Chapter 3: The Problem with Pretending Not to Care

Aspen Carter wasn’t used to feeling like an outsider.

She was always the one in control the one who walked into a room and made people adjust to her presence, not the other way around. But here, in the small, worn-in world of Grounded, she was just another customer.

And Leo Moreno? He wasn’t giving her an inch.

She wasn’t sure if that frustrated her or intrigued her more.

“Are you just going to stand there all day?” Leo’s voice broke through her thoughts.

Aspen smirked. “I thought you liked my company.”

Leo let out a short laugh, wiping down the counter. “I like that you pay in cash.”

“Wow. Romance isn’t dead after all.”

Leo shook his head, but there was something close to amusement in his eyes. “You’re something else, princess.”

Aspen took another slow sip of her coffee, eyes locked on his. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Leo opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, the café door swung open, and a familiar voice rang out.

“Aspen?”

Aspen didn’t have to turn around to know who it was.

Blake Harrington.

Of course.

She exhaled slowly before facing him. Blake stood in the doorway, looking completely out of place in his tailored suit, his usual air of arrogance wrapped around him like an expensive cologne.

He glanced around, taking in the tiny café with mild distaste before settling his gaze on Leo. Then back to Aspen.

His smirk widened. “Well, this is unexpected.”

Leo, to his credit, didn’t react much. He simply leaned against the counter, watching the interaction with mild curiosity.

Aspen set her cup down. “What do you want, Blake?”

Blake tsked. “So cold. Can’t an old friend drop by for a visit?”

“You’re neither a friend nor someone who drops by anywhere without a reason.”

Leo snorted quietly at that, though he didn’t comment.

Blake’s smirk didn’t waver. “Fine. I might have been in the area. And I might have been curious about who’s been distracting you lately.” His eyes flicked to Leo again, the amusement in them shifting into something more calculating.

Leo finally spoke. “You two know each other?”

Blake grinned. “Oh, Aspen and I go way back. Business, pleasure… it all gets so blurry, doesn’t it, darling?”

Aspen resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “We dated briefly. And I broke up with him*

Aspen folded her arms, her patience already wearing thin. “We dated—briefly. And I broke up with him not briefly.”

Blake chuckled, unfazed. “You wound me, Aspen.”

Leo, who had been watching the exchange with a mixture of curiosity and mild amusement, finally leaned against the counter. “So let me guess you’re the ex she wants to forget?”

Blake turned his full attention to Leo, his smirk sharpening. “And you’re the… barista?”

Aspen didn’t like the way he said it.

Like it was an insult. Like it was a joke.

Leo, however, remained completely unbothered. He wiped his hands on a rag and gave Blake a slow once-over. “That’s me. And you’re the guy who still can’t take a hint?”

Aspen nearly choked on her coffee.

Blake’s smirk faltered for half a second before he let out an insincere laugh. “Charming.” He turned back to Aspen. “Aspen? This is what you’re doing now? Dating guys, who make minimum wage?”

Leo’s jaw tensed slightly, but before he could say anything, Aspen set her coffee down with a little more force than necessary.

“You’re embarrassing yourself, Blake.”

Blake gave her an incredulous look. “I’m embarrassing myself? I’m not the one slumming it in a Brooklyn café.”

Aspen exhaled slowly. He wants a reaction.

She wouldn’t give him one.

Instead, she tilted her head, giving him the same cool, detached look she had perfected in boardrooms. “You’re insecure, and it’s showing.”

Blake’s smirk vanished entirely.

Leo let out a low chuckle.

For a second, silence settled between them.

Then Blake rolled his shoulders, straightening his suit. “You know what? This has been… illuminating.” His gaze flickered back to Leo. “Enjoy your charity case, princess.”

Aspen didn’t react. But the moment Blake turned to leave, Leo took one step forward.

“Hey, Harrington,” he called out.

Blake stopped, glancing back with irritation. “What?”

Leo smirked. “Your coffee’s on the house.”

Blake’s expression darkened, but Aspen could already tell he wouldn’t take the bait not when he had already lost this round.

Without another word, he pushed open the door and disappeared onto the busy street.

Leo let out a low whistle. “Well. That was fun.”

Aspen picked up her coffee again. “I hate him.”

Leo smirked. “I got that impression.”

She took a sip, watching him over the rim of her cup. “You handled him well.”

Leo shrugged. “Guys like that are easy to read. They walk into a room thinking they own it, but the moment someone doesn’t play their game, they lose their footing.”

Aspen studied him for a moment. “You don’t like rich people much, do you?”

Leo met her gaze, something unreadable flickering in his expression. “Depends on the rich person.”

She wasn’t sure why, but that answer made her stomach tighten in a way that had nothing to do with irritation.

Leo glanced at the clock on the wall. “You sticking around, or did your ex scare you off?”

Aspen smirked. “Leo, if I scared easy, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Leo chuckled, shaking his head. “Fair enough, princess.”

And just like that, the tension from moments ago faded into something easier. Something that felt like a game neither of them quite knew the rules to yet.

But one thing was clear Aspen wasn’t done coming back to Grounded.

And Leo wasn’t sure he wanted her to stop.

Aspen Carter was officially wasting her time.

Or at least, that’s what she told herself as she sat at a small corner table in Grounded, idly scrolling through emails while occasionally stealing glances at the man behind the counter.

Leo Moreno.

The barista who didn’t care that she was a billionaire. The artist refused her help. The only person in recent memory who had looked her in the eye and told her no and somehow made her want to hear him say yes.

She should have been in a conference room right now. Should have been finalizing a partnership deal or reviewing projections for Vyre’s latest expansion. Instead, she was here, sipping an iced caramel macchiato she didn’t need, pretending she wasn’t waiting for him to acknowledge her.

She hated how much she wanted him to.

Leo had been avoiding conversation since the Blake incident two days ago. He still made her coffee and still took her cash, but the easy banter had been replaced with something else. Something unreadable.

She wasn’t used to people ignoring her.

So naturally, it was driving her insane.

Finally, when the silence stretched too long, she closed her laptop and spoke.

“Are you mad at me?”

Leo barely glanced up as he wiped down the espresso machine. “Why would I be mad?”

Aspen arched an eyebrow. “I don’t know. Maybe because I tried to help you. Maybe because my obnoxious ex showed up and made a scene. Maybe because you seem determined to act like I don’t exist right now.”

Leo exhaled through his nose, setting down the rag. “You do exist, Aspen. I just have work to do.”

She leaned back in her chair, studying him. “Uh-huh. And yet, you have plenty of time to talk to everyone except me.”

Leo finally met her gaze. “You ever consider that maybe I don’t want to be a part of whatever game you’re playing?”

Aspen stiffened. “Game?”

Leo crossed his arms. “Yeah. You show up here every day like it’s some kind of experiment. Like you’re trying to figure out why the broke artist won’t kiss the ground you walk on.”

Aspen’s jaw clenched. “That’s not what this is.”

“Then what is it?”

She didn’t have an answer.

Because the truth was, she wasn’t sure anymore.

What had started as simple curiosity had shifted into something else. Something more dangerous. She wasn’t used to people challenging her, and Leo challenged her. Not with money, not with power, but with the way he refused to be impressed by any of it.

And for some reason, she couldn’t let that go.

Finally, she set her cup down and stood. “You know what? Forget it.”

Leo’s expression didn’t change, but something flickered in his eyes something close to regret.

But Aspen was already walking away.

She didn’t look back.

And for the first time, she wasn’t sure if she’d come back at all.

Aspen lasted three days.

Three days of throwing herself into work, of avoiding Brooklyn, of trying to convince herself that Leo Moreno was just some stubborn, prideful artist who wasn’t worth her time.

And yet, on the fourth day, she was back in her car, staring at Grounded from the passenger seat as her driver waited for instruction.

She could walk in right now. Order her usual. Pretend like nothing had happened.

Or she could leave.

For once in her life, Aspen didn’t know which move to make.

“Ma’am?” her driver prompted.

Aspen took a slow breath.

Then she opened the door and stepped out.

She had never been one to back down from a challenge.

And something told her Leo Moreno wasn’t done challenging her yet.

The bell above the café door chimed as Aspen stepped inside, and immediately, she felt the shift in the air.

Leo was behind the counter, as usual, moving efficiently between the espresso machine and the register. But when he saw her, his movements slowed, just for a fraction of a second so quick that anyone else wouldn’t have noticed.

But she noticed.

And she hated how much she cared.

Aspen exhaled slowly, forcing herself to step forward. She wasn’t sure if she was expecting an argument, a repeat of the last conversation they had, or something worse indifference.

Instead, Leo just met her gaze and said, “You’re back.”

It wasn’t a question.

Aspen tilted her head. “Disappointed?”

Leo wiped his hands on a towel. “Not surprised.”

She walked up to the counter, sliding a twenty-dollar bill toward him like nothing had changed. Like the tension between them wasn’t simmering just beneath the surface.

“My usual,” she said.

Leo hesitated, but then he took the cash and started making her drink, saying nothing.

Aspen watched him, waiting for him to say something, to crack a joke, to throw another one of his princess comments her way.

But he didn’t.

And for some reason, that irritated her more than if he’d told her to leave.

When he finally set her drink in front of her, she didn’t pick it up right away.

Instead, she leaned forward slightly. “Are we just going to pretend the other day didn’t happen?”

Leo sighed, resting his hands on the counter. “Would that make things easier for you?”

Aspen narrowed her eyes. “Would it make things easier for you?”

Leo let out a dry chuckle, shaking his head. “I don’t know what you want from me, Aspen.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, a voice interrupted them.

“Leo, you gonna introduce me to your new friend?”

Aspen turned to find a guy standing near the entrance a little older than Leo, same dark eyes, but with a more relaxed posture. He had the kind of easy confidence that suggested he knew how to read people before they even spoke.

Leo sighed. “Aspen, meet Mateo. My brother.”

Mateo grinned. “Ah. The Aspen.”

Aspen arched an eyebrow. “You’ve heard of me?”

Mateo smirked. “Jordan doesn’t shut up about you. You’re a billionaire with a habit of pissing off my brother.”

Aspen glanced at Leo, who looked completely unamused. “Sounds about right.”

Mateo laughed, taking a seat at a nearby table. “I like her.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “You like anyone who annoys me.”

Aspen smiled. “Then I guess I’m your new favorite person.”

Leo shot her a look, but there was something softer about it this time, something that wasn’t quite irritation, wasn’t quite amusement.

Something that made her stomach flip.

As Mateo busied himself with a phone call, Aspen turned back to Leo. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

Leo sighed. “Which one?”

“Are we pretending the other day didn’t happen?”

Leo exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair. “Look. You and me? We’re from different worlds, Aspen.”

She crossed her arms. “I’m aware.”

“And different worlds don’t mix.”

Aspen tilted her head. “Are you telling me you don’t want me coming here?”

Leo hesitated. Just for a second.

And that was all she needed to see.

Aspen took a sip of her coffee, watching him over the rim of the cup. “If