how well Peyton’s job was going for her—yeah, the job she no longer had. By the time her father paid the check and they were walking out of the restaurant—with Leo holding her hand—Peyton’s mother was clearly smitten with her fake boyfriend, and he’d gained her dad’s approval and respect, as well.
“I rented a car for the week,” Leo said to her parents when it was clear their vehicles were located at opposite ends of the parking lot. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to take Peyton for a little while, but I’ll drop her off at your place on my way back to my hotel.”
Her mother’s bright smile fell a bit in disappointment. “You’re staying at a hotel?”
Leo nodded and slid his arm around Peyton’s back, keeping her close to his side and making her very aware of the arousing scent of his cologne and the warm heat of his body. “I had my secretary book me a room at the Sheraton,” he said, which Peyton assumed was a cover so he’d be able to stay at his own place at night. “I really don’t want to be a bother or inconvenience you with another person in your house.”
“You’re not a bother, for goodness sakes,” Tawny said, waving a hand dismissively. “You’re Peyton’s boyfriend, and you’re not staying in a small, stuffy hotel room for the next week.”
“Really, I don’t mind,” Leo said, and Peyton struggled to contain a laugh because he wasn’t going to win this argument with her determined mother.
“Nonsense,” Tawny said, patting his arm as if that settled that. “You can stay in the guesthouse with Peyton so the two of you will have your own space and privacy. After all, you’ve been dating for nine months now, so you don’t have to pretend with us that you haven’t, well . . . you know.”
Oh my God. Peyton’s cheeks flamed at her mother implying that they were sleeping together. “Mom!”
“Well, it’s true,” Tawny said, as if discussing her daughter’s sex life was a normal thing, which it wasn’t. “Your father and I would like to think we’re modern, open-minded parents in this day and age, and if you’re in a committed relationship, then it’s only natural that certain intimacies develop between a couple, like—”
“Tawny,” her father cut in. “I think you’ve made your point.”
Thank you, Dad! Peyton didn’t think she could be any more mortified. She cast a sidelong glance at Leo and didn’t miss his amused smirk. He was totally enjoying this embarrassing conversation at her expense.
“I take it this guesthouse is on your property?” he asked, more conversationally than anything else.
“Well, it was originally a pool house that we had converted into a studio apartment,” Tawny explained. “We had it renovated for Peyton in hopes that she’d move back home, but then she met you and we figured we’d use it for a guesthouse. Anyway, Carson and I insist that you stay with us. No more arguments.”
She felt Leo squeeze her waist as if to silently say, help me get out of this, but he’d been the one to arrive unannounced and had thrown her whole evening off-kilter, so why not return the favor? The fact that he was here pretending to be her boyfriend told her that he was on board with helping her out, so why not play up the charade for good measure?
She met his gaze, batted her lashes coquettishly, and poured on the affection to put on a convincing act for her parents. “Honey Bear, I promise not to hog all the covers if that’s what you’re worried about,” she said, establishing that they had, indeed, been intimate.
She watched him arch a dark brow when he caught the challenging tilt to her lips. “And here I thought I’d be getting a break from your snoring,” he replied as he casually slid his palm lower and squeezed her ass in his hand.
She managed, just barely, to keep from sucking in a shocked breath at his bold move and was grateful that her parents hadn’t noticed. “I don’t snore.”
“How do you know?” he asked, his eyes glinting mischievously as he continued the pretense of being a long-term couple who knew each other’s worst habits. “You’re sleeping when you do it. I’m the one who has to hear it all night long.”
Oh, he was asking for trouble, and she didn’t mind giving it to him. Turning toward Leo, she slid one hand inside his leather jacket and along his chest while rising on the toes of her sandals so she could brush her lips against his warm jawline, establishing even more intimacy between them. “If my snoring is so bad, Honey Bear, then maybe you should wear those noise-canceling earplugs I bought you for your birthday.”
When she pulled back, the sudden heat in his eyes caused her heart to race and made her wonder if she’d pushed him too far. He looked like he wanted to pounce on her, and probably would have if her parents hadn’t been standing a few feet away. She couldn’t say that she would have stopped him, either.
