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She rejected each of these choices out of hand Just for tonight she was going to be free froo, and wasn’t this what she had always dreamed? And when reality far exceeded her wildest dream, wouldn’t it be churlish to waste this opportunity?

It was a sin for atheainst her small body, made her press a little closer to him—not too much as she didn’t want to be too obvious about it The music called for it, she reassured herself Chico was so outrageously masculine, as she supposed to do when every contour of his hard body was rhyth hers? A frisson of doubt hit when she wondered about his other woet close to anyone? Were there too many memories in the past he couldn’t share?

She had proo there Where wory and then move on

‘So, why Fazenda Fernandez, Lizzie?’

She was thrown for a ht out of the fantasy, and now she realised that the music had faded to silence and the dance had ended She should break away, leave his arms, but time seemed suspended—

Time hadn’t been suspended for Chico, Lizzie reasoned sensibly While she had been happily relaxing into an erotic daze, he had been coldly calculating her reasons for co here

Lifting her head from where, she now realised with deep embarrassment, it was comfortably nestled on his chest, she stared him in the eyes ‘Why not here? It was an easy decision for e I attended awarded a scholarship to your ranch, and so I went for it With randmother’s approval,’ she added pointedly ‘And since that scholarship is funded by you, I can’t think that you would allow anyone to win it that you haven’t thoroughly vetted first’

‘I have a team to do that for me’

Of course he had And she should have known that Everything in Chico’s world was so much more complicated and sophisticated than the world Lizzie inhabited You didn’t get to achieve what he had without covering all the bases It was Chico’s casual ht that had deceived her, but now she realised that there was nothing laid-back or unplanned in his life, because he couldn’t afford to be careless There was tooit

‘So, why here?’ he repeated ‘There are other scholarships available at the college you attended’

Of course he’d done his hoone anywhere in the world where horses were bred with skill and care

‘You’re the best,’ she said honestly ‘You train the best, and I want to be the best I want to follow in your footsteps’

‘You want to go into competition with me?’ He smiled, his tone deceptively relaxed

‘I want to set up in business, yes, but in cohed ‘I’m a few million short of the start-up capital’

‘You’re extreht’

‘I don’t know any other way to be’

Chico appeared to relax, but Lizzie doubted she’d ever seen hierous

‘I should warn you that I love competition,’ he whispered in her ear when the ain

She shivered involuntarily when his hand found the sers spread out to claim her

‘And I love it when you speak your mind It’s vital that I listen to the views of everyone on my team’

The team with one captain, Lizzie reflected, relieved that Chico couldn’t know his whispered words and those wicked hands of his were ies he ale wholly unknown to her before tonight

‘If you ever need more help, Lizzie’

How to answer that, when Chico’s fingertips were only a whisper away frouess how this dance was affecting her? Was he a with Chico because of the scholarship, but because of the sheer animal attraction between theed to know the truth about hi it as hard as he could for her to reather the information she needed His mouth was too close to her ear, his breath too warm on her neck, and their bodies were so close she could feel his heart beating This wasn’t just dangerous; this was a crazy, full-of-risk, exciting possibility

What was it aboutwas the perfect prelude to sex Lizzie’s breathing had quickened, and her heart was pounding furiously against his chest What was in her head? Raw sex irling round theht now All the other dancers were intent on each other, and, no doubt, the inevitable outco for theht’s sleep?

‘Don’t fight me,’ hetraining sessions, that’s okay Here on the dance floor? No’