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its familiar loose bun and her green eyes soft with affection for the roses she was tending, she didn t
seem a virago at all. Not to the man watching her unseen from his elegant black stallion.
All at once she felt as if she were being watched& scrutinized& by a pair of fierce, dark eyes. His
eyes, of course. Amazing, she thought, how she always seemed to sense him, no matter how quietly he
came upon her.
She got to her feet and turned, her high cheekbones flushed, her pale green eyes glittering at the
elegant black-clad man in his working clothes jeans and boots and chaps, a chambray shirt under a
denim jacket, his straight black hair barely visible under a wide-brimmed hat that shadowed his face
from the hot sun.
 Shall I curtsy, your excellence? she asked, throwing down the gauntlet with a wicked smile. There
was always a slight antagonism between them.
Eduardo Rodrigo Ramirez y Cortes gave her a mocking nod of his head and a smile from his thin,
cruel-looking mouth. He was as handsome as a dark angel, except for the slash down one cheek,
allegedly garnered in a knife fight in his youth. He was thirty-six now, sharp-faced, olive-skinned,
black-eyed and dangerous.
His father, a titled Spanish nobleman, had been dead for many years. His mother, a beautiful blond
San Antonio socialite, was in New York with her second husband. Eduardo had no more inherited his
mother s looks than he had absorbed her behavior and temperament. He was in all ways Spanish. To
the workers on his ranch he was El Jefe, the patron or boss. In Spain, he was El Conde, a count whose
relatives could be found in all the royal families across Europe. To Bernadette, he was the enemy.
Well, sometimes he was. She fought with him to make sure that he didn t realize what she really felt
for him emotions that had been harder these past two years to conceal than ever.
 If you re looking for my father, he s busy thinking of rich San Antonio families to invite to his
ball a month from next Saturday evening, she informed him, silently seething. From the shadow his
brim made on his lean face, the black glitter of his eyes was just visible. He looked her over
insolently for such a gentleman, and then dismissively, as if he found nothing to interest him in her
slender but rounded figure and small breasts. His late wife, she recalled, although a titled Spanish lady
of high quality, had been nothing less than voluptuous. Bernadette had tried to gain weight so that she
could appeal to him more, but her slender frame refused to add pounds despite her efforts.
 He has hopes of an alliance with a titled European family, Eduardo replied.  Have you?
 I d rather take poison, she said quietly.  I ve already sent one potential suitor running for the
border, but my father won t give up. He s planning a ball to celebrate his latest railroad acquisition
but more because he s found another two impoverished European noblemen to throw at my feet.
She took a deep breath and coughed helplessly until she was able to get her lungs under control. The
pollen sometimes affected her. She hated showing her weakness to Eduardo.
He crossed his forearms over the pommel of his saddle and leaned forward.  A garden is hardly a
good place for an asthmatic, he pointed out.
 I like flowers. She took a frilled, embroidered handkerchief from her belt and held it to her
mouth. Her eyes above it were green and hostile.  Why don t you go home and flog your serfs? she
retorted.
 I don t have serfs. Only loyal workers who tend my cattle and watch over my house. He ran a
hand slowly over one powerful thigh while he studied her with unusual interest.  I thought your father
had given up throwing you at every available titled man.
 He hasn t run out of candidates yet. She sighed and looked up at him with more of her concern
showing than she realized.  Lucky you, not to be on the firing line.
 I beg your pardon?
 Well, you re titled, aren t you?
He laughed softly.  In a sense.
 You re a count el conde, she persisted.
 I am. But your father knows that I have had no wish to marry since I lost my son. And my wife, he
added bitterly. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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