Free The black invader by Rebecca Stratton Page A

job seriously, Don Miguel, and I shan't distract Don Luis during working hours, you have my word.'
    *And out of working hours?' Miguel asked softly.
    She met his eyes with her chin angled in a way there was no mistaking. 'Out of working hours what I do is my own affair, Don Miguel!'
    'Ah!'
    'You don't like me being frank!' she accused swiftly, but it seemed she was mistaken, for he showed no sign of resentment, even though his eyes gleamed darkly.
    'As you say, Sefiorita Rodriguez,' he said in a voice so soft it slid like a velvet finger along her spine, 'what you do in your own time is your own affair. My brother is very good-looking, and you make a handsome pair; your grandfather would be delighted, I'm sure.'
    Kirstie had forgotten all about that preposterous idea of her grandfather's until Miguel reminded her, and her colour was high as she stared at him reproachfully. 'I'm talking about normal friendly relationships,' she insisted. 'Whatever you and my grandfather think, Don Miguel, I've no intention of marrying anyone for years yet, and I wish you wouldn't concern yourself with things that are none of your business!'
    'But you like Luis?'
    'Of course I like him! He's pleasant and—and good-looking and just as gallant as you said he was, but I don't fall in love as easily as that! We met just a few minutes ago!'
    'But long enough, it seems, for Luis to be smitten,' he observed dryly, and before she could object further his fingertips touched her arm and they came to a halt where the path split two ways. 'You haven't very much time,' he said, consulting his watch. 'I'll explain to my uncle that you've been delayed.'
    'There's no need!' Kirstie didn't understand why it

    disturbed her so much that he seemed to share her grandfather's readiness to see her married to Luis, but it did. 'And please—don't say anything about that ridiculous idea of Abuelo's of wanting to see me mai'ried—not to Luis.'
    The time was ticking by, but somehow for the moment it didn't seem nearly so important as it had, and she caught her breath when a finger Hfted her hair from her neck and let it fall slowly back again, as if its silky softness fascinated him. 'So Don Jose does hope to see you marry my brother?' he mused, and Kirstie gave a swift upward glance.
    'But didn't he tell you?' He was shaking his head slowly, and there was a glitter in the dark depth of his eyes. 'Then how '
    'I suggested you should be married, that was all,' Miguel told her quietly. 'It was only when you let slip that Don Jose was of the same mind that it occurred to me Luis would seem an ideal choice to him.'
    'Oh!' Her thoughts were running wild, trying to guess who Miguel's own candidate could have been. Not himself, she couldn't believe that, but who? She was still trying to come up with an answer when she heard him give a faint sigh as his hand was withdrawn and he looked at his watch.
    'I'd better make your excuses to my uncle after all,' he said, but Kirstie shook her head insistently.
    'No, please don't, there's no'need, I can be back here by nine.'
    'And you'll do anything rather than be under even the slightest obligation to me,' he observed quietly. 'Very well, Senorita Rodriguez— adiosV
    Always a man of swift movement, he had turned and was striding across the patio towards the rear door of the house before Kirstie could draw breath, and she watched him go with an undeniable sense of regret. Not only had he been so sure she was refusing his help because she did not want to be obligated to him, but he had taken it so much to heart that he had

    reverted to the formality of a title instead of calling her Kirstie. And she wondered if he realised that by making such a point of a future affair with his brother, he had done a great deal to make her wary of the very idea.
    Don Jose wasn't accustomed to spending most of the day alone, but he accepted the necessity of it as he accepted all the other changes in his life, and made up to some degree for his