Читать книгу The Dreaming Of... Collection - Оливия Гейтс - Страница 24
ОглавлениеTIAGO’S BEDROOM WAS full of mellow wood and rich coloured drapes—a necessity in the Highlands, where the wind could be cruel and even well-insulated houses could be gripped in a frozen chill for months on end. There were tasteful accessories in a variety of muted honey colours, and crisp white linen on the bed. Two elegant lamps stood one either side of the bed on nightstands covered in books.
Feeling him close behind her, she turned and almost collided with him. From the way he was looking at her it was as if he knew everything she had been thinking...dreaming. Gathering herself quickly, she ignored the glint of understanding, and, yes, even humour in his eyes.
‘Are you ready to go home, Danny?’
The way he was prompting her didn’t leave her with much option. He had even stood back to clear her way to the door.
‘Thank you for showing me around.’ She sketched a smile. She couldn’t pretend she wasn’t disappointed that the evening was over so soon, but what had she expected? ‘You have a beautiful home,’ she said truthfully. ‘I wish you every happiness living here. And in Brazil too, of course.’
He escorted her to the door and helped her on with her jacket. He’d been the perfect gentleman throughout the entire evening. She knew she shouldn’t hope for anything more, but having Tiago back in her life, even in a new way, was disturbing...upsetting. He was a complex man who demanded life on his own terms—as she demanded life on her terms. How had she ever imagined they could meet in the middle?
They couldn’t, she concluded as Tiago helped her into the car and closed the door.
Why had he bought a Scottish estate? It couldn’t be Chico’s influence. No one influenced Tiago. She could understand him falling in love with the Highlands. Who wouldn’t? This rugged setting was a scenic feast and, as he’d said, this was a perfect base for him. But how would she feel with her estranged husband living down the road? What if he found someone else? What if Tiago had children with that person? Could she look on and feel nothing?
‘Are you all right?’ he asked, flashing a concerned glance at her after a long silence.
‘Yes. Thank you.’ If he had been trying to jolt her into feeling passionately about him—about life, about everything—he couldn’t have planned this evening better. And now she couldn’t resist asking him... ‘How long do you think you’ll spend here each year?’
‘That all depends.’
She waited, but Tiago revealed nothing more. His attention was fixed on the icy road. How could they have become so distant? Had she really thought she could handle this? How wrong she’d been.
‘We’ll go riding on the estate tomorrow.’
Her head shot up, but then she remembered her job. ‘I’m afraid I can’t.’
‘Your work?’
‘Yes.’
‘You can take time off. I’ve spoken to your employer.’
She frowned. ‘You didn’t think to ask me first?’
‘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? Don’t look so horrified, Danny. I made a very generous offer. Your ex-employer had no difficulty accepting it.’
‘So you’ve bought up everything in sight?’
‘Not quite. Chico and Lizzie still own Rottingdean.’
‘So between you and Chico you’ve bought up half the Highlands?’ She shook her head. ‘You’re incredible!’
‘Glad you think so,’ Tiago observed wryly, utterly unfazed.
‘This isn’t funny, Tiago. You could have told me last night, but instead you chose to dangle me on the end of your line. I won’t let that happen again.’
‘Mount up,’ he suggested calmly. ‘We can discuss this on the ride. And don’t pretend you can resist checking out such a fabulous horse.’
True. He’d caught her looking at the mare. ‘You’ve got a damn cheek.’
‘I’m still trialling her,’ he said, ignoring this, ‘and I’d like to know what you think. I value your opinion, Danny. Is that so strange? You have had the best training in the world, after all.’
‘And you can stop mocking me, and smiling like that, right now.’
Narrowing her eyes, she’d made the mistake of meeting Tiago’s dark stare to say this, and now it was impossible to look away. His eyes held far too many wicked messages—messages that her body was all too eager to receive.
Tearing herself away from that distraction, she checked the tack and mounted up. ‘You could have told me all of this last night.’
‘I never show my hand on a first date.’
‘A first date?’ she queried, bending to flick the latch on the gate with her crop. ‘Is that what you’d call it?’
‘What would you call it?’
‘You don’t want to know.’
Tiago shrugged and then followed her through. ‘Shall we just enjoy the ride and find out where it takes us?’ he suggested, closing the gate behind them.
‘I would need to erase the past for that.’
Danny urged her horse into a relaxed canter, but as Tiago rode alongside all the hurt came welling back.
‘I would need to forget that you persuaded me to marry you without telling me what was involved. I would have to blank out the fact that you arranged a wonderful evening for us last night at a house you forgot to tell me you owned. And you even drew Annie into it—’
‘Stop.’ Tiago shifted position in the saddle so he could stare directly at her. ‘Annie was eager to be part of last night, and I thought you were eager to be there. You were obviously pleased to see Annie—and you were eager to marry me, I seem to recall.’
‘I was eager,’ Danny admitted. ‘I was eager and stupid and gullible. But not now. I gave you my heart and my trust in Brazil, but that was before I woke up. And I thought you knew me better than to imagine I could ever, ever involve a child.’
‘Danny—’
‘No,’ she flashed, and with a click of her tongue she urged the grey mare to gallop away from him.
* * *
He wasn’t staying back this time. This time he gave chase. They rode neck and neck at a flat-out gallop across the purple heather before finally reining in on the riverbank.
‘What do you think of her?’ he asked.
Danny looked at him as if she couldn’t believe he could change tack so easily.
‘The horse?’ he prompted.
‘I know what you’re talking about,’ she assured him. ‘The horse is great.’
‘She’s great—but we’re not?’ he suggested, raising a brow.
Danny’s face reflected her conflicting emotions. ‘You had to find a wife—any wife—and there I was.’
‘Yes,’ he admitted. ‘But I fell in love with you.’
‘You fell in love with me?’ she said. Her mouth slanted. ‘If you’d loved me you would have told me the truth.’
‘Maybe I didn’t know what love was, but you taught me. I married you for the worst of reasons, but graças a Deus I saved the ranch. I’ll make no apologies for that. Do I love you now? God help me, yes. Now more than ever.’
Swinging his leg over the horse, he dismounted. Running up his stirrups, he turned to stare at her.
‘Do I ask you to forgive me? No. There’s nothing for you to forgive. I will always love you, and I have never lied to you—’
‘Except by omission,’ she interrupted.
He shrugged. ‘If I’d told you everything last night you would have thought, The playboy is back. He thinks he can buy up everything in sight, including me. I didn’t want you to think that, Danny. I wanted the chance to speak to you and win your trust. I wanted to ride with you, out here in the open, where we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I wanted to see your face when you saw the new mare. I rebuilt the house with you in mind, and I chose everything in it for you. Maybe I was wrong to believe there were some things it was better for you not to know, but I did it out of the best of reasons. I wanted last night to be special, unthreatening. I wanted to give us another chance. I didn’t want what I can buy getting in the way of our reunion.’
‘Like this horse?’ Dipping her head, she nuzzled her face against the mare’s silky neck.
‘I wanted us to start afresh—just you and me last night, and then a new start for us this morning.’
Danny didn’t say anything for a long time as they watched their horses drink, and then she said, ‘You look tired.’
‘So do you. Bad night?’
She curbed a smile. ‘I didn’t sleep much,’ she admitted. ‘But we can’t just erase the past and start again, Tiago.’
‘Why not?’ He mounted up.
‘Because your plan is redundant. You own Fazenda Santos and you don’t need a wife.’
‘But I need you. And what if I have a new plan? One that includes you? I’m going to turn this estate around, Danny. I’m going to base it on my success in Brazil. You can help me, if you like. Unless that’s a problem for you?’
‘I couldn’t possibly work fast enough to meet your exacting standards,’ she commented.
‘Really?’ He pretended surprise. ‘I found you satisfactory in Brazil.’
‘Satisfactory?’ she exclaimed. ‘Watch it! I might be transparent when it comes to horses, but—’
‘Not just horses,’ he said.
‘I’m certainly not vulnerable where you’re concerned.’
‘I don’t think you’re vulnerable at all,’ he argued. ‘I think you’re strong—though you’re far too trusting.’
‘Tell me about it,’ she said. And then a new thought occurred to her and she frowned. ‘If this is your way of asking for my resignation...?’
‘Certainly not,’ he assured her. ‘I’m going to put you to work.’
She held up her hand. ‘Not so fast. If I do stay on I should warn you I’m unlikely to agree with you on most things.’
‘Should I act surprised?’
‘I won’t be easy to work with,’ she warned him, mounting up.
‘Now I am surprised,’ he murmured dryly as they both turned for home.
On the brow of the hill overlooking the old house of Lochmaglen, they stopped and reined in. They could see broken fencing stretching for miles from there.
He turned to Danny and smiled. ‘I’ve always loved a challenge, haven’t you?’
