Wanton Heat (A Feel the Heat Novel) (Entangled Brazen) by Nicola Marsh Page A

before the storm hits.” He gestured at the darkening sky. “We get these summer storms all the time. They blow in and out, over before you know it.”
    By the slight frown creasing her brow, she didn’t believe him. So he distracted her with a topic most people found infinitely interesting. “The world seems fascinated by royalty, but on our islands? The Ricci family is nothing more than a living part of history.”
    Interest sparked her eyes, lighting the caramel flecks in a sea of chocolate brown. “So you just use the prince title to win friends and influence poor unsuspecting women?”
    He snorted. “The kinds of women wooed by a title aren’t worth pursuing.”
    “Voice of experience?”
    “Something like that.” He spotted land in the distance, and a jolt of familiar excitement made him clench the wheel. Why hadn’t he done this sooner? Returning to Ancora never failed to make everything seem better. “So do you want to hear our history or not?”
    “I guess.”
    She sounded like a sulky child as she continued to glance over her shoulder at the storm clouds chasing them.
    “There are many principalities throughout Europe with royalty dating back centuries. Titles passed down through generations. My family owns land on Osturo and Ancora but only because the deeds were purchased by my great-grandfather. So technically, we’re responsible for the financial operations. But in modern times? The actual crown and title mean little, other than as a way to impress gullible females.” He threw that last bit in to get a rise out of her, and it worked.
    “So you do use it as a pickup line?”
    “Some women are shallow.” He shrugged. “What’s a guy to do?”
    “Sleep his way through countless swooning females?”
    “Yeah, right,” he muttered, wishing Zoe hadn’t mentioned anything remotely to do with sex. Because now that’s what he was thinking about. With her.
    “Yeah, like you’ve ever been through a drought,” she said, jabbing him in the arm with her elbow. “Bet you’ve got a harem tucked away in the castle dungeons.”
    “That’s one hell of an imagination.” And he wondered how far it extended. “What about you? How many boyfriends are you fending off at the moment?”
    Real subtle, Ricci. Not.
    The thought was closely followed by why the hell do you care?
    She’d be gone ASAP if he had his way. Yet another person who wanted a piece of him, the type of person he’d usually despise. He had to stop thinking about her as a desirable woman he’d soon be alone with on his favorite island.
    “Single and loving it,” she said, sounding anything but. He heard the wistfulness underlying her tone, as if she wanted something more. He knew the feeling.
    “Not a relationship person?”
    “Not really.” She turned away to stare out the opposite side of the boat, effectively shutting him out.
    “Surprising.” He could see the east side of the island now, and his heartbeat quickened. “Most women want marriage and kids and a happily ever after.”
    “I’m not most women,” she said, her audible defiance much more encouraging than her sadness of a moment ago.
    “Lucky me.”
    She swiveled back to face him, and the flicker of sadness in her eyes shocked him. Why was she so despondent? And who had made her like that? It shouldn’t bother him, seeing her so vulnerable, but it did. And it made him like her all the more when every logical cell in his body screamed he should keep his distance from her.
    “You’re a walking, talking contradiction,” she said, making it sound like he’d dunked all the local sea life in a vat of acid. “I don’t like game-playing. It’s a waste of time. So the flirting? You either follow through, or shut the hell up.”
    He stared at her, gobsmacked. He’d never met anyone so outspoken, without a care for what he’d think. It was refreshing. And a major turn-on.
    “Describe the follow through.” He threw it out there as a challenge, wanting her to