His cock did, but no other part of him seemed to react to her presence. As a female agent, her body was a potent weapon, and if that wasn’t going to get her out of this situation then she’d have to use her brains to do it.
She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s different isn’t it, for a man than a woman. You were about to examine me. Is that when other women mention they know you’re a prince?”
His lips curved in a smile, but his eyes still flickered with fire. “You forget that I’m a Navy doctor,MissSalamanca, and typically work on men as I’m usually only assigned to all-male ships. However, this ship is not all-male and I have, of course, treated women before. Most of them are too worried about their injury to notice who I am, or recognize my name as a royal one. After all, it’s not as if I introduce myself as Prince Dr. Santoro. Yet you seemed unfazed to have me as your doctor. I wonder why.”
He stepped just a little bit closer. She knew how to get out of this situation physically. She could easily step on his foot, then push him out of the way, and try to make a run for it on her bandaged foot. This was, however, a ship so unless she was willing to swim for it—and she had no idea if they were even close to land at the moment—she wouldn’t get far.
Alternately, she could still step on his foot—she had told him early she was clumsy, hadn’t she?—then leave in embarrassment. It would hold her cover for longer while she thought about how she could lure him away from the med bay long enough to do a thorough search.
She ran through three more options in her head, all of her ideas flitting and forming in the space of a few seconds, and made her decision.
“I’m unfazed because I’m an actress. I was trained to do improv, and nothing really seems to throw me. I just roll with the punches, so to speak.”
“Why are you really on this ship?”
“I told you. I’m researching a role and—”
“Bullshit.”
She feigned indignation. “I beg your pardon.”
His head dipped down. They were nearly the same height but he was just a couple inches taller than her and infinitely more imposing in that moment. As the words left his lips, his breath brushed against her cheek. “Bull. Shit. I know a lie when I hear one. You’re lying. I want to know why.”
“I don’t know what it is you think I’m here for, but I’m telling—”
“I spoke to Betty.”
Her mouth quickly shut. She had expected him to contact her, of course. Betty had been trained by some of the agency’s staff, so she should have known what to say and, more importantly, what to avoid saying about her presence on this ship. But the tone of the Prince’s voice suggested Betty hadn’t been as discreet as she’d expected her to be.
“Betty had all kinds of things to tell me. Did you know that I’ve had to speak to her quite a lot throughout my Navy career? In fact, I’ve also had the honor to meet her husband and her two kids, all of whom loved meeting a prince.”
Did Marcello know that Ethan had been working Betty? Not in the sense that he was sleeping with her, but working in the same sense that an agent would work a confidential informant for details.
“Betty told me all about the last-minute nature of your trip and, after doing some digging of my own, I know who sent you here. Now, do you want to tell me why you’re really here onmyship?”
“I didn’t realize you owned the ship.” It was a flippant remark meant to break his concentration but, just like the brush of her fingers against his skin had not deterred him, neither did her words now.
“Technically, Miss Salamanca, I own every ship in the Navy, or my family does. This is the VallerianRoyalNavy, is it not? Now, why are you really here?”
He could be bluffing, he seemed to be good enough for it. Just as she was the agent who used an actress as her public persona, the Royals must have their own public personas, too. Bluffing, pretending…it was just par for the course in the public life, probably moreso for a member of the royal family.
“Why did Marcello send you here?”
Shit!
Fear. True, paralyzing fear sparked and spread through her.
Did he know who she really was?
How had he discovered it?
How many others could discover it, and as easily and as quickly as he had? It had taken him barely a few hours to uncover her true identity.
She had too much invested in time and training, not to mention the sacrifices she’d made and the life she’d put aside…She had too much work left to do, and she wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from her or ruin her future, not even a sexy fucking prince.
“It seems like you already know the answers to every question you’re asking.”
“Is it the right answer, though? I want to hear it from that quick mouth of yours.”
