He couldn’t wait to find out!
Chapter 6
Harper smiled wearily to the guards standing sentry at the entry way as she made her way back into the palace. It had been a long day, filled with tragic interviews of parents who had lost their children as well as teachers who expressed frustration because they didn’t know how to help the children in their classrooms who were battling grief.
Normally, her life was filled with hope and uplifting others. But sometimes, such as today, the heavy hearts of people crying out for help weighed her down.
It was nothing that a hug from two sweet little girls wouldn’t solve, she thought as she walked towards the girls’ room.
When she reached the room, Harper froze. She blinked, not sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her.
Elsa and Ellora were sitting in Amit’s lap, their dark heads leaning against his massive chest. They were enraptured by the story he was reading to them. When he turned the page, Elsa stopped him, turning the page back and letting her fingers trace over the pictures. Amit looked down at her and asked her about the picture, what she thought, how the colors made her feel, and…other oddly perceptive questions.
Harper could feel that silly fluttering in her stomach again. Instead of interrupting, she silently backed out of the room, leaving them to their story time. But she paused, leaning against the wall to listen for another moment, smiling as Amit continued reading. He didn’t read the quoted text in different voices, but it didn’t matter. His deep voice was more soothing than she’d thought possible. When he spoke to her, that voice had the opposite effect. But when he read the story, it was…magical!
Harper woke up early the following morning, wanting to talk to the girls before she headed out for the day. But when she stepped into the nursery, she found it empty. Not even the nanny was there!
One of the servants stepped into the room, placing some boxes on the tutor’s desk.
“Where are Elsa and Ellora?” Harper asked.
The servant smiled. “The princesses are with the family in the dining room, ma’am,” she explained with a curtsy.
Harper stood there, stunned and surprised. The girls were eating with the family? How wonderful!
With a smile, she turned and walked away, a jaunty, happy skip to her step as she made her way to her the car that would take her to the day’s meetings.
Eight hours later, Harper had just gotten out of the enormous bath, her hair piled on top of her head with a clip, when the sharp knock on her door startled her. Tightening the towel around her, she hurried towards the closet where her bathrobe was. “Just a minute!” she called out.
The door opened and she spun around, staring at Amit as he stepped into the suite.
“What…?”
“I heard you call out and thought you’d said to come in.” He stopped and took in her warm, moist skin, her hair with tendrils gracing her shoulders from the mass on top of her head and the wary-eager look in her blue eyes. “I must have mis-heard you.”
“Yes…Um…would you mind just…turning around while I get dressed?” she asked, clutching the towel.
“No need. We can talk like this,” he replied easily and moved towards her. He wasn’t aware of it, but his approach was more akin to stalking than walking. But if he’d thought about it, Amit would acknowledge that the lovely Doctor Harper Ross was his prey and he was stalking her. She’d interrupted his thoughts about a thousand times since that first day. He couldn’t seem to keep her out.
Now, seeing her like this, with her long legs and her pink toenails and her damp, glowing skin, he wanted her. He’d acknowledged that days ago, but had fought to keep his distance.
Unfortunately, she’d broken into his thoughts too often. After he’d seen the mirroring desire in her eyes while she’d berated him in the gym, Amit had been captured by the possibilities. He wanted her and, now that he knew that she wanted him, the battle was lost.
“I don’t think my attire is very appropriate for a conversation with my boss,” she told him and he wanted to laugh.
“Granted, I’ve never had a conversation with one of my cabinet members while he was wearing only a towel, but I’m here, as are you. We don’t need to waste time.” He tilted his head slightly. “Besides, your legs are nicer than any of my cabinet members.” His eyes moved up and down her figure, then he smiled slightly. “Much nicer.”
Harper’s mouth fell open, but not in a way that suggested she was stunned by his comment. It was more like sexual awareness. Arousal. Amit knew the signs well enough, even if she was still trying to deny the attraction between them.
“You look tired, my dear,” he commented, running a finger along her cheek. “Did you have a hard day?”
She swallowed and he felt her lean, ever so slightly, into his touch before pulling away as soon as she realized what she was doing.
“Um…yes.” She blinked and turned away, heading towards that closet. He knew she would probably pull on a robe or some clothes. He didn’t like the idea, preferring to have her like this, all soft and damp and sexy. “If you’ll just…” she lifted a finger, then disappeared into the dark closet.
Amit waited, wondering what she might come out in. A silk robe? Hell, he’d even take a terrycloth robe. It would be easy enough to remove quickly.
Damn it! She came out wearing…what the hell was she wearing?
When the daffy duck image registered, he threw back his head, laughing. Where the hell she’d gotten such a horrendously ugly sweatshirt, he had no idea. But he liked it. Somehow, it was the exact opposite of the serious, straight-laced clothing that she wore during the day. And yet, it gave him another glimpse into her personality. A softer, more playful side and he liked the idea of exploring that aspect of this fascinating woman.
“What are you laughing at?” she demanded, huffing a bit as she pushed her hair behind her shoulders.
His laughter finally settled to a soft chuckle as he watched her fingers twist the wet tresses as if anticipating pulling it up into her usual tight twist.
“Stop laughing at me, Your Highness,” she snapped, still bristling.
He chuckled again, but smothered his amusement. “I apologize. I’m not laughing at you, my dear. I’m delighted by your attire. It’s unexpected,” he explained, reaching out to touch her silky hair. “As are you.” He watched her shift on her feet slightly. “But I digress. My goal wasn’t to make you uncomfortable or offend. In fact, just the opposite. I’d like you to join us for breakfast and dinner each day. I conveyed your concerns about Elsa and Ellora’s mealtime routines to my brothers and sister. We all agreed that shifting our meal schedule to include the girls would be easy enough to do. If you think it will help them to feel more included, then we shall do it.” He turned and headed towards the door. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow morning at breakfast. Seven o’clock.” He paused with one hand against the doorknob. “Unless you’d like to join me earlier for a workout?”
Amit chuckled softly when he saw the blush steal up her pale cheeks. “I didn’t think so,” and he pulled the door open, walking out before he turned and tried to convince her that the morning workout he was offering would be much more fun than what she’d interrupted this morning.
Chapter 7
Harper stepped into the dining room early the next morning, getting out of her suite prior to the moment when that man might have come knocking. After last night’s heated gaze at her daffy duck sweatshirt…not to mention the look he’d given her when she’d come out of the bathroom in only a towel, Harper had decided that it would be much safer if she simply avoided the man. So arriving at the dining room before everyone else had been her plan.
Unfortunately, her plan failed since it seemed that everyone, including Ellora and Elsa were there in the dining room, minus “His Highness” who was conspicuously absent at the moment.
She watched in amazement as the giant she’d met at the airport held Ellora in his arms as they heaped a plate with eggs and fruit.
The second giant, who had confronted her at the palace garage, was holding Elsa in much the same way, but he was a bit more enthusiastic with his serving sizes. Both girls pointed to what they wanted, and both looked a bit surprised at the new routine. But Harper also noticed that both girls’ eyes were wide with delight.
Neither spoke, although the fact that they were pointing towards the various foods on the breakfast buffet were a good sign. At least they were communicating now. The men holding the girls were much more vocal, telling their tiny charges about the various foods, adding what their mother liked or disliked, maybe adding in a story about how the mother had been forced to eat something and why.
It was a wonderful scene and Harper was a bit awed that this family was following her advice so willingly. There was also a tinge of guilt for her spurts of anger. It wasn’t that this family was actively trying to ignore the small girls. It was that the adults didn’t know any better. They’d probably been raised in the same way they are currently treating their nieces, assuming that it was normal for small children to be kept away from the family during meals. She’d heard about young children being raised by servants in wealthy families. But Harper had never seen it in action and now that she had, she didn’t like it.
This, the girls being with their family and hearing stories, being held and cuddled, was much healthier.
As soon as she stepped through the doorway, everyone stopped speaking and stared at her for a long moment. Harper immediately felt as if she were invading a private moment…which she was! And at that moment, she hung all of the miserable awkward sensations on the massively broad shoulders of one arrogant jerk!
Thankfully, after a brief moment, the two giants nodded their acknowledgement in her direction, and continued moving down the buffet table. The girls stared at her with those beautiful hazel eyes as if pleading for Harper to explain this foreign world to them. They looked concerned, almost as if they were invading a private world just as she was, and would be banished at any moment.
But when their uncles didn’t tell Harper to leave, the small girls seemed to relax a bit. Their wariness turned to relief and that was the only thing that kept her from leaving the dining room to give the family some privacy for their first meal together as a family.
“Hello!” a feminine voice interrupted her thoughts.
Harper turned and found a shockingly beautiful woman looking at her curiously.
“Hello,” Harper replied, wary and cautious. Immediately, Harper smoothed a hand awkwardly down over her boring blue shirt and navy slacks, feeling…dull in comparison. She was dressed in a sheath dress of canary yellow with matching heels that made her legs look…stunning! Her dark hair had been smoothed into a shimmering cascade over her shoulders and her makeup was flawless, enhancing her creamy skin and those hazel eyes. In comparison, Harper felt pale and sickly.
“You must be Doctor Ross,” the glorious woman said, then she smiled and Harper wanted to slink back down the hallway. This woman’s smile only improved those hazel eyes and creamy skin. The woman really was lovely, but it was the woman’s eyes that really struck a bolt of jealousy in Harper. The woman’s eyes were huge, giving Harper an idea of what Ellora and Elsa will look like in twenty years.
Realizing that she was staring, Harper shook her head, pulling herself out of her stunned silence. “Yes,” Harper finally replied, pulling back her shoulders in order to revive her flagging confidence. This woman’s beauty was hard to stand next to, she thought.
“Thank you for coming and helping us with the girls,” she whispered, her gaze moving towards her nieces. “I confess, I’ve been so wrapped up in my own grief over losing my only sister, I sort of…” she stopped and swallowed, those dangerously long lashes lowering over her eyes for a brief moment before she opened them again, taking a deep breath. “Well, I was wrong. We are so grateful to you for pointing out the deficiencies in how we have been treating the girls.”
Harper opened her mouth to reply, but the woman’s eyes filled with tears and she shook her head again. “Please, excuse me.”
A moment later, she was gone. There was a strange silence in the room and Harper turned away from the empty doorway to look at the two hulking men who were still holding the small girls. All of them were looking in the same direction, but the girls’ eyes were shadowed again.
The men shared a glance over the girls’ heads, lips compressed. But a moment later, they rallied and hefted the girls higher in their enormous arms. “Well, that was strange, wasn’t it?” one of them asked.
Harper wasn’t sure which had spoken. Come to think of it, she had no idea what to call these men! She knew one of them was Prince Gaelen but…what was the other’s name? How did a non-royal address a prince? Was there a protocol in speaking with royalty? With eating?
The men seemed to realize the omission at that same moment and stepped forward, placing their now-filled plates on the table before extending their hands. “I’m Gaelen,” the first one said and shook Harper’s hand warmly. “Welcome. We should have greeted you more politely on your first day.”
The man had a long scar down one cheek, but that didn’t diminish his powerfully raw handsomeness. Harper was relieved that she didn’t feel the same kind of nervous attraction for either of these men that she felt for their older brother. That sensation whenever he was around was a bit exhausting, in her opinion.
The other man stepped forward, shifting Elsa on his hip. “I’m Tarin,” he explained, enveloping her hand in his much larger one. “And the woman who just rushed out of here is our baby sister, Talia.”
Harper looked up at him, wondering if it was just a trick of the light, or if he was as cold as he appeared. And yet, there was something in his eyes…or maybe it was the way one eyebrow quirked slightly? She wasn’t sure, but there was something about this man that seemed cold as well as amused.
And yet…as she stared up into those familiar hazel eyes…she couldn’t really dismiss that notion.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness.”
The man’s eyes warmed as he smiled. “Please, no titles here in the dining room. We’re just family here,” he said, then turned to Elsa. “Right?”
The small child looked at him, then, miraculously, she nodded seriously.
A small shock wave echoed through the room at that small gesture. But the adults tried to act normally.
The big men set the girls down in the dining room chairs, sitting on booster seats to lift them high enough to reach the table, then moved back to the breakfast buffet to fill their own plates.
Gaelen waved her deeper into the dining room, towards the buffet table. “Come, Doctor Ross. Get something to eat. We heard that you had a hard day yesterday.”
Harper pulled back, remembering Amit’s question about her day last night. “I didn’t!” she gasped. “I mean, well, yes, it was difficult but…,” she paused, looking at the man curiously. “Who told you that?” she demanded suddenly, wondering if Amit had gossiped to his brothers.
“We heard it from your assistant. She said that the interviews yesterday were difficult and emotional,” Gaelen admitted, putting a ripe berry on Elsa’s plate. The little girl gobbled it up, and he winked at her. He then did the same thing to Ellora. Obviously, Ellora was the more cautious of the twins and glanced at her sister for approval. With a barely detectable nod, Elsa showed that it was okay. She also ate the berry, although with a bit more decorum.
The three adults at the table watched the whole scene while ostensibly talking about something else. But as Ellora ate the berry, there was a stunned moment of surprise. And understanding! Harper noticed that the two men hadn’t understood their nieces’ personalities in such a way. In most relationships, there was a dominant personality. Apparently, Elsa was that personality between the twins. Fascinating, Harper thought delightedly.
To her relief, the two big men didn’t comment, obviously understanding that it was significant, but talking about it might stifle the moment
.
The rest of the meal went by without incident except for the moment when Tarin asked the girls what they would be studying with their tutor that day. Both girls stared at him for a long, silent moment.
But Tarin won Harper’s heart when he simply shrugged, acting as if the girls’ silence was normal. “I suppose you’ll probably learn about the one eyed frog-man today.”
Gaelen nodded, looking equally serious. “I remember that lesson. Very strange. I don’t know how the tails grew like that, but…” he left the sentence hanging, shaking his head. “I wish both of you luck.”
Harper knew exactly what the men were doing and thought they were the most amazing, handsome, wonderful men she’d ever met. Brilliant, actually!
The girls turned their dark heads towards each other, then looked back at their uncles, clearly unsure if their uncles were teasing or serious.
Their nanny arrived to take them away for lessons. “Good morning, Prince Tarin, Prince Gaelen,” the nanny greeted them with a formal curtsy. She completely ignored Harper, but that was fine. Harper was more concerned with the girls’ well-being and didn’t mind being shunned if it meant that the girls were allowed into the dining room for meals. “Did you have a good breakfast?” the nanny asked cheerfully.
Both Elsa and Ellora stared at the nanny, then Elsa slipped off of the dining room chair, fluffed her green dress, then looked to Ellora who did the same. The pair walked silently to the nanny who took their hands and led them from the dining room without a backwards glance.
Harper finally released her breath once the girls were out of hearing. “Thank you!” she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. “That was exactly what the girls needed.”
But as Harper watched, both men seemed to…harden? No, that wasn’t the right word. Deflate? No, not exactly. But sort of.
Seduced by the Sheik Page 5
