The Sheik's Arranged Marriage (12 page)

A strange light entered his eyes. She wasn’t sure what it meant, but it made her think of their kisses from a few days before. She wondered how shocked he would be if she threw herself at him and begged him to do it again. Except it wouldn’t be “again” for him because he thought he’d been kissing someone else.

“You might want to talk to the historian in the defense department,” he continued. “I suspect you’ll have places where you overlap. You might be able to help each other.”

“I’ll do that.”

She bit her lip, not sure what else to say. Jamal hovered by the side of her bed as if he was ready to leave at any moment.

“Do you have to go back right away?” she asked nervously. “I mean, I could order coffee or something.
Unless you’re busy.”

“I’m not so busy,” he said and startled her by taking a seat on her bed. The mattress dipped under his weight, and she felt herself sliding toward him.

He was close enough that she could feel the heat of him. She liked that. She also liked the way he smelled—so clean and masculine. She didn’t think he wore any kind of aftershave. Instead, the scent was his alone. Heidi smiled at the thought that she could probably recognize her husband in the dark, simply by sniffing.

“How are you adjusting to being back in El Bahar?” he asked.

His question was so at odds with what she’d been thinking that it took her a minute to gather her thoughts together enough to answer.

“I love it,” she said simply. “It’s where I’ve always wanted to be.”

He flashed
her a
smile. “No complaints about the heat?”

She laughed. “I have a college friend who came from
Arizona
. She always complained about the summer humidity in the East. When we pointed out that it was even hotter where she was from, she went on about how it was a ‘dry heat,’ as if that made a difference.”

“We have a dry heat here.”

“Exactly,” Heidi said with a giggle. “But a hundred and twenty degrees is still really hot, dry or not. It’s going to take me a while to adjust. But I will.”

“We talked about you riding with me. I leave about an hour before sunrise. Would you like to accompany me?”

“I’d love it. I used to ride in the summer when I was younger. My grandfather would take me.”

“Good. We’ll pick a day.” He reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I always forget how alone in the world you are. You don’t have anyone but me, do you?”

“I have friends,” Heidi said quickly, not sure if he was being nice or feeling sorry for her. “And the king and Fatima have been very good to me since my grandfather died.”

His dark eyes seemed to see into her soul. “You lost your parents when you were very young, didn’t you?”

“I was four. I don’t really remember them,” she admitted. “They were killed while on safari in
Africa
. Their Jeep was swept away in a flash flood. Grandfather came home immediately. The first memory I have of him is when he walked into the house calling my name.” She smiled at the recollection. “I’d been staying with neighbors until he could arrive. I think he’d been in
China
. Anyway, he called until I finally showed myself. He was so big and tall, with a long coat and fierce black eyes.”

The past seemed to close in on her, but all the memories were good ones, and they made her feel safe.

“I stood in the doorway, but I was too afraid to say anything. He turned and saw me. He announced that he’d come halfway around the world to collect his granddaughter. That she was the only one he would have done that for.
Which, he said, made me very special.
”

Her throat tightened with remembered emotion. “He crouched down then and held out his arms. When I hesitated, he smiled. It was the most loving, welcoming smile I’d ever seen. He told me that if I would take a step of faith and trust him, he would never ever let me go.”

Jamal lightly traced the length of her arm. She felt the concern in his touch, even through the material of her sleeve. “He kept his promise.”

“Yes, he did. He bought a house and made my room into a little girl’s paradise. I think I had every doll ever made. When I wasn’t in school, we traveled the world together.”

She thought about all the places he’d taken her and how he’d proudly introduced her as the best, most beautiful granddaughter in the world.

“When I was about twelve, we both agreed I would do better in a boarding school. I was reaching that awkward age girls have when we really need a female figure in our lives. Plus, I knew he wanted to spend his life finding adventures, not living in the suburbs. But we still had our summers.”

“Sounds like you were grown-up for someone so young.”

“I tried to be.” She glanced at Jamal and shrugged. “The one thing I didn’t realize until he was gone was how hard it must have been for him when his only son died. I was only four, so I guess it was fairly easy for him to hide his grief, but not even once did he let me know he was suffering. I always believed I was the center of his universe.”

“He was a good man,” Jamal said. “I know he greatly helped our country during the Second World War.”

Heidi nodded. “He told me stories, as did your father.”

“We have that in common,” he said. “My grandfather was a lot like
Edmond
. He gave much to his family.”

He took her hand in his and laced their fingers together. “There were many reasons I didn’t resist my father’s suggestion that you and I marry. I knew you would be comfortable living in El Bahar. You understand the customs and have a love for the people. You’re intelligent and funny, and you have a wonderful ability to make the crown prince squirm.”

His words gave her a warm feeling inside. They also made her blush. She pressed her free hand to her hot face. “I don’t know why I bother Malik, but every time I try to make things better with him, they only get worse.”

“You tease him. He needs that. Too many people take him seriously. I hope when Malik remarries he finds someone who will stand up to him and not be intimidated by his position and power.”

“That’s a tall order.”

“I know. But I found you. He can find someone like you as well.”

She searched his face. “You’re really not sorry we’re married?”

“Not at all.”

“I’m glad,” she whispered.

Jamal leaned toward her. Her heart stopped in her chest. Was he going to kiss her—really kiss her—the way he had kissed Honey?

But instead of pressing his mouth to hers, he lightly touched his lips to her cheek.

“I’ll let you get back to work now,” he said, releasing her hand and standing up.

“Thank you for bringing me the disk,” she said, hoping her disappointment didn’t show.
So much for wild abandon.

He left without saying anything else. Heidi wrinkled her nose. Was it her? Was she too plain as her regular self to attract him sexually? He’d just told her that he was glad he’d married her, and while she hugged the information to her heart, she wasn’t sure it was going to be enough.

It was Yasmin, she thought glumly. His late wife still had a firm grip on his emotions. Which meant he would probably be friends with her as his wife, sleep with her as his mistress, but hold his innermost self back from both women.

No, she thought with determination. There had to be a way to make him care about her. She had to be able to compete with the memories of Yasmin and win sometimes. She would just keep looking until the answer came to her.

That decided, Heidi returned to her work. She also ignored the little voice inside of her.
The one that asked why it was so important to obtain her husband’s affections.
The same one that also whispered she had better hold her own heart in safekeeping or she would find herself in love with a man who might not be able to love her back.

“That was very nice,” Jamal said as he folded his napkin and tossed it on the glass-topped table.

Heidi set down her fork, hoping he didn’t notice how little she’d eaten during the meal. This was her second “date” with Jamal, and she’d been a little disappointed when this time he’d actually wanted to eat lunch. To be honest, she’d been hoping for a repeat performance of the hot kissing they’d done last time. The anticipation of his mouth on hers, his tongue and his hands had made her so shivery and nervous that she’d barely been able to eat three bites of her salad.

Now she sat across from him and pleated her linen napkin between her fingers. She shifted in her seat and started to cross her legs, then remembered that her skirt was too tight to allow much freedom of movement. While she could technically hike it up and cross her
legs, that
would mean exposing skin all the way to her panties, and what with their tabletop being glass and all, that didn’t seem like a wise idea.

But Jamal didn’t seem to notice that her push-up bra and low-cut blouse combined to show more cleavage than should be allowed by law. Or that her skirt was more Band-Aid than fashion item. The good news was she was finally getting better with her high heels. So far she’d only stumbled twice.

Jamal leaned toward her. “As I was saying, I did study as well. It wasn’t all good times.”

They were talking about Jamal’s years at university in
England
. She shook her head.
“Sounds to me as if you had much more fun than I did when I was in college.
Some of the girls were wild, but I ran around with a fairly studious group. I can’t tell you how many Friday nights I spent studying.”

Jamal stared at her,
then
grinned. “Oh, I get it. You’re teasing me. I can’t see you spending any night at home.”

She opened her mouth to tell him he was crazy,
then
clamped it shut as her brain started functioning again. Talk about messing up. She was Honey Martin, femme fatale and all-round bad girl, not her innocent self!

“You caught me,” she said with a quick laugh. “Okay, yes, I was out until all hours. I’m amazed I even graduated.” She offered an insincere smile and hoped he would believe her. Then she decided she’d better change the subject before he asked something tough, like her major.

“So did all your brothers go away to college?” she asked. “I mean, you do have brothers, don’t you?”

“Of course.
Two.
And yes, we were all educated in different parts of the world, followed by university in
England
. While there are excellent schools here in El Bahar, my father was concerned about exposing us to other ways of doing things. El Bahar is a successful blend of East and West, old and new. He has created that balance and works very hard to keep it in place.”

She had to bite back her “I know” and quickly replace it with “He sounds wonderful. I would imagine it’s very difficult for a son to follow his father and be king.”

“It is,” he said, reaching out and taking her hand in his. “I wouldn’t want Malik’s responsibilities for any amount of money.”

She had trouble concentrating on the conversation, mostly because of the fact that his fingers felt so strong and warm as they held her own. Plus, he’d angled his chair toward her, as if he wanted to focus all his attention on just her.

“Ah, Malik is the crown prince, right?”

He nodded. “As the oldest, he’s had to learn about all areas of government. But it doesn’t stop with El Bahar. Malik will have to take our country forward in a time where everything is changing. Our father has done much to prepare him—soon it will be up to Malik alone.”

Heidi had never much thought about what it must be like to be the heir to an entire country. She was grateful that Jamal’s responsibilities weren’t as great. He was in charge of the financial state of the family and worked with the economic council to form and maintain El Bahar’s economic policy. That seemed like more than enough for any man.

Jamal stroked his thumb against the back of her hand. “Father was always much tougher on Malik than on the rest of us. Khalil and I were allowed to skip lessons from time to time so we could ride or play, but not Malik. He had to attend long, boring meetings, even when he was little.” Jamal stared off in the distance.

“He was not allowed to show any weakness,” he continued. “No matter what happened, Malik was expected to be strong.”

Jamal seemed plenty macho to her, Heidi thought. She could only imagine what Malik was like in private.

“Where was your mother in all this?” she asked without thinking then wanted to call the question back. She didn’t know anything about the king’s late wife, except that no one ever spoke of her. Even her grandfather had been strangely silent on the topic.

“Sorry,” she said quickly. “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

“There’s not much to say,” Jamal told her. “She died about a year after Khalil was born. I don’t remember her at all. Malik might because he’s the oldest.” He paused as he thought. “What I do remember is my father being lectured by an assortment of government officials, each of whom wanted him to remarry. He always refused. He said that he had loved one great woman, and he was unlikely to find another similar. Because he didn’t want to subject a second wife to constant comparisons in which she would surely fall short, he chose to remain a widower.”