In the Brazilian's Debt(22)

                He stared at her in amazement. So little Lizzie Fane had teeth after all. ‘Have you quite finished?’ he said evenly, hiding his approval of her stand.

                ‘Not by a long chalk,’ she assured him, blazing into glorious flame. ‘You don’t just have a chip on your shoulder, you have a rock.’

                ‘And you have said more than enough, don’t you think?’ He paused. ‘What’s your real problem, Lizzie?’

                ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

                ‘I think you do. So, either you tell me what’s eating you, or you go back to your room and calm down.’

                ‘Will you let Danny come back? Please.’ Lizzie’s tone softened. ‘She’ll be fine. Danny’s got as much talent as anyone else. It’s just that you intimidate everyone.’

                ‘Except you, it seems,’ he observed dryly.

                ‘I’ve known you for a long time, Chico.’

                ‘You knew me once,’ he corrected her.

                ‘Could we put that right?’ Her gaze flickered as she stared at him.

                ‘Maybe,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘That all depends...’





                                      CHAPTER FIVE

                ‘THAT ALL DEPENDS on what?’ she queried, her gaze steady on Chico’s.

                A few potent seconds ticked by, and then he growled. ‘On this—’

                She had not expected Chico to move so fast, or to reach for her and drag her into his arms. Nor had she expected this to inflame her senses to such an extent that it blotted out everything, especially the past, leaving only the piercing reality of now.

                There was nothing tender about Chico’s kiss. It was an explosion of passion that rammed her back against the wall as he ground his body into hers. She responded with matching fire. She couldn’t have held back if she had wanted to. Chico had unleashed something in her that demanded immediate release, and it was exciting that he was so familiar, and yet a stranger to her. She hardly recognised the passionate woman kissing him back as herself. She had never behaved like this. She had never responded with such instant lust to a man, but this honed and harder Chico was so much darker than the youth she had idolised, and his kisses mirrored this. Brutal and bone melting, they were so very, very dangerous, and she was quickly lost to the point that she staggered when he let her go.

                It was a relief when he released her, she told herself firmly. What if he hadn’t? She wouldn’t have trusted herself to break away first.

                She was not so glad that Chico was staring down at her now with an expression in his eyes that could only be described as the conquering hero viewing his conquest. Nothing could have made her recover faster.

                She wouldn’t be making that mistake again.

                ‘What shall I tell Danny?’ she asked coolly.

                ‘Tell her you bought her one last chance.’

                * * *

                The next few weeks passed in a blur of activity. The weather was cooling down and it was chilly in the mornings. Brazil was such a big country, it was located in the Southern, Western, and even the Northern Hemisphere, Lizzie had learned, but it would be cold in Scotland, of that much she was sure. Cold, like Chico’s heart, she reflected on her way to class. His kisses were smouldering, but the look in his eyes when he’d let her go that time in his office had chilled her.