Her Accidental Husband by Ashlee Mallory Read Free Book Online Page B

queen” had arrived or if she’d gotten lost and needed a rescue crew. She’d been standing right behind him, Kate’s yellow roses in her arms. The jibe was even more biting when he turned around for an awkward introduction and the seconds passed infinitely slowly as they recognized each other from the flower shop. When, for a fleeting moment, she had thought him charming.
    “Accidentally” slamming the vase against the side of his temple had made her feel a little better. It had also given her perverse satisfaction to torment Cruz through the night with quips about his height, his appetite, whatever she could think of that would get a rise from the brooding hulk. To be fair, most people usually laughed and deflected her comments, but Cruz only grew moodier, barely grunting a response. The thought of seeing him again at the wedding had not been something she looked forward to, but she’d thought Brad would be at her side to help ease her pain.
    That plan hadn’t worked out so well.
    “Cruz and I have reached a sort of tentative treaty. We’re focusing on getting to Puerto Vallarta for now.” True enough, even if they had a rocky start initially. But she had to give him credit. If it weren’t for him, she’d still be in Laredo waiting to catch a morning flight back to Dallas and praying she’d find a seat on a plane—any plane—heading into Puerto Vallarta. She would never have dared to make this kind of trip on her own.
    She could hear a male voice on the other end, probably Kate’s soon-to-be husband. They needed time alone. “You know, I’m pretty wiped out and you need to get back to that fiancé of yours. Tell Dominic I said hi.”
    “I will. And remember, I’m always here for you, Payton. Love you.”
    Payton dropped the phone on the bed next to her and continued to stare up at the ceiling. Talking to her friend had been cathartic, no matter how brief the conversation had been. And for the first time, she was ready to think about how she felt about her discovery. To touch and prod the wound.
    Hurt. Betrayed. Humiliated. Definitely all fit the bill, but… She thought about Kate’s sadness when she’d broken up with her skeazy boyfriend, Michael, and then later when she ended things with Dominic before she knew the depth of her feelings for him. Her friend had been heartbroken, but infinitely more so about the latter. The pain evident in her eyes.
    Was Payton’s heart breaking at the thought that Brad had been cheating on her? She wasn’t so sure. Was she ready to draw blood from him if he were in this room now? Undoubtedly. But after she’d physically maimed him, was she going to feel that deep sense of loss and sadness, like she’d lost almost a part of her heart, as she’d sensed with Kate?
    It was an uncomfortable truth to know that she wouldn’t.
    Maybe she was wired differently than Kate about these kinds of things. For all Kate’s bristly nature, she was a softie underneath. Wanting the unattainable—a happily ever after. Payton had never had any illusions that such a thing really existed. So maybe that’s why she didn’t feel things on a deep level like her friend.
    This truth didn’t, however, diminish the pain she felt at Brad’s betrayal. Because she loved him. Truly she did. He was a good friend, a good companion. And they would have had a wonderful, perfect life together because they were so compatible. Same family background, same social connections. They were…well matched. Like a perfect china set.
    And in one moment of truth, one ill-timed phone call, their future together was now in question. She couldn’t—no, wouldn’t —lead her mother’s life.
    She remembered the night Brad proposed. Always so cocky and full of himself, but in an endearing way, he had actually been a little nervous when he gave her that ring. He promised her a good life. His love and devotion. And in that moment, she was happy. Content.
    Tears pooled in her eyes again and fell. She didn’t try