He threw open the passenger door. ‘I know it’s going to be a hell of a disappointment, making your grand entrance in this instead of in the Caddy but believe me, no one at the ranch will care.’ He smiled slyly. ‘Of course, if you prefer, you could always walk.’
Arden scrambled into the car. Conor nodded, tossed the suitcase into the back, and slammed the door after her.
‘Good thinking,’ he said as he slipped behind the steering-wheel and stabbed the key into the ignition. ‘After all, if I got to the house before you did, I might just steal the silverware.’
Arden snapped her seatbelt closed, folded her hands in her lap, and stared straight ahead.
‘My thoughts precisely,’ she said.
With a roar and a belch of plumy exhaust, the Bronco shot away from the kerb.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THEY reached the finca just after sundown. Arden was certain that Conor had deliberately aimed for every pothole and bump on the road, and when they finally bounced to a halt in the curving driveway she couldn’t wait to climb out of the car.
But she didn’t. Instead, she stared at the house as it rose silhouetted against the night sky, and her breath caught.
What am I doing here? she thought with a little shudder. Felix had left El Corazon to her, but—
Conor flung open his door and stepped out. ‘Where do you want your luggage?’
She looked blindly in his direction. At the airport, she thought, on a plane bound for New York.
‘In the same room you used before?’
No matter what had gone wrong in this family, wasn’t Conor better entitled to inherit this house than a stranger?
‘If you’re waiting for a welcoming committee, you’re in for a disappointment.’ Conor pulled her door open. ‘Look at the bright side, Arden. At least, the alquacil isn’t here to arrest you.’
She blinked her eyes. ‘What?’
‘I said, at least the sheriff isn’t—’
‘I know what the word means, Conor! What I’m trying to figure out is what you meant by that remark.’
‘I meant just what I said. You’re lucky you’re not being run in for fraud.’
‘Fraud!’
‘Or whatever it is you call convincing an old man to sign his property over to a con artist.’
Arden gritted her teeth. No wonder Felix had left the house to her. The only thing worse than leaving El Corazon to a stranger would have been leaving it to a man like Conor Martinez!
She threw open her door and stepped to the ground.
‘My old room will do fine,’ she said coldly. She started towards the house. Behind her, Conor grunted as he hoisted her suitcase from the back of the Bronco and followed after her. ‘As for meals—’
‘I can’t hear you.’
She turned at the top of the steps and waited until he’d climbed to the porch beside her.
‘I said, we’ll arrange mealtimes so that we don’t intrude on each other.’
Conor’s eyes turned flat. ‘Will we, indeed?’ he said, carefully setting down the suitcase.
‘I’ll have my breakfast at seven, lunch at noon, and dinner at six. You’ll eat an hour later. That way—’
She gasped as his arm shot past her, his hand slapping flat against the closed door.