‘Yes,’ he admitted. ‘But I fell in love with you.’
‘You fell in love with me?’ she said. Her mouth slanted. ‘If you’d loved me you would have told me the truth.’
‘Maybe I didn’t know what love was, but you taught me. I married you for the worst of reasons, but graças a Deus I saved the ranch. I’ll make no apologies for that. Do I love you now? God help me, yes. Now more than ever.’
Swinging his leg over the horse, he dismounted. Running up his stirrups, he turned to stare at her.
‘Do I ask you to forgive me? No. There’s nothing for you to forgive. I will always love you, and I have never lied to you—’
‘Except by omission,’ she interrupted.
He shrugged. ‘If I’d told you everything last night you would have thought, The playboy is back. He thinks he can buy up everything in sight, including me. I didn’t want you to think that, Danny. I wanted the chance to speak to you and win your trust. I wanted to ride with you, out here in the open, where we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I wanted to see your face when you saw the new mare. I rebuilt the house with you in mind, and I chose everything in it for you. Maybe I was wrong to believe there were some things it was better for you not to know, but I did it out of the best of reasons. I wanted last night to be special, unthreatening. I wanted to give us another chance. I didn’t want what I can buy getting in the way of our reunion .’
‘Like this horse?’ Dipping her head, she nuzzled her face against the mare’s silky neck.
‘I wanted us to start afresh—just you and me last night, and then a new start for us this morning.’
Danny didn’t say anything for a long time as they watched their horses drink, and then she said, ‘You look tired.’
‘So do you. Bad night?’
She curbed a smile. ‘I didn’t sleep much,’ she admitted. ‘But we can’t just erase the past and start again, Tiago.’
‘Why not?’ He mounted up.
‘Because your plan is redundant. You own Fazenda Santos and you don’t need a wife.’
‘But I need you. And what if I have a new plan? One that includes you? I’m going to turn this estate around, Danny. I’m going to base it on my success in Brazil. You can help me, if you like. Unless that’s a problem for you?’
‘I couldn’t possibly work fast enough to meet your exacting standards,’ she commented.
‘Really?’ He pretended surprise. ‘I found you satisfactory in Brazil.’
‘Satisfactory?’ she exclaimed. ‘Watch it! I might be transparent when it comes to horses, but—’
‘Not just horses,’ he said.
‘I’m certainly not vulnerable where you’re concerned.’
‘I don’t think you’re vulnerable at all,’ he argued. ‘I think you’re strong—though you’re far too trusting.’
‘Tell me about it,’ she said. And then a new thought occurred to her and she frowned. ‘If this is your way of asking for my resignation...?’
‘Certainly not,’ he assured her. ‘I’m going to put you to work.’
She held up her hand. ‘Not so fast. If I do stay on I should warn you I’m unlikely to agree with you on most things.’
‘Should I act surprised?’
‘I won’t be easy to work with,’ she warned him, mounting up.
‘Now I am surprised,’ he murmured dryly as they both turned for home.
On the brow of the hill overlooking the old house of Lochmaglen, they stopped and reined in. They could see broken fencing stretching for miles from there.
He turned to Danny and smiled. ‘I’ve always loved a challenge, haven’t you?’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
‘I’VE NOT BOUGHT this place to see it fail,’ Tiago told her as their horses clattered into the yard.
‘But casualties are unavoidable?’ Danny suggested as she dismounted.
‘I hope not, but I can’t afford to be weak. Weakness destroyed my family and almost destroyed Fazenda Santos. My parents were like yours—weak and easily led. I could never live through that again. So if you think I’m hard, understand why.’
‘And if I find it hard to trust, understand why,’ she countered.
‘I do,’ he assured her wryly. ‘But luckily my main interest in life is rescuing and rebuilding.’