The Sheikh's Resisting Lover (The Tazeem Twins Series Book 3) (10 page)

Leslie North’s Newsletter

The Jawhara Sheiks Series

The Sheik’s Pregnant Bride (FREE)

The Sheik’s Troublesome Bride

The Sheik’s Captive Bride

The Botros Brothers Series

The Sheik’s Accidental Pregnancy
(EXCERPT BELOW)

The Sheik’s Defiant Girlfriend

The Sheikh's Demanding Fiancée

The Sheikha’s Determined Police Officer

The Fedosov Family Series

The Russian's Stubborn Lover (FREE)

The Russian’s Bold American

The Russian’s Secret Child

The Denver Men Series

The CEO’s Pregnant Lover

The Marine’s Virgin Lover

FBI Agent’s Reluctant Lover

Navy Seal’s Innocent Italian

The Secret Billionaires Series

Secret Billionaire’s Stubborn Cowgirl
(EXCERPT BELOW)

Secret Billionaire’s Stormy Lover

Book 3 Out: March 2015

Excerpt from
Secret Billionaire’s Stubborn Cowgirl
(Start Reading Today!)

Lucy led him out to the old pond on Charlie’s farm. It sat back from the road not far from the horse pasture. They’d kept their halters on the horses, so they tied them to a tree and Zach began pulling out the food.

Lucy sat down on the grass. “Oh, man! Charlie outdid herself this time.”

It seemed like Zach just kept pulling food from his saddle bags. Fried chicken, biscuits, cheese and crackers, strawberries, even a bottle of wine and paper cups. He cracked open the wine—a twist-top, thank you, Charlie—and poured. “An excellent vintage, I see.”

“Hey, don’t knock the convenience.” She leaned back on her elbows, sucking a strawberry into her mouth. The sweetness exploded and she closed her eyes and hummed. She looked up again to see Zach staring at her so intently that she had a hard time breathing. When his eyes dipped to her chest, she wondered if he could see the outline of her bra and breasts. His eyes darkened.

She caught a breath.

She didn’t want this—but she did. She knew he was trouble—he wasn’t the kind of guy she wanted. But he was what she needed right now.

He leaned over her, his mouth hovering close. All she had to do was push him away. All she had to do was crack a joke about employee harassment. All she had to do… god, he had beautiful eyes, the blue framed by thick, dark lashes.

He turned his head and kissed the crook of her neck. The warmth of his mouth undid the last of her good intentions. “Zach.” His name slipped out on a whisper.

He pulled back. “Ask me.”

She stared at him. “Ask you what?”

“Ask me to kiss you.”

She shook her head. “Not a good idea.”

“It’s not a bad one. One kiss—what’s the harm in one kiss?”

“Oh, I can think of a lot of harm.”

He leaned closer. “Ask me anyway.”

His eyes were her undoing. They teased her, light danced, tempted, promised, and she asked him by wrapping her hand around the back of his neck and pulling his mouth to hers.

She opened her mouth to him, to that kiss, to the need for him, raw, pure and simple. He pushed her down to the ground and she spread her legs so he could settle himself. She hadn’t been with anyone like this since high school. She could feel his hands searching for a way under her shirt, a way to get to skin. She knocked off his Stetson and tangled her fingers in his hair.

A horse whinny pulled her back to reality—to what she was doing.

He pulled back and she sat up, pushing at her hair—he’d pulled it out of the pony tail. “That was some bottle of wine.” She tried for a smile, but the joke fell flat.

“Lucy—”

She held up a hand. “One kiss. That’s what you asked for—what I asked for. Best we leave it there.”

“But—”

Pushing up to her feet, she stared down at him. “I can’t quit. You don’t want to fire me—not for that. So let’s be smart about this.” Bending down, she started to pack up the food. “Now we should head back, shouldn’t we, boss? We’ve got clouds coming in and rain with ‘em.”

He shoved a hand into his hair and grabbed for his Stetson. “Don’t think that leaves either of us satisfied.”

Lucy pressed her lips tighter.

It didn’t take long to pack the saddle bags, untie the horses and ride back. The wind picked up and the horses jogged, eager to get back to their pasture. At the trailer, Lucy focused on brushing down the mare, not on watching Zach—and not remembering that kiss. So what if he left her dizzy. So what if she’d been wet in five seconds. So what if she wanted to go back and grab him and kiss him again.

That was the trouble with guys like him—they spun your world around and then if you were fool enough to hook up with them they just kept on spinning you. Her daddy had been a man like that. Well, no thank you, sir. She wanted a hard-working man. She wanted a regular guy.

Zach headed into the trailer to put away his saddle.

That was when Lucy heard a sharp jingle and a bark. Fear ran up her back.

Excerpt from
Secret Billionaire’s Stubborn Cowgirl
(Start Reading Today!)

Excerpt From ‘The Sheikh’s Accidental Pregnancy’ (Download Instantly Today!)

“She's adorable,” Fiddah said to Tariq as Sara walked away. He was watching her walk with his usual blank face. He turned to look at Fiddah.

“Amir keeps saying that. I do not see it,” Tariq said and picked up his menu. Fiddah laughed.

“This is you we are talking about.”

He lowered his menu and narrowed his gaze at her. “I am not the problem here,” he defended himself. The waitress reappeared to take their orders. She was watching him and blushing whilst he was speaking to her. Fiddah watched the waitress turn red.

“When do you plan to marry?” Fiddah asked Tariq as soon as the waitress left. Tariq frowned at his grandmother.

“What brought this on?” He was confused with her sudden change of topic even though it was not the first time she had questioned him about marriage.

“The waitress was blushing when she was speaking with you but you did not even notice. Makes me wonder if you notice women.”

Tariq sighed before he replied. He was so used to women blushing in his presence that it did not even faze him anymore. The waitress came back carrying their drinks. Tariq sunk in his chair and watched her. She noticed him looking at her and she immediately started smiling. He raised one eyebrow. He waited for her to leave before he commented.

“Marriage is not for me and even if it was, she would not be my type,” he said and took a sip from his glass. Fiddah shook her head. For years, she had been trying to convince him to marry but failed.

“So what, you will bury yourself in the company until your death bed?”

“I like my job.”

“Too much! You need a life outside your job. You need a family.”

“I have one.”

“Of your own! I want great grandchildren. Do not deny me that!”

Tariq was never going to win this argument. Fiddah was tenacious. This was not their first time discussing his love life and it was certainly not going to be their last.

“How about you pick a wife for me?” Tariq said and grinned at her.

“Does that even make sense? Is it so hard to court a woman?” Tariq laughed gently.

Sara heard Tariq laugh. So it's capable of laughing, she said to herself. She turned her attention back to her food. It surprised her to hear him laugh. She had never heard it and never thought she would. He was so uptight and mean.

“Can you see me courting a woman?” Tariq asked Fiddah.

“There is no hope for you,” she replied. He grinned at her. “Don't you want love?” she asked.

“No.”

“What?”

“It doesn't exist.” Tariq was determined to stick to his beliefs. In his eyes, love did not exist. It was simply heightened infatuation. As he took a sip from his glass, he noticed Sara attempt to eat an olive but it fell back on the plate. No table manners even? She could not walk like a normal person. She talked too much. She had poor dress sense. And now this! What other weird trait was she going to exhibit? He watched her eat. He could tell that she was really enjoying her food. She sat up and licked her lips, then took a sip of her drink. When she was not eating, she was talking. It's as if she never stops. Tariq shook his head and looked away from her.

Sara was finally done with her delicious lunch. Food made her happy. As they were leaving, she made sure not to make eye contact with Tariq. It was not the case for Keira and Kaleena. They both stared at Tariq as they walked past. Tariq chewed slowly and watched them, watching him.

“Please stop staring at him,” Sara said feeling awkward.

“He's so handsome,” Keira said.

*****

There was a lot of work that needed to be done to get the new field up and running. Sara's workload tripled faster than she anticipated. Amir told her that they had to pull some long nights. Sara walked into his office to brief him on a report she had been working on. To her surprise, Tariq and Amir were both sitting on the sofa discussing the appropriate barrels to use. They both looked up when she walked in. It was the first time she had seen him since that Saturday at the mall. She bowed to them. Only Amir responded.

“Barrels for gasoline or crude oil?” Sara asked. They both looked at her and she realised that she had jumped into their conversation.

“Both,” Amir replied.

She pointed at one of the pictures and said, “Those carry more oil.” Amir turned his attention to the picture and picked it up. Tariq was still wondering why she had included herself in the conversation.

“Is that so?” Amir asked her. Sara smiled and nodded.

“Oh, I actually came in to brief you on this report,” she said as she handed him a file. She made eye contact with Tariq. He wore an expressionless look as always, which annoyed her. She could never guess what he was thinking. She looked away first, as she was getting uncomfortable in his presence.

“An estimation of 400 gallons of crude oil can be produced in the El-Sultari region,” Sara said.

“That is not a lot of oil,” Amir said. Tariq leaned back in his chair. He was wondering where Sara was taking this. Did she have a point or was she rambling again?

“True, but it's worth looking into. You never know.”

“Actually, we do know. We have been doing this for years,” Tariq interrupted.

“I meant that
it's worth learning more about this field. It might prove to be a good investment.” 

“Or it might be a fruitless endeavour and we would have wasted a lot of time and resources,” shot back Tariq.

Amir lifted his head from the file and looked at the both of them. They were both making good points but there was nothing friendly about their conversation. He knew that his brother and his assistant would never get along. He simply hoped it wouldn’t get much worse.

“Sara, if you can find more information about the field, then we'll go from there,” Amir told her.

“Do not give her false hope,” Tariq said. Sara bit the inside of her lip. She wanted to hurl curse words at him but she would not do that. Why did he find it so difficult to be nice to her?

“Sheik Amir, that is fair, thank you.” Sara bowed to him and left the room. Tariq narrowed his gaze. She deliberately thanked Amir so she could make it obvious that she was ignoring him, just as she had done at the mall when Fiddah was there. He watched her walk out of the office. His eyes could not help but rest on her bottom as he contemplated what she looked like without her clothes on. He looked away before Amir caught him. He wouldn't know how to explain it. He started talking about his lunch with Fiddah. Amir laughed. He knew his brother's views on love. The world had failed to convince him otherwise.