At the Brazilian's Command(16)

He loved her.

No. Tiago didn't love her, Danny reasoned, losing patience with her  romantic self for allowing that thought to slip through. He loved her  for thinking of him and for choosing the belt.

‘Manuelo said you'd like it.'

‘Manuelo helped you with your choice?' He seemed impressed by this.  ‘Manuelo must like you. He and his family have been making these belts  for generations, but he won't make them for just anyone. These  traditions are another reason why this ranch is so special to me.'

‘You don't have to tell me how much this ranch means to you.'

Catching her close, Tiago kissed her-first on each cheek and then,  after a pause, on her mouth. He had never kissed her like that before.  It was a tender, lingering kiss that made her eyes sting with tears, and  when he pulled back there was a look in his eyes that thrilled her. It  was warm and assessing and thoughtful.

‘What?' she prompted when he didn't speak.

He slanted her a smile. It planted that attractive crease in his cheek.  ‘I bought something for you,' he revealed. ‘I hope you like it. I went  shopping in town.'

She smiled back at him as she imagined Tiago battling with the crowds. ‘Now, that I would like to have seen.'

‘I bought you this...' Reaching into the back pocket of his jeans, he  brought out the most astonishing diamond ring. ‘Do you like it?'

She was too stupefied to speak. And when she did find her voice she could only blurt, ‘You kept that in your back pocket?'

‘The boxes were boring,' Tiago said, frowning. ‘They were all the same.  What's the point of them? Everyone has them. I'm not everyone-and  neither are you. If you don't like it I'll change it.'

She turned the fabulous ring over in her hand, hypnotised by the prisms of light flashing from it.

‘What?' he said. ‘You don't seem keen. Is it too big? Too small? Too sparkly?'

Relaxing at last, she laughed. ‘I'm sorry. I don't seem very grateful,  do I? It's absolutely beautiful, Tiago, but I can't accept it.'

‘Rubbish,' he flashed. ‘But just in case...' He reached into his jeans  again. ‘I bought a few more, in case you didn't like that one.'

She gasped as he tipped a selection of rings into her hand to join the  first. Each was a fabulous jewel in its own right, and there was every  possible style, colour of stone and variety of cut.

‘Take your time,' he said with a shrug, as if he had given her a  selection of candy to choose from. ‘Or keep them all, if you prefer.'

Wealth on this scale was incomprehensible to Danny. ‘But I don't understand...'

‘What's to understand?' Tiago demanded. ‘We're getting married. I want my wife to have the best.'                       
       
           



       

‘Yes, but...' She hesitated, knowing she would rather have a tender  word from him, or a teasing look like those they'd used to share in  Brazil. This felt like another payment-a bonus to secure the deal.

‘This is a gift,' Tiago said, as if reading her mind. ‘My gift to you.'

She still wasn't convinced. Had all his mistresses received similar gifts? Suddenly the rings felt cold and heavy in her hand.

‘I can't keep them.'

‘Of course you can.' Tiago closed her hand around them. ‘Keep them all.  Swap them round from day to day, and then you'll never be tired of  them.'

‘I can't do that.' She was genuinely shocked. ‘I can't casually swap  these rings around as I might change my clothes. Any ring you give me is  going to be a precious keepsake and full of meaning. Its value will lie  in more than the stone.'

He frowned. ‘So you don't like my gift?'

‘I didn't say that. I love them. But all these are too much. You don't  have to do this, Tiago. Under the circumstances, wouldn't it be more  appropriate if you gave me something simple? Or nothing at all. I don't  have to have a ring.'

‘I want you to have a ring,' he insisted.

‘Because of what other people might think?' she suggested.

‘I don't give a damn what other people think,' he flared. ‘Take the  rings. Sell them if you don't want to wear them-put the money towards  stock for your new premises, if that's what you want to do.'

His voice had turned cold. She could tell she had hurt him. Her heart  shrank at the thought. They were so close, and yet miles apart.

‘You're a very generous man, Tiago' she said quietly, closing her hand around the rings. ‘Thank you.'

‘Good,' he said briskly, as if he were glad to have the matter dealt with.





CHAPTER EIGHT

SHE WAS FALLING in love with this man, Danny realised as they rode out  side by side later that day. But how could she ever relax totally with  Tiago, the gaucho who made her laugh and who had taught her so many  things about horses, when she had to handle his cold-blooded playboy  side too?

That would have to be a problem for another day, she concluded as he looked at her.

He glanced at their horses. ‘Shall we test them?'

‘Why not?'

His dark force was irresistible. Tiago's love of challenge and risk and  danger was fast becoming her secret pleasure. The heat and passion of  Brazil must have infected her, she realised as they urged their horses  on. The sun was warm, the breeze was cool, and scent from the flowers  they were trampling saturated the air she breathed. There surely could  be nothing more exhilarating than this. Nothing that could release the  tension inside her faster.

Except for one thing, she thought as she flashed a glance at Tiago, who  looked so relaxed, and yet so dark and dangerous in the saddle-and that  would have to wait until their wedding night.

Tiago reined in beside the river that watered his land, and for a  moment she allowed herself to believe she needed nothing more out of  life than this. She could work alongside Tiago for a year without  wanting him to feel the same way she did.

Couldn't she?

He had never looked better than here, where there were no pretensions,  no dress shirts, no tailored suits-just Tiago in the raw, in ripped and  faded jeans, with battered leather chaps over them, a faded top clinging  to his hard-muscled torso, and a bandana tied carelessly around his  wild black hair.

She was rapt as he pointed things out to her. The giant-sized Rhea  bird, disappearing into the long grass, and a wild cat that surprised  her by diving into the river as Tiago explained that this particular  breed of cat ate frogs.

He turned to her. ‘This is a nature reserve. All the animals are safe  here. My vets are responsible for them just as they are for my horses.'

She was learning a lot-and not just about the animals. Hearing about  Tiago's interests and his active concern for this land told her more  about him than anyone could.

‘Last one to the house makes the coffee?' he suggested as he turned his horse.

‘You don't frighten me,' she called back, laughing.

She went ahead, but Tiago caught up with her easily and for a few  strides they rode side by side. But he couldn't resist taking the lead.  She let him go, just for the sheer pleasure of watching him with one  hand on the reins and his hips working effortlessly to a lazy rhythm.  Arousal lodged deep inside her at the sight of him, and she finally  admitted to herself that Friday couldn't come quickly enough.

Clattering into the yard after him, she dismounted.                       
       
           



       

Tiago's dark eyes were wicked, and there was a smile on his lips as she  started untacking her pony. ‘Make sure you sleep tonight. There won't  be much sleeping on Friday.'

Hefting his tack, he walked past her.

She stilled with her hand resting on the saddle. She had to take a deep  breath before she could continue. She wanted him. His deep, husky voice  had sent heat coursing through her. She wanted to marry Tiago. Worse,  she wanted to live with him and share his life. But every time that  thought slipped through she had to remind herself that theirs was a  marriage of convenience, with a time limit of one year. Any fantasies on  her part were just that: fantasies.

* * *

It seemed surreal to be standing in the middle of a dance floor at  Tiago's side. They were at the gauchos' party and he was calling for  silence with his arms raised.

Everything was moving at breakneck speed. In two days they would be married.

So? What was her problem? The wedding on Friday was no surprise, so why the jitters?

She was decked out in her one and only dress, with her hair neatly tied  back and hardly any make-up, trying to make a good impression. She was  at ease around these people in the corral, or in the kitchen, but here,  at Tiago's side, it all seemed so improbable. He was like a god to them,  and she had just sprung out of nowhere. What must they think?