In the Brazilian's Debt(84)

                The two girls exchanged a glance, and were forced to wait until Chico had dropped them off outside the grooms’ accommodation before they could discuss him.

                ‘So you haven’t got him fully trained yet,’ Danny observed dryly.

                Lizzie hummed. ‘Don’t worry. I’m working on it.’

                As they carried her case upstairs, Lizzie began to tell Danny more about the trip back to Scotland—the ugly and the good.

                ‘You know what your trouble is?’ Danny remarked as they flopped down on the bed. ‘You and Chico are so stubborn—you both want to be in control.’

                ‘There is no me and Chico,’ Lizzie insisted.

                ‘Of course there is,’ Danny argued. ‘You just can’t see it yet—mainly because you’re waiting for something to happen, when you should be out there making it happen. This isn’t like you, Lizzie. Go get your man. Wrestle him to the ground and claim your prize.’

                ‘I’m sure Chico would be thrilled.’

                ‘I’m sure he would too. And I’m not being sarcastic. You owe it to Chico.’

                ‘I owe him what?’

                ‘What’s the betting that he’s waiting for you right now?’ Danny demanded. ‘He’ll be heartbroken if you don’t do this one small thing for him.’

                ‘What? Wrestle him to the ground?’ Lizzie laughed. ‘Much as that image tempts me—’

                ‘If you both go on being too proud to admit how you feel about each other, then you’re letting a good thing go to waste. And that’s all I have to say on the matter.’ Leaping off the bed, Danny turned to look at her. ‘Are you still here?’

                ‘Not for long,’ Lizzie confirmed, pushing her way through the door.





                                      CHAPTER SIXTEEN

                THERE WAS NO REPLY when Lizzie knocked on the front door of the ranch house. Thinking better of her mission, she turned to go—then stopped. She tried the handle. The door was unlocked. Fate, huh?

                Walking in, she called out, ‘Hello...’

                The big house echoed back at her. Perhaps Chico was taking a shower...

                Well, she knew where his bedroom was. Guessing everyone else was out of the house, helping to prepare for the graduation ceremony, she ran up the stairs and paused on the landing. She could hear water running. Now she was tiptoeing as if she was an intruder. She was an intruder. She was here without invitation. Chico would probably remind her that she was a student here, and throw her out...

                The bedroom door was slightly ajar, the shower door too. She slipped inside the room, and stood watching. Lizzie the voyeur? She couldn’t help herself. Chico had his back to her so she could indulge herself all she liked, and she loved his back view, especially with water cascading over his muscles. With his head thrown back as he stood beneath the powerful stream of water, Chico was a glorious, and a tempting sight.

                This was insane, Lizzie concluded as she kicked off her shoes. Someone should snap their fingers and wake her up.

                What exactly did she have to lose?

                She made it halfway across the room when Chico stilled. She should have remembered how keenly tuned his senses were. She stopped dead as he opened the shower door and walked out. Dripping water, he proved conclusively that his front view was even better than the back.