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her mother had lived in after her father’s desertion, the wealth of Ocean Haven had been staggering. It was something she’d never take for granted again.
    ‘Where are you planning to go once it’s sold?’
    ‘It’s not going to be sold,’ she said with a touch of asperity, stepping back as Cruz joined her outside the stall. ‘At least not to someone else.’
    He raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re going to buy it?’
    ‘Yes.’ She had always been a believer in the power of positive thinking, and she had never needed that more than she did now.
    Gypsy Blue whickered and stuck her head over the door and Aspen realised her water trough was nearly empty. Unhooking it, she walked the short distance to a tap and filled it.
    ‘Let me do that.’
    Cruz took the bucket from her before she could stop him and stepped inside the stall. Aspen grabbed the feed bucket Donny had left outside and followed him in and hooked it into place.
    ‘It’s a big property to run by yourself,’ he said.
    ‘For a girl?’ she replied curtly.
    ‘I didn’t say that.’
    ‘Sorry. I’m a bit touchy because so many people have implied more than once that I won’t be able to do it. It’s like they think I’m completely incompetent, and that really gets my—’ She gave a small laugh realising she was about to unload her biggest gripe onto him and he was virtually a stranger to her now. Why would he even care? ‘The fact is...’ She looked at him carefully.
    He had money. She’d heard of his business acumen. Of the companies he bought and sold. Of his innovative and brilliant new polo-inspired hotel in Mexico. He was the epitome of a man at the top of his game. Right now, as he leant his wide shoulders against the stall door and blocked out all sources of light from behind, he also looked the epitome of adult male perfection.
    ‘But the fact is...?’ he prompted.
    Aspen’s eyes darted to his as she registered the subtle amusement lacing his voice. Did he know what she had just been thinking? ‘Sorry, I was just...’ Just a bit distracted by your incredible face? Your powerful body? Way to go, Aspen. Really. Super effort. ‘The fact is—’ she squared her shoulders ‘—I need ten million dollars to keep it.’
    She forced a bright smile onto her face.
    ‘You’re not looking for an investment opportunity, are you?’

CHAPTER THREE
    S HE COULDN ’ T BELIEVE she’d actually voiced the question that had just formed in her mind but she knew that she had when Cruz’s dark gaze sharpened on hers. But frankly, with only five days left to raise the rest of the money and Billy Smyth firmly out of the picture, she really was that desperate.
    ‘Give you ten million dollars? That’s a big ask.’
    Her heart thumped loudly in her chest and her mouth felt dust dry. ‘Lend,’ she corrected. ‘But you know what they say...’ She stopped as he straightened to his full height and she lost her train of thought.
    He shoved both hands into his pockets. ‘ They say a lot of things, Aspen. What is it exactly you’re referring to?’
    ‘If you don’t ask you never know,’ she said, moistening her lips. ‘And I’m desperate.’
    Cruz’s eyes glittered as he looked down at her. ‘A good negotiator never shows that particular hand. It puts their opponent in the dominant position.’
    Heat bloomed anew on her face as his tone seemed to take on a sensual edge. ‘I don’t see you as my opponent, Cruz.’
    ‘Then you’re a fool,’ he returned, almost too mildly.
    Aspen felt her hopes shrivel to nothing. What had she been thinking, approaching a business situation like that? Where was her professionalism? Her polish?
    But maybe she’d known he’d never agree to it. Not with the way he obviously felt about her.
    ‘What would I get out of it, anyway?’
    The unexpected question surprised her and once again her eyes darted to his. Had she been wrong in thinking he wouldn’t be interested? ‘A lot, actually. I’ve drawn up a business