Free The Most Expensive Lie of All by Michelle Conder Page B

disrepair. A bit like her own mind, she mused in a moment of black humour.
    But gradually, as Cruz drove them through small towns and along broken cobblestoned streets alive with pedestrians and tourists fortified against the amazing heat with wide-brimmed hats, Aspen felt herself start to relax.
    She snuck a glance at Cruz’s beautiful profile. His expression was so serious he looked as if he belonged on a penny. The silence stretched out like the bitumen in front of them and finally Aspen couldn’t take it any longer. ‘So you went back to Mexico after you left The Farm?’
    He cut her a brief glance. ‘You want the low-down on my life story, gatita ?’
    No, she wanted to know if it would take a silver bullet to end his life, or whether an ordinary one would do the trick.
    One night, Aspen .
    ‘I was making polite conversation.’
    ‘Choose another topic.’
    Okay.
    ‘Why do you want my farm?’
    ‘It’s a great location for a hotel. Why else?’
    Aspen glared at him. ‘You’re going to tear it down, aren’t you?’ Tear down the only home she’d ever loved. Tear down the stables.
    ‘Perhaps.’
    ‘You can’t do that.’
    ‘Actually, I can.’
    ‘Why? Revenge?’
    She saw a muscle tick in his jaw. ‘Not revenge. Money.’
    Aspen blew out a breath, more determined than ever that he shouldn’t get his hands on her property. ‘How much further is it to the hotel?’ she asked completely exasperated.
    Cruz smiled. ‘You sound like you’re not expecting to enjoy yourself, gatita .’
    She didn’t answer, and she felt his curious gaze on her as she stared sightlessly out of the window.
    ‘It will be a while,’ he said abruptly. ‘We have a small detour to make.’
    Aspen glanced back at his austere expression. ‘What sort of detour?’
    ‘I have to stop at my mother’s house.’
    ‘Your mother’s house?’ She frowned. ‘Why would you take me to meet your mother?’
    ‘Believe me, I’m not happy about it either,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately my brother has arranged her surprise birthday party for today and I promised I’d show up.’
    ‘Your mother’s...’ She cleared her throat as if she had something stuck in it. ‘You could have warned me.’
    ‘I just did.’
    She blew out a frustrated breath.
    ‘Don’t make a big deal out of it,’ he cautioned. ‘I’m not.’
    ‘Well, that’s obvious. But how can I not? What will she think of me?’
    ‘That you’re my latest mistress. What else?’
    Cruz saw a flash of hurt cross her face and hated how she made him feel subtly guilty about the situation between them. He had nothing to feel guilty about. She had asked him for money, he had laid down his terms, and she’d accepted. And now that she knew he was in direct competition with her his conscience was clear. Or should have been. Still, it picked at him that he might be making a decision he would later regret. His body said the opposite and he ran his eyes over her feminine, but demure outfit. All that wild hair caught back in a low ponytail just begging to be set free.
    ‘I don’t have anything for her,’ she said in a small voice.
    Cruz forced himself to concentrate on a particularly dilapidated section of road before he had an accident. ‘I’ve got it covered.’
    She fell blessedly silent after that as he navigated through the centre of town and he was just exhaling when she spoke again.
    ‘What did you get her?’
    ‘Excuse me?’
    ‘Your present. I would know what it was if I was really your mistress.’
    ‘You are my mistress,’ he reminded her. ‘For one night anyway.’
    If possible even more colour drained from her face, and it irritated him to think that she saw sleeping with him as such a chore. By the time he was finished with her she would be screaming with pleasure and begging for more than one night.
    ‘Money,’ he said, pulling his thoughts out of his pants.
    ‘Sorry?’
    ‘I’m giving her money.’
    ‘Oh.’
    Her nose twitched as if she’d just smelt