She somehow knew that rare slip of the tongue would come back and haunt her. He had used that moment of weakness to his advantage. “I will not allow you to take this island from me!”
Sebastian was unmoved by her heated declaration. “It’s too late.”
“Why are you being so unreasonable?” Her voice echoed in her ears. She lowered her hands firmly against her sides and tried again. “Why can’t you give me a second chance?”
He seemed genuinely surprised by her question. As if she was more naive than he had given her credit. “Why should I? Have you done anything that would suggest you deserve a second chance?”
She saw the way his eyes darkened. There was something about his choice of words. Suspicion slithered and coiled around her weary mind as she crossed her arms. “Is this because I kicked you out of bed the next morning?”
Ashley wanted to bite her tongue the moment she spoke without thinking. She knew she had to be careful with her words. She cringed as she heard his husky chuckle.
Sebastian’s smile was a slash of white against his dark skin. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
She knew she had caught him off guard when she’d refused his offer to continue the relationship. Sebastian would never know how much the idea had both delighted and scared her. If he had seen her resolve weaken, he would have gone in for the kill. Her answer came across cold and unfeeling and she knew the rejection had stung.
To think she had felt bad about it! She had spent hours reviewing that moment and wishing she had refused more gracefully. And more than once she wished she had the courage to have accepted his offer.
But she realized that even after one glorious night, she was in danger of becoming the kind of woman she hated. A sexual creature. A woman who was driven by her emotions and needs. She had pulled away to protect herself.
“I can’t help but think this is all personal,” she said, glaring at him.
He arched a dark eyebrow. “How is that possible when we had not met until I arrived on Inez Key?” he murmured.
Ashley felt as if she was missing something. She knew they’d never met. One would never forget the briefest encounter with Sebastian Cruz. “You lied to me about your name, you had a hidden agenda and you seduced me. I was right to follow my instincts and get rid of you.”
“And I’m right to follow my instincts and remove you from the island immediately,” Sebastian said, clicking his computer keyboard as if the discussion was over.
Immediately? Panic gripped her chest. Before she’d walked in here she’d had two weeks to leave the island. She was making this worse. “Inez Key is all I have,” she said in a rush. “Without it, I have no home, no money...”
He didn’t glance away from the computer screen. “That is not my concern.”
She marched over to his desk and braced her hands on the edge. She would demand his attention if she had to reach over and grab him by the throat. “How can you be so cruel?” she asked in a low growl.
He lifted his gaze and held hers. “Cruel? You don’t know the meaning.”
She leaned forward. “I can’t lose Inez Key. That is my home and my livelihood.”
“Livelihood?” He scoffed at the word. “You haven’t worked a day in your life. You rent out your home to wealthy people for the occasional weekend.”
She let that criticism slide. She may not have a traditional job, but that didn’t mean she didn’t work hard to hold on to everything that was dear to her. “They pay good money for privacy. You did. What makes you think others won’t?”
He reached for his pen and uncapped it. “There aren’t enough rich celebrities looking for privacy to pay back your loan.”
“I haven’t been doing it long enough,” she insisted. She needed to buy a little time. “Raymond understood that.”
Sebastian shook his head. “Raymond Casillas wanted you to dig a deeper hole. He knew you were never going to be able to pay back the loan. Why do you think he offered in the first place?”
Ashley straightened and took a step away from the desk. “I don’t know,” she muttered. She didn’t want to talk about it. Her skin felt prickly as the nausea swept through her.
“He hoped you would pay back in another way. And I think you knew that. Which is why you had requested a contract. Under most circumstances, it would have been a smart move.”
“A lot of good it did me,” she said under her breath. That contract now put her right in the hands of the ruthless Sebastian Cruz.
“You didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding. You would offer Inez Key as your collateral, not your body.” Sebastian paused. “Or your virginity.”
She flushed bright red and refused to meet his gaze. “You knew?” Ashley whispered. She had done everything to conceal her inexperience. Out of pride, out of protection. She couldn’t allow Sebastian to know how much advantage he had in that moment. But how did he know? How did she give herself away?
He set down the pen. “You should have told me.” His tone was almost soft. Kind.
Ashley took another step back. She felt exposed. She wished she could walk right out of the office, but her unfamiliar heels felt like shackles. “I had already told you too much. And how did you know that Raymond wanted...” She swallowed roughly as her voice trailed away.
“Casillas has a reputation for liking innocent girls,” he said with distaste as he leaned back in his chair. “And once he found out that you and I had been together, he was no longer interested in helping you out.”
She closed her eyes as mortification weighed heavily on her shoulders. Sebastian had discussed their private moment with Raymond? He was just like her womanizing father and his raucous drinking buddies. A wave of disappointment crashed through her. She had expected better of Sebastian. “You’re disgusting,” she whispered.
“I do what is necessary to win.”
He was a worthy opponent. She didn’t care if his indiscretion helped her escape Raymond. He was still a dangerous enemy and she needed to remember that. “This isn’t over. I will see you in court,” she declared as she headed for the door.
“Good luck with that,” he called out after her. “You can’t afford legal advice and any good lawyer will tell you that you don’t have a case.”
“Don’t underestimate me.” She tossed the warning over her shoulder.
“How badly do you want Inez Key?” he asked lazily as she grabbed the door handle.
She dipped her head as she considered the question. How could she explain? Inez Key was more than her home. It was the only thing left of her family yet it was also a constant and unwelcome reminder. It was her sanctuary but it was also her dungeon. She was both caretaker and captive. She was determined to live there until she exorcised her demons. “Probably as much as you did.”
His chuckle sent a shiver down her spine. “You shouldn’t have told me that.”
She turned around and narrowed her eyes. He looked so calm and in control as he lounged in his chair and watched her with barely concealed amusement. “What do you want, Cruz?”
His smile sent a shiver down her spine. “You.”
CHAPTER TWO
SEBASTIAN SAW ASHLEY flinch from his answer. He knew she wasn’t surprised by his admission. He saw the flare of interest in her eyes and the flush in her cheeks before she tried to shield her reaction. She was trying to hold back her response, but her body was betraying her. She couldn’t hide the hectic pulse beating at the base of her neck. Ashley still wanted him, but she wasn’t going to admit it.