her heart pounding in her ears. She sensed the magnitude of the room but controlled the impulse of looking around. She placed a polite smile on her lips, stretched out her hand and froze when she saw Sebastian Cruz.
“You!” she blurted out as she instinctively snatched her hand back. Standing before her was the one man she’d hoped she’d never meet again. This was Sebastian Cruz? The man had turned her world upside down a month ago, had torn down all of her defenses and introduced her to a world of pleasure and promise.
Ashley gasped for her next breath as her body went rigid, primed to flee. What was going on? This could not be Sebastian Cruz. It was Sebastian Esteban. The name was burned into her mind forever. A woman never forgot her first lover.
But this man didn’t look anything like the mysterious guest who had arrived for a weekend getaway on Inez Key a month ago. The faded jeans and knowing smile were replaced with a severe suit and a stern mouth. Her gaze traveled from his short black hair to his large brown eyes and the hard thrust of his chin. He was attractive but forbidding. Menacing.
Sebastian’s raw power was barely concealed underneath the tailored lines of his black suit. His lean and muscular build hinted that he was sleek, swift and that he moved with stealth. This man could fight hard and dirty.
He smiled and a sense of unease trickled down Ashley’s spine. This time his smile didn’t make her heart give a slow tumble. His sharp white teeth made her think of a cold-blooded animal tearing apart his quarry.
Feeling a little shaky, Ashley took a step back. Sebastian was stunning, but her memories had muted the brutal power and raw masculinity he possessed.
“Ashley,” he said silkily and gestured at the chair in front of his desk. He didn’t look surprised to see her. “Please sit down.”
“What are you doing here?” she asked as conflicting emotions swirled ferociously inside her. She felt dizzy. Vulnerable. She wanted to sit down and curl into a protective ball but she couldn’t give the man any advantage. “I don’t understand. He called you Mr. Cruz.”
“That is my name,” he said as he sat down behind his desk.
“Since when?” She winced when her voice rose. Ashley tried desperately to hold back. “You introduced yourself to me as Sebastian Esteban.”
“That is part of my name. Esteban is my mother’s family name.” His dark eyes were intent as he watched her closely. As if that name should mean something to her. “I am Sebastian Esteban Cruz.”
That was his excuse? She stared at him, waiting for more. Instead, he sat in his chair that was as big as a throne and watched her with an air of impatience. He wasn’t going to apologize for anything.
“Why did you lie to me? Is that part of your routine?” A woman only had to look at Sebastian Cruz and know he was a heartbreaker. She thought she could remain unscathed by limiting their encounter to a one-night stand. She had been wrong.
But she hadn’t been thinking during that sensual weekend, she thought as regret pricked at her. Instead, she had followed a primal call and fallen into Sebastian’s bed.
She had known better. Expected more from herself. After being raised by a philandering father, Ashley had recognized the signs of Sebastian’s tried-and-true routine. She should have remembered the devastation that immediately followed the promise of paradise.
“When a wealthy person is interested in buying property, it’s in their best interest not to reveal who they are,” he said unrepentantly. “Otherwise the sale price goes up.”
“Inez Key wasn’t for sale,” she said hoarsely as the anger whipped through her. Now she understood why he’d chosen to visit her island. He had intended to steal her family home from the beginning!
“So you kept saying.” He gave a dismissive shrug. “I had approached you through several of my representatives, but I kept getting the same answer. The offered price was extremely generous. I made a personal visit in the hopes that I could convince you to sell.”
She had thought it was strange that a man like Sebastian had arrived at her island for rest and relaxation. He was the kind of man who thrived on challenges and conquering uncharted territory. “Instead, you stole it from me,” she whispered as her stomach churned. “This is all making sense.”
“I didn’t steal it,” he corrected her. “You missed the deadline to repay the loan. Inez Key is mine.”
Ashley didn’t like the triumph she heard in his voice. She clenched her purse tighter as she choked back the fury. “That loan is none of your business! It was a private agreement between Raymond Casillas and me.”
“And I bought the loan from Casillas. You shouldn’t have put up your island as collateral.” He mockingly clucked his tongue and shook his head at her poor judgment.
“It not like I had a lot of choices,” she pointed out fiercely. How dare this man question her decision? Her father’s finances had been a shambles when he died. Sebastian had no idea what she’d had to do, what she’d had to sacrifice, to keep Inez Key. “It was the only thing I have of value.”
He tilted his head and captured her gaze. “Was it?” he asked softly.
Ashley stiffened as she sensed the danger lurking beneath that question. How much did this man know? She needed to take control of this meeting. Her legs shook and she felt jittery, but she forced herself to remain standing. “Inez Key suffered a lot of damage during the hurricane, and the insurance wouldn’t pay for all of it.”
He shrugged. “I don’t care how you got into debt.”
She wanted to claw at his bored expression. Ashley curled her fingers into her palms as she felt her temper flare dangerously. “I didn’t make an agreement with you,” she said roughly. “I had a payment plan with Raymond.”
“Which you couldn’t pay,” he said. “You took a gamble and you lost.”
Ashley gritted her teeth. It was true and she couldn’t deny it. She had taken many risks when she’d accepted the loan. She’d had difficulty finding the money to repay, but she couldn’t let it end here. She had to get Inez Key back.
“Raymond understood why I was having trouble making the payments,” she said, her voice shaking as emotions ran wild inside her. “He was giving me more time since he had been best friends with my father.”
“I’m sure he was the epitome of understanding and compassion. But it was smart of you to keep it out of the banking system.” He wagged his finger at her. “I would have found out about it earlier.”
Did he think this was funny? That this was a game? Her future was at stake here. “And then you wouldn’t have had to sleep with me to get that kind of information,” she retorted.
Sebastian’s gaze slowly traveled down her tense body, resting briefly on her gentle curves. “That isn’t why I took you to bed.”
Her skin burned. She couldn’t stop the fragmented memories flooding her mind. She remembered his hot masculine scent and the taste of his golden skin. Her dress felt tight as she recalled the sharp hiss between his teeth and the bite of pain when his strong fingers had tangled in her hair.
Ashley abruptly looked away. She had a tendency to remember that night at the most inconvenient moments. Her heart was pounding against her chest and her body was flushed. “You didn’t have seduction in mind the moment you stepped on Inez Key,” she mumbled. “I find that highly unlikely.”
“I didn’t know that you would indulge in pillow talk after sex,” he drawled as he leaned back in his chair and steepled his long fingers together. “I certainly didn’t expect you to reveal your agreement with Casillas. That was a bonus and it was impossible for me not to use that information for my benefit.”
Ashley stared at Sebastian as her chest twisted painfully. How could he be so callous about that intimate moment? Didn’t he realize that she never confided