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“Wait!” Bull cried, but it was too late. She was gone. “Damn!” He had a funny feeling she was saying goodbye. Knowing this woman existed somewhere in the world, how could he go home and return to the lonely life he’d been leading?
“Good morning, Senor Redford. Did you sleep well?”
Bull had come down for coffee, he hadn’t expected Isabella to be up and about so early. Didn’t spoiled rich girls sleep late? His opinion of her wasn’t really fair, she didn’t appear particularly spoiled. He was a bit surprised at how down to earth she seemed. “I did.” He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I’m lying. I have a lot on my mind.”
“Anything I can help with?” She gave him a saucy little smile.
Bull decided to come clean, maybe it would make things more comfortable between them. “Look, Isabella, I’m going to be straight with you. You’re a very attractive young woman and I am not immune to your charms. The reason I’m resisting you is not because you’re aren’t sexy as all get out.”
He looked over his shoulder, presumably to make sure her uncle wasn’t coming through the door. Isabella held her breath. She couldn’t believe he was being so straightforward. “Yes, go ahead. I hear a big but coming.”
Bull turned back around to meet the incredible young woman’s gaze. “You’re too young for me.” When she went to protest, he held up his hand. “I’m thirty-five years old.” He looked down at his not-so-perfect body. “And I’m almost past my prime. You are like a rosebud about to burst in bloom, fresh and sweet.”
Truth burst from her lips. “You are the type of man who’ll always be in his prime.”
Her sweet words went all over him. Carmen. Remember Carmen. “Thank you.” He didn’t believe a word of it, but he thanked her. “The truth is, Miss Cortez, out of all the beautiful, sexy women I’ve seen on television, in person, or in the centerfold of a magazine, you rank number two in my book.”
Isabella’s heart began to patter in her chest. “Only number two? Who is number one?” She planted a petulant look on her face, a look which hid the excitement she was feeling within. “Is she a girl from back home?”
“No.” Bull smiled. “I met her here, just a few days ago. I don’t know if I even have a chance with her, but if I don’t try, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“So, there’s someone else in your life. Is this paragon of virtue your age?”
“No.” She saw a look of confusion pass over Benedict’s face. “I’m not sure how old she is. She’s older than you.” He nodded, seemingly sure of that. “You’re used to fine things, too. Things I could never give you. I’m just a retired rodeo cowboy. My business makes me a living, but not a fancy living.”
“There are more important things in life than material possessions, Mr. Redford,” Isabella retorted. “Whomever I marry will become a patron of Terra Dura.”
Bull shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. “See, I couldn’t handle that. I couldn’t live off my wife.”
Isabella narrowed her eyes, she could see barriers rising where she hadn’t expected them before. “What does this other woman have that I don’t?”
Bull surveyed Isabella Cortez’s lovely face. He didn’t know why it mattered to her so much, she couldn’t be experiencing anything other than a mild crush on an older man, an infatuation with the cowboy myth. “Well, this takes nothing away from you, you are exquisite…but Carmen is amazing. She is beautiful and brave. And when I touch her, she bursts into flame. She desires me. Me!” He spread his hands in disbelief. “I don’t understand what she sees in me, but I’m thankful I met her. She’s like no other woman in the world.”
Isabella was mesmerized, listening to Benedict talk about her. Some of the things he said were troubling, like his conceivable problem with her age or wealth – but when he spoke of their intimate connection, she understood that no matter the cost, no matter how hard she had to work to convince him, Isabella had to make him see her. “Carmen is a very lucky girl, Benedict.”
Bull’s head jerked. “What did you say?” Had Isabella called him Benedict? “How…”
“Senor Redford, are you ready to ride out to see the bulls?”
Don Luis’s arrival had gone unnoticed by the pair who were speaking so seriously.
“Yes. Yes, I am,” Bull answered, a little shook up from his conversation with the young Isabella. Seeing that she was dressed in a riding outfit, he made a gesture of conciliation. Now, that he’d explained his situation, maybe they could be friends without the unnerving sexual tension flaring up every few minutes. “Are you coming with us, Isabella? I’d love to hear your opinion on the stock.”
There was no missing Don Luis’s disapproval. His disgruntled expression was plain to see. “Her accompanying us is hardly necessary.”
“I want to go, Uncle.” Isabella brightened, a happy smile on her face. After hearing Benedict’s explanation, she’d decided to tell him the truth. The first opportunity she had to speak to him away from her uncle’s presence, Isabella planned to pour out her heart and explain her deception. She had no way of knowing what the future might hold, but the possibility they could be together was too sweet to ignore. “I would enjoy the company and seeing the cattle.”
“That’s settled then.” Bull smiled. “Let’s go, I’m anxious to cut a deal with Terra Dura.”
Bull’s idea to invite Isabella to accompany them, despite his host’s objection, backfired on him. The sight of the young beauty controlling the spirited stallion she rode was erotic as hell. As the trio made their way to a special holding pen located some distance from the main house, he was finding it hard to keep his eyes off her. She seemed perfectly at ease, keeping up a steady dialogue with him as they rode, sharing information with him on various topics, from the grasses they’d chosen to plant, to the attributes of the cattle they raised. All of this was done as she expertly handled a horse that she’d apparently been training. “You are an accomplished horsewoman, Senorita Cortez.”
“Thank you.” She beamed at him. “This arrogant prince is not my usual mount. Uncle bought him from a Saudi prince and I’ve been breaking him to the saddle.”
“Isabella’s definition of breaking a horse is plying him with sweet-talk and kisses,” Don Luis grumbled. “She thinks any animal can be tamed with kindness.”
Cortez’s complaint about his niece reminded Bull of the way Carmen treated the bulls. “I tend to agree with that philosophy, Senor. In the rodeo business, I’ve worked for years getting the rules changed as to how the horses and other stock are handled. Treating an animal humanely doesn’t mean it won’t perform the function that it’s bred for.”
“Exactly!” Isabella exclaimed. “You get it, you get me!”
