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This was her one chance to fulfil her dream, Danny reasoned. If she could do that, surely she could guard her heart for a year by burying herself in work?
‘Well?’ Tiago pressed impatiently.
‘If we go ahead with this—and I’m only saying if—I have certain conditions,’ she explained.
His expression turned grim. He wasn’t used to bargaining when he had decided what he wanted to do, she gathered, but he could see that she wasn’t going to change her mind.
‘Name them,’ he grated out.
‘For one year I’m the only woman in your life. I mean it, Tiago,’ she said quickly, when he started to speak. ‘I won’t take any more humiliation. I’ve seen my mother make a fool of herself and I don’t need anyone to tell me that I was fast following in her footsteps. I won’t go down that road again—not for you, not for anyone. If you want this deal you will have to put my terms in that contract too.’
Tension soared as she waited for his reply. She guessed Tiago hadn’t expected her to put any obstacles in his way, but she wasn’t prepared to back down.
‘All right,’ he said eventually. ‘But if you’re putting conditions on this then so am I. This will be a proper marriage, and you will be in my bed.’
Her throat constricted. She couldn’t have answered him if she’d wanted to. The expression in Tiago’s eyes had turned cold and hard. This was the deal-breaker, delivered by a man determined to have his way. Tiago was like a coin with two sides, she decided. There was the strong and compassionate man on one side of the coin, and the ruthless playboy on the other. Surrendering her body to a man like that was a heart-stopping thought.
But her body betrayed her now by melting. Her mind burned with confusion. It was like drowning in a sweet honey bath of desire, even while everything about Tiago in this frame of mind was a warning to her not to fall for him unless she wanted to be hurt. But how was she going to remain detached from her feelings when she was lying in his arms?
She would have to, Danny determined, but there were one or two more points she wanted to clear up first. ‘If this is to be a marriage in every sense, as you suggest it will be, then we have to consider the potential consequences.’
‘For instance?’ he pressed without warmth.
‘How will we explain this love-match of ours to any children we might have? And I use the term “love-match” in its most cynical form.’
Tiago shrugged. ‘I must admit I have never thought of this as a permanent arrangement.’
‘Clearly,’ she said, shrinking a little inside. Was this the one thing in his life that Tiago Santos hadn’t thought through? she wondered.
‘Finding a wife is uppermost in my mind,’ he said, as if he could read hers. ‘Perhaps I am guilty of not considering every possibility. I can only tell you that when I found you yesterday outside the stable block I wasn’t thinking about this at all. My one thought was your safety. I hope that reassures you? As for this contract—I can’t have been planning it for long, chica, since I’ve only been here for a couple of days!’
Calling her chica threw her. It was so intimate—too intimate. Endearments from Tiago were unsettling, as was his cold-blooded approach to marriage. When she kept him at a distance she could handle her feelings for him. Jibing at him verbally in Brazil had been fun, but this was a very different situation.
She wasn’t about to roll over and become his convenient wife, Danny concluded. Tiago would have to consider her terms and conditions. They were a deal-breaker for her.
‘You’ve only been here for a couple of days,’ she agreed, ‘but that’s long enough for you to negotiate a business contract, I imagine?’
‘True,’ Tiago agreed. ‘But this is particularly important to me.’
‘And to me,’ she said. ‘It’s quite a commitment you’re asking me to make.’ She felt a cold hand clutch her heart as she said this.
Tiago was quick to reassure her, ‘The agreement between us will be drawn up by my lawyers to include your demands. It will be absolutely watertight. I assure you of that.’
‘I have no doubt.’
‘You’ll be protected, Danny. You’ll be safe. You’ll be secure for the rest of your life.’
‘You make it sound like a prison sentence.’
‘It will be what we make it,’ Tiago told her with calm assurance. ‘You can have your own lawyers look over the contract. I’ll pay for them.’
