Aspen hesitated. ‘No. I could have turned him down.’
‘But you didn’t?’
‘No, but I certainly didn’t consider myself engaged when I walked into the stables and saw you there.’
‘How about when you kissed me?’
Aspen shifted uncomfortably. ‘No, not then either.’
‘That still doesn’t answer my question.’
Aspen couldn’t remember his question, her mind so full of memories and guilt. ‘What question?’
‘Why you set me up.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t really understand what you mean by that.’
Cruz took in her wary gaze, frustration and desire biting into him like an annoying insect. ‘You’re saying it was a coincidence that your grandfather just happened to come across us and then just happened to kick me off the property, thereby paving the way for Anderson to take over as captain of the dream team?’
Her eyes widened with what appeared to be genuine shock. ‘I would never...’ She blinked as if she was trying to clear her thoughts. ‘Grandfather said it was your decision to leave Ocean Haven.’
Cruz scoffed at the absurdity of her statement. ‘It was one of those “you can go under your own steam or mine” type of offers,’ he said bitterly.
But he could admit to a little resentment, couldn’t he? He’d given Charles Carmichael eleven years of abject devotion that had been repaid with anger and accusations and the revocation of every promise the old man had ever made him.
Memories he’d rather obliterate than verbalise turned his tone harsh. ‘He accused me of deflowering his precious engaged granddaughter and you let him believe it.’
‘I don’t remember that,’ she said softly. ‘I told him afterwards that we hadn’t been together.’
Cruz wasn’t interested in another apology. ‘So you said.’
‘But you still don’t believe me?’
‘It’s irrelevant.’
‘I don’t think it is. I can hear in your voice that it still pains you and I don’t blame you. I should never have let him think what he did. Not even for a second.’
‘What you can hear in my voice is not pain but absolute disgust.’
He stepped closer to her, noting how small and fragile she looked, her shoulders narrow, her limbs slender and fine. He knew the taste of her skin, as well as her scent.
‘When it happened...’ He forced himself to focus. ‘Then I was upset. Devastated, if you want to know the truth. I thought your grandfather and I were equals. I thought he respected me. Maybe even cared for me.’ He snorted out a breath and thrust his hand through his hair. ‘I thought wrong. Do you know what he told me?’
Cruz had no idea why he was telling her something so deeply private but somehow the words kept coming.
‘He told me I wasn’t good enough for his granddaughter. He didn’t want your lily-white blood mixing with that of a second-class Mexicano.’
‘But my blood isn’t lily-white. My mother saw to that in a fit of rebellion. My grandfather could never get past her decision and because they were both stubborn neither one could offer the other an olive branch. My mother wanted to go home to The Farm so many times.’
Aspen swallowed past the lump in her throat.
‘But my grandfather had kicked her out. It was the same with you. Two days after you left he had a stroke and I’m sure it was because he had lost you. Of course no one outside the family knew about it, but I knew it had to do with what happened and I felt terrible. Ashamed of myself. But I was scared, Cruz.’
She looked at him with remorseful eyes and no matter what he thought of her it was impossible to doubt her sincerity.
‘You know my grandfather’s temper. I didn’t know what he’d do to me.’
‘Nothing,’ Cruz bit out. ‘He was angry at me, not you. He thought the world of you.’
‘As long as I did what he wanted.’ She shivered. ‘I was so frightened when I arrived at Ocean Haven. I’d heard about the place from my mother and I’d loved it from a small child. I’d never met my grandfather before and I was determined that he wouldn’t hate me. And he didn’t. But nor did he like me questioning him or going against his wishes. At first that was okay, because I was little, but as I got older it became harder to always be agreeable. That night...’ She stopped and looked at him curiously. ‘Why didn’t you defend yourself against him? Why didn’t you tell him that it was me who had kissed you?’