A young woman begins to fall in love with the tall man who hired her, and he lusts after her, both of them distracted from noticing the looming threat on the side from his family members until it is almost too late. Robin is hopeful for a fresh start in Mexico when wealthy Ernesto, heir to a property developing fortune, hires her to excavate what appear to be Mayan ruins on his ancestral family property. Robin has been grieving since the death of her father in a car crash three years ago, and has only had her mother and her sister (the latter of whom also moved to Mexico for a fresh start as an artist) to help her. However, Robin did not bet on being powerfully attracted to her cold and haughty boss, who is mysteriously distant from everyone. Ernesto flirts with Robin but in a cold and calculating way, as if he only wants to seduce her. Robin feels vulnerable and alone, and instinctively looks to him for strength - especially as things take a more sinister turn on the estate.
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Ernesto's trickster younger brother Tavio is certain that an ancient family curse has been showing signs of re-emerging. Servants on the estate mysteriously disappear or die, and Tavio himself is nearly killed from a fall from his horse. Ernesto dismisses the curse idea and is going to marry a socialite named Ynez, a dark Spanish beauty with native Mexican blood, who stands to inherit a considerable fortune. Ynez is as sultry and confident as Robin is innocent and awkward, and Robin's older sister Rachel insists to her that Ernesto likes Robin, not Ynez. But there is constant friction between Robin and Ernesto, even as he constantly, darkly flirts with her. Finally one night after he humiliates her at the dinner table, she marches to his room in the night for a fight, but instead of fighting him, she finds that he seduces her into his bed. They begin an affair, but Robin is in love now and wants more, while Ernesto is just treating her like a mistress.
Hurt and humiliated, Robin plans to leave and return to America. However, when she reaches Mexico City, she finds one of the servants who mysteriously disappeared from the estate weeks ago, who tearfully tells Robin that she escaped death at the hands of Tavio and Ynez - who are lovers, and who plan to marry after they kill Ernesto. Robin flees back to the estate and reaches it in the middle of the night, managing to burst into Ernesto's room just before he finishes drinking the glass of poisoned wine. She manages to make him vomit most of it out, saving his life although he is left temporarily sick and week, and his brother and Ynez are arrested. While he is disgusted and saddened by his brother's conduct, Ernesto does not seem troubled to lose Ynez. Robin stays and nurses him back to health. Ernesto shows a gentler side, and they talk more closely and tenderly, as she takes care of him. But Robin has been too hurt and is too assailed by self-doubt to stay. After he recovers, she tries to leave, but he chases her to the airport and begs her to marry him and stay, apologizing for his previous conduct. She accepts, and they are together.
Best part of story, including ending:
I like how both the man and the woman are kind of emotionally damaged and the author admits it.
Best scene in story:
when Robin and Ernesto are bonding while he recuperates in bed, talking about their vulnerabilities. Very intimate protective and romantic.
Opinion about the main character:
Didn't like Robin. Total idiot, very impractical and unprofessional, she was ready to just run away and not finish her professional obligations on the dig.