‘I thought so.’
He readjusted his helmet and Aspen automatically pushed some of his hair out of his eyes. ‘You need a haircut,’ she admonished.
He stilled, his gaze holding hers. ‘I have something I need to tell you.’
‘What is it?’
‘Not here.’ He shook his head. ‘I promised Ricardo I’d check in with the Chinese delegation I have apparently neglected all day. How about we meet back in the suite in thirty minutes?’
‘This sounds serious.’
‘It is. Here, let me take Bandit back to the stables for Luis to get her cleaned up.’ He mounted and reached down for the mallet Aspen was holding for him. Instead of taking it he gripped her elbow, raised her onto her toes and kissed her soundly. ‘Very serious.’
Aspen watched Cruz canter back towards the stables, her fingers pressed to her throbbing lips.
‘Now, that was really touching.’
Aspen swung around at the sound of a mocking voice behind her. For a moment all she could do was stare blankly, her mind frozen as if she’d just been zapped.
‘Chad,’ she finally managed to croak out.
His smile was charming and boyish. ‘One and the same, babe, one and the same.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HOPING CHAD WAS just an apparition, Aspen blinked rapidly and then gave a sharp gasp as her vision cleared and she saw him properly. ‘What happened to your eye?’
He fingered the puffy purple skin of his eye socket. ‘I ran into your boyfriend. Didn’t he tell you?’
Yes, he had, but he’d neglected to say that he’d done anything but talk to him. A warm glow spread through Aspen’s torso. As much as she abhorred violence, the fact that Cruz had reacted on her behalf did make her feel good. Special.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Do you care?’ he sneered.
‘Of course.’ Memories flooded in, preventing her from saying anything else. The unexpectedness of seeing him causing her heart to beat heavily in her chest.
He stood before her, the typical urban male, with his designer haircut, stubble and trendy sportswear. She knew it took him hours to achieve that casually dishevelled appearance, and that he’d always hated the fact that she didn’t pay more attention to her own appearance.
‘Can’t you straighten your hair sometimes? It’s a mess.’
‘I didn’t expect to see you so far from Ocean Haven.’
His words snapped her attention back to him and slowly she started breathing properly again.
‘I’m...here on...business.’ She stumbled over the words and furtively looked around for Cruz. Then she felt angry with herself. She was no longer the naïve eighteen-year-old girl who had mistaken friendship for love and had thought that wealth was synonymous with decency. She didn’t need Cruz to protect her. She didn’t need any man to do that.
‘Some digs,’ Chad continued, looking back at the hotel. ‘The stable boy has come a long way.’
‘What do you want, Chad?’
‘To say hello.’
‘Well, now you’ve said it, so...’
‘What?’ He held his hands wide as if in surprise. ‘That’s all you’re going to say?’
‘We haven’t spoken for a long time. I don’t see any point in changing that.’
‘What if I do?’
Aspen felt her mouth tighten. ‘I believe Cruz told you not to come near me.’ And she hated pulling that card.
Chad’s lip curled. ‘See, Boy Wonder would like to think he controls everything, but he doesn’t control me. Does he control you, Assie?’
Aspen’s mouth tightened. There was no way she was playing mind games with her ex-husband again. She’d done that enough when they had been married.
‘Goodbye, Chad.’
She turned on her heel, intent on walking away from him. but it seemed he had other ideas.
‘Aspen, wait.’ He jogged after her. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’
‘No?’
‘No. I wanted to apologise to you, actually.’
Aspen stopped. ‘For...?’
‘For being such an idiot when we got married. I was in a bad way and—’
Aspen held up her hand like a stop sign. ‘Don’t, Chad.’ She knew his game. She had heard his apologies a thousand times before. Usually they amounted to nothing. ‘It doesn’t matter anymore.’ And amazingly it didn’t. Cruz had seen to that.