Wanton Heat (A Feel the Heat Novel) (Entangled Brazen) (9 page)

It was one thing to be seduced last night, but in the harsh reality of today, she knew connecting with Dom on an intimate level would only make her job harder.

She prided herself on thorough research, but nowhere in her search on the prince had she learned that his gruff exterior hid a tenderness with the potential to make her come undone.

Zoe didn’t fall for the guys she had sex with. She didn’t feel much of anything barring the pleasure her body craved. But last night with Dom had far surpassed any previous sexual encounter and catapulted her straight into forbidden territory. A place where romance existed and hearts got broken. A place she’d never visit if she had her way.

Intimacy was for schmucks. She never should’ve allowed last night to happen. Because the fact that she was even thinking about Dom as more than a sex object this morning meant he’d moved from sexual conquest to interesting guy in her head.

Screw intimacy and romance and all the associated bullshit that went with it.

She’d seen it all before with her folks. The way her dad would shower her mom with gifts and attention, but only as a way to soothe his guilty conscience. Her mom would lap it up, then fall into a depression when her dad moved on to his next shiny toy or became work-obsessed again.

It was a cycle she’d seen repeatedly over the years, had hated growing up in what felt like a war zone at times: her mom hiding her tears but withdrawing emotionally from her only child, her dad showering her with gifts, too, to make up for his long absences from home.

To this day, Zoe didn’t know if her dad had been unfaithful to her mom. But the fact that he found drilling for oil more stimulating than his wife ensured Zoe grew up with a moody mom and a dad who didn’t have a clue how to be a good husband and father.

She didn’t know what was worse: watching her mom primp and pander when her dad did show up, desperate for whatever scraps of affection he’d throw her way, or the resultant fallout when he eventually left again and her mom reverted to a sniveling shell of her former self with no pride.

No great surprise Zoe had vowed from a young age never to be that weak. She would never fall so hard for a guy she became emotionally dependent on him for happiness. She would make her own rules. She would be the one in control. And it had suited her just fine.

Until last night.

Because despite her dominant act the first time they’d had sex in the bed, Zoe knew deep down she wasn’t in control. Not any more.

In making her feel so good, Dom had usurped her power. He knew how she liked to be licked, touched, caressed. He knew the scar on her right butt cheek had been the result of an embarrassing rollerblading incident when she’d landed on a wire fence at age fourteen. He knew her most erogenous zones were the ticklish spots behind her knees. He knew she liked it hard and fast and a little wild. Because that way, she could lose herself in the physical act and not be swayed by sweetness and tenderness.

That had been her mistake last night, allowing Dom to make love to her. Not the rough-and-ready sex she preferred, but a slow, sensual experience that had started with a leisurely exploration of her body and ended with the best head of her life. Three times. Before he slid into her. And he’d kept at it all night. Battering her defenses. Seducing her with whispered words and tender caresses. She hadn’t stood a chance.

The damnedest thing was, how could something that was a mistake feel so good and make her feel like she was floating on air today?

She scrolled through the final pages of her presentation, confident she could recite the thing in her sleep. Which might not be such a bad idea if Dom didn’t go for her pitch today. She might have better luck coercing him in the bedroom tonight. Because according to the weather forecast he’d picked up via satellite phone this morning, they’d be stuck here for at least another day or two. Looked like even Catarina had underestimated the power of this storm. “One in a century” they were labeling it, which made Zoe increasingly grateful they’d reached the safety of this cottage before the thing had hit.

So another two days cooped up with Dom…last night may have been a mistake, allowing him to sneak under her defenses, but Zoe wasn’t a complete fool. She knew there’d be a repeat tonight and tomorrow. No point playing coy now.

But she better steel herself against his charm, because the way Dom could make a woman feel in the bedroom? Something she could seriously get used to. And that would be a pointless exercise in self-flagellation. She wasn’t her mom, easily swayed by compliments and a little affection.

“Ready?” Dom strode into the room, and every cell in Zoe’s body snapped to attention. She could practically feel her synapses zinging in remembrance.

“Uh-huh,” she managed to say, gathering her documents into a neat pile and ensuring her PowerPoint presentation had the first slide ready to go.

She hadn’t looked at him yet, would delay the moment for as long as possible. Because how did she look a guy she’d had sex with seven times in less than twenty-four hours in the eye and pretend like this was all business?

“Let’s get started then.” He took a seat opposite her, and she finally glanced up, unprepared for the surge of longing as their gazes locked, coupled with a desire to crawl across the table and sit in his lap.

He appeared calm and in control and incredibly handsome in a white button-down shirt open at the collar, its crispness highlighting his tan and the bright blue of his eyes. Zoe wanted to say something funny, something lighthearted to break the invisible tension sizzling between them. But she couldn’t look away long enough to get her brain to work in sync with her mouth.

“You have to stop looking at me like that,” he said, his lips curving into a devastating smile.

“Like what?” Hell, was she that easy to read?

“Like you want to devour me for breakfast,” he said, nudging a fruit bowl toward her. “Here. Have a banana instead.”

By the wicked spark in his fiery gaze, he was deliberately baiting her. Trying to throw her off her game. Well, two could play at that.

“Maybe I will.” She selected the largest, longest banana. Unpeeled it. Then slowly eased it into her mouth, wrapping her lips around it like it was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted.

“Mmm…” She didn’t take a bite. Instead, she withdrew the banana slightly and rolled her tongue over the tip.

“You’re playing with fire,” he said, his tone low and husky.

“Actually, I’m just having a snack before we get started,” she said, resisting the urge to laugh as his eyes flared at her innuendo.

“Just hurry up and eat the damn thing.” He tore his tortured gaze away to stare out the window.

She knew the feeling. She’d give anything to say screw the presentation and screw him instead. But she had to do this. Her future depended on it.

She demolished the banana, grateful for the sugar hit.

“Okay, I’m ready.” He looked back while surreptitiously readjusting himself beneath the table, and she couldn’t resist teasing him one last time. “For what it’s worth? That banana was a poor substitute.”

He half rose, and she waved him back down. “You promised you’d listen to my pitch this morning.”

He hesitated, the heat in his eyes scorching her clear across the table, before he sank back down again. “Fine. But that little performance you just gave? Deserves payback. Later.”

She gulped. Later couldn’t come quick enough.

“From your grandmother’s e-mails to me, you’ve had contact with Kaluna’s developer, so you know what Kaluna wants to do with the expansion of his resort.” She slid several documents across the table. “So all I’ve done here is reiterate the main points of the ecological studies he’s undertaken, highlighting minimal change to the surrounding area, which I’ll expand on further in the ad pitch.”

Dom barely glanced at the documentation, and her heart sank. She needed him to take her seriously, needed him on board for this to work. Maybe hard figures would impress him more.

“And if you turn to page three of the financial report, you’ll see estimates of the income the projected boost in tourism would bring to the area.”

She waited until he looked at the relevant page, a zap of relief piercing her nervousness when she saw his eyebrows rise at the figures quoted. “That’s a sizable amount of money.”

She nodded. “And it doesn’t stop there. Visitors to Ancora can only come here via Osturo, so this worldwide ad campaign will ultimately fill Osturo’s coffers too.”

“Indeed,” he said, his tone void of any emotion.

She tried not to let his apathy get to her. “With the campaign, we’re willing to work with your advisers one-on-one, ensuring we highlight the areas of the islands you want.”

She swiped her finger across the iPad several times to bring up the relevant slide: the last slide he’d seen before he’d walked out on her yesterday morning.

Crap, had it only been a day earlier that they’d been at loggerheads? So much had happened in twenty-four hours, and not all of it good. This uncharacteristic floundering feeling? So foreign as to be alien. She needed to get a grip. Fast. And get Dom to sign on the dotted line.

“My firm will ensure a tailor-made campaign that benefits Kaluna and you.” She flicked through a few mock-ups. “These are just to give you a general feel of what AW Advertising can do, but like I said, we’ll work closely with you.”

She’d spent an inordinate amount of time on the mock-ups. Had focused on the eco-angle that all Kaluna’s resorts were famous for. She’d used pictures of Ancora gleaned off the Internet and made the island look like a paradise no sane person could resist.

She wanted to show him what could be if he opened himself up to the possibilities. Wanted to tempt him to align himself with Kaluna and benefit them all.

“Impressive,” he said, barely glancing at the prelims she’d worked hours on, making it sound like it was anything but.

Damn, he was a hard sell.

“This ad campaign will keep these islands profitable for years—”

“What if I say no?”

Annoyed by his rude interruption, she glared at him. “We’re hoping you’re not that shortsighted.”

“Insults are beneath you,” he said, reverting to the cold, arrogant bastard he’d been when they’d met, and Zoe knew she was on the verge of blowing her cool, blowing this presentation, and blowing her future.

She never should have blown him.

“I can see the work you’ve put into this.” He gestured at her iPad and documentation. “You’ve done a great job.”

“But?”

There was a huge “but” coming. She could hear it in his somber tone, see it in his rigid, defensive posture.

“But I’m not going to be swayed into making any hasty decisions.” He steepled his fingers and rested his elbows on the table. “I’m in charge of what happens with these islands, and I take my responsibility seriously.”

“Never said you didn’t,” she muttered, wondering how an Oxford-educated, well-traveled, economically astute, twenty-first-century monarch could sound so archaic.

She’d hoped to wow him with her presentation, have a tour of Kaluna’s resort, and get him to agree to their terms in less than seven days. By his mutinous expression, she’d been deluding herself.

So he was a hard sell? She could handle him. How many times had she done the background work for Allegra with clients just as recalcitrant as Dom? Allegra always said having the incredible inside knowledge Zoe’s research provided helped land those tough-sell clients, so it had to work this time. It had to.

That persistent niggling doubt, about the recent deal where she’d done a huge amount of background research on their oldest clients but lost them anyway? Something she couldn’t afford to acknowledge now. Not when she was on the verge of losing this mega-campaign before it had begun.

Maybe she needed to delve deeper into Dom’s background to discover the crucial information she needed to sway him? With no Internet access, online research was impossible. But she had the man himself at her disposal. How would he react with a little subtle probing? Probably not well, but only one way to find out.

“You’re against Kaluna expanding his resort and an advertising campaign that will flood this island with tourists.” She shut down her presentation, shuffled her documents together, and pushed them aside in an attempt to get him to speak off the record. “Is there a specific reason?”

His lips flattened into an unimpressed line. So much for getting him to talk.

“I can understand your environmental concerns, which are noble, by the way.” Hopefully flattery would get her everywhere. “But you’ve seen how well Kaluna has blended his resort with the natural habitat on Ancora already. He’s good at what he does. He’s won awards for it from major tourism organizations around the world. So why the reservations—”

“Ancora has always been my family’s getaway,” he said, glancing away to stare at some point over her shoulder. “It was a private island. Unspoiled. A place to escape to.”

Ah…now Zoe was getting somewhere. Was Ancora his go-to place? Growing up, her place to shun reality had been the local library. When her dad was away on a drilling site and her mom’s moroseness got to be too much, she’d spend hours at the library, lost in the pages of a paranormal young-adult novel.

Kids used to laugh at her, the bookworm rebel. She’d do tequila shots and smoke at parties on the weekend but could be found in the library night after night. Those books had comforted her better than chocolate, and even now, she couldn’t walk past a library without wanting to spend an afternoon in a carrel.

Years later, when she’d moved to LA, the musty smell of a used book instantly made her feel safe. Is that how Dom felt here?

She wanted to ask, but knew he’d clam up if she went for his jugular straight-up, so she skirted around the issue.

“Do you resent your grandfather allowing Kaluna to build a resort here? Is that it?”

He shook his head, pain clouding his eyes, and her heart clenched at the underhanded way she was going about getting info, any info, that could prove useful in her securing this campaign.

“Nonno trusted Kaluna. They had a gentleman’s agreement.” His gaze shifted back on to her, and she struggled not to squirm under that all-too-astute stare. “He had a good instinct for people. Summed them up on first meeting just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “I’m the same.”