From there, it was easy to call the elevator and ride back down to the lobby.
Stepping out of the private elevator, she was startled to see two guards standing sentry. In fact, they were just as startled to see her. But she simply lifted her chin and smiled politely at them, pulling her rolling suitcase behind her as if this was expected. She’d learned early in life that appearing as if she were doing nothing wrong caused people to assume she wasn’t doing anything wrong. She, Willow, and Lana had gotten away with quite a few pranks during their years at boarding school by feigning innocence.
Walking over to the concierge desk, she smiled at the man.
“Yes, Your Highness,” he bowed and Tamara groaned. How could he know who she was? “How may I assist you?”
Then again, at these high end hotels, the concierge had to be on top of every member of all the royal families. And Tamara had been in the tabloids a few times over the past several years. Those had been minor attempts to convince Jurid that she wasn’t marriage material, but she hadn’t really put her heart into the effort. She and Mike had been trying to start their business at the time, so she’d only been photographed in the nightclubs with different men a few times. There wasn’t any way that Jurid could have known that the men she’d been dancing with had been gay, all good friends of Mike’s.
Even so, she didn’t want her title bandied about. She preferred traveling anonymously.
“I was hoping you could store my suitcase away for an hour or two? My flight doesn’t leave for a while.”
The man looked confused, probably wondering why Tamara hadn’t simply left the suitcase up in the penthouse suite. Or her own hotel room, for that matter. Checkout for normal rooms, which she had checked in under, wasn’t for another few hours. And for anyone staying in the penthouse suite, there was no check out time. When one paid the extravagant amounts of money for a penthouse suite, one had the luxury of leaving pretty much whenever one was ready to leave. In addition, a bellhop would be sent up to collect one’s luggage. In the real world, royalty did not carry one’s own bags!
But the man must be used to the oddities of the hotel’s clientele and didn’t blink an eye at Tamara’s request. “Of course, Your Highness. I will secure it in a private closet for you. Whenever you need it again, please just let me or my staff know.”
“Thank you so much,” she said, adding a smile and nod.
Turning around, she looked for Willow, then spotted her friend over by the bank of elevators.
Walking over, she tapped Willow on the shoulder.
“What…?” Willow jumped, looking surprised. She looked at the bank of elevators again, then turned to Tamara, peering behind her. “Where did you come from?” Willow asked.
Tamara couldn’t stop the blush that singed her cheeks. “I was just…from upstairs,” she filled in, not wanting to admit the exact place “upstairs” where she’d spent the night.
Willow eyed the public elevators. A moment later, Willow leaned to the side and, darn it, her friend was too smart! She spotted the separate elevators as well as the two guards standing at the elevator. When she straightened this time, a slow, knowing smile lifted the corners of Willow’s lips.
“Got it. Upstairs,” she replied, nodding slowly. Knowingly. “So…?”
“Oh stop it,” Tamara groaned, linking her arm through Willow’s and leading her through the lobby to the hotel dining room. “Let’s have an extravagant breakfast. We’re charging everything to Jurid’s bill,” she muttered with irritation.
“Sounds like an excellent plan!” Willow agreed, laughing when they were recognized as they approached. There was a line of people waiting to be seated, but the hostess muttered something to her assistant, who stepped away from the hostess station and walked over to Willow and Tamara.
“It is an honor, Your Highness,” he said softly with a slight bow. “A table for two?”
Tamara stifled her sigh at her lack of anonymity. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”
Willow giggled, then laughed even harder when Tamara glared at her. “Sorry, but your title sometimes has advantages. I’m starving!”
Tamara rolled her eyes, but followed the host to one of the best tables in the restaurant. The table overlooked the courtyard below and the babbling brook that had been built up inside of the hotel. “Enjoy your breakfast,” the host said, handing them menus.
Tamara hid behind the large menu, trying to cool her pink cheeks. It was both good and bad that Willow knew her so well. Tamara could handle a bit of secrecy at the moment.
“You know you’re going to tell me about it. So why not just spill it and give me all of the juicy details?”
Tamara smacked her menu down on the small table, glaring at her friend. But Willow’s mood was just too happy, too sweet, and kind. There was a bit of concern in her eyes too and that’s what Tamara reacted to. Willow was the nice one in their group. Lana was the creative, almost flighty friend who came down to earth when she was needed. Lana lost herself in drawing and painting, forgetting to eat or sleep. Tamara considered herself to be the cynical one of their trio. She knew where her life was going and the bitterness over her future caused her to look at the world with sarcasm.
Willow was the nice one. Oh, the red-headed, Texas lady didn’t take any crap from anyone, but she was always optimistic, always eager to point out the silver lining.
But right now, Tamara wanted…needed…Willow to be a bit more oblivious.
“There’s nothing to tell,” Tamara argued. “What are you having for breakfast?”
“Pancakes!” she sighed, shaking her head. “I know that I should probably get the fresh fruit with yogurt. But I’m craving pancakes this morning,” she grinned. “Probably from sexual frustration because I know that both of my best friends are definitely satisfied this morning and I’m not even seeing anyone. So I don’t have even a future outlet for my sexual envy.”
Tamara laughed. “You prefer your life that way. A boyfriend would get in the way. Besides, you don’t trust relationships. Your father taught you that.”
Willow grinned. “You’re trying to change the subject. And I noticed that you didn’t deny that you are sexually satisfied this morning.”
Another blush answered Willow’s question and her friend laughed. “Yes. I had dinner with Jurid last night and…well, things got a bit out of hand.” She shifted uncomfortably on her chair. “But that changes nothing. I still don’t want to marry him. I have a growing, thriving business to run in London. Mike and I are hoping to purchase another condominium that is right on the edge of the Thames River. The condo will be a perfect addition to our portfolio.”
Willow leaned forward. “Oh, that sounds ideal. What does it look like?”
Tamara’s shoulders relaxed. “I don’t know. Mike and I will take a look at it when I get back to town. He was going to look at it a few days ago, but the realtor canceled.” She cringed and made a face, causing Willow to laugh. “That translates into the owner discovering something really bad with the place and needing a bit of time to cover it up.” She sipped her water. “But Mike and I are pretty good at sniffing out problems with properties. We’ve renovated enough of them to know what to look for. And we’ll still get a professional inspector out before we make an offer. If either of us discover a significant problem, we still might want the property. It could result in a lower offering price though.”
The waiter arrived and they put in their order, Willow asking for pancakes and, because Tamara was still a bit overwhelmed by last night’s activities, she ordered the French toast. Overloading on carbs seemed to be the thing of the day, she thought.
They binged on carbs and sugar, whipped cream and real maple syrup. “Oh, I’m going to pay for this later,” Tamara groaned, leaning back in her chair.
“When do you leave?”
Tamara shrugged. “Good question,” she replied, pulling her phone out of her purse. She tapped a few buttons, then nodded. “There’s a flight to London
in two hours. When is your flight back to Wyoming?” she asked. Willow might have been born in Texas and lived the first half of her life there, but her father maintained a residence in Texas, which is why Willow lived in Wyoming now.
Her friend glanced at her phone as well. “I’m on a flight in three hours. If you wait for me, I’ll grab my suitcase and we can ride to the airport together.”
Tamara loved the idea. “Sounds perfect. My stuff is already down here. How long will it take to get your stuff packed up?”
“I’m all packed. I just need to grab it from my room.” She looked at the time again. “Give me five minutes and I’ll meet you out front, okay?”
Tamara nodded and Willow rushed out of the restaurant. Tamara had thought to charge their breakfast to Jurid’s hotel bill, but now that she’d had some space away from him, that didn’t feel right. Besides, he’d paid for dinner last night. So instead, she handed her own credit card to the waiter.
Ten minutes later, she stood outside of the hotel with her suitcase by her feet and her purse over her shoulder. Nervously, she looked around, waiting for Jurid or one of his guards to step out and stop her from leaving.
Thankfully, Willow emerged moments later and they jumped into a cab. Escape felt especially delicious this morning!
Chapter 4
Jurid finished his conference call and glanced at his watch. “Damn,” he muttered, realizing how long he’d been on the call. But it had been a good meeting with several issues resolved.
Now to find his fiancée. After last night, he was eager to set a wedding date. The sooner, the better, he thought with relish. Something else occurred to him. Tamara had been a virgin last night. That had been an unexpected surprise. A very pleasant surprise, although he didn’t believe that women should remain virgins until their wedding night. He wasn’t a virgin, so why should women? In his mind, which ran counter to what many men in his culture believed, both men and women needed to gain a bit of experience in the world and with their sexuality in order to know what they wanted in life.
His Tamara was a savvy businesswoman. The reports his security team had provided to him of her business acumen yesterday surprised him. She’d grown her business quite well over the past five years, gaining in properties and renting them out on both long and short term basis. Her company now had a strong income based off the excellent reviews from previous renters.
He liked that about her, Jurid thought. A woman who had been out in the world, who had started her own business and struggled with the issues that every business owner dealt with, both with the startup learning curve as well as managing the growth of a business so it didn’t get too large without proper support staff in place, but also didn’t stagnate, was a problem for many businesses. Some entrepreneurs were good at gaining business at the beginning, but couldn’t sustain that growth. Others had a good product, but they didn’t know how to get that product out onto the marketplace and gain a following.
Princess Tamara had experience with all of it. She’d built an amazing company in a difficult economy and expanded carefully and strategically.
That business knowledge will help her when she became his queen, he thought. She would be able to empathize with his citizens trying to start up small businesses, and she’ll be able to advise him on how to ensure that these small entrepreneurs had the resources to expand.
Leaving the small office of the penthouse suite, he found his guard standing just outside the door. “Where’s my fiancée?” he asked, eager to talk to her and get her opinion on a variety of issues.
The man standing sentry looked startled by the question. “She went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast several hours ago, Your Highness,” the guard replied.
His eyes narrowed. “Hours ago? Where is she now? Still chatting with her friend? Willow, right?” he thought, remembering the pretty red-headed woman with the melodious Texas accent.
The guard still looked startled. “Your Highness, I’ll find her.” He stepped away, muttering into his microphone. He nodded and Jurid watched, waiting impatiently. At the appalled look on his guard’s face, Jurid knew that he wasn’t going to like whatever the man said next.
“I’m so sorry, Your Highness. I ordered my team to watch her, but they weren’t aware that they should stop her. She left in a cab over ninety minutes ago.”
“Left?” he barked, stunned and furious. “Where the hell did she go?”
The guard looked painfully uncomfortable. “To the airport, Your Highness.”
Jurid stared at the man, not understanding. “The airport? Where…?”
He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “She flew home, didn’t she?” he asked, irritated that he hadn’t discussed his intentions with her earlier this morning. Shaking his head, he tamped down his anger. “My fault,” he said to his guard. “I didn’t give you specific instructions.” With a sigh, he looked around. “I suppose we’re off to London, then. Make the arrangements.” He started to walk away, then stopped and turned back to his guard. “We’ll come up with a more direct plan once we are in London. But she needs to be protected.”
“Sire, I have men in London,” his head of security explained. “I can have someone pick her up at the airport. We can keep her safe until we arrive.”
Jurid thought about that. He didn’t want her frightened. Or angry. If he dispatched a team of guards to intercept her at the airport, one or both of those emotions would be her initial reaction. That wasn’t how he wanted their time together to start. “Don’t intercept her in London. I’ll go myself. She and I will talk and work things out. But yes, get a team of guards there in London to protect her.” He paused, then said, “They aren’t to reveal themselves to her. She should be free to do what she needs to do.”
With that order in place, he headed to his next meeting, although his thoughts lingered on what he would do to Tamara once he saw her again. The idea of spanking her sexy butt came to mind. But that wouldn’t be for punishment, he thought. No, he might enjoy that too much.
Oh, the things he wanted to teach her...
Now that he knew her better, he wasn’t as hesitant to start their future together. Shockingly, Jurid was actually looking forward to getting married. What a difference one night made in his anticipation of his wedding! Before last night, he’d been dreading the idea of marrying a “docile, submissive woman”. Now, knowing a little more about Tamara, he knew that there wasn’t a docile or submissive bone in her beautiful body!
Chapter 5
“What?!” a grumpy voice answered her call.
“I need help.”
There was a pause. “When did you get back from Greece?” Mike asked.
“Last night,” Tamara replied.
“Are you bleeding?” Mike asked, still sounding grumpy, but there was a hint of concern in his voice.
“No!” she laughed, horrified at the idea. “I’m not bleeding.”
“Do you have all of your limbs?”
She laughed again. “You’re grim in the morning, aren’t you?”
“Are you kidnapped? About to be decapitated? Bad guys outside your door? A six foot alligator thwacking his tail against your bed?”
Tamara leaned back against the headboard of her bedroom. “No to all of the above.”
“Good. Then call me back in…” he paused and Tamara pictured him looking at the time, “three hours and I’ll help in any way I can.”
“I’m about to be married,” she said before he could hang up.
There was a long pause, then she heard bedsheets shuffling, some muffled conversation and Tamara knew that Mike was explaining to Joe about the early morning call.
A moment later, he came back on the phone, sounding much more alert. “Okay, what’s going on?”
She sighed. “It’s complicated, but I need help.”
“Does this have anything to do with all of those pictures you asked me to take of you dancing at the nightclubs with me and Joe?”
“Yes, in a way.”
“Okay, so are you finally going to explain everything to me?”
She closed her eyes, and nodded. “I’ll explain, but you have to promise nothing will change between us.”
“Right. Honey, I know you right down to your pretty little soul. There’s nothing you can say that could shock me.”
“I’m a princess,” she told him, then held her breath.
“I know that, honey. Don’t I treat you like a princess all the time? And I’m your prince, darling.”
She heard the coffee maker begin and knew that he was grabbing a mug by the way his voice went muffled, then cleared again.
“No, really. I’m a princess. Like royalty. My name is Princess Tamara el Hamid of Nadir. My father is Sheik Idran el Hamid and he’s the ruler of Nadir.”
A long silence. “Holy Toledo, Batman!” Mike hissed. “You’re that princess?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Another pause. “So…what are you doing working among the peasants, Tam? Is this some sort of game to you? Am I your amusing sidekick?”
Tam closed her eyes against the pain in his voice. “NO!” she whispered. “I promise! You’re one of the few true friends I have! I love you, Mike and I need you! Please, please don’t let this change our friendship!”
He sighed. “Honey, what’s going on?”
A tear dripped down her nose and she stifled a sob. Mike wasn’t going to change. She could hear it in his voice and she loved him even more for it. “I need help, Mike.”
“Why? Everything seemed pretty normal before you left a few days ago. Oh, and the seller accepted our offer on the condo we looked at last week.”
She nodded, silently thanking him for the normalcy. “That’s good,” she replied, sniffing back the tears.
“What’s going on? I know you’ve been stressed lately, but you wouldn’t tell me what’s bothering you.”
Awakened by the Passionate Sheik (The Ladies of The Burling School Book 2) Page 5
