‘What about love?’ She couldn’t help herself. She’d always been a romantic. ‘Where does love fit into this?’ She was as impassioned on the subject as Tiago had been when he’d talked about his ranch. ‘I refuse to believe there aren’t some marriages, at least, based solely on love without thought of gain by either party.’
She could tell he thought her naïve, but she did care about love. To love and to be loved was the most important thing in the world as far as Danny was concerned.
‘I think we’ve made a good start,’ Tiago continued calmly, as if there’d been no outburst from her.
‘And a couple of days in my company is enough time for you to decide you want to marry me?’
‘We’ve known each other a lot longer than that, Danny,’ he reminded her.
‘Yes, but as sparring partners in Brazil—nothing more.’
It had always been a lot more on her part, but she wasn’t going to confess that now. She had wanted Tiago from the first moment she saw him, but he had been an international polo player, while she’d been a lowly student living on a grant for young people with troubled home lives. They hardly had anything in common, she’d thought at the time, though that hadn’t stopped her standing up to him when he had sought her out. He had loved teasing her, she knew that, and she had loved answering back. It had excited her to confront a man like Tiago Santos and give back as good as she got.
‘We’ve always got on, Danny. If we give this a chance I can see no reason why it can’t work.’
‘Is that any basis upon which to found a marriage?’
‘Better than some,’ he said.
Brushing the attraction she felt for him to one side, she challenged him again. ‘And is that what you really want, Tiago?’
‘I want the ranch.’
Well, that was clear enough.
‘I’m proposing you remain married to me for one year, to make it seem genuine. I’m being completely honest with you, Danny. I have to get married if I’m to stop those idiots ruining all the good work that’s been done on the ranch. Our marriage must be seen as genuine—hence the term I’m putting on it. And, no, I don’t want to be tied down. Is that frank enough for you?’
‘It is honest,’ she admitted. ‘You want to give me money to induce me to marry you, but you want to carry on your bachelor ways. Is that a fair summary?’
‘It sounds rather calculating when you put it that way.’
‘How else would you put it? It is calculating. And my answer is no.’
‘No?’ Tiago’s eyes narrowed in disbelief.
‘You’re suggesting a cold-blooded contract, and yet I have no say in it because you’ve thought it all through for me. That’s right, isn’t it, Tiago? You’ve anticipated what you think it is I want out of the agreement, but you’ve judged those demands through your own eyes. It must have been very convenient for you, finding me here at the wedding—a brood mare waiting for her stallion. How long have you been sizing me up? Since you found me outside in the mud? Did I look like a victim to you? Did you think I’d be grateful for the crumbs from your table?’
‘I never thought that. I would never take advantage of you in that way. I remembered you from Brazil. You were always strong, always determined—’
‘And I’m just as determined now to say no.’
Tiago’s jaw worked as he mulled over her flat refusal.
‘Can I say anything to change your mind?’
She hesitated. Her feelings for Tiago cut too deep for her not to want to help him. She understood that he cared for the ranch, and she couldn’t deny that the chance to get to know him better was appealing. But did she have to marry him?
There was something else nagging at the back of her mind—and it was something that was weighted in his favour. The business opportunity Tiago was offering would allow her to work—and that was so far removed from anything her mother might do that it did hold appeal. She tried to measure everything she did in life by asking herself: would her mother do it? And if the answer was yes, Danny would do the opposite.
This was her one chance to fulfil her dream, Danny reasoned. If she could do that, surely she could guard her heart for a year by burying herself in work?
‘Well?’ Tiago pressed impatiently.
‘If we go ahead with this—and I’m only saying if—I have certain conditions,’ she explained.
His expression turned grim. He wasn’t used to bargaining when he had decided what he wanted to do, she gathered, but he could see that she wasn’t going to change her mind.
‘Name them,’ he grated out.
‘For one year I’m the only woman in your life. I mean it, Tiago,’ she said quickly, when he started to speak. ‘I won’t take any more humiliation. I’ve seen my mother make a fool of herself and I don’t need anyone to tell me that I was fast following in her footsteps. I won’t go down that road again—not for you, not for anyone. If you want this deal you will have to put my terms in that contract too.’
Tension soared as she waited for his reply. She guessed Tiago hadn’t expected her to put any obstacles in his way, but she wasn’t prepared to back down.
‘All right,’ he said eventually. ‘But if you’re putting conditions on this then so am I. This will be a proper marriage, and you will be in my bed.’
Her throat constricted. She couldn’t have answered him if she’d wanted to. The expression in Tiago’s eyes had turned cold and hard. This was the deal-breaker, delivered by a man determined to have his way. Tiago was like a coin with two sides, she decided. There was the strong and compassionate man on one side of the coin, and the ruthless playboy on the other. Surrendering her body to a man like that was a heart-stopping thought.
But her body betrayed her now by melting. Her mind burned with confusion. It was like drowning in a sweet honey bath of desire, even while everything about Tiago in this frame of mind was a warning to her not to fall for him unless she wanted to be hurt. But how was she going to remain detached from her feelings when she was lying in his arms?
She would have to, Danny determined, but there were one or two more points she wanted to clear up first. ‘If this is to be a marriage in every sense, as you suggest it will be, then we have to consider the potential consequences.’
‘For instance?’ he pressed without warmth.
‘How will we explain this love-match of ours to any children we might have? And I use the term “love-match” in its most cynical form.’
Tiago shrugged. ‘I must admit I have never thought of this as a permanent arrangement.’
‘Clearly,’ she said, shrinking a little inside. Was this the one thing in his life that Tiago Santos hadn’t thought through? she wondered.
‘Finding a wife is uppermost in my mind,’ he said, as if he could read hers. ‘Perhaps I am guilty of not considering every possibility. I can only tell you that when I found you yesterday outside the stable block I wasn’t thinking about this at all. My one thought was your safety. I hope that reassures you? As for this contract—I can’t have been planning it for long, chica, since I’ve only been here for a couple of days!’
Calling her chica threw her. It was so intimate—too intimate. Endearments from Tiago were unsettling, as was his cold-blooded approach to marriage. When she kept him at a distance she could handle her feelings for him. Jibing at him verbally in Brazil had been fun, but this was a very different situation.
She wasn’t about to roll over and become his convenient wife, Danny concluded.