He studied her and she didn’t know how she managed not to squirm under that penetrating gaze.
‘It would want to be a damned good once, gatita.’
Aspen raised her chin. It was going to be horrible.
‘It’s a good deal.’ She repeated what she’d said to Billy Smyth and so many others before him. ‘Take it or leave it.’
He regarded her steadily, his eyes hooded. ‘I tell you what. You make it one night and I’ll agree.’
One night?
‘As in the whole night?’
His slow smile sent a burst of electrical activity straight to her core. ‘What a good idea, gatita. Yes, the whole night.’
Bastard.
‘What is that you’re calling me?’ she fumed.
His smile was full of sex. ‘Kitten. You remind me of a spitting kitten who needs to be stroked.’
‘Fine.’ Aspen picked up the pen but didn’t see a thing in front of her.
‘Wait. Before you make your changes I want to know what this is.’ Cruz stabbed his finger at her second point—the one that said he had to pay no matter what happened or didn’t happen between them. ‘Is this your way of telling me you’re going to welsh on me?’
She frowned. ‘Welsh on you?’
‘Renege. Back out. Break your word.’
‘I know what it means,’ she snapped, wondering if he wasn’t having a go at her character. ‘And rest assured I am fully prepared to uphold my end of the bargain. I just want to make sure you do as well.’
Her throat bobbed as he continued to watch her and Cruz wondered if she had guessed that he was stringing her along.
Once!
He nearly laughed again. But he had to hand it to her. The document she had crafted was legally sound and would probably hold up well enough in a court of law.
Something about the way she stood before him, all innocently defiant, like a lamb to the slaughter, snagged on his conscience like an annoying burr in a sock, which you’d thought you’d removed only to have it poke at you again.
He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let her go into this blind. ‘There’s something you should know.’
Her eyes turned wary. ‘Like what?’
‘I own Trimex Holdings.’
Aspen frowned. ‘If that’s supposed to mean something to me it doesn’t.’
‘Trimex Holdings is currently the highest bidder for Ocean Haven.’
He watched a myriad of emotions flit across her expressive face as the information set in. Shock. Disbelief. Anger. Uncertainty.
‘So...’ She frowned harder. ‘This isn’t real?’
How much he wanted her? Unfortunately, yes.
He tried not to let his gaze drop once again to the spot on her chin. He’d obviously grazed her with his stubble the day before and, although he’d hate to think that he’d hurt her, there was a part of him that was pretty pleased to see her wearing his mark. The moronic part.
Oh, yeah, it was real enough. But he knew that wasn’t what she was referring to.
‘My offer?’
‘Yes.’
‘It’s real.’
‘That doesn’t make sense. Why would you lend me money to buy a property you are trying to buy for yourself?’
‘Because I believe I’ll win.’ And he had just decided to instruct Lauren to keep upping his offer until it was so ludicrously tempting Joe Carmichael would see stars.
Aspen shook her head. ‘You won’t. Joe is very loyal to me.’
All families were loyal until money was involved. ‘Care to back yourself?’
She looked at him as one might a maggot on a pork chop. ‘I never realised how absolutely ruthless you are.’
‘I’m absolutely successful. For a reason.’
She shook her head. ‘You’re not going to be this time. But can I trust you?’
The fact that she questioned his integrity annoyed him. ‘I didn’t have to tell you this, did I?’
‘Fine,’ she snapped, pacing away from him to the other side of the neat sitting room. She glared at him. Shook her head. Then paced back. Picked up the pen. ‘It’s not like I have a better option right now.’
Her fingers shook ever so slightly as she put pen to paper and something squeezed inside his chest.
‘I’ll do it.’
Impatient for this to be finalised, he grabbed the pen and replaced ‘once’ with ‘one night’. Then he scrawled the date and his signature on the bottom of the page.