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His angry footsteps accelerated Sophie’s efforts to release her seat belt.
‘So, it is you,’ he growled, flinging her door as wide as it would go.
‘Xavier. You must have known,’ Sophie insisted calmly, gathering up her wits along with her gear. She had no intention of allowing herself to be drawn into a confrontation with the navy-blue lasers currently trained on her face. And just when had his hair darkened to sepia and mutated into aggressive spikes that emphasized his incredible bone structure, instead of conforming slavishly to the longer, sleeker style that started a whole new fashion amongst his wealthy set years back? Just when had cool become hot?
‘How do you work that out?’ he demanded curtly, stabbing into her memories.
‘Henry wired ahead—’
‘Henry—’ Xavier’s mimicry stopped just the polite side of parody ‘—hasn’t a clue what’s going on out here. He can’t get hold of me by radio, fax, or pigeon post when I’m in the high country. He should know that by now. He should make it his business to know,’ he added firmly, his voice rising when Sophie started to interrupt. ‘He should also know I don’t carry passengers.’
‘Passengers! I’m here to do a job,’ Sophie retorted firmly.
‘Well, there aren’t any cushy clinics out here for you to waft around.’
Sophie bit her tongue. She wouldn’t take the bait and get into an argument with him. Five minutes into their meeting, she already knew the only way to work with Xavier would be to keep everything impersonal—emotion-free. Once aroused, he was just the type of full-blooded male who provoked emotions she chose not to examine too closely. But she could see why he would be shocked to see her. It made her go a little way to accepting his behaviour. If there had been time she would have warned him—given him time to prepare. It had to pain him to be confronted with a face from the past, and one from a family he had every reason to despise. But the Xavier she had known years back would never have behaved like this—and his assumption that she wouldn’t be capable of pulling her weight was inexcusable.
As she went to climb out he slammed one hard, unyielding fist against the door, stopping her.
‘Get out of my way!’ Sophie warned, levelling a red-hot glare into his eyes as she heaved against the door.
Evie’s low whistle forced a brief pause between them.
‘I’d love to stick around to see how this thing works out between you two, but sadly—’ she shot a glance through the windscreen ‘—the light’s failing and time’s pressing on. I gotta go.’
‘Fine,’ Sophie said pleasantly, dumping her rucksack on the ground. ‘Thanks for the ride.’
‘My pleasure.’
‘Now just a minute,’ Xavier insisted savagely. ‘You aren’t going anywhere, Sophie Ford. Get back in there.’
But Sophie had already slipped under his arm, picked up her rucksack, and was powering away from the aircraft as fast as she could.
‘Good luck, Sophie!’ Evie shouted, leaning out of the window, as she wheeled the plane round and lined up for take-off. ‘Don’t forget what I told you. I’m only a plane ride away.’
As the engine noise rose to a crescendo Sophie paused a moment, dropping her heavy rucksack to the ground to raise her hand. The propellers were whipping up a storm of fine dust particles from the hard-baked earth, forcing her to try and protect her eyes as she waved. ‘Thanks, Evie,’ she yelled at the top of her voice. ‘I won’t forget!’
‘I suppose you think that’s smart?’
‘What? I… Thank you,’ Sophie was forced to say with surprise, when instead of continuing to berate her, Xavier snatched up the rucksack she had been carrying.
At least he was still a gentleman, she thought, then let out a grunt as he swung it back on to her shoulders.
‘It will be interesting to see how long you last,’ he called back to her as he made for the truck.
‘I might surprise you.’
‘I doubt it!’ Sophie Ford! Xavier cursed his luck. The pampered product of an overwrought mother and a father— He shook his head and made a sound of utter contempt.
‘Well, thank you for that,’ Sophie shouted after him, firming her lips.
‘Don’t thank me,’ Xavier warned as they reached his truck. ‘You’ll be begging to be sent home within the week.’
‘Not a chance,’ Sophie muttered back, rubbing the last of the dust from her eyes.
Flinging open the passenger door, Xavier offered her his hand. She ignored it.
‘Where I’m going is no place for you,’ he rapped when they were both safely installed inside the cab.
Personal considerations aside, he needed strong, no-nonsense people for his project in Peru, not some dizzy blonde who looked as if she had never got her fingernails dirty in her life. Resting his hands on the steering wheel, he slanted another long look at her. ‘And the pace of the project is too fast for a soft-bred city girl like you.’
‘I’m here to stay, Xavier,’ Sophie said in a quiet, steely voice. ‘Get over it. According to your own promotional literature you need doctors. I’m a qualified doctor—ergo, you need me.’
Xavier’s only response to that was a bark of derision.
Quite a welcome! Sophie thought, biting her tongue. Reminding herself Xavier was her boss, she stayed cool as she ran through every one of the reasons that had brought her to Peru. Leaving him out of the equation, she’d made the right decision. Putting him back in? If fate had conspired to put her in the passenger seat right now, she was going to make damn sure he treated her as an equal from here on in.
‘The first flight I can get you out of here is next week—’
Sophie cut across him angrily. ‘Let me remind you that I signed a contract.’
‘So?’ he challenged harshly. ‘I’ll buy you out of it.’
‘There isn’t enough money in this world to buy me, Xavier.’ If he thought his immense wealth could put her off he was sadly mistaken, Sophie thought, seething with fury. She lost no time disillusioning him. ‘I’m here to do a job. And there is absolutely no possibility that I am simply going to turn tail and run back home on your say-so.’
‘That’s all I need,’ he said with a rough sound of impatience. ‘A headstrong woman.’
‘Too much for you?’ she suggested dryly.
There was a time when little Sophie Ford would never have dreamed of taking him on, Xavier reflected grimly. But there were benefits to be drawn from that. He didn’t have to pussyfoot around for one thing. He could get rid of her the minute the first opportunity presented itself. Contenting himself with a sardonic half-smile, he said nothing more. But a muscle worked in his stubble-shaded jaw, suggesting he would like to say plenty. Turning the key in the ignition, he gunned an aggressively tuned engine into life.
Xavier had always liked to tune his own engines, so nothing much had changed there, Sophie thought, as he took off with a burst of speed that knocked her back in the seat. And yet, she realised, sneaking another glance at him, everything else had changed. What was one of the richest men in Spain doing in the wilds of Peru? What had transformed his life to the extent that he had retrained as a doctor whilst juggling the demands of the Martinez Bordiu birthright? Deep down, Sophie knew she didn’t even have to ask herself that question—but he was looking at her again, his sharp, knowing glance hunting for cracks in the defences she had built around her thoughts—and there was a lot more hidden than she cared for him to see.
Quickly pinning a neutral expression to her face, Sophie turned her head to stare blindly out of the window, but not before the grim smile tugging at Xavier’s lips had caught hold of her composure and tied it in knots. He was so male, so blatantly virile, and there was no escape from him in the confined space. Was this how he treated women now? A mental picture of him thrashing about like a wounded animal, seizing a mate for a few moments’ comfort, and then casting them aside the moment emotions came into play, made her pulse quicken with apprehension.
Determinedly turnin
g her thoughts back to work, Sophie frowned. Surely he didn’t imagine she’d crumble on the sole basis it didn’t suit him to have her in Peru?
Her only crime, as far as she knew, was that she came from his past. But the accident haunted her too; it always would. She felt his loss keenly as she glanced across at him, but Xavier’s lips only hardened as he sensed her scrutiny. She would just have to accept that empathy wasn’t enough. The fact she knew about the accident only made him doubly determined to get rid of her. As first meetings with your new boss went, Sophie mused wryly, this one was a classic!
‘It’s been a long time, Sophie. You’re looking good.’ He caught her off-guard. Straightening up, Sophie instinctively moistened her lips, and even brushed back an errant strand of hair from her face before the calculating and faintly amused look in Xavier’s eyes warned he was playing a very masculine game. She certainly hadn’t come all the way to Peru to provide some male predator with his daily diversion.
The truck’s small cab was like a pressure cooker. It was bog-standard-basic, with no add-on luxuries such as air-conditioning. No luxuries, full stop, Sophie thought, glancing around. It was stifling with heat, and over-cooked opinions. Snatching up the topmost item on a pile stacked on the seat between them, she began fanning herself distractedly.
‘That’s my clean washing,’ Xavier informed her as he retrieved the square of black cotton from her hands.
