‘Forgive me.’
Tiago was mocking her a little bit, but she would forgive him anything for one of those smiles.
‘It was a spur-of-the-moment impulse,’ he admitted.
‘You can’t just walk back into my life and take over.’
‘Shall I see you to your front door?’ he asked, unfazed by this.
‘That’s not necessary—’
Ignoring her, he came round anyway and helped her out of the car. His touch was electric. She pulled back, still annoyed at the thought of her employer’s likely reaction when a world-famous polo player had knocked on his door, demanding that one of his staff have time off.
‘Thank you very much for tonight,’ she said formally, turning to face Tiago at the front door. ‘But please don’t interfere in the life I’m making here in future.’
Inclining his head in a way that might have meant yes, or no, he smiled. Taking the key from her hand, he opened the front door. She flinched when he took hold of her shoulders, and then softened beneath his touch. She couldn’t help herself. Her reaction was automatic. The bond between them could survive anything, and nothing she could do or think would change that.
‘Goodnight, Danny...’ Dipping his head, Tiago brushed a chaste kiss against her cheek.
‘Goodnight...’
Her stomach clenched with disappointment as he walked away.
* * *
He stood beneath a shower turned to ice, and then rubbed himself down roughly before falling naked into bed. Cursing viciously, he punched the pillows. Turning this way and that, he felt like a frustrated wolf that would be better off howling at the moon.
He’d get no sleep tonight. Seeing Danny again had thrown him completely. He had thought he was ready for it—ready for her—and that the time for their reunion had come and he’d be able to handle it. Now he wasn’t sure of anything—except that his love for her had grown. And he wanted her more than ever.
Every wasted second was a second too long. He was in the most acute agony of his life. Mental frustration and physical frustration had combined to torture him.
He turned restlessly as his cell phone pinged. Picking it up, he scanned the number, then closed it down. He would not talk to Danny tonight—not over the phone. Nothing but having her in bed beside him would do. They belonged together.
But he’d waited for her this long and he could wait a little longer. What was pain?
He rejoiced in her strength, and in the fact that she had built a life for herself here. He even, however begrudgingly, had to admit that she was doing very well without him. So whatever she wanted from him tonight would have to wait until tomorrow morning.
* * *
The air was blue by the time Danny had pulled the bedcovers up to her chin. How dared Tiago come back into her life and interfere?
Had he found someone else?
Why else would he be so distant with her?
Had he lost all feeling for her?
Clearly he had.
How dared he refuse to take her call? She had wanted to warn him off one last time.
She had wanted to hear his voice before falling asleep.
How dared he speak to her employer without her express permission?
She took out her frustration on the pillow.
And how was everyone on the ranch?
Why hadn’t he told her? Did that mean she was never going to see them again?
She picked up the phone to call him again but it went straight to voicemail. Again!
Damn the man! She didn’t need him anyway!
She didn’t need anyone!
Burying her head between the pillows, as if Tiago might hear her noisy sobs of anger and frustration, failure, longing and loneliness all the way over at the big house at Lochmaglen, she dragged the jacket of her flannelette pyjamas a little closer and curled up tightly in a ball.
She must have fallen asleep almost immediately, but woke feeling as if she hadn’t slept at all. She had been dreaming about Tiago all night, Danny realised groggily. She’d been telling him how glad she was that he was back. And then they’d made love. She would never forget that dream. Her body would never forget that dream. She would always remember Tiago kissing her as if they’d spent a lifetime apart, rather than a matter of weeks. And then, when they had been resting, she’d told him she loved him, and Tiago had said he loved her too.
Dreams!
And now she had work to do. But first she had to speak to her employer and reassure him that she wouldn’t be taking any time off—contrary to whatever he might have been told by their new and forceful neighbour.
She showered and dressed, and then ate breakfast. With a piece of buttered toast clamped between her teeth she hurried over to the stable block, and soon she was immersed in the work she loved.
But not for long.
Hooves clattering across the cobblestones reminded her that Tiago still expected them to ride out together this morning.
And what Tiago wants, Tiago gets...
Not on her watch.
That thought couldn’t stop her heart going crazy. Whatever she thought of him—or of herself, or of the way she had handled their relationship up to now—Tiago would always make her world a brighter place. Just more annoying, she reflected with amusement as he rode into the yard.
‘Nice horse,’ she commented mildly.
Colossal understatement. Tiago was riding a fancy stallion that must have cost a king’s ransom, and he was leading an equally fine grey at his side.
‘Good morning, Danny.’
His voice played her like a violin, reverberating all the way through her.
‘I trust you slept well?’
As well as he had, apparently. He had dark circles under his eyes too.
‘Very well, thank you,’ she said primly, while her body went on a rampage of lust.
With his swarthy skin, his unshaven face, and a bandana barely keeping his wild black hair under control, Tiago looked like every woman’s answer to lonely nights. His relaxed way of riding suggested the master of the sexual universe had arrived. He was dressed in jeans and boots, and a rugged black jacket with the collar turned up against the wind, but it was his dark eyes that held her.
This was ridiculous. She was in no mood for his nonsense this morning. Planting her hands on her hips, she confronted him. ‘Have you forgotten that I told you I was working this morning?’
‘I remembered.’
Dismounting, he secured both horses to a post, while she tried very hard not to notice the width of his shoulders, his lean frame... And she definitely refused to notice his tight butt, along with the familiar bulge in his jeans.
‘I left a message for my employer to let him know I will be working as usual this morning,’ she announced crisply.
‘I know you did.’
‘You know?’
Tiago turned to face her and his expression was distinctly amused.
It took her a moment, and then the penny finally dropped. ‘You!’
He shrugged. ‘Had you forgotten that this farm belongs to the Lochmaglen estate?