‘And I’m a businessman who can’t afford to have one substandard student graduate from my training course.’
‘Danny isn’t substandard,’ Lizzie argued hotly. ‘She lost her confidence last year, and that’s all.’
‘So, how long is it going to take her to find the confidence she’s lost? She’s had a year to find it.’
‘If you let her stay, she’ll prove herself to you. I’ll vouch for her. All I’m asking is just one more chance.’
‘No,’ he said flatly.
‘So that cosy little nugget in your brochure about wanting to give people the same chance you had is just a cynical piece of self-serving rubbish, put there to make you look good?’
He stared at her in amazement. So little Lizzie Fane had teeth after all. ‘Have you quite finished?’ he said evenly, hiding his approval of her stand.
‘Not by a long chalk,’ she assured him, blazing into glorious flame. ‘You don’t just have a chip on your shoulder, you have a rock.’
‘And you have said more than enough, don’t you think?’ He paused. ‘What’s your real problem, Lizzie?’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I think you do. So, either you tell me what’s eating you, or you go back to your room and calm down.’
‘Will you let Danny come back? Please.’ Lizzie’s tone softened. ‘She’ll be fine. Danny’s got as much talent as anyone else. It’s just that you intimidate everyone.’
‘Except you, it seems,’ he observed dryly.
‘I’ve known you for a long time, Chico.’
‘You knew me once,’ he corrected her.
‘Could we put that right?’ Her gaze flickered as she stared at him.
‘Maybe,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘That all depends...’
CHAPTER FIVE
‘THAT ALL DEPENDS on what?’ she queried, her gaze steady on Chico’s.
A few potent seconds ticked by, and then he growled. ‘On this—’
She had not expected Chico to move so fast, or to reach for her and drag her into his arms. Nor had she expected this to inflame her senses to such an extent that it blotted out everything, especially the past, leaving only the piercing reality of now.
There was nothing tender about Chico’s kiss. It was an explosion of passion that rammed her back against the wall as he ground his body into hers. She responded with matching fire. She couldn’t have held back if she had wanted to. Chico had unleashed something in her that demanded immediate release, and it was exciting that he was so familiar, and yet a stranger to her. She hardly recognised the passionate woman kissing him back as herself. She had never behaved like this. She had never responded with such instant lust to a man, but this honed and harder Chico was so much darker than the youth she had idolised, and his kisses mirrored this. Brutal and bone melting, they were so very, very dangerous, and she was quickly lost to the point that she staggered when he let her go.
It was a relief when he released her, she told herself firmly. What if he hadn’t? She wouldn’t have trusted herself to break away first.
She was not so glad that Chico was staring down at her now with an expression in his eyes that could only be described as the conquering hero viewing his conquest. Nothing could have made her recover faster.
She wouldn’t be making that mistake again.
‘What shall I tell Danny?’ she asked coolly.
‘Tell her you bought her one last chance.’
* * *
The next few weeks passed in a blur of activity. The weather was cooling down and it was chilly in the mornings. Brazil was such a big country, it was located in the Southern, Western, and even the Northern Hemisphere, Lizzie had learned, but it would be cold in Scotland, of that much she was sure. Cold, like Chico’s heart, she reflected on her way to class. His kisses were smouldering, but the look in his eyes when he’d let her go that time in his office had chilled her.
Trying to put personal thoughts out of her mind wasn’t easy when she joined the rest of the grooms as they gathered round Chico on horseback. He was such a mesmerising presence, he held everyone’s attention, especially hers. She found herself touching her lips, and had to pull her hand away, but it was too late to blank that stormy encounter in his office.
‘I have something to say to you all,’ he announced.
The students craned forward. All they craved was a word of praise, or a glimmer of approval from the infamous hard man of polo. She had learned to watch his eyes, Lizzie realised as Chico waited for his students to settle. Those eyes could turn cold in an instant if something displeased him, or hot, as she knew only too well.
She kept her horse a little way back from the others, wanting to put as much distance as she could between herself and Chico. Even when she was concentrating fiercely on her training, she was always aware of him, watching her, judging her—thinking who knew what about her? She could never shut him out. That did have one good result in that it made her doubly determined to excel. She would never give Chico a chance to criticise her work, and she maintained a consistently cool professional front—which wasn’t easy when she couldn’t drag her gaze away from his mouth as he spoke, or from his powerful hands as he gestured. When he sweet-talked a pony in that husky, faintly accented voice, she was lost, and each time he rode around the ring to demonstrate a particular technique, she was transfixed. Watching Chico in the saddle was like watching sex with clothes on. There was just too much thrusting going on with those lean, powerful hips—
‘Do I have your attention today, Ms Fane?’
‘Absolutely, Senhor Fernandez,’ she confirmed, infuriated to feel her cheeks heating up beneath Chico’s unwavering stare.
‘Come closer, Lizzie.’ His voice was soft for the sake of the highly strung ponies. ‘I shouldn’t have to raise my voice to attract your attention,’ he reprimanded her at the same low volume, his stern tone setting up all sorts of unwanted attention in her body. ‘You know how sensitive these ponies are to the tone of our voice, and to the volume at which we speak.’
What were those dark eyes trying to tell her? It didn’t help that everyone was staring at her as she edged her horse forward. Chico had relaxed in the saddle and had allowed his reins to hang loose. He was so much in command in the saddle it was ridiculous. And what was even more ridiculous was imagining those powerful thighs controlling her in the same effortless way—
‘I’ve got a reward for you,’ he murmured, meeting her wary gaze with an amused stare. And just when she was transfixed and responding in entirely the wrong way to a simple statement, he turned to address the rest of the class. ‘You have all worked very hard, and deserve a reward.’ His mouth had curved in the way that could always send shivers of anticipation streaking down her spine. ‘There will be a guest polo matc
h—a friendly between you and the professional players. The players will of course be appropriately handicapped—’
‘They’ll be on foot?’ one of the male trainees suggested, making everyone laugh.
Everyone laughed except Chico.
‘And there will be a party to follow the match,’ he continued, ‘when you can all let your hair down.’
‘That is for those of us who survive the match, I presume?’ Lizzie suggested mildly.
The look Chico gave her sent heat rushing through her. ‘Survival is mandatory, Ms Fane. The names are up in the usual place for the grooms’ team,’ he said to the group. ‘You’ll find the name of your captain at the top of that list. I will be captaining the players’ team to ensure fair play all round—’
As a groan went up Lizzie asked, ‘How is this fair when we won’t stand a chance?’
‘Goodnight, everyone,’ Chico said pleasantly, ignoring her, and, without any obvious effort or movement at all, he wheeled his horse around and cantered out of the ring.
Lizzie refused to hurry like the other students who couldn’t wait to read the list.
‘Come on,’ Danny urged as she hung over the open half-door of the stall where Lizzie was currently making a huge deal out of picking out her pony’s already immaculate hooves. ‘Aren’t you interested in who’s been chosen to play? Or who’s been chosen to be our team captain?’
‘If Chico’s playing, that’s enough for me.’ She straightened up. ‘It’s hardly an even playing field when the trainees are going up against internationals.’
‘I thought you had more guts than that, Lizzie Fane. What happened to your native cunning? Or is this a sulk because Chico hasn’t taught you absolutely everything he knows?’ Danny suggested mischievously.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I certainly don’t want Chico to teach me anything, apart from equine craft.’
‘Liar.’
Ignoring this, Lizzie focused on the match. ‘I suppose, if we put our heads together we could come up with some useful tactics...’