up to the second floor. This was her favorite part of Estate. She’d always thought it resembled a stage from a Hollywood movie set.
Thinking of Hollywood reminded her of California and home.
Home. And the mother she’d inadvertently hurt when Susan Lowes had revealed Lauryn’s true parentage.
Way to go, Lauryn. Shoot the messenger.
Lauryn hadn’t meant to imply Susan had been anything less than a perfect mother. But Lauryn had questions about her heritage. Questions Susan couldn’t answer. And then there was the anger. Anger toward her father and Susan for withholding the truth. Anger toward Lauryn’s birthmother for rejecting her without even giving her a chance to fit into her world.
Shaking off her unproductive emotions, Lauryn circled back toward the employee exit, shoved open the side door and stepped into the Miami sunshine and balmy November day.
The first thing she saw once her eyes adjusted to the brightness was Adam Garrison leaning against a silver BMW convertible parked by the curb.
Her stomach dropped like a cruise ship anchor and her nerves knotted like a snarled line. So much for avoiding him after yesterday’s fiasco. She hoped he wasn’t waiting for her.
Reluctantly, she made her way down the sidewalk. She had to walk past him to get to the bus stop a block away. Lauryn had quickly learned that driving in South Beach was a disaster, not due to the traffic but because of the parking. Specifically, the lack thereof. So she relied on the bus system to get to and from work most of the time.
“Good afternoon, Lauryn.” Adam straightened as she neared.
At several inches over six feet, he looked lean and athletic in sharply creased chocolate slacks that accentuated his height and a cream silk T-shirt that emphasized the breadth of his shoulders. A breeze ruffled his dark hair, which always looked in need of a trim. She’d bet he paid a fortune for that casually unkempt look. Thankfully, his designer sunglasses covered his gorgeous make-Jell-O-of-her-kneecaps blue eyes.
She was ashamed to admit that in the beginning she’d had a bit of a crush on her boss, but then stories of his swinging bachelor lifestyle and short attention span with women had eroded those feelings. She’d been there, done that and didn’t ever want to live that kind of superficial, self-absorbed life again.
Adam was gorgeous, but good-looking men were a dime a dozen in South Beach. Not that she was shopping for one. You couldn’t walk down the sidewalk without passing a bare-chested guy showing off his tan and pecs—either of which may or may not be real here in a city where artificial beauty was as common as a cold.
But most of those guys didn’t make her pulse blip unevenly.
And none of them had proposed.
“Good afternoon, Mr.—Adam. Did you need me for something?”
Please say no.
“Lunch.”
Not the answer she wanted. “I…have plans.”
He frowned. “A date?”
She hesitated and debated lying. But she couldn’t. Her presence in Miami was already complicated by too many half-truths. “No. I was going to the mall.”
“I have a better idea. Get in.” He opened the passenger-side door.
Would he fire her if she refused? Not something she wanted to find out. She eased into the leather seat and fastened her safety belt. Adam slid into the driver’s seat, started the engine and merged into the Washington Avenue traffic.
“I only have an hour,” she reminded him.
“Not a problem. Besides, you’re with the boss. Who’s going to report you?” He drove north for a couple of miles and then cut through to North Bay and turned back south. Seconds later he pulled up to the curb in front of an exclusive restaurant overlooking Biscayne Bay—one she’d never been to because A, she couldn’t afford it, and B, she couldn’t get a reservation even if she wanted one.
He climbed from the car and tossed the keys to the valet. Another uniformed employee opened Lauryn’s door, handed her out and escorted her to Adam waiting on the sidewalk as if she were a prized possession. Or a ditz who couldn’t be trusted next to the busy street.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Garrison,” the hostess greeted him the second they stepped through the doors. Her cool gaze assessed and dismissed Lauryn in two seconds flat. “Your table is ready.”
Adam motioned for Lauryn to precede him, but then followed so closely she could feel his heat and his gaze on her back. She hoped her pin-striped navy skirt didn’t make her butt look big. And then she mentally kicked herself.
His opinion of your butt is irrelevant.
Conscious of the curious stares and her department-store clothing so different from the rest of the clientele’s designer wear, Lauryn followed the hostess to a waterfront table on the outside deck, took a seat beneath the umbrella and accepted a menu. A breeze teased strands of her hair from the knot at her nape to tickle her cheeks.
She looked up and directly into Adam’s blue eyes. He’d removed his sunglasses. As always, the intensity and intelligence in his gaze made her breath hitch.
Tension invaded her limbs as she waited for him to bring up the proposal because there was no doubt that’s why he’d brought her here. She hadn’t changed her mind about marrying him, although the idea had monopolized her thoughts and cost her a decent night’s sleep. Lunch at an exclusive restaurant wouldn’t sway her.
What kind of man coolly plotted to buy a wife, sleep with her for two years even though he didn’t love her and then discard her and walk away? But then Adam probably hadn’t loved any of the women who’d creased his sheets.
Having been burned by love, Lauryn could see the advantages of avoiding the unpredictable emotion, but call her a romantic sap; she actually wanted to find her soul mate one day.
She ducked her head and fussed with her napkin. She’d thought her parents had been soul mates, but discovering the letters and the lies had made her question every tender gesture she’d witnessed over the years. What had been real? What had been staged? Had they fallen for each other after the convoluted coverup of Lauryn’s adoption and the premature death of Susan’s baby like Susan claimed? Or was that also a lie?
After the waiter took their orders Adam gave Lauryn his full attention. His gaze roamed her features as if cataloging each one. “You moved here from California. Which part?”
Small talk. She could do small talk. Although it had been so long since she’d been on a date she was probably rusty. Was this a date? She hoped not. “Northern.”
“Why Florida?”
She’d had enough doors slammed in her face to know she certainly couldn’t blurt out the whole truth. Adam belonged to the same upper class who’d closed ranks and shut her out when she’d come here ten months ago to ask questions about one of their own. No one would confirm that Adrianna had given birth to an illegitimate child, and no one would tell Lauryn how her birthmother died. In fact, conversations ended pretty quickly as soon as she mentioned Adrianna Laurence’s name.
Adrianna’s
