Spaniard's Seduction / Cole's Red-Hot Pursuit. Brenda Jackson

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СКАЧАТЬ refreshing.” He couldn’t tell her that few people—much less women—argued with him these days. That would sound conceited. It was clear she already considered him an arrogant, entitled bastard.

      “Tell me what you wanted to say. Would it have antagonised me? Or did you want something from me?” He added the last with a certain degree of wearied resignation.

      Most women wanted something from him—marriage, his title, his wealth. A life of indolent luxury as Marquesa de Las Carreras. Even those who gave up on the wedding ring and settled for a skirmish in his bed, expected to be lavishly showered with jewels and clothes and to be royally entertained during their tenure as his mistress.

      When had it all grown so tedious?

      When had he given up hope of finding a woman who loved him for who he, Rafaelo, was?

      “What do I want from you?” Her gaze locked with his, scorching him with the impact. “I want you to reconsider what you intend to do.”

      “You mean give up the share that’s rightfully mine?” he objected, disconcerted by the glow of those peculiarly translucent eyes.

      “No, no. I can understand you wanting a share in all this—” she waved a hand to encompass their surroundings “—in the wealth, the family, the land, the beauty that is Saxon’s Folly. I don’t expect you to forfeit that. And I’m sure you’ll be able to work something out with the Saxons. But don’t sell it. Stay. Get to know your family—”

      “I’m a busy man—I don’t have time to take off.”

      “What’s a month? Or even a couple of weeks? You’ve got years ahead of you.” She looked like she was about to stamp her foot. “Darn it, they’re your flesh and blood, Rafaelo. Your family. And if you can’t do that, can’t forget about your thirst for revenge, then go catch that airplane this evening.”

      Was she daring him? He stared at Caitlyn. No, she couldn’t be. She didn’t understand who, what, he was. She didn’t know about the huge estate, Torres Carreras, he owned in Spain. She didn’t know about the power he commanded. She only saw him as a threat to her beloved Saxons. Nothing more.

      He’d never met anyone like her.

      She didn’t seek engagement rings or glittering baubles. She wanted nothing monetary from him. He had a suspicion if he turned and vanished into the ether and never returned she would be relieved.

      The realization came as a shock. It had been a very long time since he’d met someone who didn’t demand something material from him. All she asked was that he befriend his father—his half siblings—or, if he couldn’t do that, she expected him to leave.

      What she wanted was selfless—for the Saxons.

      But he couldn’t oblige. But she needn’t know that. Yet. “I’m no longer leaving this evening. I changed my flight booking.”

      But she wasn’t fooled. Rafaelo read the disappointment that clouded her exquisite eyes. She knew that he was staying because he wanted his share of Saxon’s Folly with a driving lust. Not because he needed it. But because of what it represented, the chance to set right the wrong that had been done to his mother…to Fernando’s memory.

      Rafaelo suspected she even understood that he wanted the satisfaction of watching Phillip’s face when he broke the news that he’d sold his share to the first bidder. Caitlyn Ross saw what others didn’t. She’d known he wanted revenge.

      To his astonishment he found himself saying, “If I do as you want, if I extend my stay from a couple of days to a couple of weeks will you have dinner with me?”

      A stillness came over her and a frostiness descended around her. “That’s not fair!”

      “Why not? If I stay, I’ll be doing what you want—and I’ll be doing something I don’t want to do.”

      Her eyes went from cloudy to utterly opaque, blanking out all emotion. “It’s not that I don’t want to have dinner with you….I don’t date.”

      Rafaelo was puzzled by her response. Annoyed, too, his pride affronted. Women didn’t turn him down when he invited them out. Usually they leapt all over him. Yes, Rafaelo. Whatever you want, Rafaelo. Do you want it now or later, Rafaelo? Instead Caitlyn was edging away. So what in the devil’s name was this about?

      “Don’t date?” He looked her up and down. “But why not? You’re an attractive, nubile young woman.”

      She coloured and looked away, then said softly, “I don’t talk about it, either.”

      Her closed expression warned him to tread carefully. It had to be about her romantic mooning over his dumb-ass half brother. Rafaelo’s annoyance grew. “Is it because of what you think you feel for Heath?”

      The look she gave him was horrified. “What do you mean?”

      Rafaelo waited.

      At last she said, “It has nothing to do with Heath.” She gave a broken little laugh. “How can it? Your brother doesn’t even know I exist.”

      “Half brother,” he corrected. “He’s a fool. And so are you for pining over one man. Madre de Dios—” he raked a hand through his hair “—how long has this been going on?”

      She spread her hands helplessly. “It’s complicated. You don’t—can’t ever—understand.”

      “So I’m a simpleton?”

      “No…no. Please, I’m not insulting your intelligence. It’s my fault.”

      Mouth twisting with wry humour, he murmured, “Ah, this is one of those circumstances where a modern woman would say, ‘It’s not you, it’s me,’ hmm?” The consternation in her eyes made him regret the impulse to tease her. Almost. He made one of the lightning-fast decisions that he was famed for. “I’ll stay. Two weeks. I’ll extend my booking in town.”

      “No!” At his look of surprise she tempered her tone. “You can’t possibly stay in a hotel. There are three guest cottages on the estate. I’m sure you can stay in one of them.”

      “All right.”

      Her face lit up, as if he’d promised her Christmas.

      Rafaelo gazed into her pale eyes. They should have been cold and wintry. They ought to have frozen out this loco attraction. Instead they sparkled like clear, pure crystal, radiating enthusiasm and pleasure, drawing him deeper under her spell.

      With a struggle he found his voice. “Don’t read too much into all this.”

      “I understand,” she said at last. “You’re still going to sell your share in Saxon’s Folly.”

      “And don’t think you’ll change my mind,” he growled.

      Several days later Caitlyn let out a tired sigh. The path that led over the gentle hill from the winery to the stables, where she lived in a loft apartment, seemed longer and bumpier than usual. Her hot, tired feet dragged.

      In the distance the golden glow of the late-afternoon СКАЧАТЬ