Modern Romance April 2015 Books 1-8. Annie West

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?

      Never mind what anyone thought—for the sake of these people she had to make a go of this. Why cause problems when Tiago had worked so hard to save the ranch?

      ‘Danny?’

      Tiago’s voice held a note of command and her eyes flashed open. How could she live with this man, love him, and then leave him without a backward glance?

      She couldn’t.

      Glancing round the smiling faces, she felt like the worst kind of confidence trickster. The only way she could get through this was by concentrating on the fact that her marriage to Tiago would secure the future of everyone here. Meanwhile, Brazil’s most eligible bachelor—the man she adored—was announcing their wedding to cries of excitement from the crowd.

      ‘I realise that Danny will have already told some of you, and you may think that this