‘Please sort out the clipboards,’ he ground out, to end the impasse.
Gathering up half of them, she thrust them into his hands. ‘Two work faster than one,’ she explained, braving his astonished glance coolly. ‘Shall I pull these tables around so we can face each other at the meeting?’
He could think of nothing he’d like less than to sit facing Sofia Acosta. Concentrating on anything else would prove impossible. ‘This is an informal gathering when friends, who are also teammates, can snatch time in their busy schedules to discuss our upcoming matches.’
‘We need clipboards for that?’ she queried.
‘Are you going to question every decision I make?’
‘Only if I think it necessary.’
That level stare into his eyes again, and yet she seemed so calm and logical. The urge to see her wild with lust would have to keep for another time.
‘My schedule is cast in stone,’ he intoned icily. ‘I’ve laid out an agenda so there can be no unnecessary mistakes in dates or overlaps in commitments.’
She pulled a wry face. ‘I’m sure my brothers will love that.’
‘I’ve already checked to make sure our schedules are in synchrony, and they agree with my plans.’ Why was he even telling her this? he wondered as a brief wistful look swept over her features. Of course, since the article, he was closer to her brothers than she was. Was that his fault too?
‘I’m glad my brothers are happy,’ she said at last, with obvious sincerity, ‘but does that mean anyone involved in the matches must sacrifice previous appointments to accommodate you?’
‘Are you’re talking about yourself?’
Her face paled but her lips firmed. ‘I was thinking about your sister.’
‘Ah, Olivia.’ He huffed an ironic laugh. ‘She wouldn’t allow anything to stand in the way of riding with your brothers. As for you...’
‘Yes?’ Sofia’s eyes narrowed in unmistakable challenge.
‘I imagine you’d do anything to heal the rift you’ve created in your family.’
Perhaps that was a little harsher than he’d intended.
Sofia lowered her gaze but rallied fast. ‘I’ll study your agenda and let you know.’
As he quirked a brow, she queried, ‘Men rule and women obey in your world?’
‘You’ve met my mother and sister. Do you think that possible in my family? But playing in a team is different. Someone has to be in charge or chaos will ensue.’
‘And that someone is you?’ she challenged. ‘Sounds as if you mean to be more dictator than team leader.’
Right on cue, his friends and fellow players, the Acosta brothers and his sister Olivia, came into sight in arrow formation, with Xander spearheading the group.
‘I look forward to hearing your explanation of why you felt it necessary to cause such trouble with that article,’ he told Sofia before they arrived, leaving her in no doubt that it hadn’t been forgotten but had merely been postponed.
CHAPTER THREE
THE CHANCE TO ride with Cesar and her brothers was a lure Sofia would always find impossible to resist. How much more so under present circumstances? Having brothers breathing over her shoulder used to annoy her, but now she missed the closeness more than she could say. The change in their relationship since the article seemed irreparable sometimes, and determination alone wouldn’t heal that rift.
She had to find a way to make her brothers believe her, but without being able to tell them everything for fear of them hitting out at Howard Blake, and him hitting out even harder, she was uncharacteristically powerless. Loyal to a fault, her brothers would see the false rant printed in the newspaper about Cesar, with Sofia’s by-line proudly displayed at the top, as a blow against all of them.
In trying to save her retreat, she had only succeeded in alienating those she loved most. The upcoming matches were the best chance she’d get to ride with her brothers on neutral territory. She hoped the physical demand of the matches would help to restore at least some of the camaraderie between them.
Her feelings where Cesar was concerned were conflicted. She was a moth drawn his very fierce flame. Cesar was shrewd, sexy and keenly intelligent. His body kept her awake at night. Dreams were safe. Reality was far more complicated. If she were foolish to offer herself up, as a waiter might offer a canapé, Cesar would swallow her down, lick his lips and move on. Leaving her where, exactly?
Embarking on a voyage of sensual discovery with Cesar would be like casting a minnow into a shark pool. She’d be saved that embarrassment as he couldn’t have made it clearer in the pavilion, before her brothers and Olivia arrived, that he would never forgive her for what she’d done.
As the meeting went on, Cesar didn’t attempt to include her in the discussion, while her brothers gave her thin smiles when they looked at her at all. Only Olivia pressed her lips together in a reassuring smile, as if she, at least, wanted to believe better of Sofia.
