He frowned down at her. ‘It’s the truth.’
Aspen sighed and pushed away from him, feeling shivery and cold when he released her. ‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘Of course it matters.’ Cruz moved to the table and picked up the wad of paper Lauren had left behind. ‘Look at this.’
Aspen glanced at it warily. ‘What is it?’
‘As soon as I found out that your uncle had accepted my offer I had Lauren organise the immediate transfer of the deeds into your name. It’s all here in this contract.’
‘What?’
‘That was what I was going to tell you over dinner.’
Aspen frowned. ‘So you’re saying our deal is still on?’
Cruz glowered at her. ‘Of course the deal is not still on. I don’t expect you to pay me back. I’m giving you the property.’
‘You’re giving...’ She shook her head. ‘You mean lending me the money to buy it?’
‘No, I mean giving it to you.’
‘Why would you do that?’
‘Because this way you have security.’
‘Security?’
‘You would have been bankrupt within the year if you’d borrowed all that money.’
Scowling, she moved away from him. ‘That’s not true. I have a great business plan to get Ocean Haven out of trouble and—’ She stopped as he shook his head at her as if she didn’t have a clue.
‘Aspen, there’s no way you can carry that kind of debt and survive,’ he said softly.
His words registered in her brain as if she was sitting at the back of a large lecture theatre and trying to read off a tiny whiteboard. ‘So you’re just giving it to me?’
‘It’s just a property, Aspen.’
It’s just a dress.
It’s just her self-worth.
Just her heart.
‘I don’t want you to give it to me,’ she said.
‘Why are you being so stubborn about this?’
Why? She didn’t know. And then she did. For years she’d thought that all she wanted was security, but really—really what she wanted was validation. Trust in her judgement. What she wanted was to know that she could direct her own future. Her way. But somewhere in the last couple of days Cruz had become the centre of her world. Just as both her grandfather and Chad had been at one stage.
Hadn’t she once pinned her hopes and dreams for the future on both of them and been let down?
She shook her head. ‘I don’t want it that way.’
‘What way? Hell!’ Cruz raked a hand through his hair. ‘I don’t see what the problem is.’
‘I want to do it my way.’
‘So do it your way,’ he almost roared in frustration. ‘Debt-free.’
‘I would have thought you of all people would understand,’ she said, completely exasperated. ‘You hated that your mother didn’t trust you to do things your way when you were a teenager.’
‘This is not that same thing.’
‘It is to me.’
‘You’re being stupid now.’
Aspen rounded on him. ‘Do not call me stupid. I had one man put me down. I won’t take it from another.’
‘Dios mio, I didn’t mean it like that.’ He turned his back on her and then swung back just as quickly. ‘Aspen, I’m in love with you.’
Aspen wrapped her arms around her chest as if she was trying to hold her heart in. Was this some backhanded way for him to get Ocean Haven? She stared at him, her emotions in turmoil, a terrible numbness invading her limbs.
‘You’re not.’
Cruz swore. ‘I’ve just spent over two hundred million dollars on a property I’m prepared to give you. What would you call it?’
‘Crazy.’
‘Well, it is that...’
‘What would you buy me for my birthday?’ she asked suddenly.
Cruz frowned. ‘Your birthday is...two months away.’
‘You have no idea, do you?’
‘How is that relevant?’
It was relevant because she knew if he presented her with an envelope full of cash it would break her heart. It was relevant because if he really loved her for who she was he would have some idea.
His eyes narrowed on her face. ‘What is this? Some kind of test?’
‘And if it is?’
A calmness seemed to pervade his limbs. ‘You’re being ridiculously stubborn about this. I’m giving you everything that you want. Most women would be on their knees with gratitude right now.’