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of hay!’ she told Antonio through gritted teeth.

      ‘He always does that when we turn for home after being out for a ride,’ she added, brushing the long fair hair from her face as she raised her chin defiantly towards him. ‘And I happen to enjoy the gallop home every bit as much as he does!’

      ‘Ah…’

      ‘So, you see…I most certainly did not need rescuing by you, señor!’

      “‘Señor”…?’ he murmured dryly, and her cheeks flushed as she registered the cool, ironic tone in his deep voice. ‘Ah, Gina! Surely I was once “Antonio” to you…?’

      ‘Yes…well…that was a very long time ago,’ she muttered, bitterly aware of the breathless, husky note in her own voice and the hot tide of crimson now sweeping up over her pale complexion. ‘I…er…I’m a completely different person nowadays.’

      ‘Umm…yes, I can see that you most certainly are!’ he drawled, his dark eyes fringed with long, thick lashes gleaming with sardonic amusement as he viewed the tall, slender figure standing beside him.

      With her long, ash-blonde hair flowing down well past her shoulders, it was obvious to Antonio that the young girl whom he’d once known had now matured into a beautiful woman. Her pale alabaster skin, fine bone structure and high forehead over hauntingly vivid sapphire-blue eyes all combined to give her a faintly medieval appearance. Just the sort of looks, in fact, which would have recommended her to artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

      Regrettably, however, his rather more down-to-earth, basic instincts were irrepressibly drawn to her high, firm breasts, and the slim waist and hips emphasised by those close-fitting jodhpurs.

      Why was it, he found himself wondering idly, that the sight of a woman dressed in pale-coloured, skin-tight riding breeches and high, shiny black boots appeared to be quite so erotic?

      However, he quickly realised, only a second or two later, that Miss Gina Brandon did not seem to appreciate him viewing her with such close interest. Especially if the sight of the angry glint in her large blue eyes, and those soft lips now drawn into a hard, tight line of annoyance was anything to go by!

      Damned cheek! Gina gritted her teeth, fuming with resentment.

      Having been a bag of nerves all afternoon and feeling sick with apprehension about the sudden reappearance of Antonio in her life, Gina was now almost grateful for the tide of fury surging through her veins. Besides, rage and anger had to be much safer emotions than the highly dangerous siren call of Antonio’s overwhelmingly sensual appeal, to which she’d found herself so weakly responding earlier.

      Struggling to overcome yet another urgent desire to give that handsome tanned face a good, hard slap, she forced herself to take a deep breath.

      ‘I think we’ve stood out here in the park quite long enough—don’t you?’ she said as coolly as she could, before stalking past Antonio towards the wooden fence and swinging open a five-barred gate.

      Since he’d been so determined, earlier, to hang on to Pegasus’s reins, he could damn well be useful and lead the horse back to its manger, she thought defiantly, simply not caring if she was being a lousy hostess as she strode ahead of him towards the stable block.

      However, by the time that Pegasus was unsaddled, and safely bedded down in his stable, Gina had managed to get herself back on an even keel. Helped, it must be said, by the completely unexpected, matter-of-fact way in which Antonio, without needing to be asked, had automatically brushed down the large animal while she’d filled nets with fresh hay, for both Pegasus and the elderly mare whom she kept as his stable companion.

      ‘Would you care for a pot of tea?’ Gina asked as she bolted the door of the stables before leading the way towards the house. ‘Or maybe…’ She glanced down at her watch as they entered the hall, surprised to see that it was almost six o’clock. ‘Maybe you’d prefer a drink?’

      While Antonio, who’d never understood the fondness of the English for their traditional cup of tea, was agreeing that a drink would be welcome, Gina caught sight of herself in a large mirror on the wall.

      It was all she could do not to groan out loud with dismay. It was deeply galling to realise that she’d spent the last half-hour looking such a fright. Because it must have been in the stable that she’d picked up those bits of straw in her hair, and the large smear of dust on her face.

      Just as she was wondering if she could leave Antonio to twiddle his thumbs, while she rushed upstairs and tried to make herself look more presentable, she was startled to see the reflection of his tanned, handsome face appearing beside her.

      ‘Oh, Lord—what a mess!’ she muttered, giving him a fleeting, nervous smile in the mirror as she quickly tried to brush the dust from her cheek.

      ‘No problema…’ he murmured, standing close behind her tense figure and calmly plucking the long, thin pieces of straw from her tangled locks.

      Unable to prevent an involuntary slight shiver at the touch of his warm fingers brushing against her skin, Gina was surprised to find herself meekly allowing him to turn her around. And, even more astonishingly, waiting patiently while he took a clean handkerchief from his pocket and proceeded to slowly brush the dust from her cheek.

      ‘That’s much better,’ he said, taking a step back and allowing his gaze to roam slowly, once more, over her full breasts and slim-waisted figure.

      ‘Oh, yes…you’ve definitely grown up since we last met, Gina,’ he drawled, the sardonic amusement in his voice suddenly setting her teeth on edge. ‘And now we can maybe have that drink you mentioned?’

      She was swept by a sudden, quick flash of furious self-disgust at having allowed herself to be cut down to size. And by this man, of all people, she told herself grimly, fed up to the back teeth at the alarming speed with which her emotions seemed to be violently swinging up and down from one minute to the next.

      It was like…well, it was just like being on a roller-coaster, she told herself, before giving him a curt nod and stomping off across the hall. The sharp, staccato sound of her leather-soled boots on the hard grey flagstones betrayed her momentary anger, and caused Antonio’s lips to twitch with amusement as he followed her into a large kitchen.

      ‘There’s some beer and a bottle of wine in the fridge. However, if you’d prefer something stronger…?’

      Having assured her that chilled white wine would be perfect, and after carrying the small tray outside on to the terrace, Antonio raised the question of why the house had appeared to be so deserted on his arrival.

      ‘It wasn’t too clever of me to leave all the doors open,’ she admitted, sitting down on the long stone seat set against the side of the house and trying not to stare at his long, tanned fingers as they deftly removed the cork from the wine bottle.

      ‘Although we usually do, if it’s a hot afternoon like today,’ she told him with a slight shrug, before adding carelessly, ‘But I suppose I should have remembered that the Lamberts are away for a long weekend.’

      Antonio raised a dark, quizzical eyebrow. ‘The Lamberts…?’

      Damn! Why didn’t I keep my stupid mouth shut? Gina asked herself irritably.

      She was a grown woman, and quite sensible enough to realise that while Antonio might well try and flirt with her that was as far as he was likely to go. And, let’s face it, she told herself wryly, he was just the sort of guy who automatically turned on the charm whenever in the presence of a female—whatever their age might be.

      However, she really didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. It was just possible that, having told him she was alone in the house, he might think she was expecting him to come on to her. So…it might be as well to hit that nail hard on the head straight away.

      ‘Yes, the housekeeper and her husband, Doris and Ted Lambert, are away for the weekend,’ Gina said as he handed her a glass of wine. ‘They’ve looked after the house—and

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