The Sheikh's Secret

by Knight, Kylie

  “Miss? Are you alright? I didn’t mean to interrupt you or intrude on your personal space. I’ll just go, shall I?”

  “No! No, you’re fine. You haven’t done a thing wrong. I was just lost in my own thoughts, that’s all. But a daiquiri sounds lovely, now that you mention it. I can’t think of anything that would make this afternoon more perfect.”

  “Excellent! Anything to make your stay better, miss. Anything at all.”

  The resort employee hurried off in the direction of the bar and Ada smiled to herself, sliding her wide Chanel sunglasses back down onto her face. The people who worked at the Sandstar really were the nicest sort. It was actually the reason she had come. She had come here once with her family what felt like centuries ago but had probably only been around a decade in the past and all of the memories she had of the place had been simply beautiful. Ada was of the belief that most people, at least people who were lucky enough to have gone on vacations from time to time, had that one place that stayed with them wherever they went. Ada was no exception to this and for her, that magical place had always been the Sandstar, the hidden gem of the Caribbean. It had been the place that called out to her, sang her to sleep with promises of peace and happiness on those nights when she felt restless and wanted nothing more than to get away. And so when everything fell apart for her and every place she was used to going from her home to her office was thick with the ghosts of when she had been happy, the Sandstar was exactly where she had retreated to. She had not told Clara that this was where she was going. The only person who knew was Penelope and for Ada that was enough. She was smart and practical enough to know that she should always let someone know her whereabouts (a lesson she had learned as a child and never forgotten) but once she had taken care of that she had nothing much to worry about. All she needed to do was relax, to think about where her life was now after being turned so unceremoniously on its head. As far as she was concerned, there was no other place to do it than this tropical paradise. Sitting in the lounge chair that was probably more comfortable than her sofa, she looked out onto the most magnificent water she had ever seen, framed by a perfectly clear sky that was just starting to show the first signs of pink show in the sky with the setting of the sun. No matter what sadness she was carrying in her heart, it was difficult to hold onto anger looking out at such spectacular beauty. It made her feel small, but in the best kind of a way and she was one hundred percent sure that she was going to be alright. She was so sure that when the server who had been so unsure when talking to her before came back with her drink, she looked up at him with a wide grin.

  “Thanks! That was so fast! But seriously, it doesn’t need to be on the house. I will absolutely pay for it, just remind me how much it costs. Or just put it on the room! That would probably be the easiest way to do it.”

  “But miss, there is no need. As I told you, the drink has been taken care of. In fact everything has been taken care of.”

  “Wait, what? I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand.”

  The attendant looked nervously around him, like he was waiting for somebody else to sweep in and explain things for him so that he could just go. Ada felt bad about grilling him this way but she couldn’t see that she really had any other choice. She was totally confused, had no clue what he might mean when he said that ‘everything’ had been taken care of. She had been living at the resort for a little over two weeks now and despite the pack of exceedingly friendly expats who had made the area their home, she had stuck mostly to herself. It wasn’t that she was trying to be unfriendly, more that she was looking at this get away as a trip of self discovery and yes, mourning. She was always amicable with the people she met around her at the resort but hadn’t formed any particular friendships. Certainly nothing that might warrant a person paying for her “everything.” So what was it then? Some man who had been watching and admiring her from afar and had finally decided that the time was right to make his move? If that was the case, the poor man was wasting his time. The last thing on the planet she was looking for now was another man. She knew that there were a lot of women who believed that the best way to get over a man was to get under a different one, but that had never been her style. It wasn’t that she was prudish exactly, just that she didn’t see the point. It wasn’t like another man would be able to wipe out the memories of the one she still missed. She knew any other man would only serve as a distraction and that no distraction of that kind lasted forever. It was the kind that got you through the day alright but in the dark hours before the sun came out again saw you sobbing into your pillow so as not to wake your distraction up. She wasn’t looking for that. It was far more trouble than it was worth and she would far rather be on her own that make things more messy than they already were.

  “No, miss, but you will. Read the card.”

  She opened her mouth in protestation but the poor server was hurrying away from her at a pace that made it clear that he was done being in the middle of this particular game. Whatever exactly the game was, something about which she had not a clue, but she did know that it wasn’t this employee’s job to clue her in. He had already gone above and beyond, been kinder than necessary and helped her to have the peaceful experience she had been looking for. All of the staff had been and it wasn’t up to any of them to fix whatever this mess was. She sighed and took a long, appreciative sip of her drink before turning to the card that had been slipped onto the little silver tray that held said drink. She read it over once, twice, three times before letting out an even deeper sigh than the last and taking another sip. It was from the owner of the resort, the one who had apparently taken it upon himself to take care of all of the expenses for her whole trip, and he did not seem to be inclined to give his name. Perfect. Just perfect. It felt like that made things a little different than if it had just been from some random well-meaning man. She felt like she had to be particularly respectful of the man who owned the place, which meant merely blowing him off was sort of out of the question. He wanted her to meet him in the back bar of the nicest restaurant on the property and although there was a huge part of her that wanted badly to just not show up (it wasn’t like he could make her, after all, she was fully capable of paying her own bills for her stay) she knew she wouldn’t. It would be too impolite and she wasn’t wired that way. So she drank the rest of the delicious fruity cocktail down, gave the setting sun over the immaculate water one last longing look, and headed back to her room to clean up a bit. True, she wasn’t interested in meeting anyone and this most certainly wasn’t a date, but she didn’t want to wear the beach to fanciest place on the premises.

  “Excuse me, I think I’m meeting somebody here?”

  “I’m sure you are, my dear, but forgive me for asking; is that a statement or a question?”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Well, it’s just that you don’t sound all that sure. Perhaps the person you’re meeting is someone you aren’t keen on meeting??”

  “No. Nothing like that. Can you please just tell me if there’s somebody here? Somebody who’s maybe waiting to meet someone? I just need the answer to that. If there isn’t I can just go.”

  The gentleman manning the desk at the front of the restaurant looked her up and down slowly with eyes that lingered on her curves just a little too long for comfort. Ada wanted to roll her eyes and just walk away from the entire situation but the part of her that felt the importance of handling this situation gracefully and meeting the man that made her safe haven possible was too strong to ignore and so she raised her chin and looked at the pervy host levelly until he finally had the decency to look a little bit embarrassed. Ada raised her eyebrow and wondered if she would have to ask her question again but before she could he motioned towards the back of the bar, towards a dark boothed area that she could hardly make out. There was certainly no way to tell who might be waiting for her back there but at least she knew which direction she was going in. She gave a polite but less than friendly nod to the now thoroughly uncomfo
rtable man who had showed her the way and then headed off in the direction he had indicated. She stopped at the swanky bar before moving any further, went to order a drink to give herself a little liquid courage before meeting her unknown admirer. But before she could she could say a word the bartender smiled at her and pushed a cosmopolitan in her direction.

  “How’d you know?”

  “Because, the boss told me. And of course, it’s on the house.”

  Ada was starting to get the strangest feeling, something warm and cold all at the same time, like she was walking in some kind of a haze. She would have this one drink, she told herself, she would have this one drink and thank the owner. She would tell him that his generosity was appreciated but not needed and then she would be on her way. Maybe she would stay another week or two, that had been her plan, or maybe she would be on her way. She wasn’t sure if she would still be comfortable after all of this, it sort of depended on how this little meet and greet went. She sipped her cocktail and moved further into the darkened VIP section of the already over the top fancy bar, her heart pounding with nerves she couldn’t quite understand. She was getting ready to turn around and walk back in the other direction when she heard a soft, velvety voice calling out to her.

  “I wasn’t sure that you would come. I have to say, I’m mighty glad that you did.”

  Chapter Eight

  When Penelope had told him, it had sounded like it had to be too good to be true. Out of all of the places in all of the world that Ada could have run off to, she had chosen one of his resorts. Well, perhaps it wasn’t the most impossible thing to have occurred, Darvesh and his family did own resorts across the globe, but it wasn’t like they were as plentiful as your run of a mill chain hotel. They were quite exclusive and it was much less often than he might have thought that he met someone who had stayed at one of his family’s establishments. When Penelope had stopped him outside of the elevators and told him where he could find Ada, he had started to laugh. He wanted to find Ada so badly and the idea that she had run off to one of his resorts, and his most favorite resort at that, seemed like too much of a coincidence to be believed. It had been the biggest relief he had ever felt in his life and although he knew he was still fighting an uphill battle in terms of getting Ada to speak to him (getting her not to hate him was an entirely different matter) but at least now he had a place from which to begin the battle, and that was so much more than he had before. And the best part was that he hadn’t even had to make arrangements. That was one of the perks of owning a place you wanted to stay. All he had to do was show up and he had everything he needed waiting at his fingertips.

  The hardest part had been the waiting. He had arrived at the Sandstar not three days after she had, according to what Penelope had told him, and he had seen her. He had actually seen her there on the beaches and in the restaurants, and still he had known that it was imperative for him to stay away. As much as he wanted to run to her and make her understand all that she did not yet know, he also knew that she had come here for space. She must have needed that space desperately, too, to have put her entire life on hold to get it and for him to just steamroll over that would have been a good sign that he did not understand her or respect her wishes at all. He couldn’t do that, not simply because of his own impatience. And so he had kept his distance, watching her from afar. He had seen her demeanor change, go from body language that screamed of defeat (and how anguished had he been to see that? That anguish that was his fault and his fault alone) to a look of peace. She had started to look much more like the woman he had spied in that club and known he just had to meet. She started to look more like the woman she had been before he had broken her heart. He had known then that it was time to make his move. Not because he didn’t want her to be happy, because he did. He wanted that more than anything else is the world. It was just that he was afraid. He didn’t mind admitting that. He was afraid that he would wait too long to make his move and then she would be gone. In his mind, whether he was overreacting or not (which he did not believe he was), if she left the Sandstar without him getting to speak to her, to plead his case, he would be done for good. Maybe he should just let that happen. He had gone back and forth on that particular point so many times that it left his head aching and spinning with possibility. He was completely unsure of himself for perhaps the first time in his entire life and from one minute to the next what seemed like the best course of action changed. But in the end he couldn’t imagine just walking away from Ada without at least trying, without giving it everything he had. He knew that it would haunt him for the rest of his days and the idea of seeing the ghost of Ada and the life they could have had together until his death was more than he could take. And so he made his move, with that admittedly tacky trick of delivering a note with her drink to have her meet him. True, she didn’t know it was him she was meeting, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He could not think of any other way to get her to talk to him and he felt like he would die if he didn’t make her see the truth of his situation. He did not want to have the rest of his life without her in it and that was something he had never felt before, not about anything. For a man who had been given access to everything imaginable since his birth, finding something he couldn’t live without was no small feat. Even after he sent that silly note with his poor, decidedly uncomfortable server, he was not at all sure that she would come. She wasn’t a girl who’s head was easily turned and he thought it was entirely possible that she would refuse to come, in which case he would not have been surprised if she slipped away into the night and out of his life forever. But she did come and when he heard her melodical voice drifting towards him from the host’s station he felt his heart stop in his chest, his stomach sky rocketing into his throat. He had gotten her here and now the real work began. He took a deep breath and spoke, hoping against hope that she would not turn tail and run in the opposite direction when she heard his voice.

  “I wasn’t sure that you would come. I have to say, I’m mighty glad that you did.”

  She was so close now that he could smell her perfume wafting in his direction and he felt his entire body begin to tingle with a mixture of delight and fear. God, he had missed that smell, had missed her beautiful face and intelligent eyes, but he had to wonder if she would flee now that he had spoken. He could tell by the shocked expression on her face that she recognized his voice. Could he be surprised by that? He would have recognized her voice anywhere. But she did not run. She took a long, slightly shaky sip of her drink, but she stood still where she was.

  “Darvesh,” she said in a low, uncertain voice, “how? What are you doing here? How did you even know I was here?”

  “Penelope,” he said quietly, wishing she didn’t look so disappointed by his revelation, “I went to your office to find you and she told me you were here.”

  “And the note? Telling me to meet the owner? That was you?”

  “It was.”

  “You didn’t think that you had lied to me enough? Did you honestly think another lie would be in your best interest?”

  “It wasn’t” he said quickly, standing and walking cautiously towards her, “I wasn’t lying about that. This is my resort. I own several across the globe. It come with the territory of being a Sheikh.”

  “Oh. Well then I’m sorry, I suppose. I guess you didn’t lie, this time. But that doesn’t change anything, Darvesh. You aren’t who I thought you were! You made me into the other woman! I never wanted to be that and you didn’t give me a choice.”

  “No, I didn’t. That’s all I’ve been wanting to tell you. Things with me and with Mariam aren’t what you think they are. They aren’t what your sister told you.”

  “How am I supposed to believe that, Darvesh?”