The Prince's Texas Bride / The Reluctant Princess. Leanne Banks

abandoned ship with zero notice,” he pointed out.

      “True, but pregnancy trumps charity teas,” she countered. “And when are you not frustrated with Bridget?”

      “Tell me the truth,” he said, dipping his head close to hers. “Would you want her for your employee?”

      He made an excellent point, but she didn’t want to contribute to the strife-ridden relationship between the two of them. “I don’t think Bridget is the reason you were swearing at the shrubbery a few moments ago.”

      He held her gaze for a long moment and sighed. “That’s correct,” he said, then turned away, shoving his hands into his pockets.

      “Just curious,” she said. “What language were you using?”

      “Italian, French and Greek,” he said with a shrug.

      “Must be something big to require swearing in four languages,” she said.

      He stood with his back to her for a long moment and she wondered if it might be best if she left. She didn’t appear to be helping.

      “For some time, I’ve been trying to recruit a new medical specialist for Chantaine’s health care. Our current chief of health and medicine is retiring soon and we need to bring in a younger M.D. for this position. I’d all but sealed the deal when the doctor of choice announced he’d chosen another position.”

      Surprise rushed through her. “Wow, you have your finger in a lot of pies. I didn’t know you were involved in health care. I figured someone else was in charge of that.”

      “There have been other people in charge of Chantaine’s health care, but I’m taking a more active role than my predecessors. It’s not acceptable to me to coast when my family has received such an enormous benefit from our birthright. It’s time for us to give in return. Some in the government welcome my input and some do not.”

      The passion in his voice emanated throughout the space they shared. “I don’t know what the position of ruling prince entails, but I had thought it was more about decorum than governing.”

      “I’ve been extensively educated in matters of government, world economics, health care policy and infrastructure design. I’m not going to let all that go to waste by sitting on a yacht in the Aegean Sea and showing up for photo ops every couple of months.”

      “Okay,” she said warily. It was obvious this was a touchy subject. “I wasn’t suggesting you spend your life on yacht, although it may not be a bad idea for a vacation every now and then. You seem pretty wound up. Maybe you should take a little vacation.”

      He met her gaze and his lips twitched. “How many vacations have you taken?”

      “I wasn’t born into your world. My family was very poor,” she said. “I worked as a matter of survival, through high school, then paid for most of my own college education. As soon as I finished, I worked that job until I came here. There’s been no time for vacation.”

      “But even if there were, I suspect you wouldn’t take it. You had to be forced to spend a day at the beach today. You and I are alike. We don’t want to take a break until the job is done.”

      “Yes, but your job will never be done,” she said. “If you don’t pace yourself, you’re going to burn out everyone around you, including yourself.”

      “You sound almost as if you care,” he said.

      His response took her off guard. “Maybe I shouldn’t, but I guess I do,” she said, surprised at how much she was beginning to care for the whole Devereaux family, including Stefan. Unnerved, she decided to leave. “Well, since I don’t think I’m helping you get to your royal Zen state, I’ll head to my room—”

      He reached out to wrap his hand around her wrist. “Au contraire, you underestimate yourself.”

      Her heart jumped at the sensation of his thumb skimming the underside of her wrist. “I have enormous confidence,” she said more breathlessly than she’d intended, “that I have very little effect on you except to irritate you.”

      His eyes darkened with a hint of challenge that made her a little nervous. “Again,” he said, tugging her closer. “You underestimate yourself. You make me curious.”

      He lifted one of his fingers to her lips, and she felt a buzzing sensation that started at her mouth and seemed to travel down every nerve ending in her body. “No need to be curious,” she said, wondering why her lungs weren’t functioning properly. “I’m boring.”

      He gave a low laugh and shook his head. “No chance. I think you may be a little curious about me.”

      She opened her mouth to protest, but the lie stuck in her throat. The truth was she found Stefan much more fascinating than she’d expected. He leaned closer and closer, and she held her breath in a mix of expectation and—strangely—fear. She would have to figure out the latter. Why on earth should she be afraid of—

      His mouth took hers and every thought except him left her. His lips felt smooth and sensual. There was a reason she should hold back, but she couldn’t quite muster it from her cloudy mind. His tongue teased the seam of her lips and she instinctively opened, wanting more. Something inside her cut loose and she arched against him, craving the sensation of his hard chest against her breasts.

      She lifted her hands, sinking her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. It was surprisingly soft while the rest of him was oh, so hard. In an instant, the tenor of the kiss changed from exploring to hot and aching. She felt his hand slide to the back of her hips, pulling her against him intimately.

      Her heart hammered in her chest, her blood roared through her veins like wildfire. She felt an indelible connection that seemed to go deeper than her cells. Crazy, some part of her said, but it was faint compared to the desire, need or whatever it was that filled her to bursting.

      He gave a low groan that vibrated deliciously through her. The need inside her grew exponentially.

      “I must have you,” he muttered against her mouth. He swore. “I want you here, now,” he said and took her mouth in another, more passionate, less controlled kiss.

      She craved more of his passion, less of his control. Some part of her trusted him like she’d never trusted any other man.

      Groaning again, he pulled his mouth from hers and tucked her head beneath his chin. The sound of their breaths mingled with a bird calling in the distance. Eve’s mind spun like a water spout. Even though she knew she would drown, she didn’t want it to stop.

      “I’ll figure this out,” he said in a low voice. “We’ll have an arrangement. We can meet in secret. I’ll call you and give you a key to—”

      “Arrangement,” she echoed, her mind starting to function again. “Secret?” She looked up at him. “What are you talking about?”

      “Surely, you don’t expect a public relationship with me.”

      She blinked, not sure what she’d expected.

      He gently squeezed her shoulders. “Eve, neither you nor I want to carry out an affair in public.”

      Affair. It just sounded dirty. Icky.

      “Do you really want the press investigating every bit of your past? Every bit of your family’s past? Do you want to endure the speculation of being a prospective princess of Chantaine?”

      “Princess?” she finally was able to say. “I have never, nor will I ever be, a princess in any sense of the word.”

      “Exactly,” he said and chuckled. Then he turned serious and laced his fingers through hers. “Does that mean you and I should deprive ourselves?”

      His touch almost short-circuited her brain function. She frowned as she tried to concentrate. She closed her eyes and tried to think. His scent slid past her self-defenses. She frowned. “I don’t