She could have drowned in those eyes. She still might.
Bringing her close, Cesar kissed her good morning.
His kisses were like incendiary devices to her senses. Closing her eyes, she dragged deep on the heady mix of soap and warm, clean man. If she could have this for the rest of her life, she would be the happiest woman on the face of the earth.
‘Coffee?’
She realised Cesar was speaking to her. ‘I made the breakfast for you,’ she insisted. ‘It’s nothing much, just another thank-you for the easel and paints, and the delicious picnic last night.’
‘I have a confession to make.’
‘You do?’ Apprehension gripped her. She should have known this was too good to be true.
‘If we’re going to make this work, we have to be honest with each other. Correct?’
‘Correct,’ she agreed tensely.
Cesar’s burning gaze lit with humour. ‘I want you, and it isn’t in my nature to wait.’
Laughter drove her tension away, and then their fingers brushed as she accepted the cup of coffee he’d poured. How was it she’d never noticed before how seductive the brush of a hand could be? ‘Pancakes first?’ she suggested.
Cesar laughed. ‘Seriously?’
‘Of course seriously,’ she insisted, trembling with excitement inside. ‘Do they look that bad?’
‘They look absolutely delicious. Do your worst,’ he encouraged.
Oh. She forced herself to brighten. ‘Sugar?’ she asked with a smile.
Cesar’s answer was to yank her close enough to drown in his eyes. ‘We’re going to be very late for training,’ he promised. But then he gently disentangled himself and started eating pancakes.
The result was a frustrating day. Sex helped to wipe her mind clear of doubt, Sofia realised, reeling with exhaustion by the time training ended. Doubt had been her constant companion since losing her parents, and it was back full force now. What if Cesar’s proposal was only to prove to her brothers that his intentions were honourable? Once they left this training camp hothouse behind, and life returned to normal, would Cesar come to realise that he didn’t love her after all?
The temptation to confront him with these concerns battled with her desire to squeeze every last drop of happiness out of their time together. Remembering how Cesar had touched her face so tenderly last night didn’t help, and only made her realise how much she’d miss him if Cesar came his senses and realised that marrying her would be wrong. Tears stung her eyes as she walked back to the stable. Thank goodness Jess had pushed them hard. She’d had less time to think. But now—
‘Hey, you!’
Cesar’s call stopped Sofia in her tracks halfway across the stable yard. He was tossing a bucket of ice-cold water from the well over his impossibly magnificent half-naked self. She closed her eyes to that, and to him, or she tried to.
‘Where are you rushing off to?’ he asked with a frown, staring at the large, zip-up bag she was carrying. It contained all her loose possessions from the tack room. She was on her way to add it to the stack of luggage in her room.
‘Hey, yourself.’ Her face burned with guilt at having been caught out. She should have told Cesar before arranging her journey home, but once she’d realised the best thing to do was to give them both space, she had rushed through the arrangements, knowing that if she stopped to think too much about it, she’d never go through with her plan. She’d confided in Jess and had promised she’d be back in time for the match. Jess clearly didn’t agree with what she was doing but had enough sense to keep those thoughts to herself, confining herself to comments on Sofia’s fitness, saying that if she kept up her training back home in Spain, Sofia would be more than ready for the match.
‘I couldn’t get an internet connection in my room,’ she told Cesar now, ‘so I’m off to the cookhouse to see if I can sort out something there.’ She was a terrible liar, and he knew it.
‘Internet?’ he probed. ‘Why don’t you use mine at the ranch house?’
‘I never thought of that.’
‘Really?’ He quirked a disbelieving brow.
If she stayed another hour her heart would shatter. However Cesar dressed it up, a marriage of convenience would never work between them. Her heart would break before their union had a chance.
You seem preoccupied, Sofia.’
‘No.’ She shook her head.
‘Wistful, then.’
