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This time my laugh is more bitter than amused. “That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.”
Something flashes in her eyes—sympathy, empathy, pity—I can’t exactly tell what, but whatever it is, I don’t like it. I start to call her on it, to blow this whole lazy afternoon flirtation right out of the water, but it’s gone as suddenly as it came. And then she’s just Lola again, with her smart mouth and crazy riot of hair.
“Poor little prince boy,” she says as she reaches over and pats a deliberately patronizing hand against my cheek. “All undressed and nowhere to go.”
“I have…no idea what that means.”
She laughs, a loud, infectious thing that has heat racing straight to my dick. “Yeah, neither do I. But you could have just gone with it. You know, been the gentleman you’re trained to be so as not to embarrass a lady.”
“That might work with someone else, sweetheart, but I’m pretty sure if I give you an inch—”
“I’ll take eight?” She casts a deliberately lascivious look at the front of my board shorts. “Maybe even nine?”
Fuck, the mouth on her! Sexy, brash, in-your-face—it turns me on like few things ever have. Because there’s no wondering where you stand with this woman, no trying to read between the lines to figure out what’s going on or what you’re supposed to do next. After all the bullshit and half-speak I’ve been getting for the past few months—or hell, my entire life, really—the way Lola says exactly what’s on her mind is refreshing as all fuck.
It’s also all the invitation I need to slip the wine bottle from her hands and place it on the ground near our feet. All the invitation I need to move closer. To slide a hand into that glorious mane of hair of hers. To tilt her face up so that our lips are only a scant inch or two apart.
Her eyes widen a little, like she wasn’t expecting the move. Good. Though I’ve never met another woman like Lola, instinct tells me keeping her on her toes is the only way I’ll have a fighting chance.
But just when I’m about to lower my lips to hers, Kian’s ring tone starts blowing up my phone. And while I want nothing more than to ignore it, he sent me out here with orders to relax and not report in for at least three days. Which means if he’s the one calling, it must be something really important.
I pull away, slowly untangling my hand from Lola’s curls. “Sorry, I—”
“Nothing to apologize for,” she answers with a wicked grin. “Duty calls.”
I grab the phone off the ground where I put it when I got here and swipe it open. “Hold on,” I growl, before turning back to Lola. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
“Where would I go?” She gives me the most innocent face she’s capable of, which isn’t very.
“I’ll be right back,” I say again, before putting the phone back up to my ear and barking, “What?”
Chapter 3
“Wow. Hostile much?” my brother asks, amusement obvious in his voice.
“Fuck, yeah, I’m hostile,” I answer after I’ve walked about thirty feet away from Lola. “You’re cock-blocking me from two hundred miles away. So tell me what you want or get the hell off the phone.”
“Nice. What’s her name?”
“None of your business.”
“Does that mean you don’t know it or—”
“Of course I know her name. I’m not you.”
“I’ll have you know that every time I’ve climbed into bed for the last eight months, I’ve known the name of the woman waiting for me there.”
“That’s not nearly the accomplishment you’re making it out to be, considering the whole country knows Savvy’s name. She’s set to be the next queen, after all.”
“Nobody’s set to be anything yet,” Kian tells me. “Except for Savvy being my wife—that’s nonnegotiable. But the rest is still up in the air. Your kidnapping made Dad lose his mind. Once he recovers it, things will go back to normal around here.”
“Have you met our father?”
“I have. And while I admit that he’s a stubborn ass, he’s also pretty damn good at what he does. It won’t take him long to figure out that he’s hurting the country with his bizarre determination to keep you off the throne.”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you.”
“Oh, my hopes are way the fuck up, dude. Because no way can I do this shit for the rest of my life.” He sighs heavily. “I nearly caused an international incident this morning.”
