‘I was going to, at breakfast.’ He drew a deep breath. ‘I was going to tell you that I loved you with all my heart and ask you to marry me.’ He leaned his forehead against hers. ‘But I suspected you wouldn’t believe me—unless we found a way to deal with El Corazon.’
Arden ran the tip of her tongue across her lips. Her heart was batting against her ribs, her pulse was racing—but why should she believe anything this man said? He was a liar, a fraud, he was everything she despised...
No, no, he wasn’t. A little sob rose in her throat and she clamped her lips together to smother it. Who was she kidding? Conor was everything she loved and would always love, and if he had come here to break her heart again...
‘You’re right,’ she said, her eyes fixed to his. ‘I wouldn’t have believed you.’
Conor nodded. ‘Exactly. So I found the perfect solution. I would donate the ranch to the same group I’d threatened Felix with when he’d wanted to sell the cloud forest—Friends of the Forest.’
Arden’s eyes widened. ‘What?’
‘I don’t need El Corazon, Arden. What I told you is true: I made more money than my uncle ever did, once I’d figured out that growing bananas and shipping them, along with raising coffee and sugar and cattle on my own finca in Venezuela, was a lot more profitable than spending my life in a sulk. In fact, for the last few years, it’s been my money that’s kept El Corazon from going under. Felix had made some poor decisions and investments.’
‘He never told me that,’ she said, surprised. ‘He only said you’d been interfering...’
Conor sighed. ‘I don’t think he ever really let himself acknowledge the truth. He was too proud and too stubborn—traits that run in the family, I’m afraid.’ He smiled and clasped her face in his hands. ‘The day of the fiesta, I knew, without question, that you weren’t after money, that you never had been, that you were the kindest, sweetest woman a man could ever be lucky enough to find.’
Tears rose in Arden’s eyes. ‘But—but I thought... I heard you agree with Linda, that I was a fortune hunter—’
‘No!’ Conor shook his head angrily. ‘No, querida, you could never have heard me say such a thing, because I knew it wasn’t true. I can’t deny that Linda believed those things of you, but I told her that you were the most important thing in my life, that she couldn’t begin to understand how much I wanted you.’
A sob broke from Arden’s lips. ‘Oh, Conor,’ she whispered, ‘when I heard the things she said—when I thought you were agreeing with her—I wanted to die.’
He lifted her face to him. ‘Then you do love me,’ he said, triumph shining in his eyes.
She sighed. ‘Of course I love you. I thought—I thought you’d used me, I thought...’ She shook her head. ‘I misjudged you so badly,’ she said brokenly. ‘All I could think of was—was how you’d hurt me—’
‘—and, to protect yourself, you wanted to hurt me in return.’ Conor gathered her close in his arms and brought her head to his chest. She closed her eyes and listened to the wonderful, steady beat of his heart.
‘I’m sorry, mi amor,’ he said softly. ‘I should never have doubted you. I should have realised you could never be the woman you tried so hard to make me think you were.’
She smiled tremulously, put her arms around his neck, and leaned back in his embrace.
‘Will you miss El Corazon, do you think?’
Conor smiled back at her. ‘Will you miss New York?’
‘How could I, when I’ll have you?’
‘Exactly, querida. It’s the same for me.’ He kissed her again, deeply and sweetly, and then he pressed his mouth to her temple. ‘The organisation will take good care of the finca. I think even Felix would be pleased—but I can’t help wondering what he’d say if he knew this was the “new beginning” he spoke of.’
Arden framed Conor’s face in her hands. ‘You know something?’ she said, very softly. I have the definite feeling he does know—and that he approves.’
Conor smiled. ‘My uncle was right, mi amor,’ he whispered. ‘You are, indeed, a very clever gringa.’
And then he put his arm around her, and led her out of the office and into the street, where despite the rush of New York traffic, Arden was certain she could smell the sweet, clean breeze that blew across El Corazon.
ISBN : 78-1-4592-6953-8
MASTER OF EL CORAZON
First North American Publication 1997.
Copyright © 1994 by Sandra Myles.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road. Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Master of El Corazon (Harlequin Presents) Page 17
