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‘You’re in no position to give orders,’ he said sharply.
‘I wasn’t giving orders, I was only suggesting a workable arrangement. Surely you’ve no more desire to bump into me than I have to bump into you!’
‘If there’s any scheduling to be done, I’ll be the one who does it. El Corazon is still mine—or had you forgotten?’
Her chin lifted in defiance. ‘According to Felix’s will—’
‘According to his will, the ranch belongs to me. It’s only the codicil that says he left it to you.’
Arden smiled. ‘Only the codicil? Unless my memory’s slipping, a codicil is a legally binding addendum to a will, which means—’
‘Not if the person who writes it doesn’t know what he’s doing.’
‘Come on, Conor, you can do better than that! Are you going to suggest Felix was senile? Everybody knows he was as sharp as a tack. Or that I brainwashed him into leaving me El Corazon?’ She made a face. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘Whatever you did, it worked.’
‘Hasn’t it occurred to you that Felix might have left me El Corazon because he liked me?’
Conor laughed softly. ‘I’ll just bet he did.’
Her eyes flashed. ‘That’s disgusting. He was an old man—’
He shifted his weight lazily so that all at once he was as close to her as a whisper.
‘Right. But a man’s never too old to appreciate a woman like you.’
‘You know something, Conor? The more you insult me—’
‘Is that what I’m doing?’ He lifted his other hand and flattened it against the door so that she was trapped between his outstretched arms. ‘Hell, I thought I was paying you a compliment.’
‘And I don’t appreciate your sarcasm!’
‘It’s not sarcasm, sweetheart.’
‘Dammit, don’t call me that!’
He lifted his hand and stroked his knuckles lightly along her cheek. ‘There’s not a man in his right mind could resist you.’ He smiled lazily. ‘Hell, only a saint or a fool would turn you away.’
‘Conor—’
‘Not even me,’ he whispered. ‘You got old Edgar to come around, and Uncle Felix. For all you know, I might tumble just as easily, sign El Corazon over to you, save you months of legal battling.’
Months? Months? Surely this was just more intimidation. He couldn’t mean ‘months’.
Arden swallowed hard. ‘El Corazon’s mine already.’
Conor laughed and blew a curl back from her temple. ‘Maybe.’
‘There’s no “maybe” about it.’
He shrugged lazily. ‘I’m just suggesting there are possibilities you haven’t considered yet.’
Her heart skipped a beat. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Legal wheels grind slowly, querida mia.’ His thumb slipped over her lower lip. ‘In Costa Rica as well as in the States.’ He bent his head and nuzzled the hair back from her ear. ‘I know a lot of ways we could make the time pass quickly.’
His breath was warm against her skin. A tremor went through her, and she put her hands against his chest.
