“But I’ve never minded challenges.”
Somehow she sensed he wasn’t just referring to his family.
Once the hurricane warnings were lifted they were allowed to take off. Six hours after takeoff the Gulfstream jet made its final descent, dropping through a brilliant glaze of late afternoon sun and startling blue sky. Daisy leaned toward the window, gazing out the plane window at the clear horizon and the endless green and gold land. The ground loomed closer, and the plane’s wings dipped then righted.
The jet touched down on the runway in a series of little hops, gradually reducing speed until it rolled to a complete stop.
“Someone from the estancia will be picking us up,” Dante said, opening the Gulfstream’s door and jumping out. “The pilot radioed ahead. Shouldn’t be long now.”
Daisy recoiled at the blanket of heat as she stepped off the plane. Unlike the warm humid American South, the climate was hot and dry and the high temperature seemed to swallow her whole.
It looked as though they’d landed in the middle of nowhere. The airstrip cut straight through what appeared to be one endless pasture. She saw nothing for miles but grass. Just a distant line of scrubby trees marked the horizon. She shaded her eyes, squinting against the sun. “Where are we again?”
“About five miles from the house.”
“The land is endless.”
“This is the pampas.” He rolled up his shirtsleeves, revealing sinewy tendons and tanned forearms, and quickly unloaded the luggage from the tail of the plane.
The pilot and plane had been gone for over an hour, and despite Dante’s assurances, no one had arrived for them. Daisy took a seat on her battered suitcase, propped her boots on another and made herself comfortable.
“I’m sorry about this.” Dante’s tone was clipped, his embarrassment tangible. “Someone should have been here by now, which leads me to believe that there’s been a bit of a problem.”
Daisy’s wide, curious gaze induced him to explain. “Anabella,” he said. “My sister. I have three sisters, but Anabella is the pill. My constant headache. She is more trouble than all the Galváns put together.”
Yet despite his cynical words, Daisy heard the tenderness in his voice. He loved his sister. Very much. “Perhaps it’s not really Anabella creating the problem.”
“It’s because I know her and love her I can safely say this delay is Anabella’s fault. This has never happened before. Not in ten years of flying in and out of the ranch.”
“Can you call someone?”
“I don’t get cellular coverage here. No towers in the area yet. I intend to bring them in, though. In fact, that’s what I’m working on now.”
Daisy tossed a small pebble. “We can always walk.”
“Not an option. Can’t leave the luggage and too much to carry.”
“But what if no one comes?”
“Someone will come. I’m expected.”
Daisy struggled not to smile. “Yes, obviously.”
He shot her a quick look, black eyebrows rising. “What was that you said, muneca?”
He was looking at her, really looking at her, and she felt his size, his strength and his focus. His attention was as thrilling as it was unnerving. She still had no idea how to handle his blatant virility.
Suddenly whatever they were talking about was less interesting, less important than what was happening between them. Daisy shifted on the suitcase, put her feet down, bracing her. “I, uh …”
He took a small step toward her. “Yes?”
She wanted him to touch her. She wanted him to close the distance between them, wrap his hands around her arms and drag her close. She wanted to feel him pressed hard against her, and her throat swelled closed, her body throbbing, heart hammering.
She thought he must feel her, because she certainly felt him. She felt an energy, an awareness that she’d never felt from anyone before.
Daisy swallowed hard, pressed her hands to her thighs, struggled to calm her turbulent emotions. She’d never survive a night here at this rate, much less six weeks.
“Daisy?”
No one had ever said her name that way before. He made her feel sexy, desirable. “Yes?”
His gaze was intense. He seemed to be staring into her, searching for something, and yet she didn’t know what he wanted to find. “This can’t happen here, Daisy.”
Her mouth turned dry. She blinked to focus on him better.
“Anabella is very … impressionable.”
“Most teenage girls are,” she answered faintly.
“Yes, but not all are quite so self-destructive. Anabella is on a crash course with disaster.” He hesitated, tension rolling off him in waves. “I’m responsible for her.”
Daisy felt warmth creep beneath her skin. “I understand.”
“Do you?”
His inflection made her quiver. Did she understand? He had to be a good brother, a role model, responsible. He was going to do the right thing.
But what did that have to do with her?
Dante was waiting for her to answer. She mustered a smile, feeling both awkward and unsure of herself. She wasn’t sure what he wanted from her. “Actually, maybe I don’t understand. How does your responsibility for Anabella impact me?”
“This—us,” he said bluntly, gesturing toward her, “won’t work here.”
She couldn’t have been more shocked or embarrassed. He wasn’t serious, was he? And if he was, he had no right suggesting or projecting. They’d exchanged a kiss at the Lindleys’. Big deal. It signified nothing. She’d been kissed before and hadn’t planned a wedding.
“I think you’re worried about nothing,” she said tightly. She’d been clenching her teeth trying to stay calm and her jaw had begun to ache with the effort. “I’m not looking for romance, and if I did, I wouldn’t look to you.”
Color flared in his cheekbones. “I could make you eat your words.”
“That wasn’t a dare, Dante, just a statement of fact. You like to think that you’ve got me—and life—all figured out. Well, you don’t. You might be able to control yourself, but you can’t control others, and you certainly can’t control me. I’m here for one reason and one reason only—to work with Señor Gutierrez and learn how to run a more efficient stable.”
His amber eyes blazed, and she ignored the whisper in her head that said she was being too confrontational, too Daisy.
“You are attracted to me,” he insisted.
“Just like I’m attracted to a thousand other men. But I don’t chase them and I don’t hop into bed with them. So you can relax, count, you’re safe with me.”
Suddenly he was moving toward her and lifting her to her feet. Just his hands on her arms made her shiver, but when his leg bumped her knee, wedging her feet apart, she gasped for air.
“What was that?” he murmured, his mouth near her ear, his lips brushing her skin as he drew her close against him, hip to hip. “Were you eating your words, maybe?”
She shuddered at the feel of his chest against her breasts. He was warm and hard where she was soft. It was delicious and torturous at the same time. “Not a chance.”
“False courage is worse than no courage,” he taunted, shifting slightly, and just that subtle swing of his hips made her sinfully aware of his arousal. She ached in every place he