by Abby Green
She avoided looking at that, acutely aware of the man only feet away and how he might be observing her reaction and somehow judging her. She’d never felt so conscious of being a woman before. And a woman who was lacking.
The room was pleasantly cool, thanks to the air-conditioning, and there were floor-to-ceiling windows and French doors that led out onto a private terrace, complete with a decorative swimming pool.
She turned around to face her reluctant host. ‘These rooms are beautiful, but I’d be quite happy in something less...luxurious.’
He waved a dismissive hand. ‘These are usually reserved for my mother’s use, and they were decorated to her specifications, but as she won’t be visiting any time soon you are welcome to use them.’
There was a distinctly chilly tone to his voice and Charlotte said, ‘Not even for your coronation?’
Sheikh Al-Noury’s face became shuttered. ‘She knows she’s not welcome here while I’m in residence.’
Charlotte couldn’t claim much of a relationship with either of her parents, but the cold tone of Sheikh Al-Noury’s voice shocked her. ‘But isn’t this her homeland?’
He responded curtly. ‘It was.’
He backed away then, and suddenly Charlotte had an irrational fear of being left alone in this seemingly empty palace. In truth, it wasn’t a totally irrational fear because she’d had plenty of experience being left to her own devices, with only a nanny and staff for company in big houses, but she refused to think of her own demons now.
She’d already revealed too much by admitting she had no desire to be at home for Christmas. Not that he’d shown much interest in why that might be. Not that she wanted him to show interest she told herself fervently. So she said nothing.
He was almost at the door when he turned back and said, ‘Please, make yourself comfortable. I’ll instruct someone to bring you some dinner.’
So she was to be consigned to her rooms.
But then he added, ‘Do feel free to explore... I must warn you, though, that it is perilously easy to get lost in this place, so don’t stray too far. The palace library is on this corridor, if you go left when you step outside.’
Just before he disappeared Charlotte blurted out, ‘Sheikh Al-Noury?’
He turned around, his hand on the door. ‘Yes?’
For a moment her mind went dismayingly blank at the way he so effortlessly dominated even this vast room, but she forced herself to focus and said, ‘I’m not here to be a nuisance... I am actually here to try and help ease your transition into becoming king.’
She could see his jaw clench from where she stood, and he said, ‘Miss McQuillan, you wouldn’t be here if it had been up to me. The last thing I need is an expert in diplomacy. But you are here, and I suspect you’re going to prove to be a nuisance whether you intend to or not, so you can start by calling me Salim. The way you say Sheikh Al-Noury makes me feel old.’
Before Charlotte could respond to that, or object to the way he insisted on calling her Miss McQuillan, as if she were a headmistress, he said, ‘I’ll have someone bring you some food, and I suggest that in the meantime we stay out of each other’s way.’
CHAPTER TWO
CHARLOTTE WATCHED THE door close on the most infuriating man she’d ever met, not to mention the most disturbing, and she had to quell a childish urge to hurl something at the door behind him. Instead she kicked off her shoes and paced back and forth on the sumptuous silken rugs.
She fumed. She was used to dealing with clients who thought they knew everything about international relations and diplomacy until something blew up in their faces, and then suddenly Charlotte became their most valuable asset. But she’d never encountered such downright...antipathy before.
She was patently unwelcome—and she could call him Salim but he wouldn’t deign to call her Charlotte. She thought about that for a moment and felt a frisson run down her spine at the thought of his tongue wrapping itself around her name. That little frisson was humiliating, because it was glaringly obvious that he didn’t view her as female—more as an asexual irritation.
Sheikh Al-Noury was affecting her in a way that she hadn’t experienced before, because she was good at keeping people at a distance and yet from the first moment they’d met he’d slid under her skin with disconcerting ease.
Charlotte shucked off her jacket and undid the bow at her neck and her top button. Then, spying her bags in the bedroom near the dressing room, she set about unpacking. She found herself dwelling on the animosity the sheikh had demonstrated towards his mother. She didn’t like the way it resonated within her, reminding her of her own fractured relationship with her mother, brought on by years of careless parenting after a bitter divorce.
But she diverted her mind away from wondering too much about anything personal to do with the sheikh. It wasn’t her business. And the last thing she wanted to think about was her own pitiful family history.
After taking a refreshing shower in the lavish bathroom, Charlotte changed into stretchy pants and a soft long-sleeved top. Just as her stomach rumbled she heard a knock on the door. Her gut clenched as she imagined it might be him, but when she opened the door there was a young girl, with a trolley full of food and wine in an ice bucket on the other side.
She admonished herself; he’d hardly be delivering her dinner.
Charlotte stood back to let the girl in and watched as she silently laid the dining table for one and set out the food. Tantalising scents filled the air and her stomach rumbled louder. The girl scurried out again, too shy to return Charlotte’s smile.
Charlotte sat down to explore what she’d been given. Balls of rice mixed with herbs. Lamb infused with spices and scented rice. Flat bread with hummus. It looked delicious and she found that she was ravenous.
She ate as dusk fell outside, not noticing it had got dark until she stood up and went to the window with her wine glass in her hand, feeling a little more settled after an unsettling day.
She opened the French doors and was surprised to find that it was much cooler than she’d expected—and then she chastised herself: basic geography, of course it got cold in the desert at night. She fetched a cashmere wrap and then went back outside, sitting on a seat, relishing the peace.
The thought of the vast expanse of empty desert surrounding her made a thrum of excitement pulse in her blood. She’d always found this part of the world fascinating, hence her choice of master’s degree. The stars were so low and bright in the dark sky she imagined she could reach out and pluck one into her hand.
Tabat intrigued her.
And so does its enigmatic ruler, whispered a voice.
Charlotte scowled and took a sip of wine, telling herself that Sheikh Al-Noury—Salim—didn’t intrigue her at all. He was thoroughly charmless and clearly reluctant to change his hedonistic existence before becoming king.
He didn’t intrigue her because she knew his type all too well. As the only child of two high-profile parents, who had used her as an unwitting pawn in their bitter divorce and custody battle, she recognised the traits of a selfish person who was here under sufferance. After all, when her father had lost in the custody battle with her mother he’d always let it be known that her visits with him had been something he’d done purely out of legal obligation, not because he really cared for her, so she was in far too familiar territory.
However, she wouldn’t let her own personal feelings intrude on her professional life. She’d worked too hard to separate herself from her parents and that time. She’d even changed her name, vowing to live a life much different from theirs, which was smack at the centre of the public eye.
She’d built an independent life and a reputation based on her intellect—not her name or the infamy associated with it. She had a strong desire never to be at the mercy of anyone else again, to the point that she’d instinctively avoided intimate relationships, too afraid of letting someone close enough to devastate her world as her parents had.
Diverting her mind
away from her past, she assured herself that all she had to do was make sure the sheikh didn’t cause an international scandal in the run-up to his coronation, which was due to take place in three weeks. And then, once the man had been crowned king, Charlotte could walk away and hopefully never see him again.
So why did she find her mind wandering back to him now? Wondering where he was in this vast and largely empty palace?
Then she cursed her naivety as a wave of embarrassment made her feel hot. He had surely not denied himself the pleasures of a mistress. A man like that? He’d left his life of excess in Europe and the States, to return to take up his rightful place, but he’d hardly have denied himself his base comforts, and sex and women were one of his most well-documented pastimes. And only the most beautiful women at that—albeit never for long.
Charlotte shook her head and stood up, returning to her suite. She told herself firmly that she couldn’t care less if Sheikh Salim was entertaining a harem of mistresses right now as long as he was discreet about it.
The fact that it took her ages to fall asleep in the huge bed, only for her dreams to be populated by a mysteriously masked and robed man on a huge stallion cantering across vast desert sands, was a pure coincidence. And not disturbing in the slightest.
Not even when she had to concede when she woke the following morning that he hadn’t really been mysterious at all. Not with those blue eyes.
A week later
‘Sire, we are so grateful that you are here, finally. There is so much work to do in two weeks! And then, once you are king—’
Salim turned around abruptly from where he’d been trying to tune out his chief aide, stopping the man’s words. They caused a sensation not unlike panic in his chest and Salim did not panic.
His aide—an old man who had known his grandfather—looked at him expectantly. Salim said tightly, ‘Do whatever it is that you deem necessary, Rafa. You know more about this place than me, after all.’
The slightest flare of something in those old eyes was the only hint that his aide was not impressed that it had taken Salim so long to take up his role, or that he’d spent most of the last week out of Tabat.
Salim told himself that part of his motivation for leaving Tabat behind for a few days hadn’t had anything to do with Charlotte McQuillan and her big green eyes looking at him so incisively. Not unlike the way Rafa was looking at him right now.
It had actually had to do with the secret meetings he’d set up with his legal team, and a close friend who ruled a nearby sultanate, to discuss who best to approach to take over from him as king once he’d abdicated.
The meetings hadn’t gone well. The one person he and his team had identified as a suitable prospective king had turned them down flat. A distant cousin of Salim’s, Riad Arnaud.
The man was a billionaire and a respected businessman. He had ancestral links to this world and had inherited a tiny uninhabited Sheikhdom on the borders of Tabat and Jandor—a mining hub that workers commuted in and out of from nearby Jandor.
But, he was also a single father with a young daughter and he was adamant that he didn’t want to turn his life upside down, thrusting her into a life of duty and service and taking her away from her home in France, where they lived.
Salim of all people had to respect his cousin’s decision, after all, he knew the consequences of having choice taken away from you.
His friend Sultan Sadiq of Al-Omar had borne the brunt of Salim’s frustration once his team had left.
When he’d finished extolling the potential virtues of Tabat that would be enjoyed by its next king his friend had just looked at him with an arched brow and asked mockingly, ‘If it’s such a hidden jewel then why are you so eager to pass it up?’
The fact that his friend’s question had caused Salim to stop momentarily was not something he wanted to dwell on. Nor was the fact that it had made him recall Charlotte McQuillan’s assessment that Tabat had potential. This was not his destiny and he would not be swayed.
In a bid to deflect his mind from that incident and from his conscience, which was proving to be dismayingly persistent, Salim asked, ‘Miss McQuillan...where is she now?’
Rafa’s eyes lit up. He was clearly anticipating that Salim was finally ready to seek advice on becoming a good king. But Salim had far more carnal urges on his mind than discussions of diplomacy and he didn’t like it. She wasn’t his type.
Even with a vast desert between them he’d found the image of her green eyes staying with him, along with the provocative image of that damned silk bow tied so primly at her throat.
Rafa interrupted Salim’s thoughts when he answered, ‘She wanted to go sightseeing today, so I sent one of my junior assistants with her. They’ve gone to the wadi just outside the city limits.’
Salim frowned, his irritation increasing for no good reason. ‘Which junior assistant went with her?’
Rafa looked nervous. ‘Kdal, sire. He’s one of my most trusted assistants—I assure you he’ll take care of her.’
Picturing the young man’s prettily handsome face and obsequious manner in his mind’s eye, Salim found himself saying, ‘Instruct the groom to get my horse ready.’
* * *
Charlotte was doing her best not to stand with her mouth hanging open, but it was hard in such a jaw-droppingly beautiful location. The wadi was just outside Tabat City—a deep river valley carved out of the earth. A sheer high wall of rock was on one side, dotted with palm trees at the base. The other side was flat and verdant, and obviously a popular beauty spot, although it was quiet today.
Kdal, her attentive guide, had explained that this wadi was always full of water due to the underground streams. The water looked green and all too inviting in the blazing midday heat.
Kdal was now guiding her over to where a makeshift table had been set up, under a tent that offered some much needed shade.
‘We’re having lunch here?’ she asked, charmed by the idea, and also by the delicious smells coming from where a small cluster of rustic buildings stood.
‘Yes, Miss McQuillan. We thought you’d enjoy the view. This is a well-known spot for travellers to stop and seek refreshment. I hope you don’t think it’s too basic...’
Charlotte was about to respond not at all but then suddenly Kdal disappeared from her eyeline and Charlotte looked down to see him prostrated at her feet. She was about to bend down and see if he’d fainted when she heard a sound behind her, and turned to see a mythically huge black stallion on top of which sat a man with a turban covering his head and face. He wore a long robe.
It was so reminiscent of her dreams that Charlotte wondered if she was suffering from sunstroke—and then the man swung his leg over and stepped gracefully off the horse, which snorted and gave a shake of its massive head.
All Charlotte could see, though, was the bright flash of blue eyes. Far too familiar blue eyes. Sheikh Al-Noury. Her pulse tripped and galloped at double-time.
He pulled down the material covering his mouth and said with a glint in his eye, ‘You don’t look very enthusiastic to have me join you for lunch.’
It was him. She wasn’t dreaming.
A man appeared, seemingly from out of thin air, to lead the sheikh’s stallion away, and she saw a sleek blacked out four-by-four vehicle purring to a stop nearby, presumably carrying his security detail.
Charlotte called on all her skills to recover, and said as equably as she could, ‘Well, if you recall, you told me that you believed my presence would be a nuisance and that you intended for us to stay out of each other’s way—hardly leading me to suspect that you’d seek out my company.’
He didn’t look remotely repentant. He looked breathtakingly gorgeous as he lazily pulled the turban off his head. Dark hair curled wildly from where it had been confined under his turban, and his jaw was even more stubbled than she remembered. He was wearing the jodhpurs again, and the long tunic did little to disguise the sheer masculine power of his body.
Charlotte hat
ed that she was wearing pretty much the same outfit she’d been wearing the first time she’d seen him.
As if reading her mind, his gaze slipped down from her face and he asked, ‘Do you own a similar shirt in every colour of the rainbow, Miss McQuillan?’
Defensively Charlotte answered, ‘No, actually. But I find that in my line of work it’s prudent to be smartly dressed at all times, and I’m mindful of not offending anyone by wearing anything too casual or revealing.’
His eyes met hers, and she could have sworn his mouth twitched.
‘No, that wouldn’t do at all.’
He gestured to the table behind them, and when she turned she saw that it was now miraculously set for two, with gleaming silverware and sparkling glasses on a white tablecloth. Kdal had disappeared, the little traitor.
‘Please sit, Miss McQuillan.’
She sat down, feeling on edge, cursing Kdal for not warning her to expect the sheikh, who sat down opposite her. Even though they were out in the open air it suddenly felt claustrophobic.
Muted sounds came from the direction of the small cluster of buildings. There was an air of urgency that hadn’t been there a few minutes before. The sheikh had clearly injected the wadi staff with adrenalin.
He took a sip of water and said, ‘I’m sure you’ve noticed a change in the palace since the first day you arrived.’
Charlotte looked at him and had to admit, ‘It’s like a different place.’
When she’d woken up on her first morning and gone for an exploratory walk the place had gone from being eerily empty to buzzing with activity.
She said, ‘I didn’t realise the national holiday was to commemorate the anniversary of your grandfather’s death. I’m sorry.’
The sheikh shrugged. ‘Don’t be. I hardly knew him. He died when I was a teenager.’
