you’re a man and I’m a woman? Don’t start that again, Raul.’ Suddenly exhausted, she just wanted him to leave so that she could stop dreaming. ‘I won’t leave halfway through a job. And you were obviously in the middle of dinner or something, so perhaps you’d better go back to the woman in question in case she gives up on you.’
There was a long silence. ‘You hide behind your job, don’t you?’ Raul asserted. ‘Why is that?’
‘I don’t hide. But I love my job, if that’s what you’re asking.’ She glanced at him briefly and then looked away again, her heart thumping and her mind spinning fairy-tales.
‘This thing between us—’ his voice was soft ‘—it frightens you, doesn’t it?’
She was too honest to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about. ‘Yes, it frightens me. Because it’s not real. The mere idea of you and I is—’ She waved a hand. ‘It’s crazy. I mean, we couldn’t be more different. You’re used to women who spend all day making themselves beautiful. I’m a working girl. I love my career and I definitely don’t want a relationship.’
‘If you don’t want a relationship, then you are my perfect woman,’ he drawled softly. ‘What about fun, cariño? Do you object to having fun?’
The colour poured into her cheeks. ‘Raul—’
‘Why are you blushing? When it comes to your job you are supremely confident, but whenever we are alone…’ He stroked a leisurely finger down her cheek. ‘Why is it that you are so confident with my horses and so shy with me?’
‘Blame it on the testosterone again. I’m not used to macho men.’ She tried to make a joke, but he wasn’t smiling. Instead his gaze was curiously intent.
‘You are very inexperienced, aren’t you?’
‘I’ve had boyfriends,’ she muttered defensively and a smile played around his firm mouth.
‘But what about men, cariño? Men are a whole new experience for you, isn’t that right?’
She gazed at him, her heart pounding and her mouth dry. ‘What does “cariño” mean?’
His smile widened and he strolled towards the door. ‘I’ll teach you tomorrow,’ he answered softly. ‘Along with the facts of life. Finish your job and get some rest. You’re going to need it.’
CHAPTER TWO
SHE spent the night with the mare and emerged from the box to find Raul Vásquez in conversation with Eduardo.
Raul turned his head and looked at her and the look of blatant masculine appreciation in his dark eyes made her stomach flip. ‘You are now officially off duty and you’re coming with me.’ He took her hand firmly in his, said something in Spanish to Eduardo and led her towards the helicopter pad at the far side of the polo fields.
‘I was going to bed,’ she mumbled and he flashed her a smile of such devastating charisma that for a moment she was blinded.
‘That can be arranged.’
She didn’t know whether to laugh or gasp with shock. ‘I really don’t do this sort of thing—’
‘What sort of thing?’ His eyes teased her and she glanced at the sleek lines of the black helicopter and then back over her shoulder towards the safety of the estancia.
‘I don’t fly off into the sunset with men I don’t know.’
‘You can spend your day sleeping in your room and then you can eat dinner with the grooms, if that is what you would prefer.’ He paused and his gaze drifted to her mouth. ‘Or you can have dinner with me.’
She licked her lips. ‘Where?’
‘Somewhere we can talk without disturbance.’ He opened the door of the helicopter and she scrambled inside, wondering what on earth she was doing.
This wasn’t her life.
She didn’t climb into helicopters with dangerous billionaires.
While she was wrestling with self-doubt and nerves, Raul settled himself in the seat next to her and flicked several switches with swift, confident fingers.
Faith stared at him. ‘You’re flying it?’
‘I’m a control freak,’ he confessed in a dry tone. ‘I prefer to be in the driving seat and anyway, for what I have in mind, I don’t need an audience.’
His words sent a shiver of anticipation through her body. ‘I don’t know why you’re doing this. And I don’t know why I’m doing this either.’ She licked her lips. ‘I don’t own a silk dress or diamonds.’
‘Then we’ll have to do something about that.’ He turned towards her and there was laughter in his wicked dark eyes. ‘Relax.’ His voice was surprisingly gentle. ‘You’re going to have a nice time. This is my thank-you for saving my horse and my apology for not having more faith in you. You were impressive.’
His praise was as surprising as it was welcome. ‘Your groom didn’t think so. Perhaps you could have a word with him.’
‘That won’t be necessary. He no longer works for me.’
‘You fired him?’ She was shocked. ‘Isn’t that a little extreme?’
‘You asked for his help. He didn’t give it.’
Faith felt a flash of guilt. ‘I didn’t mean to get him fired. Shouldn’t you give him another chance?’
‘I gave him one chance. I employed him.’ His smile didn’t falter but there was something in his eyes that hinted at a more ruthless side of him. The side that had made him a billionaire by the time he was thirty.
Sensing that the subject was best dropped, Faith glanced around her. ‘Where are we going?’
‘You’ll find out.’ Without answering her question, he turned his attention back to the controls and the helicopter lifted into the air.
Terror soon turned to exhilaration as they swooped above the pampas. ‘The view is amazing from up here,’ she breathed, her eyes fixed on the landscape beneath her.
They flew over grassland, interspersed with lagoons and wetlands. Occasionally Faith saw cattle being herded by men on horseback, but this was a vast landscape and the sheer size of it took her breath away.
Eventually a large lake came into view and Raul landed the helicopter.
‘We’re here. This is the boundary of the estancia.’ He jumped down from the helicopter and led her towards a luxurious lodge that nestled between water and trees. ‘My secret hideaway.’
Faith stopped dead, her heart bumping against her chest. ‘We’re alone here?’
He turned, his eyes on her face. ‘Does that bother you? Are you nervous?’
She swallowed. ‘Maybe. Just a little.’
‘You were alone with me on the pampas on that first day,’ he said softly, strolling back towards her and taking her face in his hands. ‘And you weren’t nervous then.’
‘That was an accidental meeting.’ The skilled brush of his fingers set her pulse racing and nerves fluttered like butterflies in her stomach. ‘I don’t do this sort of thing, Raul. I shouldn’t have come.’
‘Stop panicking. You haven’t done anything yet,’ he pointed out gently. ‘And you won’t be doing anything you don’t want to. All I ask is that you allow yourself to be spoiled. This is a thank-you for having saved my favourite horse. Treat it like a spa day.’
‘A spa day?’
His mouth hovered tantalisingly