every time she’d found herself pictured in the paper she’d sensed a subtle backlash. She wasn’t looking forward to the reaction come Monday.
“It’s pretty much what I’d expected.” Nate knocked the paper aside with a knuckled fist and stepped back. “Deborah’s got a few more nuggets to dole out over the next weeks, so I’d say we’re in good shape.”
“Mission accomplished.”
Rubbing a wide palm over the scrub of his jaw, he nodded. “As for my dad—I don’t really talk to him about the women I’m dating, but I should have told him about us. Things are different with you.”
“Different?” Hope lit through her veins, pushing into her heart with welcoming ease.
“Yeah.” He met her with a blind stare. “He knows you. Probably feels as protective of you from those high-school days as I do.”
Nate shook his head, thankfully too wrapped up in the situation with his father to notice the falter of her smile as her most vital organ hollowed out. It was stupid. She knew what she’d signed on for and the surest way to ruin it or any chance of maintaining a friendship after would be to spend every minute they were together imagining more meaning into Nate’s words than they deserved.
“I’m a big girl,” she said, as much a reminder to herself as to him. “He doesn’t need to worry about me.”
This brought a low chuckle as his gaze raked down the length of her. “Okay, big girl. You were all over this whole girlfriend business last night. Rolling around in the title like you owned it. Time to start paying those dues.”
She let out a cough. “Dues? Come on—”
“Payton, I’m not asking you to see him through his retirement years.” He raked a hand through the thick mess of sandy blond spikes. “Just to hang out for an hour or two and show my dad I’m not treating you like some floozy or pulling the wool over your poor innocent eyes.”
And suddenly she realized he was serious. “You’re worried about what he thinks.”
“That surprises you?”
It shouldn’t have. But after having spent a lifetime worrying—obsessing—about how her every action would be interpreted by her own father, she’d never really thought of Nate, who always came across so fun and carefree, as having the same issues. “I guess you never seemed…concerned.”
“Yeah, well, my mom took off when I was young, so it was just my dad and me. And, you know him, he’s not a halfway kind of guy. Since raising me fell wholly on his shoulders, he took the job seriously. Made a lot of sacrifices and spent a lot of years making sure I knew right from wrong, worked hard and did the right thing. Honestly, he couldn’t care less about the financial kudos or bank account I’ve built. He measures my success—and his—by the kind of man I’ve made. So, yes. It matters to me that he knows he did a good job.”
Her heart rolled over with a little sigh for this man who loved his father and had his priorities so well aligned. If only there were room in his heart for more. “He did a very good job. Go get me some grub while I get dressed and I’ll tell him so.”
It was early afternoon by the time they’d said their goodbyes and the elevator doors slid shut with a quiet whoosh. Nate leaned a shoulder against the brushed-steel interior and watched his father. Waiting.
Payton had recovered from her initial embarrassment by the time they’d returned with breakfast. He’d expected the quiet poise and well-mannered reserve she was known for, but she’d been relaxed and comfortable, charming his old man with her bright smile and fresh take on the adventures of academia.
She’d been perfect. Too perfect. Too comfortable. Too right a fit between what had always been just the two of them. God only knew what his dad was thinking now—but he didn’t have long to wait to find out.
Solemn eyes that had been shining with merriment half an hour before turned on him. “What are you doing with her?”
Or, more to the point, what was a nice girl like Payton Liss doing with a guy like him? “We’re just having some fun, Dad. It’s not serious so don’t start knitting any booties.”
A beat of silence and then, “Does she know that?”
Staring at the numbers as each floor illuminated and went dark, he offered a single nod. “Give me some credit. We wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near a bed if she didn’t.”
“She’s not like the others.”
Nate fought back a grin. His father hadn’t had a say in his sex life since he’d slapped a box of condoms in his hand in high school and sat him down for a man-to-man. “What do you know about the others?”
“I know you haven’t introduced me to a date since you were seventeen.”
“You already knew Payton. And it wasn’t like I brought her home for dinner. She walked in before I could get rid of you.”
His dad let out a derisive snort. “I know you’re linked to one woman after another, but it never lasts more than a couple weeks because there’s no connection.”
Yeah, he supposed if anyone had the skill set to recognize something like that it was his dad. Hindsight and all. “You’ve been spending too much time with your nose in the tabloids.”
“I saw you laughing with her. The way she looked at you.” His dad stared him straight in the eye. “This one’s not going to let go so easily.”
Nate shook his head. “Yes, she will.”
When the time came, she’d have to. And until then, she wouldn’t get too close.
He wouldn’t let her.
Chapter Fourteen
THEY’D spent the evening enjoying dinner, drinks, and non-stop laughter at the Gold Coast home of Diane and Garry Ortiz. Nate tried to warn her ahead of time about his former Marketing VP’s larger-than-life personality trapped in a pixie-sized body—but it wasn’t until Payton found herself gasping for breath within the enthusiastic squeeze of Diane’s shockingly strong arms that she fully grasped his meaning. Stunned, she took a step back, laughing as Nate steadied her with a hand at her hip.
“Diane, I think you broke my date,” he joked, dodging to avoid the swat of her arm.
“Oh, stuff it, Nate.” She took a deep breath that seemed to fill her entire body, nearly bringing her to her toes, and then let it out in a huge rush. “It’s just so wonderful to have finally met you, Payton. I can’t believe the nerve of this guy in keeping you a secret for so long.”
“Thank you. Tonight was so much fun.”
Diane cast a mocking scowl Nate’s way. “See? She likes us. No reason to keep her holed up the way you did.”
It was hardly the case. As absurd as the suggestion had been, Nate hadn’t been kidding about sharing his friends. In their few short weeks together, he’d been steadily circulating her through the various groups he socialized with, encouraging relationships outside himself. Keeping up his end of the bargain while maintaining the ruse
