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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as she’d found out over the past week since returning from Mexico, her previous LSAT score, taken six years before, was no longer valid, and she had to retake it to be considered for admission anywhere.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.
“Easier than I thought. I can’t believe I’m doing it. Finally.” In the time since coming back from the ill-fated trip, she’d had a lot to think about. About what she wanted, where her life was going, and if she was going to sit around and let choices be made for her or finally do something for herself.
Discovering that she still wanted to focus on environmental law and reading up on all the recent progress in that area had been so invigorating and exciting. She felt hopeful.
Even if she’d lost a big part of her heart and didn’t know if she’d ever feel whole again. But it was done. She knew that, finally, because her mother had gloated over the details of the deal that had been picked up by several media outlets and, as Brad had confirmed, some big contractor magazine was going to feature Cruz as a mover and shaker next month.
At least he was getting what he wanted.
And soon, she’d be on the road to feeling a lot better about herself. Maybe not getting everything she wanted, but close. She’d even told Camille to go ahead with canceling the wedding, much to her mother’s horror. But she was leading her life her way now.
“Should we celebrate?” Brad asked and leaped up from the couch, heading over to her open kitchen.
“Maybe after I get my LSAT score. I’m a little rusty when it comes to test taking. I might crash and burn.”
“I insist,” he said and pulled a bottle of red wine from the shelf. “It’s not Champagne but it will do. This is a momentous step, Payton. You have to be proud of yourself for taking control of your life again. And can you imagine the look on your mother’s face when you tell her you’re going to law school and dropping out of the social circuit?”
“Yeah,” she said and set her laptop on the coffee table in front of her and tucked her legs underneath her. “That will be epic. She’s entirely too satisfied with how things progressed last weekend. When I stepped on that plane with you, I thought she was going to actually crack some semblance of a full-faced smile, she was that happy with herself.”
He pulled the cork from the bottle and poured two glasses before rejoining her. “Yeah, I think she even considered throwing me a high five for a minute there.”
Payton smiled and sipped her wine. It was surprising how understanding Brad had been about the whole thing with Cruz. And for the first time in a while, she felt they were both being honest with each other, with what they wanted, their plans for themselves. Something they’d never really done before, always holding a little back from each other. Yes, he might have destroyed her trust in him when he cheated on and lied to her, but she had to be honest that over the past week, he’d done a lot to repair that trust.
