‘Here—let me warm you.’
Before she had a chance to object Tiago had opened his arms and drawn her inside his jacket. She tensed, and then reminded herself that Latin men were demonstrative, that she shouldn’t make anything of it. All he was doing was preventing a mild case of hypothermia setting in.
‘Mmm...much better.’ Her cheeks were burning as she pulled away—which she had to do before she grew used to the addictive feeling of hard, hot man.
‘Go inside and warm up in front of the fire,’ Tiago suggested. ‘I’ll take care of the horses.’
‘I’m not leaving it all to you,’ she protested. ‘We’ll do it together. It will take half the time, and then we can both take a shower,’ she insisted when Tiago seemed about to refuse. ‘You’re wet through too,’ she reasoned.
Sleeting rain had started to fall at the end of their ride, in an unrelenting curtain. It showed no sign of easing any time soon.
When the horses were settled they ran for the house. She screamed as a clap of thunder coincided with Tiago grabbing hold of her hand to help her run faster, and was laughing and panting by the time they reached the door. Just for a moment, as they faced each other and Tiago stilled, she wondered if he was going to kiss her.
‘Come on—let’s go inside.’
She spun round before he had a chance. It was a most unlikely event that he was going to kiss her. She didn’t want to be disappointed. There was nothing worse than turning your face up for a kiss and receiving nothing.
‘Take a shower and warm up,’ he told her. ‘Then come back downstairs and we’ll talk.’
About what? she wondered. A job? Her heart thundered as she waited for Tiago to reply, but he said nothing.
Brazil.
The thought of returning to Brazil was enough to make her heart race with excitement. The thought of returning to Brazil with Tiago was off the scale. The pampas, the horses, the starry nights, the vibrant music, the warm and friendly people—what she’d give for a chance to go back...
Brazil with Tiago?
Okay. Don’t even go there. The thought was so exhilarating she wondered if she’d ever think straight again. But she was never going to make a fool of herself over a man again.
When she came downstairs she found Tiago in the library, where he was standing by the window, staring out into the darkness, seeing nothing as it was so black out there. So he was thinking. But about what? She closed the door quietly behind her, but the click made him turn around. Even now, when she was used to the sight of him again, seeing Tiago Santos here—so tall, so dark, so powerful—she felt her senses flood with heat.
‘So, what’s this chat you want to have with me?’ she said briskly, not wanting to appear too eager. And she had to set her expectations at a reasonable level. Not every interview ended with the offer of a job.
‘Sit down, Danny. You’re right. I do have a business proposition for you.’
She frowned. A business proposition? That sounded a bit formal. What could he mean? She had no money. He must know that. She had no land. He must know that too. She didn’t own any breeding stock. She rode whichever horse needed exercise. What could she possibly offer Tiago Santos that he didn’t have already in abundance?
Something didn’t feel right.
Tiago sat on the sofa facing hers and came right to it. ‘I’ve got a problem—you have too. You need a job,’ he said, before she could comment. ‘And you need a job that pays a lot more than your work here if you’re to have any chance at all of saving to start up your own place.’
‘Of course I do—but I’m realistic.’ Her laugh was short and sounded false. She didn’t like being reminded that her career ambition was probably a hopeless fantasy.
‘The type of training stable you envisage running is going to cost a lot of money.’
‘I would have to begin small,’ she said.
‘Very small,’ Tiago agreed dryly. ‘But what would you say if I told you that you don’t have to wait, that you don’t have to start small? What if I told you that you could do pretty much anything you want?’
‘I’d think you were mad—or lying.’ She laughed it off, but then something occurred to her. ‘You’re not saying you’d back me, are you?’
When Tiago had mentioned a business proposition she had never imagined he was considering investing in her skills.
‘Yes, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting,’ he admitted. ‘I’d help you to draw up a business plan and I would fund your business.’
She was briefly elated—but then common sense kicked in. ‘And what would I have to do for this—beyond training horses and hopefully making a profit eventually?’
She knew full well that establishing a reputation in equine circles would take years. There would be no quick or easy profits for the type of venture Tiago was suggesting.
‘You would have to put your faith in me.’
Sitting back, he crossed one booted foot over the other and with half-closed eyes regarded her lazily, with just the hint of a smile on his mouth.
‘What do you mean?’ For some reason, instead of feeling excited by Tiago’s suggestion, she suddenly felt chilled.
‘I’d offer you a contract—a fair contract—that would give us both an out in one year’s time.’
‘So I could be left high and dry without a job if you felt like it?’
‘That would never happen.’
‘How can I be sure? What is this job?’
Tiago hesitated, and then said, ‘As the wife of Tiago Santos you would never be left “high and dry”, as you put it.’
‘Your wife?’ She couldn’t have been more shocked, and her lips felt like pieces of wood as she spoke the words. ‘What on earth are you talking about, Tiago?’
‘I need a wife,’ he said bluntly, with a careless gesture. ‘And I need a wife fast. I’m telling you this because I won’t pretend otherwise. I’m going to be absolutely honest with you, so that you know exactly where you stand. The terms of my grandfather’s will have left me with no option. I must marry—and soon. Before the trustees find some excuse to take over the ranch. They know nothing of its history—nothing of its people—’
Tiago’s passion scorched her. He didn’t just care about this ranch and its people—they were his life. That was the only reason she stayed to listen and didn’t get up and stamp out of the room. But she was still running his words over in her head. His wife? Tiago’s wife? She couldn’t take it in.
‘I’ll give you a moment,’ he said. ‘I can see this has come as a shock to you.’
Tiago was half out of his seat, but she gestured for him to sit down again. ‘Please...’
‘Don’t look so apprehensive, Danny, so alarmed. I mean what I say. You would have everything you’ve ever wanted—ever dreamed about—right now, rather than waiting, and you’ll be secure for the rest of your life.’
Secure? She would be rich enough to own and run her own training establishment—that was a dream come true, just for a start, to someone who had grown up penniless, believing her dreams to be as distant and unachievable as any fairytale. Tiago was offering her the golden chalice.
Yes, but he was keeping it just out of her reach. He could grant her everything—including security for her increasingly unpredictable mother—but at what cost? she wondered.
‘I’d