‘Aspen?’
Having finished up with his employee, Cruz waited impatiently for her to come to him but Aspen couldn’t help returning her gaze to the intricate carving.
‘Did you do this?’
He looked startled. ‘Why would you think that?’
‘I just saw some smaller versions in your mother’s house and they reminded me of the wood carvings you used to do in your spare time. Were they yours?’
He paused and Aspen felt a little foolish.
‘I haven’t done one of those in years.’
It was the most he’d said to her since leaving his mother’s and her curiosity got the better of her. ‘You don’t play polo any more either. Why is that?’
For a minute she didn’t think he had heard her.
‘Other things to do.’
‘Do you miss it?’ she asked, imagining that he couldn’t not, considering how good he was.
‘Mind your step when you come down,’ he said, turning away from her.
Right. That would be the end of yet another conversation, she thought, wondering why she’d even bothered to try and engage him. Her natural curiosity and desire to help others was clearly wasted on this man.
She thought back to his angry response to her gentle prodding at his mother’s house and shook her head at her own gumption. What did she really know, anyway? Her own relationship history wasn’t exactly the healthiest on the planet.
Following Cruz to the bank of elevators, she decided to keep her mouth shut. It was hard enough contemplating what she was about to do without adding to it by trying to come up with superfluous conversation.
When the lift opened directly into Cruz’s private suite Aspen gasped at the opulence of the living area, but Cruz ignored it all, striding into the room and throwing his wallet and keys onto a large mahogany table with an elaborate floral arrangement in the centre. With barely a pause he pushed open a set of concertina glass doors that led to a long balcony. Beyond the doors Aspen could just make out a jewel-green polo field.
Stepping closer, she saw that beyond the field there was an enormous stone stable with an orange tiled roof and beyond that white-fenced paddocks holding, she knew, some of the finest polo ponies in the world.
‘Wow....’ She breathed hot evening air that carried the scent of freshly mown grass and the lemony scent of magnolia with it. ‘Is that a swimming pool out there to the right?’
‘Yes.’ Cruz had his hands wedged firmly in his pockets as he stood behind her. ‘It’s a saltwater pool the horses use to cool off in.’
‘Lucky horses.’
‘If you take ten steps to your left and look around the corner you’ll see a pool and spa you can use.’
Happy to move out of his commanding orbit, Aspen followed his directions.
‘Oh...’ She stared at a sapphire-blue lap pool which had a large spa at the end of it. The pool was shielded on one side by a thick hedge and from above by a strategically placed cloth sail that would block both the sun and any paparazzi snooping around. ‘You don’t do things by halves, do you?’
‘Mexico is a hot place.’
Then why did she feel so cold?
Shivering, she glanced back at him, her attention caught by piercing black eyes and the dark stubble that highlighted his square jaw. Those broad shoulders...
She shivered again, and tossed her head to cover her reaction. ‘Time to get this party started, I’d say.’
‘Party?’ He raised a cool eyebrow at her. ‘In the pool?’
Aspen cast a quick glance at the inviting water, alarmed as an image of both of them naked and entwined popped into her head. It was so clear she could almost see them there—his larger, tanned body holding her up, the silky feel of the water lapping at her skin as it rippled with their movements, her arms curved over his smooth shoulders as she steadied herself, his hands stroking her heavy breasts....
She felt her face flame. She had the romantic—the fantasy—version of sex in her mind. The real version, she knew from experience, could never live up to it.
‘Of course not.’
‘Have you ever made love in the water, Aspen?’
Had he moved closer to her? She glanced at him with alarm but he hadn’t moved. Or hadn’t appeared to.
She inhaled and steeled her spine. ‘The pool doesn’t appeal to me.’
‘Pity. It’s a nice night for it.’
Aspen didn’t want to complicate this. A bed was more than adequate for what was about to happen between them. And she could close her eyes more easily in a bed.