My temperature has risen to a point I’m sure isn’t healthy—my entire body feels like it’s on fire. It’s a good thing I’m almost one hundred percent certain the illness the baby has isn’t contagious, or I would be pretty sure I had contracted it.

My heart is pounding in my chest. Except it isn’t so much pounding anymore as it is trying to burst itself right out of my body. He’s standing too close to me—not quite touching me—but so close I can feel the waves of heat emanating from him. I’m pretty sure I’m not breathing, except I can hear the ragged breaths escaping me that make me sound like an animal in heat. And I don’t even want to think about the goddamned pulsing between my legs that has made me embarrassingly wet.

And he’s barely even touched me.

He rocks back on his heels, pulling away just enough to look into my eyes, almost daring me to deny my attraction to him.

Fuck.

This is not how things are supposed to be happening. This is not how anything in my life is ever going to happen. I’m not going to let myself even consider how this is the stuff fantasies are made of—how one evening with Prince Leo would set me up with enough fantasy material to take care of my sexual needs for the rest of my life.

If I can just stop looking at his lips…

Almost as though he can read my mind, his tongue trails slowly across his bottom lip, and his eyes sear through me.

My mouth opens, and I’m mesmerized, imagining his tongue in places I should not be thinking about—not here. Not ever.

I blink a few times, snapping myself out of one hot daydream. That is all he is ever going to be to me—a fantasy. It isn’t like I haven’t fantasized about Prince Leo before, like every other warm-blooded woman on the planet. It’s just that the photos in the magazines do not do him justice—the man oozes sex appeal, which has obviously not translated itself completely onto the pages of the tabloids. It isn’t fair that a man this magnetic is also a royal.

A royal pain in my ass. A royal bad boy who will never change.

And that’s the problem. Never again am I going to be someone’s plaything.

He lifts an arm, placing his hand on the wall behind me and almost pinning me there with his body. He tilts his head to whisper in my ear again, his breath hot on my neck. “Elle. I don’t believe you can deny our attraction, no matter how much you resist.”

Something about his words snaps me to immediate attention and I duck under his outstretched arm, just as his other hand reaches up to touch my cheek. I back away, around the gurney to the middle of the room. There are no walls here—nothing he can pin me against now. My eyes dart around the room, planning my escape path, which is silly considering I’ve spent a year here, only leaving on rare occasions. I know this clinic better than I’ve known any other place I’ve ever worked, so escaping seems almost like an overreaction.

I take a long breath, trying to slow my pounding heart as much as I’m trying to slow my racing thoughts. I don’t get like this—overcome. I just…don’t. I don’t know what sort of signals I’ve been sending out since Leo arrived, but he must have misinterpreted them.

Ha.

He hasn’t misinterpreted anything, but I didn’t know I was so…transparent. And knowing he’s somehow able to read my mind makes my cheeks burn with a mixture of embarrassment and anger about my overactive libido.

“Elle.” His voice is low, almost soothing. He turns to me with that same slow, sexy smile that he’s given me—Christ, I don’t even know how many times now. I might have to start counting.

No. You. Won’t. I ball my hand into a fist and dig my fingernails into my palm, trying to remind myself with the prick of pain how this is not going to happen. That I am not going to allow my body to betray me. No matter how much I might think I want to.

I don’t think I’ve ever had to do battle with myself like this before. There’s something about the whole sleeping-with-a-prince thing that is definitely…appealing. But I’m pretty sure I was hot for him before I knew he was Prince Leo. It was only an hour or so ago, but I seem to remember my body deciding to betray me before I ever had the slightest notion he was a royal…

It doesn’t matter. This is wrong on so many levels. Even if I did decide it would somehow be okay to sleep with him, then what? Where would we even go? My room—if you can call it that—is small. The twin-size bed takes up almost the entire space, with only enough room left over for the small plank of wood I have sitting on two concrete blocks that serves as a makeshift desk, holding my laptop from home and the few personal items I brought with me. There isn’t even enough room for a dresser—I’m still living out of my suitcase a year after coming here. And I don’t even want to think about the state of my wardrobe.

“Your clinic closes at four o’clock. If my watch has set itself correctly, you have been officially off duty for almost ten minutes.” He stares at me, his eyes hooded and his mouth… God, his mouth. He gives me the same smile as before and I almost melt into the floor. I have to press my fingernails a little deeper into my palm to stop this line of thinking. Again.

I blink at him a few more times, trying to get my brain to catch up to what is happening here. It’s still more than a little unbelievable. Prince Leo doesn’t notice women like me, let alone sleep with them. Not to my knowledge, anyway. He dates starlets, famous women who look a hell of a lot better than some girl who has sweat and blood stains on her shirt and can barely keep her hair out of her face.

Prince Leo must be bored. He probably would have tried to bend that mother over if she hadn’t run in here screaming with her baby. He just had…what? A fifteen-hour flight here from Montovia? He’s been without sex for close to a day. Considering the tabloids all say he’s a sex addict, the whole jonesing-over-me thing makes sense. He really would do any woman who moves—he’s having withdrawals. It’s like an alcoholic who gets so desperate for booze he’s willing to drink hand sanitizer to get a buzz—desperate times calling for desperate measures and all that.

Good thing I’m not desperate. Or a sex addict. I’ve been without it for a year and I’m doing just fine—no matter what my body is screaming at me. If I can go a year without sex, I can go forever.

Damn right I can.

I force a smile, almost sure I have a plan to keep myself in control now, no matter how much Leo might try to convince me otherwise. “You’re right. We do close at four.” I motion to the door separating the clinic from the lobby, hoping he’ll walk out ahead of me.

He doesn’t move—he stands there staring at me, his eyebrows slightly raised. He’s tilting his head like he’s waiting for me to suggest where it is I’d like for him to set me down after he has my clothes off.

The floor would be fine. The cool tile would feel nice with this heat—

Jesus. What the hell is wrong with me? I give my head a good shake, hoping some of my raging hormones will fall out. I walk to the door, swinging it open before walking through, back into the small lobby.

I can feel his eyes on my ass as he follows close behind me, but I don’t turn to be sure. I go to the door and turn over the sign reading cerrado. It doesn’t always stop people from coming in, but I’m hesitant to lock the door today, knowing it would trap me inside with Leo.

I turn to face him again, unsure of what to expect.

He’s standing near the swinging door to the treatment area, looking me up and down. His smile has disappeared, but he lifts a brow. “Aren’t you going to lock the doors?”

I force another smile. “Look, Your Highness, I think I might have given you the wrong idea. I mean—”

He interrupts. “Call me Leo. Please, there’s no need for formality.” He raises his palms to me, almost as though he’s acquiescing. “I believe I may have been a bit too…aggressive.” He frowns. “You should know that is not characteristic of me, nor is it my typical behavior.”

Damn. His stupid accent can make a girl swoon, I have no doubt about that. Not that I’m about to swoon over it.

He seems to cross the room with a single step. He’s now far too close to me again, though at least not pressing his body against mine this time. “There’s something about you, Elle, that makes me lose all sense of my normal decorum. What is it you’ve been eating out here in the jungle that gives you this—?“

“Peanut butter. And radishes. Maybe it’s the radishes.” I have no idea where my words come from—they seem to slide off my tongue without much thought.

I back around him again, edging myself toward my small office. There’s nowhere to run, and I’m not totally sure I want to run at all. But I do need to keep as much distance between the two of us as possible.

“Radishes? In the jungle?” His brow furrows. “What—?”

“Raul’s wife grows them. Like a lot of the people here. Most of them are subsistence farmers. They grow enough for their families to eat and they sell back what they don’t so they can buy more seeds.” Too much information, Elle. As if His Royal Highness gives a crap about how the people here live. He doesn’t. He’s only here for…

I realize I have no idea why he’s here at all—why his family sent him and not someone else. Anyone else.

My brow furrows. “Why are you here? I mean, I know why you’re here—the finances. I mean, why you? Why not someone from the Montovia Medical Council?”

He frowns and his eyes narrow. “There are reasons…” He clears his throat and straightens. “I suppose my father might have sent an official or my elder brother instead.” He purses his lips, nodding. His gaze falls to the floor for a moment before his head snaps upright and he lifts his eyes to meet mine again. “But Andrew has been otherwise engaged or I suppose he would have been the one sent here.” He stiffens and I could swear his cheeks redden slightly.

I decide not to push the issue, which is clearly sensitive.

I didn’t know he could be sensitive.

I try to ignore the little shiver of desire running through me again. We’re silent for another moment. “Look, Your Highness…it’s been a long day. A trying day. And I have things to do, so—”

He cocks his head, his lips ticking up into another of those damned sexy smiles. “Things? And what things might someone have to do in this hell—?“ He stops himself, clearing his throat. “Place? One could say there are few things that could be done here that would be of any importance. Outside of your medical practice, of course. But now that you’ve closed for the evening…” His voice trails off in the same suggestive tone he’s been using since he arrived.

I take a half-step back, sensing the aggression coming back into his voice. “Believe it or not, we do have an internet connection here. It isn’t great—it’s slow and it goes down a lot, but we have one of the three connections in town.”

“I see. Is that how you amuse yourself? Watching things on the internet?” He lifts an eyebrow, telling me exactly what he’s suggesting.

“If you’re suggesting I’m watching porn—”

He feigns shock, puffing out his chest and taking a step back before he smiles. “I would never suggest such a thing. Not to a lady.” He relaxes his posture slightly. “However, if that is what amuses you, might I state that the real thing is quite a bit more…pleasurable?”

I shake my head, holding back a laugh. “You really are insufferable.” Maybe he isn’t being aggressive. Maybe he can sense my discomfort and this is his way of amusing himself—by making me uncomfortable. I’m not sure why I didn’t see it before now. “And you should know there will be no pornography of any kind on the premises of this clinic, real or otherwise.” I splay my hands in front of me. “Just so you know.”

“I see. You are aware, however, that I have booked a hotel room for the next two weeks. I haven’t viewed the premises of the resort yet, but I did book the deluxe suite. I imagine it would be quite a bit more suitable than what you’re used to.”

“Right.” I nod, closing my eyes for a moment. I open them after a few seconds, meeting his gaze again. “Not going to happen.”

He looks at me for a moment, almost like he’s trying to bore a hole through me with his blazing eyes. “What is it they say in America? Never say never?”

I nod. “You’re right. Never is a long time. What I should have said was that I’ll be gone before your two-week stay is up. But you’ll be here to meet the new doctor, which should be nice for both of you. I’m sure he’ll appreciate how the royal family sent one of their own to greet him.”

“Him…?” His gaze narrows and the sexy smile falls from his lips. “Him?”

I nod again. “Yes, as I’m sure you’ve read in your files, I signed a one-year contract. And my contract is up in only four short days.”

* * *