in the short time they’ve known me to make me feel welcome,’ she said, glancing round the courtyard, which was already dressed for the wedding, ‘and I’m honoured to have been accepted here.’
‘You’ll be happy. I’ll make sure of it,’ he said.
But when Tiago put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close she thought, Yes, but for just one year.
She was certain that Tiago would do his best to make her time in Brazil trouble-free. It wasn’t in his interest to do otherwise. He would never risk this marriage of convenience being challenged by anyone.
‘One last drink before we part?’ he suggested.
‘Why not?’ She smiled.
Tomorrow was their wedding day. It hardly seemed possible. Closing her eyes briefly, she drank in his strength, wishing with all her heart that they were a normal couple, with a normal relationship. But what was normal? Could any couple enter into marriage with complete certainty?
Shaking off her doubts, she walked with him towards the outdoor area at the back of the ranch house, where Tiago loved to stand and look out across his property. She reminded herself that for some married couples it wasn’t even possible to guarantee a happy year.
* * *
The hunter had become the protector. His cold-blooded plan to marry Danny at all costs had been brought to its knees by the way she was treated by her mother. No one should be treated like that. Hot blood surged through his veins as Danny stood beside him. There was anger, and there was lust—and something else he refused to name. Twenty-four hours ago he had held her in his arms—and that seemed too long.
Glancing down, he saw how pale she was. The conversation he’d had with her about her mother had hit her hard. He should have found some gentler way to break it to her. He shouldn’t have been surprised by her resilience, but he was. He poured her a drink—orange juice, as she’d requested. She was determined to keep a clear head, he concluded, quelling his disappointment at the thought that temptation would have to be resisted for another night.
‘Why are you smiling?’ she asked him when he took the empty glass from her hand.
‘You’re wearing a dress, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen your legs before.’
‘Liar. You saw me at the wedding in a bridesmaid’s dress.’
‘Which trailed around your ankles.’ He tipped the neck of his bottle of beer in Danny’s direction.
She shook her head. ‘It did not trail.’ And then she said, ‘Shall we drink a toast to your grandfather?’
‘My grandfather? I’m surprised you’re even thinking about him.’
‘Why wouldn’t I? We wouldn’t be here without him,’ she pointed out.
His lips pressed down with amusement as he shook his head. She was right. His grandfather might have done a lot of things he disagreed with, but he had given Tiago the chance to change his life.
Easing onto one hip, he told her a little more about his history. ‘I never imagined my grandfather would deny me full ownership of the ranch, but he was cunning, and he never liked my playboy antics. He said it reminded him too much of my mother—the feckless socialite, as he called her. That’s why he constructed his will as he did. He knew how much I loved this place. He knew I wouldn’t let the people down.’
‘Whatever it took?’ Danny observed dryly.
‘Whatever it took,’ he agreed, meeting her stare head-on. The one thing he would never do was lie to her.
‘To your grandfather,’ she said softly, chinking her glass against his bottle. ‘Manuelo told me your parents were never around, and that when they were they only came here to beg for money from your grandfather. Once they got that, he said they left—sometimes without even seeing you. So what’s the sequel to this story, Tiago? I know there must be one, because Manuelo thinks the world of you—as does everyone else on this ranch.’
He was reluctant to get into it, but from the look in her eyes Danny wasn’t giving up. ‘My grandfather bailed me out of a juvenile correctional facility—said he’d give me a trial on the ranch. He said I could live with him if I worked for the privilege.’
‘And you fought him every step of the way?’ she guessed.
He didn’t deny it. ‘I didn’t want to work for anyone except myself. And when I saw this place in the middle of nowhere—’ He grimaced. ‘I didn’t feel as I do now about it, that’s for sure. It held no appeal for my teenage self.’
‘But you stayed?’ she pressed, her eyes filled with concern.
‘Yes, because I came to love the people. And now you’ve met them I’m sure you understand why.’
‘I do.’ She spoke softly and touched his arm.
He had to pause and hold himself in check for a moment, or he would have responded for sure.
‘I try never to be away from them for long,’ he went on then. ‘Because they and my grandfather opened my eyes to a different way of life—their way of life. And I could relate to it—to them. The passion they have for the country and their animals is the same as mine, and as soon as the gauchos discovered I had a way with horses, that was it—I was one of them. It was enough for me for a time, and then—like everyone else when they’re growing up—I had to get away. I was desperate to expand my horizons—to explore that other side of me, bequeathed to me by my mother.’
He laughed as he thought about it.
‘And then?’ Danny asked.
‘My grandfather was wise enough to back off and leave me to it.’
‘Where did you go?’
‘I hitched my wagon to whichever polo player was fashionable at the time.’ He shrugged. ‘By watching and learning I somehow managed to save up enough from my wages to buy my first pony. She was an old girl, on the point of retirement, but I was eager to try the game myself, and I made a passable polo pony out of her. Thanks to that mare I could take part in at least one chukka during amateur matches, where not every rider owned a string of ponies and we all did the best we could.’
‘Which brought your riding skills to the attention of those that mattered?’
‘Correct.’
She was standing close enough to touch, and that distracted him for another few moments.
‘Eventually I was entrusted with training a few medium-grade ponies.’ He cast his mind back to those uncertain days. ‘Then my grandfather became ill, but I was having too much of a good time to come home. I should have come. I owe everything I have to him. I just couldn’t see it at the time. Now do you understand why I am so committed to this place?’
‘Yes,’ she said quietly. ‘It explains a lot about you.’
‘Like why I’m such a selfish bastard?’ He laughed.
‘Like why you belong here,’ Danny argued. ‘And
